₦airaland Forum

Na Beijing "08" win jare.

Why U.S come resemble Civil Defence like this? Shiooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank God Rowan Atkinson came to rescue me from this stunt to paper over the cracks of a fallen giant. It is nice, colourful and all but Beijing '08' set a standard that this one is yet to even meet not to talk of surpassing.

N.B: Why must the British always flaunt this "multiculturalism" crap, na title?

For a list of "achievements" by the Obasanjo administration (1999-2007)
http://www.newswatchngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2509&Itemid=34

For a list of "achievements" by the Abacha regime (1994-1998)
http://www.saniabacha.com/General-Sani-Abacha-P-10-17.pdf

For once, you people should try and stay in the middle and analyze things objectively. GEJ can and should do better, this is the era of the social media, the citizen journalist, nothing is hidden, almost nothing is sacred. The list of GEJ's achievements is like a bad comedy script. I fail to see how any of this is different from what any other Nigerian ruler including the mass murderer (Abacha), the bully (OBJ), the King Kong of all criminals (IBB) and others have done. A case in point is IBB and a list of his accomplishments:

Babangida's Achievements; Chronicles of an Over Achiever


Building a New Ultra Modern City - Abuja

IBB realized the vision of Abuja as Federal capital city by providing its most vital infrastructure and moving the seat of government from Lagos in 1991.

Telecommunications

Mobile telecommunications, which is so commonplace today in Nigeria, was introduced as a result of the liberalization of the telecom industry by the Babangida administration, an initiative that over the years has made massive impact on the Nigerian economy.

Privatization

The privatization of the broadcast industry, the licensing of private universities and airlines; the liberalization of the banking industry, including the establishment of community banks (now micro-finance institutions), rank among his best legacies.

Economic Policy

The Babangida economic policy was predicated most importantly on the need to reverse the downward trend of the economy and arrive at a realistic exchange rate for the naira. The Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) was a necessary strategy to achieve economic recovery. It was not a capitulation to the dictates of the World Bank and IMF, but a critically-considered plan aimed at providing the platform for successfully recapturing the inflationary trend within a stipulated period of economic emergency. Deregulation, privatization and economic self reliance were key elements in the policy thrust. In the process most of the poorly-performing government-owned enterprises were sold off to private investors. The new policy also did away with the regime of import licensing which in turn allowed the entry of essential commodities into the country, thus ending the long and tiring queues, which Nigerians, for some years, had to endure for food.

Rural Development

Rural development was a very key aspect of the Babangida regime�s economic plan for Nigeria. Approximately 90,857.40 kilometres of feeder road were constructed, thus opening up hundreds of rural communities to the rest of the country for the first time; electricity, water supply and improved health services reached many more rural folk than ever before. Most of those projects were implemented by DFRRI � the Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure, an agency created by the Babangida administration.

Gender Equality

The Babangida administration was the first to implement a gender sensitive agenda. It created a National Commission for Women that later became the Ministry of Women Affairs. Many women were appointed to key positions in national institutions, among which was the first female vice-chancellor of a Nigerian university; and women occupied strategic portfolios in the Federal Cabinet for the first time. The Better Life for Rural Women, a programme which was anchored by the late First Lady, Hajiya (Dr.) Maryam Babangida, was highly successful in mobilizing women to rise to the challenge of economic empowerment.

MAMSER

MAMSER (Mass Mobilization for Self-reliance, Social Justice and Economic Recovery), was and still remains the best ever exercise in political re-orientation undertaken by any administration in Nigeria. Its central goal was to canvass nationwide support for the Babangida administration�s Political Transition Programme and to promote self-sufficiency in the nation�s economy.

Youth Employment

In order to halt the ever increasing rate of unemployment among the youth, the Babangida administration created the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in 1987. Its main task was to alleviate their suffering and provide them with the necessary skills to be self-employed. By 1997 nearly 107,000 youths had received the benefits of this initiative, and many more still do.

Consultative Government

Despite heading a military regime President Ibrahim Babangida ran the most consultative administration ever in the annals of Nigerian history. Before deciding on the IMF loan, the issue was subjected to a nationwide public debate. When the people gave a resounding NO verdict Babangida went along with their wishes and called off further negotiations. The commencement of the Political Transition Programme in 1988 was also preceded by a nationwide quest to find the right political system for the nation. Conducted by the Political Bureau to a highly enthusiastic participation by the public, the debate produced very concrete suggestions for the establishment of a more balanced and united Federation, and the key elements distilled there-from served as the template for the subsequent structural and constitutional realignment of the Nigerian nation.

National Unity

The Babangida administration, conversant with the geo-politics of Nigeria, particularly the fears of ethnic domination and marginalization, sought to correct the perceived structural imbalances of the Federation by the creation of more states. Eleven states of Nigeria, two of which were born in 1987 (Akwa Ibom, Katsina) and the latter in 1991 (Abia, Anambra, Delta, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kogi, Osun, Yobe and Taraba); and over 200 new Local Government Areas, owe their existence to this August effort.

Foreign Policy

Under the Babangida administration Nigeria demonstrated to the world its capacity to play the highest leadership role in African affairs. The formation of the West African Peace Monitoring Force, ECOMOG (a Babangida initiative), anchored by bold and heroic Nigerian troops, brought peace to war-torn Liberia and Sierra Leone, an achievement that further cemented the role of Nigeria as the great protector and promoter of international peace.

Other Notable Reforms and People-Oriented Programmes

Abrogation of Decree No 4 (Protection of Public Officers Against False Accusation Decree) 1984
Abrogation of import and export licencing regime
Dissolution of Nigerian National Supply Company
Abolition of commodity marketing boards
Elimination of price control
Reduction of import duties on newsprint
Ban on the importation of rice
Ban on importation of wheat
Establishment of the National Planning Commission
Institutionalizing Central Bank autonomy
Establishment of the Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM)
Deregulation of capital and financial markets
Establishment of the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC)
Establishment of National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND)
Abolition of fixed exchange rate for the naira
Establishment of the Peoples Bank
Licencing of more banks and finance houses
Introduction of community banking system
Introduction of bureaux de change
Establishment of stable tariff regime
Introduction of civil service reforms
Establishment of the Political Bureau and conduct of nationwide public debate on the IMF loan
Introduction of two party political system
Introduction of Open Ballot and Option A4 voting System
Introduction of Local Government Reform
Educational sector reform and the Introduction of 6-3-3-4 System
Establishment of more federal Universities and Polytechnics
Establishment of the Technical Committee on Privatization and Commercialization of Public Enterprises under which 55 public enterprises, including nine banks, were privatized through public offers on the Nigerian Stock Exchange
Reform of obsolete colonial laws; and abrogation of law making ��wandering�� an offence
Establishment of the Urban Mass Transit Progamme
Institution of the Primary Healthcare Progamme
Establishment of the National Commission for Women
Establishment of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency
Enactment of Copyright Law and establishment of Copyright Council
Allocation of oil prospecting acreages to Nigerian oil companies
Establishment of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority
Establishment of special supervised Agicultural and Industrial Credit Schemes
Establishment of the Nigerian Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) and the creation of the Calabar EPZ
Conduct of the 1991 National Population Census
Establishment of the Federal Road Safety Corps
Establishment of the National Health Insurance Scheme
Establishment of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration And Control (NAFDAC)
Establishment Of the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC), now the Niger Delta Development Commission
Establishment of the National Boundary Commission
Establishment of National Communications Commission
Establishment of the National Broadcasting Commission
Institutionalizing of the National Housing Fund
Establishment of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA)
Establishment of Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission
Reorganization of Nigerian Police into zonal commands
Establishment of National Guard
Reduction in the size of the military
Reorganization of security services into three arms from the former single Nigerian Security organization, i.e. State Security Service, National Intelligence Agency, Defence Intelligence Agency
Resumption of diplomatic relations with Israel
Establishment of Technical Aid Corps
Major Projects Completed
Federal Government Secretariat (Phase 1 & 11), Abuja
International Conference Centre, Abuja
Abuja International Airport (Phase 1 & 11)
The Presidential Villa, Abuja
National Assembly Complex, Abuja
The Supreme Court Complex, Abuja
Lagos Third Mainland Bridge
Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road dualization
Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri-Ore standard-gauge railway line
Digital telecommunication gateways: Lanlate (North), Enugu (East), Lagos (West)
Onne Fertilizer Plant in Rivers State
Kaduna Superphosphate Fertilizer Plant
Warri Petrochemical plant
Elesa Eleme Petroleum Refinery in Rivers State
Kaduna Petrochemical plant
The Escravos-Lagos Gas pipeline
Jebba and Shiroro hydro-electricity projects
Egbin Thermal Power Station in Lagos
Challawa Gorge Dam
Nigeria House in New York, USA
Ajaokuta Steel Plant (Phase 1)
The Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project, Bonny
The Oso Condensate Plant in Akwa Ibom State
NNPC headquarters in Abuja
Aluminium Smelter Plant in Akwa Ibom State
NigerDock (Africa�s largest dry dock), Snake Island
Nigerian Machine Tools Manufacturing Co., Oshogbo
Military cantonments, Abuja
National Intelligence Agency administration headquarters
Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company factory, Abuja

Isolationism is a silly idea peddled by so-called "nationalists" who have gone on to decimate their own economies e.g Robert Mugabe, Jomo Kenyatta. Japan is what it is today because the Meji dynasty started by Prince Mutsuhito opened up the country to foreigners by embracing a new policy of bummei kaika (civilization and enlightenment)rather than the xenophobic old idea of Sonno joi (Expel The Barbarians). Let's do what the Asians have been doing for years; let the foreigners come, build up local content and capacity then when you are ready to take over, tax or price them out of the economy. Read up Micheal Critchon's "The Rising Sun"and see how the Japanese became an economic competitor to the U.S.A and how government policy helped to create mega companies like Toyota, Sony, Hitachi and co. We can start by identifying areas of the economy that require relatively low technological expertise (woodwork for example) and restrict it to Nigerians.

http://www.ynaija.com/opinion-time-to-unbundle-nigeria/

A lorry cannot fly, for the simple reason that it is not designed to fly. In the same vein the Nigeria federation cannot succeed as a productive nation because it is not designed to produce

When an organisation becomes unwieldy, inefficient, corrupt, wasteful and incapable of delivering on its mandate or bringing value to its stakeholders, one of the accepted solutions is to unbundle it. That would mean the creation of smaller, more efficient organizations with greater efficiencies of scale. It would also imply specializations in the different organizations so that one mammoth entity is not saddled with the responsibility of doing everything.

In Nigeria, we are already applying the unbundling principle to some of our public corporations: the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) is being unbundled, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is facing the same fate in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). However, the entity that is most in need of unbundling is the Nigerian Federation. It is more unwieldy than NNPC, more inefficient than PHCN and more corrupt than both put together.

The Nigerian federation is not working and cannot work in its present form because we have a sharing federation. A lorry cannot fly, for the simple reason that it is not designed to fly. In the same vein the Nigeria federation cannot succeed as a productive nation because it is not designed to produce. Nigeria needs to be unbundled to create a productive federation where all parts can produce and contribute not equally but in equal strength.

The argument has been made that the present structure of Nigeria was necessary to curb the strength of the regions, and ensure the stability of the country. The result has been an overkill. We now have states that are clearly incapable of meeting even the elementary requirements of organised modern government, and not to mention preparing its citizens to compete in the global economy. Every federation succeeds on the strength of its federating units, to create a federation where the federating states have no capacity, authority or freedom to deliver is a tragedy.

We must never make the mistake of thinking that Nigeria is more important than its citizens; the future of Nigeria as a united country is meaningless and unachievable except it guarantees the safety, security and prosperity of its people.

The problem is that the federation in its present structure is designed as a sharing unit. Every action and evaluation in the federation is guided by the philosophy of sharing. As a sharing structure Nigeria has actually performed well. Nigeria has 36 states and a federal capital territory, 774 local government areas, hundreds of useless federal and state ministries, agencies, committees, parastatals, commissions etc. spread across the land. All these bodies are in a fierce competition to draw resources from one source. The nature of this competition is responsible for the rot that is Nigeria, it promotes deceit, that is why we lie about every thing from our census to school enrollment figures. It promotes disunity; that is why our country cannot be united.

In other to justify their share or demand for a greater share, politicians and other leaders are compelled to exploit differences between peoples to demand for an increase in the allocation of resources or positions. All offices are calculated in the sharing arrangement, and must be used to the advantage of whatever interest was able to capture them.

“Juicy’ offices are regarded as another legitimate way of sharing the national cake. Nobody can be successfully punished for corruption in this sharing structure because the idea of eradicating corruption is a parody in a sharing federation. People are appointed primarily to “take”, “collect”, or “settle” themselves, and “carry along’ their people, or interest group. Corruption in office begins from the day of appointment, when the villagers abandon their farms to celebrate their good fortune.

The most important tool in the fight against corruption is the disapproval and opprobrium of the society and your peers. We will never get that in our sharing federation because every means that you employ in getting something out of the system will meet the approval of your community and your peers who are similarly engaged, in an equally desperate quest for any advantage in getting a share of the national cake.

The sad reality of our situation is that the population has clearly overtaken the entirety of available resources, and everything is now stretched to breaking point.

This is the end of the road. Everything that can be shared has been zoned and shared. With nothing left to share, and the vast majority of our population still mired in hunger, poverty, illiteracy or half- baked education, unemployment, and anger, our natural reaction is to believe that the reason for this is because there are corrupt leaders in charge who are not sharing things equitably enough, or that if we have our own state or local government, we will be able to get our share. The sad truth is that the poverty index in Nigeria in 1974, when we had 12 states was less than 40 percent, today with 36 states poverty is up by more than 70 percent. More unproductive states may deliver a few more dual carriage ways, loads of government houses, commissioners quarters, federal secretariats and other ill maintained structures of government presence but it has clearly not delivered on the promise of a better life and greater opportunities for the broad majority of our citizens.

Solution? Let us unbundle Nigeria, let us restructure the country to create more efficient units in the states with true freedom and the resources to mobilise their people and plan for the future. We will then have a federal government that will be smaller, more efficient and more effective in its more limited functions as a regulator and enforcer. Taking more resources to the states creates an immediate advantage. Contrary to the fears being expressed in non-oil producing states, unbundling will not affect current revenue profiles, on the contrary, all states will get more from our oil revenues because along with the transfer of several federal functions to states will also come a massive reduction in the federal share.

But more important than money, is that the state will actually be given freedom to plan. If you then choose to lie about your population, it will be your choice, if you prefer to have a hundred local governments it will be your choice, if you elect to pay what the federal government pays its civil servants it will be your choice. States can actually determine their own priorities, compete, learn and cooperate with one another.

States should run their own criminal justice system, build and operate their own prisons, airports etc. States should determine their own system of local government administration, accredit and brand their own education, health, and legal systems, and also license their own practitioners. The federal government will remain the guarantor of our common freedoms ensuring that no state is allowed to discriminate against any Nigerian within the republic. Maintaining our common defence, providing a more effective federal police that is respected as an unbiased umpire in disputes between states and within states as it affects the fundamental rights of citizens under the federal constitution.

In such a federation, states will get oil revenue, but they will realise that they either utilize every kobo prudently and productively or they will be left behind. In this race no one will stand still once the starting short is fired. This competition and freedom will convert our sharing federation into a productive federation that will bring out all the hidden strengths and advantages in every part and every individual. It will unleash the full energy of our sleeping giant.

The greatest argument against giving power to the states is that it will make the governors too powerful. The governors already have power, what this change will do will be to give them real responsibility, and transfer to them the actual burden of governance. It will humble the governors. The size of your allocation will cease to count and the number of your civil servants will cease to matter. What will count is the quality of life under your watch. To crown it, let us give every chief executive one single term of five years. Do your best or do your worst and step aside so that Nigeria can keep moving. I rest my case.


About the author: Senator Abe represents the Rivers South East Senatorial District in the National Assembly.

Another display of extravagant stupidity.

Can't stop laughing at the madness that is being displayed all over Nairaland these days. This is an anonymous forum so how in God's name will you know who's being paid and who's not? I think this is uncalled for, negative and an attempt to force group thinking which is an antithesis in any democratic setting. Let them be pro-GEJ, pro-Tinubu or pro-whatever, its beyond irrelevant. Opinions are free, facts are what they are.

It is very unfortunate the kind of falsehood that finds expression in Nigeria these days. While it is understandable that borne out of past experiences and GEJ's abysmal performance (my personal opinion), people find it easy to believe anything negative about the government, that should not be a substitute for proper investigative journalism.

National Association of Nonsense/Non-Students of Nigeria by Chinedu Ekeke

http://ekekeee.com/index.php?p=3060



The news, last week, of the death of three Students Union leaders from Ondo State in a ghastly car accident while coming back from Abuja where they went to bestow a controversial award on the Ondo State governor should bother every one of us. While conceding that bad roads – or lack of them, in most cases – was responsible for the auto crash that led to their death, the death has thrown open the scam called National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).

I heard, because I haven’t seen, that there used to be a time when NANS represented – and fought to protect – the interest of students of Nigerian descent wherever they lived in the world. Those times, as I equally heard, NANS had the moral fibre and national followership to cause a halt on any government policy that they considered to run against the overall interest of the Nigerian people. Those days, I was told, were when intellectual sophistication and superior reasoning qualified people for the leadership of the body. Then their elections were conducted with utmost civility and decency and which, in turn, threw up sound minds in their leadership circle. That was then.

In my University years, I got close enough to Students politics to understand that the NANS in place now is the National Association of Nonsense (or, Non) Students. The body, if there’s a body in the first place, is populated by a combination of non-students and some students whose qualification for that appellation will always remain subject to critical questioning. Their leaders – of course they have no followership anywhere – are basically some bunch of intellectually challenged professional students who run after Abuja and the 36 State governors in search of free money from the national treasury. Their modus operandi is the conferment of awards on anybody who is willing. And our politicians live for nothing else than undeserved awards. They scout for them like vultures would scout for carcasses.

It begins with their elections. I was a delegate for one of the conventions that was to produce a president and other national leaders of the Association. Against the advice of folks with more experience in NANS politics, I refused to go for the convention with cultists. I had thought, out of my pardonable naivety, that I was going for a gathering of intellectuals. As an SUG representative from my school, I was said to be a member of the NANS senate, anyway. Who would expect that belonging to the senate of any organisation would not just be about intellectual discourses and debates? Well, this wasn’t.

At Old Parade Ground, Abuja, at the centre of military and police barracks, it was a theatre of the absurd. Candidates for the presidency of NANS were lobbying to lodge delegates in choice hotels and foot the bills. Their supporters were brandishing guns, machets, sickles and other dangerous weapons against delegates and supporters of opponents of the contestants. Every candidate for the positions being contested ferried their own army of cultists from wherever they came, into Abuja. From continuous postponement of the convention date (over one week) to the sporadic gunshots from many of the cult men that sent everyone running for cover every now and then, the convention ended a mere charade. And it gave me an insight into what a future with those ones as leaders will be in Nigeria.

There has never been one president in the last decade or so. It’s always been factionalized. Once the – usually violently conducted – elections are over, those out-bribed in the bribery contest form their own parallel government, meet their political sponsors (usually their state governors, senators, etc) and ask for official cars with which they’ll ply their factionalization and award-giving trade in the next one year. They usually get listened to; and the business begins. They contact journalists and conduct press conferences alleging irregularities in the elections and then declaring themselves winners. In one NANS year, you could have as much as three factional presidents running parallel governments.

And thereafter the race for Aso Rock begins. They want to have audience with the power brokers around the president so as to ultimately seek audience with the president. Once that is achieved, their lives get transformed. Tony Nwoye got transformed from NANS to PDP Chairman in Anambra State some years back. Okuma Hembe – the one who declared the readiness of “Nigerian students” to insist on Obasanjo remaining forever in office as president until the “Nigerian elite produced someone” competent enough to replace the Ota farmer – got his family rewarded with a slot at the Federal House of Representatives. That is why Herman Hembe is there. And we all know what he stands for. He is a product of NANS.

At the state levels, the factional presidents seek the support of equally morally bankrupt (and many of whom are) SUG presidents to penetrate the Universities. They seek to curry the favour of the management of the tertiary institutions. One of them made a fortune out of the award-hungry hypocrite of a Vice Chancellor we had in my days in school. With the co-operation of a former SUG president, they conferred a phony award on the school as the best in the South East. The Vice Chancellor paid them about N500,000 for that, and then bought advert space on national TV to celebrate the falsehood. Then some of us thought it was genuine, until few months later when the same racketeers returned with another “award” for the VC and the school. This time it was declared the “Best University in Nigeria”. Again staff and students were gathered to celebrate. And money was given to them. I ran into them in front of a local hotel in the neighbouring town fighting for the money Mr VC gave them from the University purse.

But they weren’t done yet. They returned a few months later to declare the University “The Best in West Africa”. These people weren’t up to ten in number. About six of them were all Students of one University in the South West. The others were their collaborators from my school. Those were the ones who gave out this award. And the VC who was seeking national attention for a possible senatorial contest or recommendation for a ministerial appointment doled out more money to them; and then gathered the University Community again.

Then there was another one for something that sounded like “The most environmentally friendly University in Africa”. The same gang was behind it. The same VC received it.

This isn’t fiction. This actually happened. My friends and I would joke that we were expecting the ultimate award from the merchants; the best University in the World! It didn’t come. I wish it did; it would have stamped a final seal on their folly.

This is why the Ondo State incident got my attention. In an election year for the sitting governor, the student leaders went to Abuja to declare him “Governor of the year”. Nobody knows the criteria used to do that. I think they just were out to seize the moment and make pecuniary gains from the situation.

But I will respect the dead and talk to the living.
One of the tragedies of Nigeria is that the elites have failed their country. That latent urge, by the Nigerian elite, to join the “privileged” in making wealth off a non-functional system is the bane of our society. We may eventually make the money, but we are destroying our land. A functional society cannot be built on greed and disregard for the weak. The Nigerian student must think along this line.

They should choose to build a truly credible National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) or let the National Association of Nonsense/Non Students, peopled by grandfathers, money mongers, empty heads, drop-outs and cultists, continue to further damage an already destroyed future for them.

http://ynaija.com/segun-adeniyis-column-today-i-go-chop-your-dollar/

Whatever you may say about the State Security Service (SSS), one thing you must concede to them is that they don’t allow others to tell their stories. Whenever they conduct an operation, especially one in which the culprit is caught in the act or is killed, Mrs Marilyn Ogar would immediately address the media to give a blow-by-blow account of what happened. So when two months after a “sting operation” allegedly involving the SSS and the report was coming from Zenon Oil Chairman, Mr Femi Otedola, many Nigerians were quick to come to their own conclusion: the sordid affair was more an entrapment of a greedy politician by a desperate business man than any attempt to seek the end of justice.

Femi Otedola

Of course this is not denying that Otedola may have involved some rogue elements within the security agencies but to call what happened an official sting operation would be a disservice to the SSS and that is perhaps why they have not publicly claimed ownership. Whatever the cock-and-bull tales being bandied about some “operational mistakes” (all according to unnamed sources), it is more plausible to believe that Otedola, and not the SSS, conducted the “sting operation”. In fact, the more I learn about what actually transpired between the duo (and I have been speaking to some of the principal characters in the saga), the more it reminds me of the banned song, “I Go Chop Your Dollar”, (described as the anthem for 419 scammers) by the inimitable Nkem Owoh, alias Usuofia.

Notwithstanding, to borrow a famous refrain, “whether Jonah swallowed the whale or the whale swallowed Jonah, the point remains that there was a swallow” so to the extent that Lawan still has in his “custody” the sum of $600,000 (or $620,000, according to the ‘unedited’ figure) there was bribery. And that is the real shame given the hope many Nigerians had placed in the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on the Monitoring of Subsidy Regime.

But let us get some facts straight. Otedola and Lawan are very much known to each other as you would expect between a PDP financier and one of the most powerful members of the ruling party in the House. Therefore, the allegations and counter-allegations between the duo impose a grave responsibility on the security agencies to unearth what actually transpired beyond the lies and half-truths that we are being told by both parties. The police should also stop acting as if they want to help Otedola retrieve his loot in the name of a criminal investigation that is already bungled. In fact, the tardy manner in which this issue is being handled illustrates the incompetence within the security apparatus and why our country is now practically at the mercy of criminal gangs.

It is noteworthy that this “sting operation” took place almost two months ago and in the intervening period, all manners of negotiation, including the intervention of the PDP leadership, have reportedly taken place on an issue which ordinarily borders on criminality and abuse of public trust. We have even seen the police writing letters, while begging and cajoling Lawan to surrender money that even he has openly admitted does not belong to him.

However, given that Zenon was indicted by the probe committee but curiously “cleared” when Lawan claimed on the floor of the House that it was “listed in error”, Otedola should assist the police in proving his allegation of bribery against Lawan. But by cynically re-inserting Otedola’s Zenon into the list of indicted companies last Friday, the House has not only put a question mark on its own integrity, it is also telling the world that it has no regard for due process. That is because its members and leadership are misreading the public mood.

In asking that the subsidy report be implemented by the executive, it is not that Nigerians don’t have issues with it (afterall, many big names in the subsidy cartel were curiously left out of the indictment list). What Nigerians are saying is that notwithstanding the fact that the report is now compromised, given what transpired in the course of the public hearing, it is very evident that our country was criminally shortchanged by people who simply shared over a trillion Naira in the name of subsidy payments. And they see no reason why those people should go scot free.

Some of the disclosures: Payment of N1.7 trillion for subsidy as against the N245 billion appropriated by the National Assembly in 2011. Even that initial figure by the CBN was later further adjusted upward. Confirmation by the Customs Service that it was officially prevented from inspecting ships bringing fuel to Nigeria. Diversion by many importers of hundreds of millions of dollars meant for fuel importation, according to the CBN. And then the N300 billion paid as subsidy for HHK in defiance of a subsisting presidential directive. These and many more scandalous revelations came into the open during the public hearing so to Nigerians most of what was going on in the name of subsidy payments, especially in year 2011, was direct stealing. That is why they still believe the committee’s final outcome should not be wished away even with all the scandals surrounding it.

But I do hope that the National Assembly has also learnt a lesson. Right now our lawmakers are the butt of jokes on the internet and I can quickly share with them the latest that is making the rounds: A woman was said to have thoroughly beaten her son caught stealing. After applying the corporal punishment, she decided to counsel him by asking: “Do you know where you will end up if you continue to steal?”

To the amazement of the mother, the boy said he knew where he would end up. So she asked him: “Where?”. The boy replied: “National Assembly!”

A word, as they say, is enough for the wise.

Anambra: The Limits of Propaganda
By Hon. Chudi Offodile

http://omojuwa.com/2012/re-anambra-the-limits-of-propaganda-nasir-ahmad-el-rufai

Where did Mallam Nasir El-Rufai go wrong in his presentation on Anambra’s budget of misplaced priorities? Is it the facts he presented that Anambra State with adult literacy at 74.0% is behind Imo (80.8%) and Abia State (78.2%) or that the two major contributors to IGR will be N6.76 billion from taxes and about N4 billion from fines and fees? If this IGR is measured against the state projected personnel costs of N16.3 billion, Anambra cannot pay its staff salaries without reliance on federal allocation; this means it is one of those ‘dependent’ states and is not economically viable for independent existence. Can anyone fault this simple analysis from information provided by the government itself?

I need not restate all that El-Rufai laid out in that piece but I was surprised that he was accused by Governor Obi of insulting the Igbos and that only Anambra State indigenes can assess his administration not outsiders who have never visited the state like El-Rufai. Anyway, I am an Igbo from Anambra State and I state as follows: I do not feel insulted in anyway by the article in question and being from Anambra State, I wish to exercise the right which the Governor graciously granted only the indigenes of Anambra state, which is the right to assess his administration.

Peter Obi brought civility into governance in Anambra State at a time politics in the state had degenerated to dangerous and unacceptable levels. That I must concede. But he has also taken, as they say, liberty for license, engaged in needless propaganda, pursuit of federal lucre and in the process, squandered a golden opportunity to positively transform a fruitful virgin state.

Propaganda works and it has worked well for Peter Obi, but it has its limits. One of the areas where a lot of propaganda has gone into in Anambra state is road construction. A lot of quality roads were constructed by the Ngige administration. But the present government claimed to have ‘Asphalted’ over 500 km of roads and claims that Anambra State has the best network of roads in the Country. How much did it cost the state, assuming the number is accurate and of what quality?

A government that prides itself as the most prudent in Nigeria should present the whole picture to its citizens. For instance, in May, 2011, the government of Cross River State under Senator Liyel Imoke, signed contract agreements Publicly with eight contractors for the construction of 474 km of roads valued at N20.325 billion to cover 28 communities across the State under the Cross River Rural Access and Mobility Project. The Projects are being jointly funded by the African Development Bank contributing N7.016 billion and Cross River State contributing N13.308 billion.

How much exactly did the 500km of roads built in Anambra State by Governor Obi cost? Informed citizens have put the figure at between N48 billion and N60 billion, more than double of what Cross River State is spending for corresponding kilometers of roads. As regards the quality of the roads, most indigenes would admit that you can determine which road was done under Ngige and the ones under Peter Obi by the standard. The roads built under Ngige are of a much higher quality. Most of the roads done by Peter Obi will have to be re-awarded, a case of penny wise, pound foolish.

Another major propaganda point is that the government of Peter Obi has not borrowed while other profligate states have been borrowing recklessly. How can a state with massive infrastructure deficits keep its funds in the bank while the Governor’s major developmental efforts will be in commissioning of bore holes, immunization programmes and giving grants to schools seeking accreditation? How much of the state government money is actually in the bank and can the government come out categorically and deny the rumor that over N150 million is paid out by the ‘banks’ as commission every month? Is there a correlation between these monthly commission payments from the banks and the fact that the average cycle of contracts and payment in the state is two to three years sometimes more in order to maintain a certain minimum bank balance?

While rebuking El-Rufai for daring to point out the facts about the state, the Governor claimed that he has attracted industries to the state and mentioned two: Innoson Motors and SAB Miller Breweries in Onitsha. Innocent Chukwuma is from Nnewi in Anambra state. His company, Innoson has always been in Nnewi, long before Obi became Governor. It started as a motorcycle assembly plant before moving to buses, and other vehicles. So Peter Obi did not attract Innoson to Anambra State. He considers as a major achievement the fact that he built the road leading to the Innoson factory and brought the President to commission it. Congratulations!

On Sab Miller, the Governor will need to address the rumor making rounds in the state concerning the ownership of 22% of Sab Miller shares. Anambra State Government owns 10% while the remaining 12% is said to be owned by other businessmen from Anambra State. Who are those other businessmen? Since they are not ghosts, it is important that their names be made public to avoid ugly rumors.

Talking about investment in the state, the Governor is known to be a successful trader before he became Governor. If the state is so attractive for business, what informed the decision of his own company NEXT International to invest over N12 billion building the two largest shopping malls in Abuja, one in Mabushi and the other in Central Area, opposite federal ministry of transport? The Governor announced proudly that this year, he will pay N32 million as tax in Anambra State. Why invest and create employment outside the state and then pay tax in Anambra State? It is a very strange way of doing things. Anambra State needs the investment and jobs that the Governor outsourced to Abuja and other places. I call on the Governor to publish his tax returns to know exactly where the N32 million income tax is coming from. Is it from dividends or other sources? Since he mentioned it, we need to know more.

Anambra State is a rural state and nobody can deny that. It has no airport, no stadium and no good public secondary school. If you fall sick in the state and you are unable to navigate yourself to the Nnamdi Azikiwe Federal University Teaching Hospital, you are finished. The State University Teaching Hospital, Awka, which was ‘commissioned’ by President Jonathan in 2010, is still an ongoing project in 2012. Yet, the money is in the bank! None of the three ‘cities’ within the state; Awka, Onitsha, Nnewi is really habitable. There is no public water supply system in those areas. The Government of Obi competes with individuals in the provision of boreholes all over the state with his so called development partners. No place like that can attract talents who will contribute to the development of the state.

Little wonder then, that two out of every three property/land transactions in Asaba and Enugu involve indigenes of Anambra State. Most members, past and present of Anambra State House of Assembly and Commissioners including most of the bank managers in Anambra State, all have their houses in Asaba and Enugu from where they commute to Anambra State. Why not? Their children have to attend good schools which do not exist in Anambra State. What Obi has managed to achieve in six years, is sustaining the rural status of the state.

The only habitable estate in Awka Capital Territory is the Udoka Housing Estate built by the Chukuemeka Ezeife administration in 1991/92. Across the other side of the Enugu – Onitsha expressway is the Ngozika Estate built by Obi’s government of a quality much lower than the Jakande houses of the eighties. He claims to have secured accreditation for School of Health Technology, Obosi, School of Midwifery, Nkpor, School of Nursing, Iyienu. Fine! But these are institutions built by his predecessors and he is listing securing accreditation as his achievement.

He announced that he invested N4 billion of state funds in Orient Petroleum but it was conceptualized and set up by Dr. Mbadinuju. The Anambra State University was set up by the same Mbadinuju and when Peter Obi builds a faculty building or hostel in the school, he will advertise it as a monumental achievement. Yet he claims that there was nothing on ground when he became Governor of the state. Even the Women Development Centre, Awka which is Anambra’s equivalent of the International Conference Centre, Abuja [Don’t laugh] was built by Mbadinuju. And I ask, apart from the State Secretariat, what project of note has Peter Obi initiated and completed in the past six years?

Thisday newspaper in awarding Governor Obi (4) four stars in its rating of Governors stated among other things that he built 77 bridges and 103 Schools. These are unsubstantiated claims. Some bridges, yes but not a single school was built under Peter Obi. What he did was that he awarded contracts to the 177 town unions in Anambra State to build 4000 classroom blocks in the schools within their communities. Unprecedented absurdity! He has no coherent educational policy. He would donate computers to some schools, give some principals’ money directly to build toilets in their schools and then supply some with generators as the spirit moves him. When the cacophonous interventions failed, he then out of frustration, rather than a carefully thought out policy, handed over the schools to the missions to continue from where they stopped 40 years ago. Lord have mercy!!

Thisday again listed a new Onitsha hotel and convention centre under construction as one of his achievements. This brings me to the issue of transparency and due process. Contracts under Obi are generally not advertised and are usually arbitrarily awarded. This ongoing convention centre was one of the few advertised and tenders received from companies all over Nigeria. After the pre-qualification and opening of the financial and technical bids, Costain won the bid and was invited by the Anambra State Ministry of Commerce to collect the award letter. Before that could be done, Obi unilaterally awarded the contract to another company. Serious companies avoid Anambra State resulting in the poor quality of work seen in the projects undertaken by Obi’s government.

Governor Obi has announced two years to the end of his tenure that he will build a new Governor’s Lodge and Governor’s Office before he hands over in March 2014. Informed citizens are asking him not to bother. Since he has lived in a temporary governor’s lodge and operated from a temporary governor’s office for six years there’s no hurry.

Lest I forget, three years ago when people complained about the lack of development in the State, Governor Obi announced to Anambra people that he was developing a base map for Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi with a United Nations group, Habitat in order to have orderly development. Great idea! Three years after, can someone please ask the Governor the status of the ‘base map’?


Hon. Chudi Offodile is a Lawyer and former member of the House of Representatives who served between 1999-2006 representing Awka North/Awka South Federal Constituency, Anambra State. He was also Chairman of the Public Petitions Committee of the House of Representatives.[/b]

@olaheavy: Your post has shown you off as a diseased dog with the intelligence of a toilet rat and the brains of a maggot. What has her tribe to do with her failure to perform? Oteh has shown that she doesn't have what it takes to revive SEC from the madness that characterized Onyiuke's era. She's no different from Dr. Ndi. One of her bosses: The minister of Finance (state) even berated her performance publicly. She should go and stop using her "Harvard" degree like a battle axe to bludgeon us into submission.

@BizBooks: Mikel hater? For real? Is that all you can come up with? SMH for those who will call you daddy.

@BizBooks: Please try not to have children, it will be horrible if you pass this kind of retarded thinking to a new generation. So because we are not Chelsea fans, we should not criticize one of the most idiotic decisions ever taken in the long and shameful history of idiocy? You asked for things that they should be doing instead, here are a few:
(1). Organizing public hearings on the performance of the various boards of the sporting associations
(2). Monitoring the spending and activities of the NSC (National Sports Commission)
(3). Drawing up bills that will aid efficient and effective administration of sports in Nigeria (such as repealing or amending Decree 101)
(4). Probing the expenditure for international events Nigeria has either participated or hosted (COJA '03, Nigeria '99, Nigeria '09)
(5). Monitoring the effective preparation of athletes for London 2012.
(6). Drawing up in conjunction with the NSC an effective plan to aid youth development and using sport as a means to address societal ills
(7). Tackling through legislation the problems of doping, age-cheats and corruption in Nigerian sports.
If you need more, exercise the brains God gave you, ignorance is not something to be proud of.

When I was telling my fellow ND brothers not to vote in a confirmed failure as president, they all called me a traitor, now who's laughing. The unfortunate thing is this: The so-called "Ijaw" domination is for the benefit of a few people and not even the Ijaw nation. Oil spills, fires, poverty, social miscreants are still aplenty in Ijaw communities from Ondo, Bayelsa through Delta, GEJ's administration has done nothing to change that. The truth of the matter is that there has never been one Niger-Delta (only a fool or a thief will sell that BS) and there will never be one.

It never ceases to amaze me when Nigerians clap for acts of savagery just because it happened to 'THEM' and not "US". Truth is this: Biafra, O'dua, Arewa and all the other banana republics NLers scream about will never come to pass because it is of immense benefit to the thieving elite and political class to maintain the status quo (with periodic power sharing a.k.a (s)elections). The problems of this country will follow any new nation that comes up. Ife vs Modakeke, Umuleri vs Agulei, Berom vs Hausa/Fulani, Ijaw vs Urhobo, Urhobo vs Itsekri all happened among so called "brother" tribes, imagine how it will be when there's no longer a "common" enemy.

@Beaf: Your stupidity has been shown for what it is: the antics of a raving lunatic with the intelligence of a dung beetle and the IQ of a diseased sewer rat. @abati1990 is being followed by @renoomokri a.k.a Reno Omokri (S.A to The President on New Media) and @MrFixNigeria a.k.a Godwin Ohimai Amaize (S.A to The Minister of Sports), are these two handles fake as well? @abati1990 is the OFFICIAL Twitter account for Dr. Reuben Abati, the S.A (Media) to GEJ. I will say nothing more on this issue.

This is the Time Line for the Twitter account which the bunkum formerly known as Beaf is trying to deny

4ms Reuben Abati Reuben Abati ‏@abati1990

Dana Air has been grounded by the Federal Government. Investigations ongoing.


5m Reuben Abati Reuben Abati ‏@abati1990

All quiet at the Villa today. Flags at half mast. No work at President's office. No official visits.


19h Kayode Akintemi Kayode Akintemi ‏@KayodeAkintemi

Hey @omojuwa @jongambrellAP @eggheader @ogundamisi THE ONLY TWITTER ACCOUNT BY REUBEN ABATI IS @abati1990 ANY OTHER ONE IS FAKE. PLS RT
Retweeted by Reuben Abati


19h Reuben Abati Reuben Abati ‏@abati1990

@KayodeAkintemi @omojuwa @jongambrellAP @eggheader @ogundamisi @abati1990


20h Reuben Abati Reuben Abati ‏@abati1990

@abati1990
View conversation

4 Jun Reuben Abati Reuben Abati ‏@abati1990

A President that cares. Going to the site of plane crash in lagos.


4 Jun Reuben Abati Reuben Abati ‏@abati1990

President Jonathan now in Lagos. Mourning. Sad.


4 Jun Reuben Abati Reuben Abati ‏@abati1990

President Jonathan is on the way to Lagos for an on the spot assessment of yday's plane crash.

@Beaf: I won't descend to your level by exchanging words with you, you live on insults and feed on abuse. The facts speak for themselves; the account is Abati's. You claim so vigorously not to be @rennoomokri, how then are you so sure that the said account doesn't belong to Abati and that he didn't tweet the said tweet?Ohimai Amaize(@MrFixNigeria) who is the S.A to Bolaji Abdullahi (the Sports Minister) has confirmed the account, is he also "one of us"?

This argument is unnecessary and stupid. The fact is that @abati1990 is Dr. Reuben Abati's OFFICIAL Twitter account and the said tweet in question was tweeted by him. He joined Twitter on Monday 4th of June, 2012 so there is no way anyone can claim this is a fake account. Visit the time lines of the following people on Twitter to confirm: @KayodeAkintemi(GM Operations,Channels TV), @MobilePunch, @vanguardnewsng, @PremiumTimesng,@jongambrellAP, @omojuwa, @ogundamisi, @eggheader, @rosanwo, @YNaija!. I myself started following that same day so there is no way that account was forged.

http://ynaija.com/hurray-gov-amaechi-secures-juicy-pension-for-himself-and-deputy/

Yesterday, May 31, Gov. Rotimi Amaechi signed a bill which would basically ensure that he continues to enjoy the perks of the governor’s office after leaving the office. The bill, which is titled The Rivers State Governor and Deputy Governor Pensions and Fringe Benefits Bill 2012, is the brainchild of the executive and was forwarded from the Governor’s Office to the House of Representative for a speedy passage.

Despite protestations from pressure groups in the state, the Rivers State House of Assembly went ahead to pass the bill on the 22nd of May by an overwhelming majority. And the sweetened deal was finalised yesterday with Governor Amaechi’s assent.

Consequently, Amaechi and his deputy, Tele Ikuru are entitled upon exit from office to benefits worthy of Wall Street executives, including:

100 per cent of their basic salaries
Two choice houses in any area of their choice in Rivers State and Abuja.
Three cars, replaceable every three years.
300 per cent funding for any furniture of their choice.
20 per cent funding for utility, 10 per cent funding for entertainment and 10 per cent of same for houses of their choice.
Free medical expenses for him and his immediate family.
Security details that will include two officials of the State Security Service (SSS), one female officer of the same department and eight police officers for personal and domestic security.
Domestic staff including a cook, steward, gardener, and others. All the domestic staff, including drivers shall be pensionable.

In addition to the executive perquisites bill, other bills signed into law by the governor on Wednesday include the Rivers State Universal Basic Education Amendment Bill 2012, the Rivers State Senior Secondary Schools’ Board Bill 2012, the Rivers State House of Assembly Service Commission Amendment Bill 2012 and the Rivers State Water Sector Development Law 2012.

@Pro01e: Dont mind the daft punks. See daft people wanting to tell a billionaire how to play with his toy (which is exactly what Chelsea is). The man became a football fan when he watched Man United versus Real Madrid in 2003 and was enthralled by the football he saw. He wants his team to win by playing that same type of attractive, expansive football(something RDM has not done). If RDM doesn't accept it, Capello will. They are all warming the seat for The Chosen One (Pep Guardiola. Spew all the garbage you want, your opinions are as irrelevant as the condoms your fathers used in trying to prevent your conception.

Can't believe no one has mentioned the ultimate game of all games: The God Of War Franchise. Also the Devil May Cry series, EA Sports Soccer 12, The Mortal Kombat Series (especially Armageddon).

This topic is absolutely hilarious and so on point, big ups to the poster. @Those hypocritical buffoons (especially that pipper bunkum) who lack the intelligence God gave a dung beetle, I advise you to go get blow jobs from cobras, your existence is worthless. I would personally buy Catholic Church shares. Like Coca Cola, its been around for years and has branches everywhere. Its share price will always remain highone so I will buy ad keep that . Winners, Redeemed, Christ Embassy and co. are like Facebook, they are enjoying the dot.com boom but are not guaranteed longevity so I will buy them and sell when their share prices hit the roof which is where Winners, Redeemed, SCOAN, Christ Embassy, Daystar etc are heading to now

@UYCO: Responding to you would be an effort in futility as its obvious that your brains have gone on permanent vacation. This Asaba Airport is Uduaghan's Ajaokuta (a project specifically designed to aid the looting of the treasury). The man is an incompetent first class buffoon who has been below abysaml. This is only his latest act of stupidity.

Common sense is truly not common. How can a sane person say GEJ has allowed corruption cases to come out? Was it GEJ that put them out? The simple truth of the matter is this: access to information has never been readily available as it is now. Back then, we only had a few television and radio stations as well as newspapers and magazines. These people were easily identifiable so governments could clamp down on them (TELL, NewsWatch, The News and co). But now there are so many online news agencies who are faceless and cannot be bought, intimidated or controlled (Sahara Reporters, Premium News, Al Jazeera et al). There are social networks (BBM, Twitter, Facebook, Nairaland) where info can be spread anonymously and at an accelerated rate. Why do you think TELL has gone under? Left to GEJ, he would have done the same thing his predecessors did which is bribe, intimidate or harass the press(the arrest of Okey Ndibe last year by the SSS is a pointer to that fact). Get your simpering, sniveling noses out of your backsides and emancipate yourselves by getting informed, GEJ is just a continuation of that which has gone on before (corruption extravaganza).

I think its high time Seun introduces an IQ test on Nairaland b'cos some of you are first class buffoons. Someone has won 13 titles in four years you are asking him to prove himself somewhere else? How much more idiotic can you get? If your fathers had "proven" themselves, you wouldn't be this sad and pathetic. Your opinion is as relevant as a grain of sand on the beach. He has beaten all the top managers and clubs he has come up against, he is the personification of greatness.

So D'Banj is now the Jesus Christ of the Nigerian Music Industry, its knight in shining armour? I laugh in Gaelic.

While I disagree with Beaf on a lot of issues, he is absolutely on point with his arguments. These displays apart from being a disgrace are unhealthy and an environmental hazard. Poverty is not an excuse for stupidity, there are other ways of going about it.