₦airaland Forum

Flets:
This government should be reminded that elections are over. Enough of these noises as reality have set in already.

Lets do some simple mathematics.
Nigeria's total crude production currently hovers at 2M barrel per day, but I will assume 2.5M barrel for sake of optimism
Crude oil sells at slightly above $40/ barrel but I will assume $45/ barrel
Most JV agreements with Oil corporations stands at an average of 60% for Nigerian govt.
Cost of production of oil for most companies stand at almost 50% but I will assume 30% (optimist case) and then 70% profit
Only about 52% of total earnings goes to the FG, the remaining goes to state allocations and host state derivation
Assuming an exchange rate 200 naira per dollar and 365 days a year

Federal Government can make approximately 1.8 trillion naira from crude sales for 2016 optimally. Details below
so 2.5Million x $45 x 60% x 70% x 52% x 200 x 365 = 1.8 Trillion Naira

Historically, crude has formed about 70% of our budgets.... following same logic, total budget can only be 2.6 trillion Naira (1.8Trillion/ 70%)

Even if we increase taxes, collapse all tax and duty exemptions and without any diversification efforts by the current government, we will be lucky to add another 1trillion the 2.6 trillion to make it a maximum of 3.6 trillion.

So realistically speaking, 8 trillion FG budget is impossible for 2016. Propagandically speaking, APC govt have said it and they believe their zombies will believe it.

In addition, APC FG has claimed that 2016 budget will be developed through zero budget based budgeting. Now without ministers who are supposed to draw up the budget components within their ministries ..... how exactly did Osibanjo come up with 8 trillion when zero based budget was the agreed method?


And for those quoting revenues from Gases- NLNG; Inflow from Royalties (Oil and Gas and other ones); Non- Oil revenues; Custom Duties; Fines and Penalties; Licenses etc...... You need to understand that these are not new revenue sources, they have always been there and only contribute about 30% of the budget while crude sales provides the rest. Y'all need to learn, crude earnings - 70%; non-crude earnings - 30%. As such, estimated budget of 2.6 trillion had that all included if non-crude contribution remains at 30%.

In addition, 2015 capital expenditure was 29.7% of total budget, while this government is planning to make 25% of 2016 budget. If take 2trn from 8trn u have a massive 6trn for recurrent expenditure. More than our total yrly budget for the last 10yrs. Are they really serious?

Was this really written by OBJ.? Has he been finally touched by the transformation agenda?

i actually wondered why Soludo was using 2011 NBS figures to judge GEJ in 2015. surely he can get todays stats to use.

ON CHARLES SOLUDO’S ANTI-GOODLUCK JONATHAN HIT PIECE…
January 26, 2015 MrAyeDee
I read Charles Soludo’s Vanguard Op-Ed (/5M97TH) with amusement and came away with a few observations.

1) The article is the voice of Charles, but the hands are the hands of Olusegun.

2) He still hasn’t forgiven Peter Obi (/LNmD4K), and uses this piece to hit back against the ex-governor and current GEJ adviser.
3) He has decided to attack GEJ’s economic achievements by using dubious numbers to paint a gory picture totally at odds with reality. His main line of attack being that poverty across the land has reached colossal proportions.

To the Buhari supporter who believes GEJ is an abject failure, the article is a testament to just that.
Unfortunately for them, Charles Soludo’s premise is as real as a Buhari’s WAEC Certificate.
Permit me to tell you why. Instead of hitting every single number and assertion bandied by Soludo, I shall focus on just one, his main attack point: Rising POVERTY.
In the article he repeatedly claims poverty is in the 71% range. Nothing is further from the truth.
According to the World Bank’s ‘Nigeria Economic Report’ for July, 2014, (
/NDFxmC) Nigeria’s poverty rate has actually gone down to 33.1% as of 2013.
Let me say that again, under Goodluck Jonathan, poverty in Nigeria has reduced to 33.1%, the lowest it’s been in modern history.

I don’t know about you, but there is no way that Charles Soludo, a former CBN Governor and ‘esteemed’ economist could have pretended not to be aware of this.
It is sad that to get at the President, he had to resort to lies and blatant misrepresentation in regards to something so easy to disprove, but such is life.
However, if he could play this game with poverty stats, what did he do with all other stats in his ‘presentation?’ I don’t know, but taking the article at face value is a fool’s errand.
Fellow Nigerians, bottom line is this, the economy under Goodluck Jonathan is doing GREAT.
Alas, change is a process, not an event, but with GEJ’s steady hands at the helm of affairs, the effects of Nigeria’s economic spurt are going to trickle down to all levels sooner rather than later, and everyone including you is bound to feel the effect and see a rise in your standard of living.
Thank you for reading, God bless you, and God bless Nigeria!
tagged with Economy, GEJ, Soludo

THE announcement of savings of about N500 billion through the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) by the Federal Government would seem a commendable development but it has also confirmed the existence of entrenched loopholes in the national treasury that have been exploited by public officers over the years. Before the scheme that has brought about these savings, such loopholes have been left unchecked for decades, thereby paving the way for successive governments’ entrenchment of wastage and corruption as the hallmarks of governance in Nigeria. A shame.

The major feature of TSA is its unified form of government’s bank accounts. Through it, all funds belonging to the government are domiciled in one account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and deposits into the account or withdrawals from it are done through an electronic payment platform.

Although the TSA became operational in 2012 with a focus on payments, it was only a pilot scheme involving 217 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in Abuja. But by last year, the scheme was extended to all MDAs outside Abuja. This necessitated the execution of all Federal Government-related payments through an electronic platform. Through this scheme, the government was able to boost its treasury with about N500 billion and the success of the pilot scheme made government to direct all MDAs to close all revenue accounts with banks by February 28.

Again, this development is good but does not absolve the Nigerian government of condemnation for nurturing an environment for financial sleaze to flourish in the public service for so long. Over the years, civil servants and political office holders have used these loopholes to amass wealth, enriching themselves by diverting billions of naira meant for the execution of projects into their pocket. It is clear now that if the Federal Government maintains an account over which it has control, it can save so much and guard against fraud.

Clearly, it is the use of the e-payment system that has prevented the MDAs from scheming out this money fraudulently. This is because with the e-payment system, money cannot be collected from the treasury as the system requires such information as who is collecting the money, for what purpose and others in order to check fraudulent expenditure.

But a gnawing question is: why did the government allow the MDAs to operate their separate accounts over the years when it is clear that there should be one account for the government and all its agencies? Section 80 (1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended states that all revenues should be remitted to the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation: “All revenues, or other moneys raised or received by the Federation (not being revenues or other moneys payable under this Constitution or any Act of the National Assembly into any other public fund of the Federation established for a specific purpose) shall be paid into and form one Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.” Thus, beyond the euphoria of having saved N500 billion, the government needs to be told it has operated outside the constitution for too long and must now insist on the illegality of MDAs having different accounts other than the one contained in the afore-mentioned constitutional provision. This would break the ingrained trend of public office holders looting the treasury blind.

The profligacy in government is also sufficiently indicative of the collapse of the civil service and the absence of a prudent management of public funds. When the civil service was run by people of integrity, political appointees were well prevented from spending outside what the constitution stipulates. But now because of the sad depletion of sound values in the civil service, it is the same civil servants who encourage political office holders to misappropriate government’s funds. Indeed, political office holders who take up appointments in government with a view to genuinely serving their fatherland are known to have been persuaded, misled or corralled by civil servants into embracing corrupt ways and defrauding the nation.

So, this consciousness of the huge challenge before the nation detracts from any celebration over the recovery of the N500 billion. For before Nigerians lies the responsibility of making the civil servants to operate by a template of financial probity, and ensuring disincentives for those whose major objective of becoming public servants is to loot the treasury.

In returning financial accountability to the public service, the accountant-general of the federation and the minister of finance must lead the campaign. It behoves them to insist on civil servants and other officials adhering to the law. The financial activities of agencies or the entire government should not be allowed to negate the constitutional provision that the Federal Government of Nigeria maintains only one account which is the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.

]Buhari: When Facts Become ‘Contrived…’



20 Dec 2014





THIS REPUBLIC

With Shaka Momodu E-mail: shaka.momodu@thisdaylive.com, 08112661654

It is not my desire to join issues or engage any of my colleagues in an open debate in the media. This article should therefore be seen as an exception. After reading Waziri Adio’s article on the back page of THISDAY 15th December titled, “Is This, Finally, The Buhari Moment?” I came to the inescapable conclusion that there were obvious gaps that needed to be filled. For the records, Mr Adio was spot on and I largely agree with the analysis except for the phrase ‘contrived handicaps’ which is suggestive of falsehood sold as truth.


I therefore find the urge to correct some misrepresentations too strong to resist. It is particularly expedient to fill the missing years between 1984 (about 30 years) ago when Buhari entered the consciousness of Nigerians with those immortal and awe inspiring words which Waziri heralded his article, “This generation of Nigerians and indeed future generations have no country other than Nigeria, we shall remain here and salvage it together” and his 2014 speech preceding his nomination when he stated thus, “We seek a new Nigeria. It starts with us, it starts today…. Nigeria is our home. Let us now turn it into the great Nation we know it can and should be.’’


Of truth, that statement in 1984 captivated and galvanised Nigerians across the country into looking inward and believing our situation was not beyond redemption. But the succeeding years have seen Buhari morphing into something of a caricature image far less noble than the vision encapsulated in that powerful summation of 1984.

These years have been very revealing of the Buhari personae. So much water has passed under the bridge such that it would be wrong to condense and analyse Buhari on just two inspiring quotes 30 years apart and attempt to sell his candidature as a viable alternative. I find this unhelpful for a society yearning for direction.


What about the intervening years that have thrown up a deeply partisan, sectional and religious irredentist that I am sure, many Nigerians would find different from the man who spoke those words 30 years ago? The truth here is that from when he spoke his first words to Nigerians and became a fixture of sort in our psyche, Buhari has evolved severally; he has become a convoluted and conflicted brand. From an inspirational national leader, he withdrew into the conclave of an ethno-religious champion and a fanatical extremist who has sought without apologies to anyone, to undermine everything the Nigeria nation stands for.
We will be guilty of extreme naivety to wave off these tendencies that are so manifestly glaring in the APC presidential candidate as figment of our imagination or merely “contrived handicaps” by Buhari haters to undermined him like my Egbon Waziri has done.
While Mr Adio will have us believe that the well deserved appellation is “contrived handicaps”, the facts and records of history speak to the contrary. As I said, Buhari has become deeply conflicted and I say it without mincing words and that contrary to Waziri Adio’s position, Buhari is an ethno-religious fundamentalist. The ark of history is on my side here. The fact that Buhari is being rebranded by the APC apparatchiks and has consequently toned down his extremist views about North/South and Muslims/Christians of the country, for political correctness does not make him any less a religious extremist. I even find the whole rebranding project pretentious, deceitful, and unflattering to the iron-cast inscrutable image of the General. My admonition to those behind it is that you cannot change a man from who he is to who he is not.

The proof of Buhari’s ethno-religious leaning is stated here in his own words and recorded position on issues pertaining to Sharia and the interest of the North as against the overriding interest of Nigeria. If Waziri Adio so fervently believes that Buhari is not a fundamentalist, what does he make of Buhari’s statement 27 August 2001,“I will continue to show openly and inside me the total commitment to the Sharia movement that is sweeping all over Nigeria. God willing, we’ll not stop the agitation for the total implementation of Sharia in the country.’’

As if that was not enough, Buhari stated further, “Muslims should vote for fellow Muslims who can defend their faith”. If Waziri Adio so strongly believes that the fundamentalist toga was ‘contrived,’ what does he make of the above?
Just a few weeks ago, Atiku Abubarkar called Buhari a religious bigot and warned that Nigeria doesn’t need a religious bigot as president. I believe Atiku played that up for his own political advantage because of the primary that was coming up where he alongside other contestants squared against Buhari, but even at that, he was merely stating a self evident fact.


Recall also that during Governor Rasheed Ladoja’s time as governor of Oyo state, Buhari travelled all the way from Daura in Katsina to visit Governor Ladoja in Ibadan. It was no ordinary visit, but a protest visit that Ladoja’s people were killing his (Buhari’s) people. Still wondering what all that means? Well, you don’t have to wait for long. Here it is. It was all about the clashes between Hausa-Fulani herdsmen grazing with their cattle in indigenes’ farmland and destroying their crops. Buhari’s exact words were: “Your people are killing my people.” If this is not a sufficient proof of this man’s sectional-ethnic affinity and inclination then, someone will have to tell me what is. Governor Ladoja was so disappointed in Buhari, that he issued him a rebuke, urging him to play the statesman instead of narrow ethnic interest that chips away at his position as a former head of state.


Just last year, when the state of emergency was declared in parts of the North-east to tame the menace of the devilish and blood-thirsty Boko Haram which has severally broken its own worst record of human carnage, Buhari stated in an interview that he was against the state of emergency and military action against sect, which he described as a grave injustice to the North. According to him in his lamentation, “unlike the special treatment the federal government gave to the Niger Delta militants, the Boko Haram members were being killed and their houses demolished.”

Waziri Adio should tell Nigerians what Buhari meant by that statement. If it was not supportive of Boko Haram and at the same time playing the ethno-religious card, then half the world is not enough as a gift to me. Now, how can a former head of state even make such a statement? What was it meant to achieve? Any objective deductions from Buhari’s statements will inevitably come to the sane conclusion that many Nigerians have come to - a religious fundamentalist who wants to right the perceived ‘wrongs’ done to the north.
Lest we forget, The same Buhari was once nominated by Boko Haram as their chief negotiator even though he reluctantly declined. But why did the murderous terror sect choose Buhari of all people, a former head of state of Nigeria, as their negotiator from a motley crowd of qualified ethno-religious champions who believe that power belongs to the north or “northerners are born to rule”? I am unable to find an answer to this question except to think that perhaps, Boko Haram trusted him more to represent their interest. Was this also ‘contrived’?
It is easy to rebuke those who call Buhari a religious fundamentalist or an extremist, but Buhari’s character portrait and utterances over the years speak to the answer. I was once a big fan of Buhari in the 80s, and for the life of me, I agonised over many sleepless nights when my ‘hero’ started to unravel before my very eyes. His war against indiscipline endeared him to me. It was good for society and it remains an enduring legacy in the country today.
While this write-up is not an assessment of the failings of Buhari’s regime from 1984, I am of the belief that a man who executed three young Nigerians with a law retroactively implemented and has remained unrepentant, unremorseful and still believes in the rightness of that action, his sense of morality and righteousness must be deeply flawed. And for those who think Buhari’s views have matured over time, I say, I wish. We seems to have forgotten so soon how innocent youth corpers serving in parts of the north were killed just because Buhari lost the 2011 presidential election? And I dare say the language of his campaign was largely responsible for those killings.

I am also not impressed with the narrative out there that Buhari believes in fighting corruption with total commitment, even though he may not be personally corrupt and I dare say, he is not. He allows certain things under table and in some cases, negligently aids and abets corrupt acts. Remember the 53 suit cases? What about his stewardship at PTF? It is not as flattering as some would want us to believe. And before I forget, in 2008, at the 10th anniversary of the death of Abacha, Buhari declared to the consternation of all Nigerians that Abacha was neither corrupt nor a thief. “He did not steal Nigeria’s money,” he declared sternly with military fiat. This is despite the fact that several countries had returned hundreds of millions of dollars to Nigeria as part of Abacha’s recovered loot. I don’t know if this position was also ‘contrived’ by Buhari’s hate club. If not, I don’t know how much good this does to the General’s image as an anti-corruption leader that is being daily burnished in the media. Anyone who denies this fact of history that Abacha did not loot the treasury cannot be an honest person and for Buhari to do that speak powerfully to the charge against him. It is an eloquent testimony that tells a lot about what his promoters would not want to talk about.


The harrowing traffic chaos that we all suffer and agonise over today in Lagos is a direct result of Buhari’s narrow and parochial minded view of economic affairs of this country. The cancellation of the Lagos Metro Line project after commencement of work remains a sad reminder of Buhari’s lack of vision and foresight. Tragically, those who have borne the brunt of that unfortunate action are today the very people packaging, marketing and promoting him to be president partly with the resources of the Lagos state. Thankfully, our memories are not like architecture that is often described as frozen music.

This is Professor Wole Soyinka’s take away on Buhari in 2007. It is like he just wrote it yesterday, “The grounds on which General Buhari is being promoted as the alternate choice are not only shaky, but pitifully naïve. History matters. Records are not kept simply to assist the weakness of memory, but to operate as guides to the future. Of course, we know that human beings change. What the claims of personality change or transformation impose on us is a rigorous inspection of the evidence, not wishful speculation or behind-the-scenes assurances. Public offence, crimes against a polity, must be answered in the public space, not caucuses of bargaining. In Buhari, we have been offered no evidence of the sheerest prospect of change. On the contrary, all evidence suggests that this is one individual who remains convinced that this is one ex-ruler that the nation cannot call to order. Need one remind anyone he was one of the Generals who treated a Commission of Enquiry, the Oputa Panel, with unconcealed disdain. Like Babaginda and Abdusalami, he refused to put in appearance even though complaints that were tabled against him involved a career of gross abuses of power and blatant assault on the fundamental human rights of the Nigerian citizenry. Prominent against these charges was an act that amounted to nothing less than judicial murder, the execution of a citizen under a retroactive decree. Does Decree 20 ring a bell? If not, then, perhaps the names of three youths-Lawal Ojuolape(30), Bernard Ogedengbe (29) and Bartholomew Owoh (26) do. To put it quite plainly, one of those three-Ogedengbe-was executed for a crime that did not carry a capital forfeiture at the time it was committed. This was an unconscionable crime, carried out in defiance of the pleas and protests of nearly every sector of the Nigerian and international community, religious, civil rights, political, trade unions etc.”
It is a tragic irony that some of those rooting for and shouting sai Buhari! sai Buhari!! are members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm who suffered terribly under the General’s jackboot. Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor must be pinching themselves and wondering what has happened to society’s gatekeepers’ memories.

did sombody forget that yesterday was a saturday? or do courts sit on saturday now to give this kind of order?

gentleoyink:
That palace of your Olu was not originally located Warri. It was located in Ode Itsekiri. They moved it to Warri after the government changed his title from Olu of Itsekiri to Olu of Warri. Agbasa area down to Enerhen, Ud belongs to the Urhobos. Ogbe Ijo is exclusivly an Ijaw town. You Tsekes are located in the Ajamimogha (forgive my spelling) area and other along that side.

Your problem is that you guys think because of the title of Olu of Warri, you can lay claims to other tribes ancestral home. When the fight starts, it is the same Tsekes that will call on FG, Nigeria Army, USA, UK to come protect them from annihilation.

Stay your area make the other tribes stay their side una no wan gree.

prevention, is better than cure

By the way, do you think insulting anybody makes your position valid?

even d land where palace is was bought from d Okumagbas, a prominent urhobo family who prevent d Olu from building his palace on it for a very long time till recenly

we have 4G network in nigeria.: Swift network in several cities in nigeria for years now.

R-E-V-E-A-L-E-D!!!
The North Deceived Me With Tambuwal/Amaechi Ticket - Gov. Amaechi.

**Aliyu told me that the North has decided to sponsor a Tambuwal /Amaechi ticket in 2015 under PDP.
**We are all in shock, on how Gov. Aliyu would turn around to champion an endorsement of President Jonathan for re-election.
**For Gov Aliyu, I would rather you don't eat with him at all. He was the pioneer and architect of rebellion in the PDP followed by Lamido.


"I personally do not have any issue with our President. You can ask him. The only issue was a minor disagreement between me and the wife of the President over certain aspects of government policies. And we could have resolved it. After all, I didn't continue with the demolition of the waterfronts. I stopped on her advice! However, the present feud started when Gov. Aliyu told me that the north has decided to sponsor a Tambuwal/Amaechi ticket in 2015 under the platform of the PDP. Aliyu, then pretentiously initiated a grand plan that made me the chairman of Nigeria governor's forum, just to lure me, to support his rebellious act in the PDP to stop President Jonathan.

But when it became very clear that the President was in total control of the PDP. Aliyu brokered a meeting between the G7 governors and the leadership of the APC at the Niger state governor's lodge. Tinubu, Buhari, Ikimi, Tambuwal, Ribadu, Baraje, Adams and 7 other APC governors were in attendance. In that meeting, the G7 governors all agreed to join the APC.

Two days after that meeting, Gov. Adams called me and advised me to remain in PDP. Then I called Aliyu and told him, that Adams has been with the APC long enough to know their intrigues, and has advised me to remain in the PDP. But Aliyu told me, that the day he discussed the Tambuwal/Amaechi ticket with the leadership of the APC that Adams objected to it and expressed his willingness to run with Tambuwal. And Aliyu warned me never to discus my interest with Adams, that Adams doesn't mean well for me. So the G5 governors continued with the plan and remained in APC. Aliyu is a chameleon and represents everything evil.

He was the pioneer and architect of rebellion in the PDP followed by Lamido. We are all in shock, on how Gov. Aliyu would turn around to champion an endorsement of President Jonathan for re-election. Even up till last month, Aliyu and Lamido were still promising the G5 governors of a showdown in the PDP. The hearts of men are indeed deceitful and desperately wicked. If you have to eat with the devil with a long spoon. For Aliyu, I would rather you don't eat with him at all. Better starve to death than eat with him. If I knew, I would have listened to Adams and remained in the PDP. - Newsday. - Hope For Nigeria.

LIKE www.fb.com/hopefornigeria Page, if U have not done that already.

by Nicholas Ibekwe

The last 72 hours have probably been the most intense in my life. The love, kind words and support I’ve received in that period from total strangers mostly, has been overwhelming. I want to thank everybody who saw the good in what I did. Though, to be honest, I think it was a little stupid. What was I thinking putting my life and probably my career on the line in an attempt to change something so entrenched it seems unchangeable? However, really I am not fazed by the trash talk from those allergic to the truth.

It’s been a long time coming and someone has to put the bell on the fat cat.

During the same period I have also been insulted like never before. I have been called the most uncomplimentary names and all the curses in Deuteronomy hurled towards me. They should be ashamed that the bruised ego of their spiritual godfather means more to them than the over ninety lives that perished under the rubble.

I can deal with the trash talk and name-calling. But I am also not naïve. I have made plans to evacuate my family to safety at the shortest notice in case things escalate. I hope that does not happen, but one can never be so sure with these fundamentalists.

They said I’m an attention freak; that I published the audio clip because I yearned to be a social media celebrity (whatever that means). Well, I won’t lie; I enjoyed the 15 minutes of fame. I loved the thrill of being in the eye of the storm. In case my accusers are reading this, I got over 2,000 followers on Twitter within the period. I don’t know what to make of that yet. I’m not so sure about this Twitter thing but if there’s a way I can convert that to money, that would be something. Gbenga Olorunpomi, how much does one twitter follower exchange for a dollar these days?

So why did I publish the audio?

I had recorded the audio six days before posting it on Twitter. To be sincere, I did not think much of it until Saturday morning. I was intently watching the way the collapsed building drama was being played out in the media after the rather disappointing way Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, dodged reporters through a back door following his private meeting with TB Joshua on September 14. I observed that Nigerian media were being too gentle on TB Joshua despite the glaring irregularities surrounding the collapse. I read more reports about the “hovering craft” and how Boko Haram could have sabotaged the building.

Very little was reported about the structural defects of the building. Not much was written about the fact that the building originally had 2 floors and was being illegally refurbished with 4 additional floors when it collapsed. We didn’t come hard on the Synagogue Church goons who attacked first responders. We didn’t highlight the fact that many of those that perished could have been saved if NEMA officials weren’t barred from the site for almost three days! We didn’t make an issue of the fact that our colleagues who had gone to report the collapsed building were molested on Saturday.

So when I woke up last Saturday morning and saw the picture of Jonathan shaking hands with a grinning TB Joshua with headlines like “Jonathan consoles TB Joshua,” I said damn it! I couldn’t stomach this blatant impunity.

TB Joshua is perhaps the most powerful preacher in Africa and politicians all over the continent fawn at him. But as watchdogs, journalists must hold entrenched powers to account. If Nigerian politicians didn’t realise that more than 90 lives had just perished underneath a building without requisite permit and that those responsible should be held accountable, then the responsibility falls on journalists to force them to do the right thing.

Journalists shouldn’t be seen or heard telling the prime suspect they would write “just like you said” after he offered to buy their consciences with N50,000.

Some of the reporters who collected the N50,000 have called me after the audio went viral to complain. They told me they have been getting calls from colleagues and family members who recognised their voices in the recording. One even accused me of a breach of trust. I told him I didn’t sign a pact of silence with anybody. For me the decision was between covering the ethical shortcomings of my colleagues or doing that which is right to make sure those who died and their families get justice. The decision was easy.

Why didn’t I publish the audio the same day I recorded it? Nigerian journalists habitually ask for gratification at press conferences and corporate events that it has unfortunately become a norm. Reporters actually think you’re a fool if you turned down what they call “brown envelope”. There are several excuses to justify it: “We’re poorly paid,” “We have not been paid for months,” etc. Honestly, it’s hard to dismiss some of these excuses sometimes. Nigerian Journalists are perhaps among the worst paid in the world. This is where the Nigerian Union of Journalist should do more. Its officials should stop paying courtesy calls to politicians (of course, we know what exchanges hands during these visits) and do more to force Jet-flying owners of media organisations to pay reporters more and on time. We deserve it.

Journalists should also explore other related and legitimate means of making money like researching, writing and editing reports for NGOs, writing and editing of brochures and reports, working as fixers to foreign journalists, blogging (I recently met a Nigerian television reporter that makes quite some money monthly from his blog), etc.

Like everything in Nigeria, this “brown envelope” thing has been stretched beyond the limit of ridiculousness. I’ll give some examples: On August 15, 2010 a truck belonging to Dangote Sugar Refinery caused an inferno at the Ojodu Bridge outside Otedola Estate in Lagos. More that fifty people perished in the fire. An inquest was initiated by a non-governmental organisation, Access to Justice and Human Rights lawyer, Femi Falana. Please take a deep breath before reading the next sentence. During the inquest, officials of Dangote Industries distributed cartons of spaghetti (and some money, probably to buy ingredients) to court reporters at the Ikeja High Court to probably skew their account of the hearing.

In case you missed it let me repeat. Some Nigerian Journalists collected packs of spaghetti as bribes!

Are we that hungry? Some reporters got as little as 12 packs of spaghetti. My friend, Ben Ezeamalu, was almost beaten up for speaking against it. In fact, they erected a wall of hostility around themselves whenever he came around. According to him, a very senior journalist pulled him aside and told him it was easy for him to turn down the brown envelope because he wasn’t married and had no school fees to pay.

Ben said his curiosity was aroused while he was researching for material on the internet for an article he was writing days before the coroner’s verdict on the inquest. To his surprise, there was very little material for an inquest that involved Africa’s richest man and had lasted 19 months! After the coroner delivered his verdict, in which he indicted Dangote’s company as well as the Nigeria Police, the (short) article was tucked away in a remote corner in almost all the newspapers the next day. The fact that the coroner indicted Dangote was also carefully left out in the articles. Other journalists have tagged Ben “a spy” for consistently refusing to collect “brown envelopes”.

Nigerian journalists no longer know where to draw the line. A father that lost his son during last Dana plane crash was forced to pay journalists during his son’s wake-keep before it was reported. There are more puke-inducing instances but I’d stop here.

For those of you saying N50,000 ($300) was too little to entice Nigerian reporters, I’ve seen reporters scuffle over N2,000 ($12) during a press conference.

During last year’s gubernatorial election in Ondo State, reporters literally came to blows at Governor Mimiko’s home after the latter released “appreciation money” for journalists who covered his polling unit. The sharing formula was N10,000 per head, until the cash ran low and the formula switched to N7,000. Cue bedlam.

The governor’s PA, looking on with contempt, threatened to evict them from his employer’s residence if they failed to conduct themselves with decorum. One fellow even started arranging for another group of journalists to go meet the governor for another “appreciation money.”

Editors should also monitor their reporters too, but we all know that some editors get theirs through subtler manner (bank transfers). I’m a Nigerian journalist I want to change things the only way I know how to – going public with it. I’m not saying anything new here, everybody who has one thing or the other to do with journalists knows that these things happen. Maybe I’m the first journalist to go public with it in such a manner.

Corporate organisations and individuals should also stop offering these bribes (I still insist that they are bribes and nothing else). Journalists will report your events whether they like it or not. They want to stay in business. My heart skips any time I get a call from my editor or receive that email with a subject that reads: “Pending stories”. I know I’m required to deliver. I don’t need that “brown envelope” to turn around that copy.

I know in The Punch for instance, reporters are required to fill a certain number of pages every week. They can’t sit around waiting for “money to fuel your cars” to write stories to fill those pages. The threat of losing one of the most lucrative jobs in the industry is enough “inducement”. But the truth is most pressers aren’t news worthy so PR officials feel they need to induce reporters to write about them.

And for the fundamentalist followers of TB Joshua, this isn’t about your spiritual Godfather. I would still have gone public with this if the Pope was involved. I can’t say I’m sorry that his ego was bruised. He clearly meant for the money to influence the reporting of the event. “So what are you going to write?” He had asked. That makes it a bribe. Simple. I can’t help you if you couldn’t decipher that. I’m a reporter not a brain surgeon.

This is the last I’m going to say on this issue unless something drastic happens. Let the personal attacks continue.

—————————————————

A version of this piece was released simultaneously on Nicholas’s blog.

Sunday September 21st, 2014

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Polling Units’ Allocation: Jega’s northern agenda finally uncovered!
on september 21, 2014 at 6:06 am in special report
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INEC Chairman insists on favouring the North
Why National Assembly must understand the issues and not be taken for a ride
In this piece, which is a continuation of the national service to ensure that Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and its national chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, do not surreptitiously engender a policy that deliberately hands numerical superiority of Polling Units, PUs, which Nigeria’s Supreme Court described as “roots which nourish the whole electoral process”, to the North, further investigations have uncovered the details of the warped allocation process.
Mercifully, Jega’s visit to the National Assembly ended on a note that senators would study the figures and make up their minds.  Yet, every explanation by Jega has blind-sided the real issues and further exposed the real and perceived under-pining raison d’etre for the lopsided allocation.
By Jide Ajani
Jega’s blatant lie or crass ignorance
Does the number of polling units confer political advantage on a state/region? The answer simply is ‘No’ – Professor Attahiru Jega, defending his illegitimate and lopsided allocation of Polling Units.
For an acclaimed professor and activist election manager of repute, it is either Attahiru Jega chose to barefacedly lie about, or is ignorant of the wonderful potentials for political advantage that a lopsided allocation of Polling Units, PUs, confers on a state/region.
Perhaps, blinded by a need to justify his mandate on the issue of PUs, Jega’s spirited efforts at defending the indefensible only continue to pour cold water on his every move.
To help Jega, Sunday Vanguard went as far as sourcing for and getting portions of a Supreme Court judgment which pooh-poohs his claims.
The pronouncement of the Supreme Court, in Ajasin vs Omoboriowo’s case, January 8, 1984, as per Mohhammed Bello (JSC), declared that “polling booths (which make up PUs) are the base of the pyramid which forms the electoral process under the provisions of the Electoral Act….the booths are the roots which nourish the whole electoral process (and the manipulative parts thereof)…”.
The  highest court in the land dwelt extensively on what it called the “manipulation” and “rigging” that polling units can be used for in determining the outcome of election.
New PU allocation in practical terms means the provision of voting facilities for 500 eligible voters. This means that when a state gets 1,000 new polling units it has new facilities to accommodate 500,000 eligible voters.
In practical terms, it means that INEC has prepared new facilities for over 500,000 new voters in each of some 11 states in the North that already have more than 1,000 new PUs, and only Lagos in the South
The latter explanation means that the beneficiary states must have increased their previous figures of eligible voters by about 500,000 eligible voters. Evidently, this is not the case from the outcome of the Post-Business Rules figure of the beneficiary states in the North.
More significantly, Borno and Yobe states got 1,333 and 790 new PUs. These are states with over 400,000 internally displaced persons who have moved to several states in the Middle Belt and mainly to the South.
That is not all.
The curse of selectivity
When you choose to engage in an argument and you believe and, therefore, insist that others are not equipped to read between the lines because of your seemingly saintly sense of propriety, you’ve got something else coming.
In INEC’s rebuttal of accusations of sectional bias in the creation of new PUs, the Commission embarked on wanton waste of public funds by publishing a speech which some have derisively condemned as lacking both in substance and depth in so far as the real issues are concerned. Take, for instance, the issue of figure
INEC deliberately and understandably failed to publish its declared 2011 Registered Figures and, more importantly, the outcome of the Post-Business Rule that shows clearly the massive reduction of figures across the 36 states including the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.
Instead and attempting to be clever by half, the Commission chose to use the Post-AFIS  figures without showing the progression from declared figures which, by its own admission, contains names of   eligible voters but with incomplete registration data such as absence of biometrics and facial image.
This return to Post-AFIS figures was deliberate on the part of the INEC spin-doctors given that the Commission’s clean-up of the register has brought daylight into the magic of many states that claim high population figures.
The question to ask Jega is, why did his Commission choose to use data that it did not employ for Anambra, Ekiti, Osun and would not be employing for the coming Adamawa State governorship election?
Mind you, INEC would not also be using post-AFIS for the 2015 election.
In addition, the Permanent Voter Card, PVR, is based on the Post-Business Rule and not Post-AFIS.
More, INEC, by its own admission and based on returns, has been able to establish that it issued less PVCs than the figures in the Post-AFIS data.
So, why did it publish the figures therein to deceive Nigerians?
That is not all.
Does it then make sense to increase the number of Polling Units in many states in the North where INEC regionalist proponents have allocated whopping new Polling Units at the expense of almost all states in the South?

Clark, Jega and Ekwueme
DISTORTIONS AND FALSEHOOD
But this re-enforcement of the lie, is the foundation of the distortions and falsehood peddled in INEC’s feeble attempt to explain its disproportionate PUs allocation.
Because INEC is yet to conclude CVR in 12 states, Jega should explain to Nigerians why the Commission was in so much haste to allocate PUs.
The table below exposes the lies that INEC has been trying to cover up with very little success.
PLAYING WITH FIGURES FOR CONCEALMENT
INEC tried to conceal the facts by publishing state by state allocations to make it look as if there were insignificant changes; by disaggregating the whole into current number of Polling Units per state, the disproportions were swallowed up making it look as if most of the states had almost similar or proportionate Polling Unit allocations.
A simple subtraction of the change in existing Polling Units to the current number  per states after the new allocations reveal the following disparities:
11 out of the 12 states which got over 1,000 new PUs are in the North.
States such as Katsina, Kano, Niger, Kaduna and Zamfara, just like the FCT, each got more new PUs  than the entire South-East.
All the five states which got 121 new PUs, namely Anambra, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Enugu, and Osun states, are in the South – allocation of 121 units only means the states got basically nothing, because all other states got 121 PUs before further new allocations were made
Imo State got 154 new PUs (almost nothing) whereas states   in the North like Kebbi and Adamawa, which are at par with Imo State in terms of the Post-AFIS figure of eligible voters (see table above) used by INEC for allocation, got almost 700 or more new Polling Units.
Similarly, Oyo State got 528 new PUs whereas it should be at par in allocation with states like Bauchi, Borno and Niger States, given the figure of eligible voters used for these states which all got over 1,000 new PUs allocated to them. Specifically, Niger State got 1,151 Polling Units more than Oyo which has 50,000 more eligible voters than Niger State in the figures used by INEC above.
How could it be explained that Oyo State, where you have Ogbomosho and Ibadan the second biggest city in Africa, now having less voters than   Borno, the hotbed of insurgency and, worse still, Yobe, that has 790 PUs compared to Oyo’s 528 ?
By the same token, Osun State has about 40,000 voters more in the figures used by INEC above, than Yobe State.
But while peaceful Osun State got basically no new Polling Unit allocations considering that the 121 it got is a baseline allocation for all states, Yobe State, which is at war, where most of the population has be driven away by strife, got 790 new PUs allocated to it. The question is why?
It is unimaginable how far INEC is ready to go to try to gloss over this obvious inequity and iniquity; the more it tries to explain it, the more it impugns its integrity

After having a close shave with death in kaduna, Buhari now believes Nigeria can overcome terrorism and condemned BH in his strongest term yet. he didnt say d govt was incompetent. BB also personally signed a statement condemning terrorism and rally support for GEJ.
Maybe more of these leaders will begin join hands with FG to combat terrorism if they believe their personal safety is at stake. But leaders should not act for themselvs alone but for the interest of those they are leading..

After having a close shave with death in kaduna, Buhari now believes Nigeria can overcome terrorism and condemned BH in his strongest term yet. he didnt say d govt was incompetent. BB also personally signed a statement condemning terrorism and rally support for GEJ.
Maybe more of these leaders will begin join hands with FG to combat terrorism if they believe their personal safety is at stake. But leaders should not act for themselvs alone but for the interest of those they are leading..

danot1030: The bill shuld hav more ingredients to protect the casual workers who are yet to clock two yrs in their working places from being sack before they complete the stipulated two years.

in addition to the above, those already more than 2 yrs may be droped b4 this bill is signed. and there is a loop hole that should be closed; most companies now outsource jobs to paymasters who provide the manpower, so technically u r not on their payroll either as contract staff or otherwise. so alot of work needs to be done on this bill. good one though..

How come this happened just after APC lost in EKiti, how do we now hold those that promised succide and going to exile to words.

Abagworo: Complete nonsense! I was with some Kalabari elders just 2days ago and they are quite sentimental about the disputed area. According to them, the dispute in the area is older than Nigeria and Jonathan cannot just come in one day and seed the land to Nembe. They've fought several ancient wars with Nembe over that area and are still ready to fight over it. They said Obasanjo created a neutral account where kept the proceeds in order to avoid crisis. This is a 1st hand information from responsible men and not from a secondary source. Kalabaris are generally not happy.

ABAGWORO! Where you did you see kalabari elders to have this discussion. what about what the kalabari King said recently? what about did elders that where shown on national TV who supported the FG. You expect us to ignore this ones who came publicly to give the true picture of things and your support your faceless virtual elders? ok o. but is it true that the oil wells were ceded to Bayelsa before Jonathan became vice president and the money released to them before he became president? if so why the noise now? why blame Jonathan for something he didnt do? why is only amaechi crying wolf while the people themselves are saying sheep?

Ikengawo: Yoruba people have realized they are in the natural second class citizen status and won't be returning to power anytime soon after selling their father's land to Bola Tinubu. I'm ready for tomorrow's lie. Alison MADUEKE hasn't been mentioned in a while, I'm going to place my bet that they'll say she's from zimbabwe

They havn't mentioned her because she has been quite for a while, once she starts any reform that affects their economic interest you will see the propaganda of all propagandas. just see what will happen if she pushes for sale of refineries, passage of PIB, removal of fuel subsidy or bidding of expired oil blocks previously allocated to them.

When I see a report from Sahara reporters, I first of all pause, verify before commenting, cant afford to loose my credibilty because of SR.

solomon111: This is the first time i am seeing a good story about Nigeria on bbc.

Thats is because Nigeria is being TRANSFORMED gradually but steadily by a man who is not appreciated by us

Was is there so much talk of bombs in Rivers since Ameachi invited [b]Buhari and APC [/b]into the State

wow, i just love when argue points base on verifiable facts. kudos to Reno. na now you wake up.

rolchi: Reuben is correct! See

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rslEO2y0jeo

this people will not kill Jonathan with misinformation

manchy7531: A group known as Ikwerre Development Coalition has berated the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi over a comment he made in an interview with AIT Television where the Governor accused President Goodluck Jonathan of developing Biafran People and neglecting his State Rivers State.
The Governor Amaechi in an interview with AIT television said that, President Jonathan has developed Abia, and Imo but he refused to develop Rivers. Are we Biafrans?" -
The group, in a statement by its statement by its Convener, Hilary Wosu regretted that Governor Amaechi is grappling with the reality of having lost the support of the people who have refused to defect to APC with him and are vehemently in support of Jonathan.
Wosu said: “The people of the South-East are our blood and geographical brothers. What Jonathan is doing in the South-East, he is doing in Rivers State. The President is constructing the Elele-PH road which is nearing completion, he is constructing the East-West road to be finished in 2014, he rehabilitating the PH-Enugu road, he has built the Law Faculty at Uniport which had none for over 30years and he has also built the complete structure for the Faculty of Biological Sciences.
“The reconstruction of the PH International airport will be concluded this year, while he has constructed a brand new Girl-Child Model School in PH and also two electronic libraries at the Federal Government College, PH and Federal Government Girls College, Abolema. Need we mention the laboratories and classroom bocks built at the Federal College of Education (Technical) Omoku.”
He, however, said that at least Governor Amaechi has recognised the marvelous work the President was doing in his neighbouring states, even though he denies the obvious work being done in Rivers state.
“Thank God we are seeing while Amaechi remains blind. The truth is that he is being deceived by the unrealizable promise that he would be a Vice President. He lost out in the mainstream, and he can only continue to cry

Is the bolded true? Oya over to the Ameachi guys.

This is the first time I have read something from punch that's on the money, objective and nationalistic. Maybe there's hope after all.

i am quite hopeful that soon power issues will be like fuel scarcity- a distant memory!

this is coup prevention strategy

Kairoseki77: Yes, building. It will be completed in 2015.

The difference between Jonathan and Tinubu is one has a long term vision and can carry it out, while the other patches holes in a leaky bucket.

The difference is also that no other STATE Government is doing anything like it.

Pls come to Asaba, you will see airport started by Ibori and completed Uduaghan and these men are corrupt o, but they have given us airport. Why you own still building? Abi na clearing of site them still dey?

Uziehot: D headline shud b ALAM,GOODLUCK AND SILVA. Y skip d president wen u knw dat he embezzled 2?

You can give it any title you want but back it up with proof or shuld I say a body that describes the title. This story has no connection with Alams or GEJ its a report of what happened in Bayelsa from 2009-12, that Slyva's tenure isn't it?

raphead: insecure9gerian come defend your master from this master blow from the real sincere Nigerian. don't forget to bring your gej bandwagon of a55 lickers I.e papabullshit, taharaqa, tomfoolery, egunjewoman et al.

The account gives a report of what happened during sylva's reign, and GEJ chased him out for it and told Dickson to sit up or he will cast the first stone. The question is can we get a report for when GEJ was governor? Then he can answer for his sins. This report doesn't even indict D.S.P.

Obiagelli: I totally commend gej for this effort, i know the problems I face every Xmas from fuel scarcity, i actually stocked up fuel as early as November. This is what I call development. Touching the common man. Though I won't vote him 2015.

Atleast you agree he his doing well, that's enough for me, as voting him or not, that's your power over our politicians, use it well so that you keep comending a president that keeps solving problems for you.

My own is that one week to the end of the year, they are passing a 2013 supplementary budget of N28B, I mean 8days, and the budget went thru 1st, reading, 2nd reading and was passed in one day, no one asked what the money is meant for. What are dey gonna use 28B to do in 8days or has the money being spent already and they want to cover up? And nobody is shouting corruption? EFCC steps in to save the day and we are saying witch hunting? HABA!

berem: who gives a hoot if the stadium was filled or not? Is that what we are discussing here? You should have bothered about the purpose of the rally and not the number of people that came. Last time I checked, it was not a football match that was being played in the stadium.

You see Berem, Ameachi Lied when he said the stadium was filled the to capacity and it was so obvious that wasn't true. That means most of what he has been saying are just lies. We have heard a number of them before, e.g police blocked him from entering his office, or that Jonathan took Soku wells from Rivers state only for for him to confess today that the wells were taken in 2006 when Jonathan was a simple governor who had no say on national issues atleast certainly not where Odili or Obj was. Anyways I just wonder how he expect pple to follow him to APC when you have to check if its truly afternoon whenever he says goodafternoon.