As for Sagamite,  your strange assertion that charging these boys with rape amounts to '' a very high moral stance from a country whose former President was receiving frequent blow jobs at his desk''.

Are you seriously justifying the act of rape committed by these young men against innocent young women as acceptable because a former President had been involved in a consensual lewd act in the past.  

It is very insulting to a lot of Nigerians to somehow downplay the grave and serious allegation of rape against young women.

I hope those boys get what they deserve if they are found guilty. i personally wish they rot in jail.

This story stinks, it is really very shameful that a recently appointed Nigerian ambassador to the US has become embroiled in controversy with regards to the alleged rape carried out by his 20 year old son.

I believe the US authorities are right in refusing to accept Prof Adeniran as the Nigerian ambassador to their country. How will Nigerians feel is a recently appointed Ghanian ambassador's 20 year old son is found guilty of raping at random three young Nigerian students in Lagos or Abuja, should we still allow that ambassador to stay in this country with his family.

Moreover, the Ambassador is responsible for his ward including his children whether they are biologically his , taken away from their real parents by deception or adopted.

This is shame on the Government , it clearly highlights the type of morally corrupt people occupying top Government positions.  You could say the boy is merely acting out what he learnt from his father.

So much for the love Gaddafi preaches he has for Africa.  It goes to show the man is a terrorist and will remain a terrorist at heart.

There is absolutely no justification for the ill treatment of Nigerians and other illegal African migrants who find themselves in Libya in search of greener pastures.

These people one must agree are economic migrants trying to escape the poverty in their own countries, i bet none will make the very dangerous journeys if the economic situation in their respective countries has not been messed up by fraudulent and corrupt leadership.

There may be a slight logic to the story, but the fact is it's pure fallacy.

Turai is probably using the Vienna visit as a cover for a rendezvous with her boyfriend, she has allegedly been known to play away in the past, please don't ask me with whom.

@ poster ( conSPIEng )



It is very clear from the logic of your posting that you are the slowpoke. You need to find a more intelligent way of expressing your concerns without exhibiting and showing lack of respect for the entire citizenry of Nigeria.

Sorry Fegflu, you may be an excellent writer but you cannot nominate yourself.

why is everyone wasting their time on this story, it is very clear to see that Guardian newspaper has a vested interest in it's attempt to discredit Sanusi, it has an ongoing smear campaign against Sanusi since he sacked one of their proprietors in the name of Cecelia Ibru.  I believe you all know that Guardian newspaper is owned by the Ibru family so what do you expect.

Since when has the failure to declare assets or false declaration of assets become the most serious crime in Nigeria, and that's even assuming Ribadu did not correctly declare his assets.

 How many of those fraudulent and corrupt present and former public office holders like James Ibori et al failed to declare their assets, yet it is common knowledge they stole billions from the public purse and they freely parade the material accoutrements of their loot for all to see.

This is simply a case of chasing a red herring, it is very insulting to the majority of Nigerians who have the best interest of the country at heart to hear the SSS, Police and Immigration are after Ribadu on these fabricated and senseless charges.

It is also very obvious that there is a determined and relentless negative media campaign by enemies of progress against Ribadu but the good thing is, he is certainly giving them a run for their money.  I believe a few posters on NL are proxy's acting on behalf of these enemies of progress and they are easily spotted by the inept contents of their posts.  You know who you are.

@  Bialegend

The concept of suggesting who Nairalanders feel are the best writers has nothing to do with what you referred to as '' One Nigeria project ''.  Nairaland politics section addresses a wide range of issues in Nigeria.

However you are free to name any ''non-warped'' poster or posters you consider the best writer(s) addressing your narrow interests but it's obvious you cannot nominate yourself.

It's only a matter of time, when sanity returns to Nigerian politics it will be Ribadu for President.

Looks like Jakumo is a favourite of many.

So who are the best writers in your view ?

I think it's time we posters on Nairaland acknowledge our contribution to the political discourse. In light of this, I have made up a list of contributors to the politics section of Nairaland i consider the best and most incisive.

Although this list is not exhaustive, it is drawn up from my observation of their postings which I've found incisive and sometimes witty without ethnic or tribal sentiments. I always appreciate posters who can share their views whilst showing respect for those with opposing opinion.

The best writers IMHO are,

Jarus
Aloy~Emeka
Ibime
MrCrackles
Naijatoday
Afam
Larez
Gbawe
Nuzo
Babapupa
Aisha2
Epiphany
Kobojunkie
Jacobs123
Beaf
Jakumo


Who will you have on your list ?

Thanks Jarus.

Jarus.

Please can you e-mail all those articles and writings by Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.  My appreciation in advance.

If my memory serves me right, did the Federal Executive Council ( FEC ) not approve Billions of Naira recently for NTA to purchase and upgrade their obsolete equipments with guess what,  SONY products.

@  Bell32

The pictures do not represent gum disease but severe tooth decay ( Rampant caries )

What you have is called Chronic Adult Periodontitis (  Gum disease to you and me ).

You need to see a Dentist ASAP and whist you are searching for one because it appears you haven't been to one in a long time, try using an anti-septic mouthwash like Corsodyl ( Eludril ) , Listerin or Peroxyl. Your gum problem is definitely not due whether your toothbrush is hard or not.

Adieu Gani,  may your ideals be realised sooner than later. As to the question of who can fill the shoes of the great man, that remains to be seen.

@ Hakir

Please do you know what the new C of O fees are for Mpape in Bwari local area council, i'm desperate to know because i have an interest in that cool part of Abuja.

Is the proposed Lekki International Airport a White Elephant Project ?

Let's look at it logically.

I am even surprised it has taken the Lagos State government this long to come up with a proposal to build an airport in the Lekki-Epe Axis. Any town planner with a vision should know that another international Airport is long overdue to serve the interests of the vast Lagos metropolis and that of the neighbouring states and geopolitical zones.

Some posters indicated there is no need for another airport in addition to Murtala Mohammed International Airport., the fact is the State government has to think and plan long term, the leadership in Nigeria has always been guilty of short term planning without looking at the big picture.  MMIA occupies a fixed land area which cannot be expanded in any direction because it is surrounded by built up communities.  The airport has only one runway and the terminal building leaves a lot to be desired and most importantly, it is owned and operated by the Federal Government.

If the present Lagos State Government gives its support and backing to the new Airport, it should be seen in a positive light as it will create a lot of employment during it's construction and when operational. If it is designed as a cargo and passenger hub, it will serve the rest of Nigeria and indeed neighbouring African countries.  It can also support the Lekki Free Trade Zone as an international exhibition and conference centre with world class hotels to cater towards this purpose.

A case to look at is the Al Maktoum International Airport under construction in Dubai. It is planned as the world's largest passenger and cargo hub with an annual cargo capacity of 12 million tons, three times more than the present world's largest cargo hub- Memphis International Airport.  The Airport will have six runways and sixteen cargo terminals,  it takes a lot of vision to come up with such a plan .

The proposed Lekki International Airport is on a much smaller scale but it is a step in the right direction, it will eventually help to bring down the cost of air travel into and out of Lagos due to increased competition.

We need to start thinking long term if we seriously want to lift our people out of poverty.  Job creation should be encouraged in the private sector and the so called poor people or masses also have the right to aspire to a better future.

Let us see it as a necessity and a legacy to future generations and not as a white elephant.

It's quite nice to see Lagos in a positive light , i really like it.

I am absolutely in support of Lamido Sanusi's action regarding the sacking of the affected bank CEO's but one has to distinguish his measured approach from the questionable and somewhat irrational ways the EFCC under Waziri had responded in their quest to show they are attempting to prosecute those who may have acted illegally or fraudulently against these banks.

Sanusi is acting in the best interest of the country and from what i've read and learnt about him, he appears a principled man who has no ulterior motives or any ethnic agenda. The fact that he is from the north is not enough to criticize his actions as anti-south.

He should be given a chance to continue with and accomplish his goal of bringing sanity, transparency and respect to our banking system,  this may be the start of something good however tangible actually coming out of the Nigerian system of government.

@  Jacobs 123 and Jarus

Thanks for your intelligent insight into what makes sanusi tick,  that man should be given kudos for what he is obviously trying to achieve.

This is very troubling.   Nigerian pastors ,    Crime without punishment.

I strongly agree that Madam Cecilia Ibru is not an ordinary Nigerian.   She is just a very corrupt and fraudulent Nigerian.

Afam,

Didn't you find it curious that you did not get a straight answer to a very innocent question you asked .
It surely cannot be a secret as to whom the Chairman of their company is. Just a thought .

According to AFC website, Soludo is still the Chairman of the Board. But it is possible that info hasn't been updated for a while.

@  Afam.

Info about AFC from their website   www.africafc.org


Established in 2007, the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) is a private sector-led investment bank and development finance institution created to help mobilize and channel required capital towards driving Africa’s economic development.

AFC’s mission is to address Africa’s development needs in a profitable way, creating benefits for both investors and societies in the region.

There is an estimated $130 billion of investment opportunities across Africa over the next five years through which AFC can help drive Africa’s economic development.

AFC has a number of advantages which allow it to participate in this scenario. These include a large (US$1 billion) capital base to support early and intermediate stage projects; access to cheap long-term funds through an anticipated investment grade rating; and deep sector knowledge from industry experts. In addition, as a hybrid investment bank and international development finance institution, AFC enjoys privileged access to policy makers in Africa. AFC uses these advantages to help address one of the biggest impediments to the successful implementation of many projects on the continent; namely the lack of anchor risk-capital combined with well packaged investment structures. When done, this attracts complimentary sources of finance, both public and private to create truly bankable projects out of what are currently just potential projects.

AFC has developed key guiding corporate governance principles benchmarked against global investment banking institutions and has a tight and well controlled cost base. It has a lean organisational structure designed along product, industry and advisory business units and functions.

AFC’s business development process is founded upon a system of proactively creating, acquiring and managing infrastructural, industrial and financial assets. The AFC’s business execution focuses on providing anchor risk capital, playing a catalytic role, providing advisory services and forging partnerships.
AFC has recruited world class capabilities by offering globally competitive market and incentive-based compensation. AFC has succeeded in attracting professionals and top management drawn from the private sector, investment banks and multilateral development finance institutions.

The AFC has been built around four core pillars:

- Fostering private sector solutions to Africa’s development
- Driving Africa’s competitiveness and industrialization
- Catalyzing private sector participation in Africa’s infrastructure
- Facilitating Africa’s private sector access to capital markets

DISCLAIMER | PRIVACY POLICY | SITE MAP | CONTACT
3a Osborne Road | Ikoyi | Lagos | Nigeria

Copyright © 2007 AFC - Africa Finance Corporation | All Rights Reserved

@ Afam,

Here is the article, hope you find it helpful.


African Finance Corporation: Rusting Gold
Written by Sonala Olumhense
Sunday, 03 August 2008
African Finance Corporation: Rusting Gold
Sonala Olumhense

First of all, let me confess my admiration of the Chukwuma Soludo type: a man who does things and is not afraid to err.

To this man, as Governor of the Central Bank, we owe much of the wide-ranging reform of the nation’s banking sector and the relative discipline it now enjoys. He will also be remembered for the bold effort at re-denominating the Naira.

Perhaps his biggest enterprise, if only in terms of its Africa-wide application, is the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC). In its purest form, the AFC was designed as a machinery that would jumpstart the economic revival of Africa by bridging our huge funding gap that stands at about $16bn per annum.

Sitting in front of his computer at the Central Bank, Soludo must have been overwhelmed to see an ocean of funds belonging to Nigeria. It gave him an idea: a revolutionary endeavor that would channel these funds into a revolving investment machinery. His idea, bought immediately by President Olusegun Obasanjo the first time he heard it, was a private-sector entity providing funds for such critical economic sectors as energy, agriculture, telecommunications and tourism, but particularly transport infrastructure. It would also provide an assortment of banking services.

In April 2007, following approval by President Obasanjo and the work of a technical committee of 12 set up in January 2006 to actualize the dream, Soludo embarked on a tour to sell the concept to Africa and the world. Among his stops: London, New York, Egypt, Gambia, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Algeria and Tunisia.

The AFC was not a hard sell; it is difficult to conceive of any African to whom it was not a significant, powerful, idea. But our problem has never been the availability of good ideas, and the magic of the AFC seemed to have ended in those plush hotels. Implementation was next, on the card, and Soludo was completely unprepared.

The just-published report of the Presidential Committee to Investigate the Activities of the AFC reads like a Mafioso diary, not the record of a high-minded enterprise dedicated to the dream of helping African find development. As a result, not only is Soludo’s reputation now chin-deep in the sewers, the AFC may have died a premature and ignominious death.

What happened? Perhaps our old nemesis: self-interest and fuzzy thinking. How else do we interpret the conduct of the Central Bank of Nigeria, as Soludo led it in the AFC quest? The CBN seemed to have scant appreciation of the law as it hurried to ferry funds into the AFC, knowing that only Nigeria had signed the Agreement. That put it on the same level as Transcorp, a Nigerian company, but without Transcorp’s corporate legality. The AFC was not incorporated either as a domestic or international institution, and nobody, company or government outside Nigeria has placed a kobo in it.

Still, on 22 November 2007, Soludo’s CBN casually and illegally tossed in $462.9 million in easy money, like a casino hustler playing with house money, and another $288million from other Nigerian shareholders.

And then, the game got really interesting, as the AFC’s funds moved from being a casino activity to kalokalo or one-armed bandit involving such Nigerian banks as Ecobank, UBA, First City Merchant Bank, Oceanic Bank, Stanbic Bank, and Access Bank.

Consider, for instance, that five days after AFC illegally opened for business, the UBA New York branch opened with $250 million. Only two weeks later, those same funds began to be repatriated to Nigeria in various seedy ways. Five months later—abracadabra!—less than $19,000 was left in the AFC account.

Some of this information may not be strange to Nigerians who are paying attention. They would recall that on April 28 this year, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in the United States imposed an uncontested $15 million against UBA New York for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.

That action followed two Cease and Desist Orders on the bank in January 2007 and February 2008, citing its failure to implement the law and report money laundering or other suspicious activity involving approximately $197 million in suspicious transactions.”

In other words, UBA was dubious and unprofessional. But that is exactly where our AFC funds were lodged, and we may not have known had the US authorities been playing the same game. And the funds placed in the UBA account, having been manoeuvred back to Nigeria, began to turn a “profit”. Prof. Soludo told the committee the profit on the CBN investment in the AFC stands at about $11.3 million.

Soludo seems to have taken to heart, the ad hoc approach of the man who appointed him to heart: without reference to the CBN or AFC Boards, he unilaterally authorized the transfer of a total of $300 million to UBA New York, and $593.2 to Citibank London.

Perhaps the absent-minded Professor was in such a hurry to save Africa he forgot the law, due process and transparency. Now, he has to explain how he could so casually dispense with the rules not once or twice, but from the formation stage of the AFC through its funding, operation and management. That would include his chairmanship of the Board in his personal capacity, contrary to the law.

Most of all, he and the management of the AFC have a lot to explain concerning the movement of the funds in their control. Apparently, there are serious legal and ethical issues of abuse of office, gross negligence, round tripping (which is some kind of “money-doubling”), and money-laundering.

The case of Austine Ometoruwa, the AFC Chief Executive Officer is doubly sad because it is difficult to extricate Soludo from the serious charges against him. Ometoruwa had a historic opportunity in his hands, but seemed to have chosen to put it in a chokehold and stuff it into his pockets.

And Nigerian banks! Sometimes, some of them are cited in the media for their “achievements”. Our newspapers and magazines that maintain an incestuous relationship with these institutions install a “Banker of the Year.”

And then came game day and exposed themselves, treating the AFC like their private ATMs). The Report says they “colluded with the AFC Management to mis-apply AFC funds as a source of cheap trading money rather than being deployed to the critical developmental objectives for which the AFC was established.”

Collusion is a very strong term, and the Report rightly recommends they be sanctioned or prosecuted. I expect them to deploy their slush funds to try to buy justice, of course, but the point has been made. They may be banks, but they are not professionals. They are overpriced petty-traders. And criminals.

Will the AFC rise from these ruins? I do not see how, yet it is an idea whose time has come. But then, so was electricity in Nigeria, and Transcorp, and roads.

Yes, we did reform the banking sector, but who will reform the bankers?

sonala.olumhense@gmail.com

We haven't heard the last of this story.

@  Afam

For your information, the African Finance Corporation is a privately owned entity.  It has a board of directors all of whom are private investors in the investment bank. It is not an intergovernmental financial organisation under the aegis of the African Union.

Charles Soludo was one of the prime movers in the establishment of the bank, hence he has been the chairman of the board for a while.  The bank's operations are not very transparent. You  only need to read Sonala Olumhese's article on 3rd Aug 2008 in the village voice and things will be a lot clearer. 

Soludo as chairman of the board of directors is there to represent himself as an investor and not in his capacity as the CBN Governor, that raises the question of conflict of interest.

The operations of the African Finance Corporation need to be re- examined by the relevant regulatory authorities.