₦airaland Forum

I look forward to a day when we (Nigerians) stop falling for all the distractions to good governance. First post election violence, Boko Haram, Presidential jet grounded, constitution of cabinet and their wages, minimum wage wahala, illegal fund collections, islamic banking and islamization of Nigeria,response or non-response to flooding, anti boko haram group, rivers state governor buying an expensive aircraft,executive and legislative public office tenure elongation. These things seem deliberately instituted by government to prevent us from focusing on the barest basic needs of good governance. we need to categorically put government on point to focus on the more immediate needs of the economy. If it is massive agricultural production and storage devices to ensure food security, collective public private partnership towards housing utilizing good share of manual labour which will immediately have slight impact on some level of unemployment, short and long term revamping of the energy sector which will definitely drive the economy, re-awakening of good moral conduct by schools and community programs which may and may not involve community and traditional leaders. We can then move to or simultaneously work on developing more effective transport though I fear too many sticks in the fire will not burn well or in a controlled manner.

Christian and Muslim organisations establish schools and hospitals without any condemnation or objection from either side, why then should the introduction of a mere banking product called Islamic banking or non-interest banking into our banking system generate so much furore and controversy?

The Serving Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly and Vice-Presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, Pastor Tunde Bakare, on Sunday, appraised Christian leaders’ position on the controversial Islamic banking debate, and accused them of insincerity.

His declaration came as he said he would open an account with the bank once it becomes operational.

Bakare, who spoke on the theme ‘Signposts to The Emergence of a Dictator’ noted that Islamic banking would not result in the Islamisation of the country, but would rather bring relief to the citizenry.

According to him, following that interest rates in the conventional banks are high, Islamic banking will be a huge relief in this area.

He said, “Nobody can Islamise or Christianise Nigeria. Don’t be fooled by church leaders who are speaking from both sides of the mouth. My name is Mr. Bakare and I can change my name to Mallam, an equivalent of Mr., if it will help me get the loan. Islamisation my foot!

“This country will remain a country of truths. People will face options and they will choose to serve God the way they choose. Islamic banking is another distraction just like the Arabic on the naira.

“Dubai is a Muslim country and it is progressive. Many Muslim countries are doing well. If Nigeria is practicing Islam and is retrogressing, then there is something wrong.”

Bakare, who denied that his support for Islamic banking had to do with his background, said it was purely a question of being business-minded.

He added, “Whether Islamic banking or non-interest banking, call it any name as long as you are operating within the law. The semantics is not the issue. It has always been there. There is no point making an issue out of nothing. There are Muslims in Nigeria who are bona-fide Nigerians and they can have it but the church and people of other faiths should not be sidetracked.

“My sympathy with non-interest banking is because any businessman knows the benefit of doing business without heavy loans. In the United Kingdom, the interest rate is six per cent and they still have Islamic banking. In Nigeria, it is 24 per cent. It is too high. When those banks start operating, I’ll quickly open an account with them.”

On the theme of the day, Bakare charged the political leadership to stop the profligacy in government, saying it was driving the nation to the precipice. He also promised to continue to advocate the indivisibility of the country.

He said, “I will continue to advocate that the best of north and the best of the south come together to lift Nigeria out of its current entrapment. I don’t believe in Oduduwa or Igbo Republic. Our country’s diversity can be harnessed to produce the best.”

http://punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201107251524776

It is no longer news that there are babies in Nigerian prisons. What you might have known is that the number is far more than you could imagine.

In Kirikiri prisons in Lagos, a visit by a body (CRAPI), sometime late last year proved a shocker. The group found to their consternation that the prisons not only hold baby prisoners or inmates, but a very large number.

The body that later commenced processes in two Lagos courts to free these baby inmates saw 10 babies. That was not all. They also saw 10 pregnant inmates in the same prison. With at least 10 babies they carry, it means Kirikiri Prisons alone had 20 kids in jail through association as at last year.

But a puzzle that will remain unsolved is not only how these babies got in there, but rather that most of these babies were conceived after the suspect mothers got into detention or started serving terms. Saturday Sun dug into that mystery and discovered that there could be some inexplicable mystery of conception in a prison or detention cell other than what human beings know. Maybe, in prison cells conception is contagious, airborne or waterborne.

Police detention
The search started from the police - the first point of call where some of these women are detained for weeks before they are charged to court. The suspicion in this matter is the fact that most of these mothers-while-in-prison got there without any pregnancy. Viewed in another way, there is doubt if the law in Nigeria permits that a pregnant woman sentenced to prison starts serving the term when the baby had not been delivered.

SOURCE:http://sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/living/2011/july/23/living-07-23-2011-001.html

OAM4J:
OP can you please give us the link to your source before i delete this?

It doesnt take anything to confirm things.It is bodly written on the PM's twiiter page

Irony of a black man mentality. As GEJ was busy celebrating his meeting with the British Prime Minister through his facebook page, This is what Prime Minister had to say about GEJ through his twitter page, ('Met President of Nigeria & asked why he named himself after a band @gljonathanband. He's not very bright. Didn't understand me!'). I just saw this and all i did was shake my head for GEJ.

The Norwegian attack simply buttresses the point that no race,religion,political persuation and ideological leanings has monopoly of terror and violence.

Perhaps the man acted out the PDP slogan to the letter! Do or die politics. Please I would like more PDP and other useless politicians in the country to follow example of this man. If you don't get the post, kill yourself. One down more to go. Good radiance to bad rubbish!

I am celebrating with NELSON MANDELA on his 93rd bday for his unwavering commitment to the ideals of good governance,equity & justice.A man who has earned his place on d pages of history and in d memory of d world by his deeds,words and the quality of life as a global anti-apartheid icon.

Barely a week after his appointment as chief spokesman for President Goodluck Jonathan, Reuben Abati is having his first taste of political and legal heat. Muhammadu Buhari, former military head of state and presidential candidate for Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), has threatened to drag Mr. Abati, until recently a columnist as well as chairman of the editorial board of the Guardian, to court for an alleged libel.

Mr. Buhari is miffed over a column Mr. Abati penned alleging that Mr. Buhari's campaign slogans were the cause of the post-election violence after the April 2011 presidential polls.

In a letter sent to Abati by Tope Adebayo, Mr. Buhari gave the new presidential aide one week to retract the libelous column or face a libel suit.

In a statement that accompanied the letter, Buhari's spokesperson, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, said that all those who peddled falsehood against the former head of state must pay for their actions, adding that Mr. Abati is one of such individuals.

Prior to Mr. Abati’s appointment as presidential spokesman to Mr. Goodluck Jonathan, he wrote a series of columns in the Guardian that were apparently in preparation for his recent appointment. It was in one of the pro-Jonathan columns that he made the allegations against Mr. Buhari.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/post-election-violence-buhari-threatens-sue-reuben-abati-libel

We warned Ngozi Okonjo Iwealla not to take up appointment with no-good GEJ's govt, she didn't hear. Today she has fallen complete mugu of GEJ and PDP's magic. Finance Ministry has been split, GEJ created a new ministry called Trade & Investment Ministry which is overlapping the functions of Finance Ministry. Her powers checked and confined. Sorry we warned you that PDP govt cannot be trusted.

LAGOS — Sunday’s heavy rainfall, which crippled Lagos State, has forced Governor Babatunde Fashola to declare Monday a public holiday.

Vehicular and human movements, including commercial activities in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub were paralysed.
The rain, which started at about 5am in most parts of the state, lasted till late into the night, flooding homes and roads across the state.

The roads were rendered impassable, while residents in some areas struggled to salvage their household items from the flood. In Jakande Estate, flood swept cars and buses.

Flood : Apapa/Oshodi Expressway flooded due to heavy down pour thereby causing traffic buildups for motorists. Photo by Sylva Eleanya

Reacting to the flood, the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, advised residents not to panic, noting that the flood will soon recede.


Opeifa noted that the state government was taking steps to avert a possible disaster in parts of the state where the situation is critical.

Similarly, Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello, pleaded with Lagosians to be patient with the state government, saying the rain was exceptionally heavy and prolonged.

He said: “Dear Lago-sians, please bear with us. Today’s downpour has been heavier than normal as the state government had earlier warned. It has been raining since 5am in many areas and it hasn’t stopped.

“The water level had risen incredibly and the channels that were meant to discharge water from the roads and drainages are completely blocked because of the high tide and because the Atlantic Ocean and Lagoon that receive water from our channels have risen more than usual.”

Areas worst affected were the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, Egbeda, Agege, Ojo, Ipaja-Ayobo, Igando, Orile as well as Ahmadu Bello Way and part of Adeola Odeku Street on Victoria Island. Also affected was part of Obafemi Awolowo Way, Ikeja, especially the round-about linking Oba Akran Way, among others.

The flood was serious on Lagos-Badagry Expressway, particularly opposite the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex, where motorists were seen wading through flood waters which covered houses and cars. The development resulted in heavy traffic jam.

It was a similar situation at the U-turn close to Abule-Ado Bus Stop, where flood took over the road stretching towards the access road to Satellite Town from the Badagry expressway.

Passengers were also left stranded at bus stops as there were few commercial buses on the road, yesterday. Most of communters were seen taking shelter at Alakija bus stop shed and rushed at intervals to board buses.

On Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, it was a traumatic situation for motorists, especially near Mile 2 where the drainage system had completely failed leading to heavy flooding on the expressway.

Several vehicles, especially smaller cars, were stucked in the water further compounding the traffic situation. Vehicles found it difficult to maneuver their way through the murky flood.

Officials of companies located close to Mile 2, whose premises were submerged, battled to salvage their businesses by channeling the water to the express road using pumping machines.

On Ahmadu Bello/Adeola Odeku turning on Victoria Island, vehicles were seen wading through the water leading to traffic jam which stretched towards Bonny Camp. Part of the Ahmadu Bello opposite the popular Lagos Bar Beach was also submerged.

The fence of two houses collapsed, causing serious damage to an SUV in Olowokere and Church streets in the Egbe-Idimu Local Council Development Area, even as residents of four other streets (Alhaja Mama, Akin Olugbade, Bilesanmi and Jemi Alade streets) have all evacuated in order to avoid another disaster.

Two people have lost their lives in the last two weeks in the area. A 16-year-old boy, Segun was rescued by residents last week from drowning.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/07/lagos-flood-fashola-declares-monday-public-holiday-2/

Before Ikeja,Badagry was the capital of Lagos state.I discovered this in a book titled:STREET MAP OF LAGOS STATE.

Correct me if I am wrong,marriage should not be a priority of a jobless man.

If Nigeria should divide, we will start importing suya, kilishi, kola, garden egg, sugar cane, grandnut etc. our shoe markers and gatemen will need visas to come, so many jobs the Hausa people do for us, our own people cannot do them. Imagine an Igbo young man becoming Mai Ruwa, Mai Suya, etc, in Igboland.

What is the difference between shakara and action? Shakara - is when the IGP says he'll deal with Boko Haram (without any actual plan): Action is when Boko Haram bombs "The Police Headquarters" the next day!!

The enitre contraption called Nigeria is weak

Can someone pls tell Mr President that the kind of terrorism in Nigeria is not a global phenomenon & does not happen in many countries?
,
Abuja has been bombed 4 different times since October 1, 2010, not to talk of Maiduguri, Suleja, Jos & other places!

Bombs don't go off almost every week in the UK or US, not in South Africa or Botswana or even neighbouring Ghana!!!

How many bombs have gone off in Accra, Johannesburg, Pretoria, London, New York, Washington DC, Paris, Beijing, in the past one year?

Or is Mr President now comparing Nigeria with warring Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq or Libya? Are thses troubled countries his definition of "global"?

GEJ should please stop making silly excuses for the failure of government!See more

Almost two years into his stewardship at the apex bank, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi receives a down-to-earth appraisal of his banking ‘reforms’ by AKPABIO UMOYEN-ESSIEN, an Ontario, Canada-based financial analyst and consultant to leading international financial and development institutions.

CURRENT Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi chose the Bayero University, Kano in February 2010 to outline his vision for Nigeria’s banking sector reforms, eight months into its implementation. He said his strategy for the Nigerian banking sector (if he still remembers, given that there is yet no documented Blueprint) will be based on four pillars namely:

• Enhancing the quality of banks;

• Establishing financial stability;

• Enabling healthy financial sector evolution; and

• Ensuring the financial sector contributes to the real economy

He was full of fire and zeal and high on the euphoria of public praise after sacking the managing directors of eight banks. Two years on, how has the CBN Governor fared on his outlined goals for the Nigerian banking sector? Few discerning analysts were quick to point out that the reform agenda as outlined above was vague.

The quality of banks: The question is: What are the criteria to measure the quality of a bank. Is it quality of services, quality of the bank’s board, management and staff, quality of financial reporting or all of these combined. The CBN Governor never defined the criteria of quality of banks so it is quite difficult to measure him on this goal.

But we want to assume that when he said quality, he meant all the criteria we outlined above. So we look at quality of services of banks under two years of Sanusi. What policies have Sanusi put in place to enhance the quality of services of Nigerian banks?

Forgive us, but we cannot find anything Sanusi has done to increase the quality of services of Nigerian banks. What we find is that Sanusi’s actions have actually compounded the quality of service delivery in the banking sector. What Sanusi’s hasty reforms have done is to reduce the banking options in the Nigerian banking sector putting pressure on a few banks. Several reports, including banks’ returns to CBN for 2009 compared with 2010 have shown that four banks now control nearly 50 per cent of the market in the banking industry from ten banks that controlled this same share of the banking industry before Sanusi. On deposits, for instance, these four banks have N4.5 trillion out of N10.7 trillion deposits in the banking system.

The significance of this concentration of the Nigerian banking space is obvious on the impact this has had on the quality of service delivery. Beside poor services, customers are also subjected to pay all forms of charges by these leading banks as customers have little choice.

The four leading banks also now control more than 70 per cent of banking industry profit (Q1 2011 Reports). What Sanusi’s reform has done is to create four banks that are now too big to fail and 20 banks that are too fragile to offer meaningful support to the economy.

The current structure of Nigerian banks, a result of Sanusi’s reforms has created the biggest single threat to his second stated goal of ensuring financial stability in the Nigerian banking space. How do you enhance financial stability when a few banks have become financial monopolies?

How do you ensure a healthy evolution of the Nigeria financial sector, Sanusi’s third stated goal in the financial sector, when just four banks are now in charge of the Nigerian economy? Where is fair competition in the Nigerian banking sector? How do you strengthen the remaining 20 banks when they have been boxed into an uncomfortable corner in the Nigerian banking industry?

The quality and strength of majority of Nigerian banks have significantly dropped in two years of Sanusi. This is basically because Sanusi’s methods have damaged the ability of many Nigerian banks to compete in the Nigerian banking space. Sanusi’s hasty reforms has not had a damaging effect on just the so-called rescued banks, it has also damaged even the banks that were not rescued.

Non-rescued banks also sick?

The impact of Sanusi’s hasty reforms on even the healthy banks can be easily seen when the AMCON announced its intention to buy toxic assets from the rescued banks. It soon turned out that it was not just the rescued banks that rushed to AMCON to sell these toxic assets. Even the so-called non-rescued banks eventually sold significant amounts of toxic assets (without coercion) to AMCON. And interestingly even after the non-rescued banks sold toxic assets to AMCON, their 2010 financials show that most of them still made significant provisions for non-performing loans.

Why are the non-rescued banks still making significant loan loss provisions? Sanusi’s hasty actions on the so-called rescued banks, the publication of the names of entrepreneurs in national papers just because they took loans from banks, impacted negatively on the capacity of several of these entrepreneurs to either refinance or get fresh loans from banks resulting in many of the existing loans of these banks to go bad. Many bankers will tell you that the disruptions Sanusi’s actions caused in the financial system are still reverberating today.

The 2010 financials of many of the non rescued banks showed that many of them are still making significant provisions for non-performing loans while even some of them that claimed not to have significant non performing loans are now engaged in public disputes with their customers over non- performing loans in excess of N200 billion, which obviously were not previously provided for.

Businesses have been destroyed and many Nigerians have been thrown out of their jobs because their employers can no longer get new loans from banks. Nigerians should not be deceived. Nowhere in a capitalist economy are loans not the normal norm of running a business. What Sanusi’s actions have done is to create the perception that borrowing money to run a business is bad. It is not. In all places all over the world, businesses run basically on bank lending. Lending is the fuel for a capitalist economy.

Creating unemployment: Sanusi recently admitted that the rate of unemployment in Nigeria has hit 49 per cent of employable Nigerians. After making that statement, Nigerians should not forget that Sanusi in two years has contributed significantly to this level of unemployment in the country.

His activities in the banking sector have contributed to about 40,000 jobs being lost in the banking sector in two years. The disruption that he caused the banking sector and the subsequent starving of funds to the real sector from the banks has resulted in some manufacturing companies either closing down completely, or reducing their production capacity significantly. This act has also led to significant job losses in the real sector of the economy.

A good example of what Sanusi’s reform has done to the real sector is what is happening in the aviation sector of the economy. Most airlines are currently struggling to remain in business primarily because their existing loans have been cut off and they are also not getting fresh loans. Today, a good number have stopped flying and the few that are flying are doing so at great risks to their passengers. Yes, the CBN has stepped in by providing financial support to the aviation sector, in the same way it has done in many sectors of the economy.

The illogic of CBN special funds: But the illogic of the CBN various special funds intervention in the economy however is like the logic of the executioner who deliberately cuts off your legs and then hands you artificial legs, but then goes around telling the world of the good he has done to you by giving you artificial legs forgetting that you would not have needed those artificial legs in the first place, if he had not cut off your legs. It is also known that artificial legs can never be as effective and flexible as your original legs. It is the same with the CBN intervention funds. They are not as flexible or effective as bank loans though they are cheaper.

As any businessman will tell you, for any business to succeed, you need consistent access to finance.

The CBN funds are one-off intervention funds which do not give the businesses benefitting consistent access to working capital. That is the challenge with these funds. Most insiders will tell you that the CBN, in a few years will have the biggest portfolio of toxic assets in the banking system. This is primarily because the intervention funds they provided to the real sector has either been used to pay-off existing loans or have been used to buy inputs that had stalled because the businesses were not getting fresh loans from the banks. After the funds have been used for these initial purposes of refinancing existing loans or getting new inputs for production, the lack of fresh loans from banks has resulted in most companies not being able to continue production.

AMCON: In as much as the setting up of AMCON (first proposed by Prof. Chukwuma Soludo) is a good idea, Nigerians should watch the activities of AMCON carefully. What is clearly emerging is that AMCON is going to be used to do the dirty works of the CBN. The CBN has positioned AMCON to take over these loans that it has given that would most likely go bad. This is to cover the back of the CBN and prevent public outcry.

AMCON currently has over N3 trillion of toxic assets in its custody bought at prices that were negotiated with CBN appointed managers of rescued banks. This could not be described as fair pricing as being touted by those positioning to benefit from these huge assets now in possession of a government controlled body.

What determined which assets the rescued banks will sell to AMCON? Could some of these assets that were sold have been restructured and recovered and written back into the books of the banks? What value of assets that could have been recovered has been sold at significant discount to AMCON?

AMCON is also said to in future buy all bank toxic assets above five per cent of the banking industry. What does this mean? Besides encouraging reckless lending in the banking sector, it is also careful camouflage to ensure that the CBN creates an impression that the banking system is healthy. I challenge the CBN Governor to tell us where else in the world, where you have a body standing by to buy off toxic loans above a certain percentage from banks?

AMCON is an emergency bank rescue vehicle. Everywhere it is set up in the world, what it does is intervene just within a period of time to resolve banking challenges and not to be the toxic loan laundry arm of the CBN or the existing commercial banks.

The state of the banks the CBN took over: For close to two years, the CBN has installed its own management in eight banks under the pretext that these banks were about collapsing and need good management to survive. But how have these banks fared under the management of the CBN?

ANY staff within these banks will easily tell you how life has been taken out of these banks where CBN installed its own management. For almost two years, all the eight banks under CBN have seen their financial situation deteriorate into critical states. Most members of the CBN installed management were failed managers in their various institutions until the CBN picked them up to come and manage institutions that were far bigger than any institution they have ever managed before their appointment.

What has emerged in the two years of CBN installed management are banks without direction and staff that are highly demoralized. Figures obtained from the CBN clearly show that at the close of 2010, all the CBN taken over banks were highly dependent on the interbank market. Of the N900 billion inter-bank takings as the close of 2010, the eight CBN managed banks accounted for over 90 per cent of these takings. These were the same banks that when the CBN took over, he told the world that their indebtedness to the interbank market stood at N247 billion. Now even after pumping in N620 billion into these banks, after they have sold their toxic assets, their net interbank indebtedness is now in excess of N800 billion more than thrice the figure when the CBN took over these banks.

From when the CBN management took over these banks till date, while other banks not managed by CBN engaged in aggressive loan recovery drive, the CBN installed management sat patiently, waiting to offload toxic loans at significant discount to the AMCON. In two years, none of the CBN managed banks was able to recover up to 10 per cent of the non-performing loans they inherited. Insiders in these banks will tell you that the CBN managed banks did not consider it their mandate. So what was their mandate? Nigerians should ask. To sit down, earn fat salaries, and wait for AMCON to bail them out while they negotiate the sale of the banks to their cronies or CBN preferred cronies. How sad.

Recapitalisation of rescued banks: Two years of motion without movement, Sanusi has not been able to achieve the recapitalisation of a single bank. Sanusi would want Nigerians to believe that this is due to the intransigent attitude of the Boards or shareholders of rescued banks. But the truth is that these banks have not been recapitalized because of Sanusi’s arrogance and fear of being exposed for what he really is, someone out to destroy viable businesses borne of a deep hatred of capitalism. Since Sanusi took over the banks, he has consistently insisted that shareholders have lost their stakes in these banks. This lie he has been repeating consistently hoping that it will become the truth. But everyone knows that no matter how a lie is repeated, it cannot become the truth.

This lie was punctured by Sanusi himself recently when he was forced to admit that Oceanic Bank, one of the banks that he forcefully took over has “vital assets.” One of the assets he named is a 10 per cent holding in Airtel. Is it not interesting that Sanusi was willing to sell Oceanic Bank to his preferred core investor despite this vital asset. We all know how valuable Airtel is. Bhati Airtel had to pump in $10 billion to buy over the African assets of Zain. Nigeria is the biggest asset that Zain had and by implication, Nigerian assets will worth a significant part of this $10 billion.

Definitely, any financial analyst will tell you that 10 per cent stake in Airtel, if sold today will go a long way in recapitalizing Oceanic Bank even if it does not recapitalise the bank fully. So, why the insistence that Oceanic Bank should be sold by all means? Why the lie that shareholders have lost their stakes when Sanusi knew all the while that the 10 per cent stake in Airtel was acquired with shareholders’ funds? Globally, when businesses are in trouble, they sell noncore assets. Why is Sanusi standing in the way of Oceanic bank selling noncore assets to recapitalise itself?

It is not only Oceanic that has vital assets that can be sold. It is also known that Bank PHB has the majority stakes in Spring Bank and significant stakes in Afribank. In an arm’s length transaction, controlled by the shareholders of these banks, they could easily negotiate the sale of these noncore assets to preferred investors and use the proceeds to recapitalise their operations. But the CBN would rather stand in the way of these deals for some strange reasons best known to Sanusi.

Credit growth: For two years, Sanusi has not been able to unlock credit growth to the Nigerian economy. Credit growth in the banking system has stalled. In taking over the banks that Sanusi took over, he made Nigerians believe that the banks’ managements were reckless in their lending. This simplistic explanation of a more complex problem has led to the pursuit of the diversionary ego-driven desire to jail a few individuals and the neglect of the fundamental wider challenges facing the Nigerian financial system. Any keen observer of the Nigerian banking industry will tell you that it is not just reckless lending that creates N3 trillion in toxic assets.

There are wider challenges within the financial system like the legal framework for recovering loans that has not been tackled. There do exist structural challenges that direct bank lending to a few sectors and a few individuals within the economy engenders. There are infrastructural challenges and there human challenges. Sanusi’s explanations of these challenges have been simplistic and thus the solutions have been pedestrian.

Capital: In two years of Sanusi’s reform, both the so called healthy and the unhealthy banks are not in a position to raise fresh capital. The real sector is also strapped for fresh capital as no fresh capital raising has succeeded in the capital market in two years. Instead of the CBN action breeding confidence in the financial system as touted by Sanusi, confidence in the Nigerian financial system has taken flight.

Once more, SEC and CBN, both regulatory authorities in the financial system will tell you to blame this challenge on individuals within the system rather than the system. But this is another simplistic explanation of a more complex problem. Retail investors who were the biggest source of funds in the Nigerian capital market have been deeply wounded by the fall in the capital market. But their confidence in the capital market have been further bruised by Sanusi’s statements claiming that they have lost their stakes in the banks.

In tackling the CBN-inflicted banking crisis, the regulatory authorities in both the capital market and banking have shown great disrespect for retail investors who have sustained the market in the last 40 years. This attitude may hurt capital market activity for years to come and may stretch into generations if repair mechanisms are not put in place to restore the confidence of retail investors in the Nigerian capital market. The consequence of the neglect of Nigerian retail investors is the current dominance of trading activities on the floor of the exchange by foreign hedge funds, which now control more than 60 percent of trading on the floors of the exchange. The impact of this trading on the stability of the capital market is obvious to any discerning player in the Nigerian capital market or financial sector.

No confidence in the financial sector: The evidence of the lack of confidence in the financial system is obvious. The pressure on the Naira has been unprecedented in Nigeria’s history. In two years, the CBN Governor has spent more than $40 billion trying to prevent the depreciation of the Naira without any success. It has led to a massive run down of the country’s external reserves in a period when earnings from crude oil sales have been at a historic high.

Even after a widely acclaimed and credible election, the Naira has remained under pressure showing that the uncertainty over elections had nothing to do with the pressure on the Naira. There is a total absence of confidence in the Nigerian financial system engendered by the wrong-headed reforms of the CBN. The style of reforms has shown absolute disrespect for ownership rights creating fear in the owners of private capital.

The CBN governor’s tactics and antecedents show he has no respect for capitalism. He is a socialist to the core who by accident has been made the manager of capitalist institutions with enormous powers in a capitalist economy. His goal is to use capitalist institutions to destroy the very fabrics of capitalism in Nigeria and therefore promote his socialist tendencies.

His efforts at breaking down the promoters of business in Nigeria are a clear evidence of this tendency.

Sadly in his blind urge to destroy capitalist institutions in the country, he has also left the Nigerian economy exposed. Nigerian banks, now largely prostrate, are no longer in a position to finance indigenous players wanting to take advantage of the emerging opportunities in Nigeria’s oil, gas and power sectors of the economy. This has left the commanding heights of the Nigerian economy exposed, to be taken over by foreign companies, compromising ability of Nigerian youths to take over the commanding heights of the Nigerian economy in future.

Leadership Newspapers in honouring Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as their man of the year 2010, described him as an “Islamic scholar with deep convictions.” That is what Sanusi is. Any other appellation is a misnomer. His continued stay at the CBN is a death knell for the survival of the Nigerian economy. Nigeria should take stock now, and make the right decisions.

Last line: Just as I was getting this material ready for the press, my attention has been drawn to the alarmist statement by the CBN Governor, Sanusi, on The Guardian front page of Tuesday, May 31, 2011: “CBN gives banks date to recapitalise or face liquidation”.

According to the report, based on an exclusive interview with The Guardian, “the license of any rescued bank that is yet to recapitalise by October 30, this year will be revoked by CBN, which will subsequently hand it over to the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) for liquidation.” This announcement alone would create panic in the industry and lead to massive run on deposits in the affected banks, further weakening the banking industry as I argued above, sending many more thousands of Nigerian youths to the crowded labour market, causing more social unrest, and above all worsening an already weakened economy that has suffered from lack of access to credit in the last two years. Nigerians should reasonably be worried now!

The Tower of Babel (Hebrew: מגדל בבל‎ Migdal Bavel Arabic: برج بابل‎ Burj Babil), according to the Book of Genesis,[1] was an enormous tower built in the plain of Shinar (Hebrew: שנער‎).

According to the biblical account, a united humanity of the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, came to the land of Shinar, where they resolved to build a city with a tower "with its top in the heavens, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the Earth." God came down to see what they did and said: "They are one people and have one language, and nothing will be withholden from them which they purpose to do." So God said, "Come, let us go down and confound their speech." And so God scattered them upon the face of the Earth, and confused their languages, and they left off building the city, which was called Babel "because God there confounded the language of all the Earth."(Genesis 11:5-.

Syenite:
Nigeria's first Civil Engineer: Herbert Macauley

Another faux pas,Herbert Macaulay was a Surveyor.101% sure

jerseyboy:
Nairaland homepage is now TABLOID.

Junk news has become the order of day e.g Do women fart?

In his article titled “The days of the ‘Cabal’ (1) published in THISDAY Newspapers of June 9 2011, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, former spokesman to late President Yar’adua, told a bizarre story of how former Rivers State Governor Peter Odili lost out in becoming Yar’adua’s vice presidential candidate in the race leading up to the PDP primaries in December 2006. This same story had been told before, by Mallam Nasir El Rufai, in a long article he wrote about the late President Yar’adua in 2007. But Adeniyi’s version comes out more explicit, graphical and detailed. The politics of those days are not the matter of my primary concern but the level of hypocrisy contained in that story, the hypocrisy of a nation that is supposed to be fighting a dogged war against corruption, always taunting the mantra “zero tolerance for corruption”

In the story, Adeniyi had clearly stated that he had attended a meeting and he was privy to some information that had helped stop the emergence of Odili as vice presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2007 elections. The information was about Odili’s corruption which was so great that it had been described as a “bombshell” by the ex EFCC boss himself, Nuhu Ribadu. This piece of information, which Nigerians do not have access to was said to have disqualified Peter Odili from becoming Nigeria’s Vice President at the time. The question is, since when did information on a Governor’s corrupt activities become simply a political weapon? Why has this man not been prosecuted if the EFCC boss had in his possession raw facts of the man’s corrupt activities? If this man will not be prosecuted, then EFCC owes Bode George, James Ibori and Dimeji Bankole an apology! Is this how to fight corruption in Nigeria? Where corruption is found but tolerated simply because of political advantage? If this man is sitting on looted billions which rightfully belong to Nigerians, then he should be brought to book, and the people’s money recovered from him and put to better use for the collective good of the people. It is reported that the loot traceable to Odili amounts up to N244 billion!!

I am aware that the EFCC under Ribadu had tried to arrest and prosecute Odili, but the man had obtained a “Perpetual Injunction” restraining the EFCC from arresting him. This had handicapped the watchdog agency as Peter Odili walks around a free man in the nation he had raped and looted. I am not a lawyer but this matter requires some examination. Pray! Whoever steps forward to serve as a public official, to whom public funds is entrusted, must be ready to be accountable to the public at any time he is required to! How can a man serve as Governor for eight years yet refuse to be accountable for his tenure? What a shame! What does he have to hide? If Governor Peter Odili is sure he did not steal Rivers State’s people’s money, then let him come out and present himself for investigation and interrogation! But if he did steal, then let him be answerable for his crimes!

Also, how can a court of law uphold such an ignominious ruling? We are supposed to be fighting corruption in Nigeria if I am not wrong? We are supposed to show zero tolerance for corruption! How does this sort of injunction and ruling help to tackle the demon of corruption and impunity in our society? It is said that Governor Odili’s wife is a highly placed Judge in our nation; that is the more reason why the Governor should have embraced the law and allowed the law to take its rightful course!! A law that protects thieves and state looters is a disservice to the nation. The perpetual injunction restraining the EFCC from arresting and prosecuting Odili should be set aside and vacated as soon as possible in the interest of public good. This would empower the anti-corruption agency to do its rightful job on this case. I call on every anti-corruption group in Nigeria, including CACOL led by Mr. Debo Adeniran; The Youth Anti-Corruption League, led by Mr. Jumoke Ilyasu, at whose instance Dimeji Bankole is currently in the EFCC dragnet, plus all patriots in different groups and individuals of conscience in our nation to take up this matter with every tone of urgency it deserves, as it is an insult on all of us as a people, that a man would serve us yet refuse to be accountable for his tenure of service.

We must insist that Peter Odili be brought to book. If Bankole got no perpetual order restraining justice, Ibori got no such order, neither did Bode George nor all those looters that the EFCC had previously indicted, then what is the rationale or justification for the restraining order protecting Peter Odili from being brought to justice? We must begin to make noise about this matter and place demands at the right quarters. The Supreme Court must vacate this order and allow Odili to be prosecuted. If he is innocent, then he would go free and win the applause of Nigerians, but if not, why prevent him from answering for his crimes?

What does Adeniyi know about Odili? What is the” bombshell” piece of information on Odili that was acquired from the diplomatic mission of a Western country? Nigerians deserve to know. He was not a private businessman, he was a public official. Those who come to equity must come with clean hands it is said. Let the wind blow, and let the arse of the chicken be shown to the world. Perhaps this will help to bring many other looters to book. N244 billion no be small money fa! That kind of money in the hands of Rotimi Amaechi will go a long way in transforming Rivers State, I am sure of that.

It is shameful the level of greed in our leaders, nay our people. There is enough to meet everyone’s need, but not enough to satisfy a few people’s greed. I remember that ageless moral code, taught by the scripture, one which every Nigerian ought never to forget, “The life of a man does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” When will we ever learn this simple lesson in Nigeria? Corruption is the bane of Nigeria’s progress. Corruption is everywhere but our own in Nigeria is alarming, its simply too much. Heists is what we have, not just stealing. Among the suffering millions of our people, J F Kennedy’s ageless warning comes to mind, “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich!” Mr. Adeniyi, what is the bombshell about Odili that you know? Share it and let justice prevail!!

Honda29:
Chei!!!

Tinubu, a drug dealer indicted in America for drug running is now seen by the Yorubas as their leader!!!.

In Nigeria of today, criminals are Kings!!!!!!!!!

Do you that Tinubu also claims that he attended Government College Ibadan  but cannot remember the name of a single classmate of his.

He also disowned his mother and adopted another woman as his mother.

In a book titled: THE TALE OF JUNE 12:THE BETRAYAL OF THE DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS OF NIGERIANS written in 2000 by Prof. Omo Omoruyi who was a political adviser to IBB as well as the brain behind the creation by executive fiat of the two party system i.e NRC and SDP wrote among other things that David Mark said he was going to shoot MKO personally if he was sworn in.

His denial is comming rather too late.

[quote author=Ibo-made link=topic=684533.msg8471083#msg8471083 date=1307442828]Nah !!!
This figures can't be right. They are just too much.
Prof Pat Utomi seem to be on point that this democracy is too expensive for Nigeria.[/quote]Those who frame public debate in Nigeria are—give it to them—very clever. One of such debates which they have deftly crafted is that the presidential system is very expensive. They readily point to the sheer amount of salaries, allowances and other running costs accumulated by the motley crew of ministers, advisers and assistants. They also point to the cost of maintaining the legislature as evidence that the presidential system is just too expensive. Somehow, they forget that whereas the constitution only stipulates that a minister be appointed from every state, giving us a figure of 36, we end up appointing 42 to accommodate more jobbers. The constitution does not state the number of advisers and assistants but we end up appointing a battalion just to create jobs for the boys. The constitution does not fix salaries and allowances for legislators and ministers. The jumbo pays are self-inflicted. Yet, we turn round to say presidentialism is expensive, when indeed we, and not the constitution, created the problem.

To put things in perspective, Ghana runs a presidential system. Ghanaians are not complaining about costs because there is reasonable prudence in the running of government. No crazy allowances. No excess luggage. South Africa runs a presidential system. Nobody is complaining. They cut their coats according to their clothes. So we should blame the greed of public officers and the politicisation of appointments for the heavy cost we are incurring. There is nothing irredeemably expensive about the presidential system. We created the expenditure problem ourselves and then turn round to blame the system.

LAUGH IT OFF

"Bill Gates organized an enormous session to recruit a new chairman for Microsoft Europe. Five thousand candidates assembled in a large room. One candidate is Ayodele, a Nigerian guy.

Bill Gates thanked all the candidates for coming and asked those who do not know Java program to leave. Two thousands candidates left the room. Ayodele says to himself, “I do not know Java but I have nothing to lose if I stay. I’ll give it a try.

Bill Gates asked the candidates who never had experience of managing more than 100 people to leave. Two thousand left the room. Ayo says to himself “I never managed anybody but myself but I have nothing to lose if I stay. What can happen to me? So he stays, then Bill Gates asked the candidates who do not have management diploma to leave. Five hundred people left the room. Ayodele says to himself, “I left school at 15 but what have I to lose? So he stays in the room.

Lastly, Bill asked the candidates who do not speak Serb-Croatian to leave. 498 candidates left the room. Ayodele says to himself, “I do not speak Serb-Croatian but what do I have to lose? So he stays and finds himself with one other candidate. Everyone else has gone. Bill Gates joined them and said, “Apparently you are the only two candidates who speak Serb-Croatian, so I’d like to hear you have a conversation together in that language.

Calmly, Ayodele turns to the other candidate and says “Wahala dey o!”.

The other candidate answers “Oga, na wa o!”

Bill Gates: “YOU ARE BOTH HIRED”.


Don’t you just love Nigerians? Any day, anytime, anywhere, they never give up.

MORALS: NEVER GIVE UP; YOU WILL LOSE NOTHIN BY TRYING MORE.

The difference between ORDINARY AND EXTRA-ORDINARY PEOPLE is the little extra-effort added.

MEDIA assistant to the outgoing governor of Ogun State, Adegbenro Adebanjo, has refuted rumours suggesting that his boss, Gbenga Daniel, fled the country to evade prosecution over alleged corruption.

In a statement sent to The Guardian, Adebanjo said: “It is important to state clearly that there is no truth whatsoever in the claim which is another of the many lies being bandied by the political opponents of the former governor.

“For the avoidance of doubt, on Friday May 27, 2011, the last working day of Otunba Daniel as the governor, he presented his handover notes to the incoming administration and also rendered his account of service. He had earlier presented a compendium of the comprehensive account of all receipts and expenditure from 2003 to 2011 for public scrutiny.

Meanwhile, the deputy governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last elections in Ogun State, Comrade Tunde Oladunjoye, has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to “simply declare him wanted immediately and his accomplices stopped from running away.”

Oladunjoye said that although he cannot dictate to the EFCC what to do, “I must add that the way they handle Daniel’s case will tell a lot about the image of the EFCC and in fact that of President Jonathan, even as he assumes office.”

According to Adebanjo, “After the short ceremony, he was escorted out of the governor’s office by cheering public servants. At about 11pm, he left for London, via the British Airways for a scheduled short holiday in England. This is a well-deserved holiday for a man who worked eight years without any holiday or break.

“Otunba Daniel travelled through the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, escorted by SSS personnel and police security details. He went through all the normal security checks, and at no point was any query raised by security agents on duty.

“It is important to note that the former governor had informed all the security chiefs in Ogun State, three weeks earlier, about his intention to leave the country for a short rest on May 27. All relevant authorities, which should be conventionally notified, were also in the know of the governor’s trip. He did not go through any illegal route. This cannot be the disposition of a man fleeing the country.

“Again, in 2003, Otunba Daniel’s predecessor did not attend the swearing in ceremony of the new governor, and therefore there is nothing extra ordinary in Otunba Daniel traveling out at this point.

“It is important to restate that no agency or organisation has issued any query whatsoever, formal or informal, about anything, save the wicked lies being bandied about by traducers and their foot soldiers. The wicked rumor making the rounds is therefore a continuation of the propaganda against the person of the former governor by purveyors of dark politics.

Otunba Daniel has served Ogun State and Nigeria meritoriously. He should be left alone in peace. All the deliberately simulated allegations cannot hold water. The former governor has no intention to leave his country, as he has not committed any offense or infringement against the law of the land. He is well and able to defend his stewardship in Ogun State whenever he is called upon to do so.”
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49561:daniel-did-not-flee-country-aide&catid=1:national&Itemid=559

Suspected islamists today detonated explosives in an army market in Bauchi city killing several people. The exact number of casaulty is sketchy, but eyewitnesses said many people were killed.

SOURCE:http://www.saharareporters.com/news-page/bomb-blast-hits-army-market-bauchi