₦airaland Forum

A tribute at the Place de la Republique, in Paris, to victims killed during the attack at Charlie Hebdo.CREDITPHOTOGRAPH BY AURELIEN MEUNIER/GETTY

The murders today in Paris are not a result of France’s failure to assimilate two generations of Muslim immigrants from its former colonies. They’re not about French military action against the Islamic State in the Middle East, or the American invasion of Iraq before that. They’re not part of some general wave of nihilistic violence in the economically depressed, socially atomized, morally hollow West—the Paris version of Newtown or Oslo. Least of all should they be “understood” as reactions to disrespect for religion on the part of irresponsible cartoonists.

They are only the latest blows delivered by an ideology that has sought to achieve power through terror for decades. It’s the same ideology that sent Salman Rushdie into hiding for a decade under a death sentence for writing a novel, then killed his Japanese translator and tried to kill his Italian translator and Norwegian publisher. The ideology that murdered three thousand people in the U.S. on September 11, 2001. The one that butchered Theo van Gogh in the streets of Amsterdam, in 2004, for making a film. The one that has brought mass rape and slaughter to the cities and deserts of Syria and Iraq. That massacred a hundred and thirty-two children and thirteen adults in a school in Peshawar last month. That regularly kills so many Nigerians, especially young ones, that hardly anyone pays attention.

Because the ideology is the product of a major world religion, a lot of painstaking pretzel logic goes into trying to explain what the violence does, or doesn’t, have to do with Islam. Some well-meaning people tiptoe around the Islamic connection, claiming that the carnage has nothing to do with faith, or that Islam is a religion of peace, or that, at most, the violence represents a “distortion” of a great religion. (After suicide bombings in Baghdad, I grew used to hearing Iraqis say, “No Muslim would do this.”) Others want to lay the blame entirely on the theological content of Islam, as if other religions are more inherently peaceful—a notion belied by history as well as scripture.

A religion is not just a set of texts but the living beliefs and practices of its adherents. Islam today includes a substantial minority of believers who countenance, if they don’t actually carry out, a degree of violence in the application of their convictions that is currently unique. Charlie Hebdo had been nondenominational in its satire, sticking its finger into the sensitivities of Jews and Christians, too—but only Muslims responded with threats and acts of terrorism. For some believers, the violence serves a will to absolute power in the name of God, which is a form of totalitarianism called Islamism—politics as religion, religion as politics. “Allahu Akbar!” the killers shouted in the street outside Charlie Hebdo. They, at any rate, know what they’re about.

These thoughts don’t offer a guide to mitigating the astonishing surge in Islamist killing around the world. Rage and condemnation don’t do the job, nor is it helpful to alienate the millions of Muslims who dislike what’s being done in the name of their religion. Many of them immediately condemned the attack on Charlie Hebdo, in tones of anguish particular to those whose deepest beliefs have been tainted. The answer always has to be careful, thoughtful, and tailored to particular circumstances. In France, it will need to include a renewed debate about how the republic can prevent more of its young Muslim citizens from giving up their minds to a murderous ideology—how more of them might come to consider Mustapha Ourrad, a Charlie Hebdo copy editor of Algerian descent who was among the victims, a hero. In other places, the responses have to be different, with higher levels of counter-violence.

But the murders in Paris were so specific and so brazen as to make their meaning quite clear. The cartoonists died for an idea. The killers are soldiers in a war against freedom of thought and speech, against tolerance, pluralism, and the right to offend—against everything decent in a democratic society. So we must all try to be Charlie, not just today but every day.

A country’s transformation and eventual greatness largely depends on having change agents at the critical points of the development process. The starting point to achieving this is to have at the strategic place of the governance structure certain personalities with strong character that are forward looking and innovative. I am talking about people who have demonstrated depth and capacity in their call of duty; people with vision and exposure, experience, skill and commitment to drive the process of change in their areas of operation and influence. We must support those persons with courage and scruples because they could be trusted to rise up to the occasion when the need arises. This is why I have admiration for Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the nation’s Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, for her strength of character and astuteness.

It is an incontrovertible fact that Dr Okonjo-Iweala, has brought a great deal of credibility, goodwill and innovation to the administration of President Jonathan for which credit should be given to this exceptional woman of substance rather than the frequent bashing that comes from the press and mindless vilification from some members of the opposition. Some of the innovative changes are there for any discerning mind to see. They are the reasons why I strongly feel that those criticizing and castigating her on account of the current economic challenges the country is facing are doing more disservice to this nation in their attempt to tarnish her hard earned reputation. And they will fail because her reputation is anchored on a foundation of impeccable integrity and stellar performance.

Her track record as Managing Director of the World Bank (October 2007 – July 2011) earned her nomination as one of the three candidates in the race to replace then World Bank President, Robert Zoellick, at the end of his term of office in June 2012. And during the hard fought campaign, she was acknowledged by the leading development experts, intellectuals and respected media as the best candidate. IN the end, geo-polotics won at the expense of quality and fair play and she did nor get the job. But the point was made that a Black person and a Black woman from Africa could put herself forward on the basis of a solid track record and emerge as best in the eyes of fair minded people. And the manner in which she has carried out her job as Coordinating Minister confirms that she is an asset not only to her race but also to her country.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was the Chair of the 2011 – 2013 16th International Development Association (IDA) replenishment of a historic US$49.3 billion to provide grants and interest-free loans to the world’s poorest countries. At that level she was conducting high level dialogue with top level officials, Heads of States, Prime Ministers and Finance Ministers worldwide. She was participating in G-20 and other high-level International governance meetings. Little wonder then, that she under the leadership of former President Obasanjo and working with the Economic Team, she successfully led the negotiations that resulted in 60% or $18 billion debt cancellation for Nigeria from the Paris Club, the second largest in the club’s history. By so doing Nigeria’s external debt burden was brought down from $35 to $5 billion following a Paris Club deal which included an Innovative Discounted Buy Back Operation. She is still attracting for Nigeria huge international respect and high rating in managing the economy.

It is clear that one of her greatest challenges is the endemic corruption in the system. She introduced the practice of publishing each state’s monthly financial allocation from the federal government in the newspapers. This is done with the aim to properly equip the Civil Society Groups in particular and the public in general with sufficient information to hold the various state governments accountable. She has managed to carry on with the activities of her ministry without blemish.

Okonjo-Iweala is also not very desperate to stay in office at all cost. In response to a question posed to her by a reporter, while she was being nominated to vie for the office of World Bank President, she said: “Nobody is indispensable!”. “If the African leadership want me to [lead the World Bank] and they think this would be good for the continent and my country, and the President is willing, then I will look at it, because it’s an honour.” We must acknowledge that Nigeria continues to attract foreign direct investments on account of her goodwill and confidence which she engenders.

Working under two presidents, Okonjo-Iweala has proved to be a major asset to the country.

She is notable for being the first woman to hold the office of finance minister and foreign affairs minister in Nigeria’s history. She was instrumental in helping Nigeria obtain its first ever sovereign credit rating (of BB minus) from Fitch and Standard & Poor’s. This has helped the country to attract foreign direct investments and jobs. It has also empowered Nigerian businesses to take better advantage of international opportunities leading to more business, investments and jobs.

She put in place the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) and Excess Crude Account (ECA) for savings above the benchmark price in spite of strong resistance from the opposition governors and in proactive anticipation of the rainy day such as we are in today. This hard working Minister of Finance who has been a stabilising force in the management of our economy must not be hounded out of office. She must be encouraged by all well-meaning Nigerians to stay on and finish the good work she is doing in laying solid foundation for our economy.

•Akparanta, a media practitioner and public affairs analyst, wrote from Abuja.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/quicklinkss/opinion/item/26014-okonjo-iweala-s-integrity-and-the-economy

As the last hours of 2014 slip away, I find myself musing about all those leaders just “below the fold,” as they used to say back in the heyday of print broadsheet newspapers. Who are some of those non-headline leaders from all walks of life and geographies who are making a difference as they (in the parlance of this column) have demonstrated “capability, reliability and authenticity”?

We spend inordinate amounts of time complaining about our leaders and how they disappoint. Headlines blare every day about political figures unable to solve our problems; about industry leaders unwilling to think beyond the next earnings statement; about some athlete who has abused the fair play principles of competitive sports; about the fall from grace of a newsmaker guilty of shocking behavior. Perhaps there are no more lapses of confidence in our leaders today than has been the case throughout history. But the sun never sets on our leaders, subject as they are to constant scrutiny under today’s klieg lights emitted from larger-than-life TV screens, computer monitors and PDAs.

Unsung leaders help to ring in 2015, Photo credit - Ayagiz, courtesy of Thinkstock
Unsung leaders help to ring in 2015, Photo credit – Ayagiz, courtesy of Thinkstock

But maybe we have not looked long or hard enough to find the real leaders right under our gaze. We all know intuitively that none of our institutions would be working at all if there weren’t committed, capable, reliable and authentic leaders delivering on their promises day in and out, and adding value to the lives of the people they serve. We also know the difference a respected leader can make in inspiring broader support for noble humanitarian, peacekeeping, or governmental missions.

To help identify some of these under- or un-sung leaders, I asked my colleagues to join in this “Where’s Waldo” process, urging them to help me come up with the following list of five arguably under-appreciated leaders with the right stuff—capability, reliability, authenticity.

1- Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala—The first woman Finance Minister of Nigeria, the world’s seventh largest country, Okonjo-Iweala has courageously taken on the nation’s endemic corruption, helping to refurbish Nigeria’s image and economic prospects.

2- Pietro Parolin—Pope Francis’s right-hand man, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin has been critical to many of the most significant initiatives which have begun to change in fundamental ways one of the world’s oldest (and most change-resistant) institutions.


3- Arati Prabhakar—The Indian-born engineer has used her platform as director of the U.S. Department of Defense’s DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) to speak out on the need to be vigilant about technology’s double edge, taking seriously the agency’s founding mission to create and invest in breakthrough technologies that protect U.S. national security.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/paullaudicina/2014/12/29/what-the-front-pages-missed-5-unsung-leaders-of-2014/

One obvious truth about our country today is that it is successfully grappling with those challenges of nation building that are inevitable for any country that wishes to attain real greatness. I make this statement against the background of the many thoughts that were going through my mind as I sat in the auditorium of the Federal Ministry of Finance and listened to the Coordinating Minister of the Economy (CME), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, present details of next year’s budget. The first is that this government is not just resolved to place Nigeria and Nigerians on a firm footing for the 21st century, but is putting that resolution into implementable policy actions with measurable impact on the economy and the people. One clear proof of that is the well-thought out, evidence-based budget that was being presented to us on that day. The CME’s submissions ties inflows to the realistically projected expenditure profile for the budget year. The benchmarks shown were scientific and the analysis of the relevant economic variables revealed profound economic pragmatism.

The second thought on my mind was the realisation that the budget perspective is holistic, tying the expected inflows from new revenue sources to genuine projections and not speculation. What I saw was a sober response to current challenges. It is a budget that can work for us if we all gird our loins to work together as a people. I make this later point because the Nigerians must begin to respond to issues and crisis like the rest of the world. This is the 21st century. Its problems are legion, manifesting as political instability, economic downturn and sundry challenges facing many nations. Russia, Mexico, Egypt, Libya, and many other countries have more than their fair share of these challenges in various forms and they are grappling with the issues as a people. Nigeria was not granted any immunity, so we should expect problems with significant impact on every nation within the last five years to affect us.

For instance, the Russian Rubbles has lost over 40% of its value. About 11% of that 40% was lost on Tuesday last week alone. But the Russians are not blaming Putin, or calling its government names. They are rather holding together and struggling to come out of it stronger. Over 25,000 have been reported missing in Mexico the last 18 months or so, including 42 students killed and buried by gangsters. But the Mexicans are not blaming their government, or running their nation down in the media. Some 145 students were recently murdered in Pakistan by Talibans, but without the Pakistanis blaming their Prime Minister, or accusing their government of insensitivity. That is why Nigerians should give themselves a rap on the shoulder and say: “Hey, no one out there is coming to solve our problems for us, if we don’t solve them

Global oil prices have lost about 40% of its value since June. Russia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and all oil producing countries are devising survival strategies, so Nigerians must stay together and support our president at a time like this; especially when he is working round the clock with his economic team to get things right. The nation is not even so badly hit today because we eventually listened the CME’s sustained call for savings at all levels. I recall having attended many meetings as then governor of Anambra, during which she reminded everyone that the price of oil could fall at any time and that we needed to boost national savings, presenting establishment of the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) as another way of achieving targeted saving and long term investment. But the voice of the majority initially drowned her repeated pleas about saving for the rainy day. The louder chorus was “Let’s spend now! The rainy day is already here! In fact is already flooding!” Meanwhile, it was only drizzling at the time! Fortunately, the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority was set up after a long and has financed the Abuja-Kaduna rail, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the Second Niger Bridge, among other projects.

The 2015 budget is also pegged on increasing Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and diversifying the economy. It ties the expected increase in IGR to projected inputs into the economy, which would reflate local economies and increase Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The FIRS is to increase IGR but not necessarily by increasing the taxes. It is blocking leakages and institutional weaknesses in tax administration and increasing the collection rates. Besides the official target of N1.98 trillion, the FIRS was given an additional target of N75 billion, which it overshot and declared N143 billion extra as at last month. This shows that the new collection target of additional $3 billion dollars in three years for FIRS announced by the CME is realisable, as its Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS, which targets a re-engineering and automating of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) core tax administration processes, will yield a seamless, integrated solution that incorporates international best practices for revenue administration with clear monitoring and evaluation systems.

We must all recall that President Barrack Obama’s first concern after being sworn in was the need for alternative sources of energy, to reduce dependence on imported petroleum products. Today the shale revolution has raised domestic production and the US no longer buys our oil. International oil firms like the Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, Total and Chevron, are using portfolio rotation of assets to diverting more resources into shale oil production. That is why President Jonathan’s persistent call for diversification of the national economy and the effort of the Economic Management Team must be supported; especially as it has been discovered that Nigeria’s oil reserves might finish sooner than was projected. The 2015 budget is a realistic response to the foregoing and more.

Other wide ranging measures have been taken by the President’s Economic Management team, led by the CME, to diversify the economy and create jobs, include the creation of Mortgage Refinancing Institution; to make long term funds available and Increase liquidityh by funding primary mortgage institutions. The boom in the Housing sector will create more jobs, as it is estimated that every house built will create 6 direct jobs and 4 indirect jobs. The impact of this in a country like Nigerian, with its over 17,000,000 housing deficit, will be phenomenal.

The YOUWIN programme award winners each receives between N1 million and N10 million, in addition to further training through business bootcamps, as well as mentoring through enrolment in a voluntary mentoring programme. Today, many of the 2400 businesses under YouWin 1 and 2 are doing very well, with some receiving national and international awards. About 22,000 jobs have been created by the 2,400 winners from the first two editions of YOUWIN. This translates to about 9 jobs winner. Examples of special award winners include, Binta Shuaibu of Vintage Collete by Binta in Kano, who won the MTN 2012 Designer of the year award, Dr. Saeed Juma of the Smile Shop (a dental clinic) who won the Futures Award Africa prize in Business in 2013, Achenyo Idachaba of Mitimeth in Ibadan who won the 2014 Cartier Women’s Initiative Award as the Laureate for sub-Sahara Africa, and Archibong Eniang of ENELEC GS in Akwa Ibom State, who won the Presidential Standing Committee on Invention and Innovation award by the Hon. Minister of Communication Technology in 2014. By the end of YouWin 4, about 5,400 young entrepreneurs would have benefitted directly from the program.

Still along the lines of economic revival and diversification, the Federal Government is determined to do with the Insurance Sector what it did with the Banking and Pension sectors, thus increasing its assets base from its current N300 billion to N1trillion within the next three years. It will go up to N5 trillion within the next decade. As the sector grows, it will open up vast employment opportunity for our people, both directly and indirectly.

The SURE-P programme continues to support Social Safety Net programmes, like Save One Million Lives, which has saved over 631,250 lives by giving renewed priority to health interventions, nutrition, prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV, malaria control and routine immunization. The Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS) has hired and deployed 13,339 graduates so far and the Community Services, Women and Youth Employment (CSWYE) has created nearly 120,000 jobs; with a minimum of 3,000 in each state and the FCT.

Today we have the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), which will increase access to finance for the micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) and the agriculture sector.Financial inclusion through improving access to finance will drive economic growth. The African Development Bank (AfDB) will also be investing equity. At the initial stage the Federal Government will raise funds and make same available to DBN for on-lending to the Nigerian MSMEs and agriculture businesses. The DBN should be able to gain a credit rating similar to that of the government within 3 years of its operation; in addition to being able to independently raise funds from local and international sources.

The point being made here is that our challenges are as real as the government’s tackling of them. We must hold together as people and also thank God for the determination of Mr President and his Economic Management Team, to set the economy on a strong macro-economic footing.


Mr. Peter Obi was the immediate past Governor of Anambra State

http://www.elombah.com/detail.php?world=28466

Okonjo-Iweala’s controversial 50 questions dust yet to settle 0
BY OUR REPORTER ON DECEMBER 26, 2014 BUSINESS
…As consultant hired to produce questions sues Reps over N115m debt



FROM ISAAC ANUMIHE, ABUJA

The dust raised by the House of Representatives over the 50 questions posed to the Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy and the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is yet to be settled as an economic expert, Mr. Odilim Basil Enwegbara, has sued the Lower House for refusing to pay him his N115 million consultancy fee for service rendered to the House in December 2013.

In the suit no. CV/890/14 instituted at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on December 23, 2014, Enwegbara demanded that the House of Representatives pay him his N115 million consultancy fee for producing the “controversial” 50 questions, which the House Committee on Okonjo-Iweala on December 19, 2013 as well as for producing for the House Committee the follow-up questions in reaction to the Minister’s response.

According to Enwegbara, the Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Abdulmumin Jibrin, on December 18, 2013 hired him to produce 50 questions on the “State of the Economy,” which the House of Representatives would like to pose to the Minister of Finance.

“It was on the basis of an agreement by both parties that he should be paid N100 million only for producing the 50 questions as his consultancy fee that he went ahead to do the work.”

Upon the Chairman’s discovery that the 50 questions produced were beyond the committee members’ comprehension, coupled with the fear that they would have difficulty taking the Minister on those 50 questions in a public hearing, the Chairman informed Enwegbara that to be on the safe side, his committee would be handing the Minister the questions to respond in writing.

Whence the Minister of Finance eventually responded to the 50 questions in writing, the Chairman immediately reverted to Enwegbara to react fully to the Minister’s response since, according to him, the Minister’s response was also beyond the committee members’ comprehension.

To produce such detailed reaction to the Minister’s response to the 50 questions, which the committee would use in organising a public hearing, a fee of N15 million only was agreed by both parties for Enwegbara’s work.

To personally guide members at the said hearing, the Chairman, without any prior agreement with Enwegbara, went ahead to publish Enwegbara’s name in newspapers along with other names as resource persons to be present at the committee’s planned public hearing on March 3, 2013.

With the said hearing abruptly put off, the House Committee Chairman on Finance severed communication with Enwegbara, the complainant said, pointing out that notwithstanding frustrations encountered by him, Enwegbara continued to abide by the agreement with the Chairman, which included that both parties should never make public Enwegbara’s authorship of both the 50 questions and the follow-up questions.

“After several attempts to secure payment for his Consultancy Fee failed, Enwegbara had no option but to engage the services of lawyers, who immediately wrote the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Right Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, and demanded immediate payment of his consultancy fees.

Consequently, the House of Representatives’ lawyer, Mr Femi Falana intervened, seeking an amicable settlement. Unfortunately, the settlement efforts dragged on for months without any positive outcome to date.

Given the nonchalance exhibited and the colossal abuse of office by both the Speaker and the Committee Chairman all these months, Enwegbara finally decided it is time to seek a redress in the Court of law; hence this lawsuit” Enwegbara, said in a statement. ENDS

http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=97182

Well written article.. But we must realise that the blame is not that of Okonjo Iweala. She is trying her best.

From Qatar to Kuwait all the way to Venezuela, and even in Nigeria, one sound rings clear on the balance sheets of these countries: revenue from oil is declining. The drastic fall of oil prices is making many of the oil producing nations tighten their belts and make adjustments in the national budget. These fall in revenue will surely necessitate a reduction in spending by oil producing nations across the world.


Nigeria, which is presently battling lots of challenges, will also have her own share of cuts on spending. However, as price of oil goes on a freefall, Nigeria is being shielded by the Excess Crude Account which Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala vigorously enriched for such a time as this!

As a reminder, the Excess Crude Account (ECA) came to reality through the foresight of Dr. Okonjo-Iweala during the Obasanjo era. ECA was envisaged to warehouse proceeds from oil revenue that shoots above the annual budget projections. The idea behind the establishment of the ECA then was that if oil price, like we’re having now, or output unexpectedly falls, Nigeria will be under no pressure to forcibly borrow at high cost in order to fund revenue shortfalls.

Seeing things in different light, the National Assembly, especially the House of Representatives, have been up in arms battling the Minister for this noble idea. It is amazing that the reps don’t take into consideration that numerous OPEC countries adopt comparatively much lower crude oil budget benchmarks than Nigeria.

Members of the House Committee on Finance have been most vicarious from this reality. They fail to understand the gains inherent in ECA. They fail to understand that the establishment of the ECA is actually empowered through Section 162(1) of the Nigerian Constitution, which provides that the federation shall maintain a special account into which shall be paid all revenue collected by the federal government.

Likewise, Section 35(1) of the 2007 Fiscal Responsibility Act stipulates that “Where a reference commodity price rises above the predetermined level, the resulting excess proceeds shall be saved”. In further justification of the rationale for the establishment of the ECA, the Minister cited Section 16(1a) of the 1999 Constitution, which stipulates that “…the State shall harness the resources of the nation, and promote national prosperity and an efficient, dynamic and self-reliant economy”.

In spite of this constitutional justification for the ECA, the House of Reps didn’t fail every year to invokeSections 59, 81 and 82 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, which empower them to juggle the national budget’s estimate by constantly increasing the benchmark of the budget. They believe that the raining days is here and we must spend all that we earn at a go!

In 2013, the benchmark was increased from $75 per barrel that the executive proposed to $80, while the Senate took a middle position and pegged its own benchmark for $78. In arriving at this decision, the House of Representatives posit that increasing the benchmark will reduce the budget deficit and domestic debts by as much as 66%. While opposing the position of the national assembly, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala warns that jerking the oil benchmark to $80 will affect Nigeria’s credit rating; make borrowing more expensive; lower the Foreign Direct Investment; impact negatively on macroeconomic stability, and the country will lose $20 instead of gaining $5.

It is obvious that the Minister of Finance has made the right decision by establishing the ECA and ensuring that the account is constantly being enriched despite opposition from the National Assembly.

Pray, what would have happened to the Nigerian economy in this season of economic uncertainty as the price of oil goes on downward path? The ECA is coming handy this season guiding against our nation going broke.

The Minister of Finance should be commended for this feat. For ensuring that things are done the right way, we must applaud her for her foresight, the hallmark of all great leaders.

http://saharareporters.com/2014/11/12/falling-oil-prices-raining-day-here-abdullahi-m-seidu

The events of the past few weeks have every one paying closer attention to news headlines; especially as it relates to the falling price of crude oil, the economy and how it all affects us as Nigerians, both in the short term, and in the years to come. That was how I stumbled across Duro Onabule’s op-ed titled, “Eventually, collapse of the economy?” published last week in The Sun.


Having read that lengthy article, I tend to disagree with him on some of what he may have considered to be salient points when developing his op-ed. I must confess that I am still a tad disturbed by the way Duro Onabule kept referring to Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as “the Lady”. Something about it doesn’t just sit well with me. With the capitalization of the word, ‘lady’ each time, it almost seems like a title of scorn or ridicule. Now, as a woman myself, I find that offensive. If the minister had been a man, would he have called him “the Lord”? Or is this deliberately done so that whatever else he accused the said minister of doing or saying hereafter is hinged on the one indisputable fact; that she is FEMALE? I would have thought someone of his experience would be more sophisticated and delicate when addressing issues of this nature, alas! I am to be disappointed.


We know that there are several notable women in the president’s cabinet occupying key positions and heading ministries. So, when he calls Dr Okonjo-Iweala “the Lady of the Goodluck Jonathan administration”, in spite of the fact that she is not the only woman occupying a prominent position in government, there is the undertone of something hidden between the lines. That is both disrespectful and unfair. For a woman who has served this country passionately and has done it all on merit, she deserves an apology.


Anyone reading his op-ed on how Dr Okonjo-Iweala promised the creation of 10 million jobs knows at once how preposterous that sounds. No one in their right minds would make such a promise, least of all our Harvard-trained Minister of Finance. She knows this; and so does Duro, yet he mentions it, albeit in a manner that supposes he doesn’t believe it himself. I have scoured the internet looking for where the minister could possibly have made such a promise and the only hit I keep getting is Mr Onabule’s article. Where then did he get his information from? I wish he would have told us that.


This naturally has given me cause to ask: Why would a man who clearly has doubts about a statement still go ahead to mention that same statement in his op-ed with the intent of trash-talking a minister of this government? Did he validate his facts? I mean we are talking about a journalist with years of experience here.


Some of you may not know that Duro Onabule was an editor at a national daily before going on to serve as Chief Press Secretary to Gen. Ibrahim Babangida at the time when the latter was Head of State. I find it unnerving how those who have served leaders of our dear country in the past always come round to condemn those serving in the current government.


Another point which I find saddening is that when issues bordering on the current situation in the economy are raised, no one mentions the fact that the National Assembly keeps frustrating the efforts of the Finance Minister to reduce the crude oil bench mark. Had the current slide in oil prices not occurred, it would have been business as usual at NASS. What about the “share the money” mantra that the Governors’ Forum members chant unendingly when it comes to whether or not to touch the funds in the Excess Crude Account? For some reason, many Nigerians, Duro included, have deliberately decided to forget that prior to the setting up of the ECA, no one had any idea where all excess money from the sale of crude oil went.


Still talking about selective amnesia, our journalist here has not mentioned the SURE-P Graduate Internship Scheme, nor did he think it noteworthy to bring up the YouWIN Initiative; both of which have created jobs and a source of livelihood for many Nigerian youths. While these may not be the “ten million jobs”, these projects have taken people off the streets, put food on many people’s tables, and still offer hope to countless others.


That Dr Okonjo-Iweala never warned about the state of the economy is untrue. She has always, at every opportunity available, made it clear that we needed to spend less and save more. Just as she has been one our strongest advocates on the issue of diversifying and sourcing for other streams of income from viable sectors such as Agriculture. She has in the past been a victim of attacks; both offline and online because of her advocacy on prudence and savings. One need only enter key words in an online search to get proof of this. At least, I can assure you that on this, there is a plethora of evidence available as opposed to Duro’s non-existent figures and made up quotes of which he is the chief instigator and only source. What Nigerians expect from people of Duro’s experience is simple; facts. Give us facts and then let us decide for ourselves what to think, rather than filling our space with fairytales of a time long gone by and bogus datum.


Ebun Asagbe ( Email: ebunasagbe@gmail.com ), reports from Ado Ekiti, where she lives and works as a brand consultant.

http://nigeriamasterweb.com/Masterweb/newsreel-21214-duro-onabule-and-his-phantom-lady

In an interview featured on Daily Independent , Goddy Uwazulike, a lawyer and the President of Aka Ikenga speaks on the recent introduction of austerity measures by the federal government, political crisis in the National Assembly, Ekiti State House of Assembly and other national issues.


On issues relating to the present economic reality, he has this to say: "… People are talking of austerity measure and Okonjo-Iweala, some years ago, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala said: ‘let us keep some money aside for the rainy day that this increase in the oil price will not continue because you never know what will happen tomorrow.’ She called it Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) but the governors went to Supreme Court insisting that the money must be given to them, now they said we want to enjoy what we are getting now and let the next generations take care of themselves.”



“Unfortunately for them, it doesn't happen for the next generation, it just happened now and the minister has gone to withdraw part of the revenue to beef of the revenue profile of the country. The governor has not come out to apologise to Nigerian saying we are sorry for misleading the country. Gov. Amaechi had gone to withdraw from the saving of the state, why? But all this time they vilified Ngozi Okonjo Iweala why should we save for the next generation, let us eat our own money now. They know what to do from time to time but for political reasons, they will not do that."

http://dailyindependentnig.com/2014/12/none-rejoice-success-b-haram-uwazulike/

Some folks just don't get it. What Okonjo Iweala has succeeded in achieving in Nigeria is beyond what any other minister has achieved. she deserves kudos for it.

The fall in oil price is not caused by Iweala or Jonathan. Let us have that in mind before we commence debate on this issue.

This is definitely an accusation from a faceless individual. All the allegation here are false. It is clear that AfricanKing is just running with news from the grapevine. I don't think anyone should take him serious.

For the better part of this year, the price of crude oil, the commodity that provides Nigeria the bulk of her foreign exchange earnings, has been falling in alarming manner.

Today, over 20 per cent of the revenue Nigeria used to earn in the good old days of steady oil prices on the international market only a few months back, has reportedly been lost. Expectedly and quite rightly, this has made many Nigerians jittery. But Nigeria is not the only victim of the jitters about falling oil prices. It is an economic epidemic, so to say, that has befallen all oil producing nations the world over. There is however a greater anxiety here because we operate a near mono-cultural economy. And when that main revenue earner is threatened, we have every cause for some concern.

This fear and anxiety are reflected in some alarmist and sensational headlines in newspaper and magazine articles written by some of our concerned commentators. We often come across articles with titles such as: ‘’Is Nigeria broke?’’ ‘’How healthy is the Nigerian Economy?’’, ‘’Development in the International Oil Market: Cause for alarm for Nigeria’’. Others have also asked: Is the government cognizant of this frightening global development? If so, what steps have been taken to avert any impending further deterioration in the revenue profile of the nation?

It is against this back-ground of national apprehension that many concerned patriots eagerly sought to listen to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who on Tuesday, 21st October, at the National Press Centre, Radio House, Abuja, mounted the Ministerial Platform to give account of the activities of, and the progress recorded by, the Ministry of Finance in the past one year.

After her eloquent and graphic presentation, the question inevitably popped up and was addressed to none other than Mrs Okonjo-Iweala: Is Nigeria broke or is there no cause for serious alarm? Nigerians were eager to hear from the horse’s mouth. No, Nigeria is not broke, she answered simply; and humorously added that from the frequency of that poser, it was if some Nigerians secretly desire that their country should be broke! The finance minister proceeded to assure Nigerians that the country will not be caught napping as government was keenly watching development in the oil market and that a contingency plan was being developed to contain the situation as it develops.

She admitted that Nigerians’ anxiety was quite understandable but that government was not in any way laid back about the situation. She said the situation would call for some belt tightening quite alright and that government expenditure might be cut but that we will weather the storm and move on. I have become jittery have told members of my household to prepare for the coming economic storm, but Mrs Okonjo-Iweala’s re-assuring words have indeed done me a great good. It has calmed me down a bit.

In terms of real policies, projects and plan to meaningfully address the volatile oil market, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala told the nation that the ministry’s able macro-economic management and government’s efforts towards diversifying the economy by steering it away from dependence on crude oil, have yielded some remarkable dividends. She pointed out that non-oil revenue is increasing. As to be expected of a minister of finance, she gave plenty facts and figures to buttress her assertion that all was well with the Nigerian economy. But as she herself said at some point, it is not about the money and it is not about the numbers but it is essentially about making a real difference in the lives of people.

On this score, she was particularly proud of what the newly formed Nigerian Mortgage Re-financing Company has done by the number of mortgages it has created for thousands of Nigerians. She said the Federal Government’s 10,000 houses for public servants has attracted over 60, 000 Nigerians in both the public and private sector who desire to own their own homes. Although only 10, 000 were targeted, all the over 60,000 compatriots who have applied will be considered.

Other steps which Mrs Okonjo-Iweala said the government is doing right which will mitigate the effects of the falling oil prices and keep Nigeria out of recession include tight fiscal management which she said has kept this year’s fiscal deficit not as large as of other years. She said there is great prudence in the management of our national debt. The government has kept domestic borrowing down and borrowed more from external sources, especially from multi-lateral organisations with long tenor and generous repayment terms. Contrary to the fears of many Nigerians that the government was borrowing too much, a development that could take Nigeria back to the debt noose, the finance minister said the uniqueness of this government’s borrowing is that it is targeted at developing the nation’s infrastructure to enhance the growth of the economy. She gave the figure of the nation’s debt-to-GDP as about 12 per cent which she said is within acceptable limits.

To further douse the tendency among Nigerians to portray their situation as worse than it really is, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala said that our foreign reserves and the money in the Excess Crude Account are enough to sustain over nine months of imports. From Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s body language the message was clearly that Nigerians should not worry unduly. I agree with her and wish to add that even if the situation is dire (which she said is not), we need to re-assure ourselves that all is well. Doing so is both spiritual and rational. We will call evil upon our country by exaggerating our fears. Agonizing unnecessarily at this point will do us more harm than good. As the late activist Taju Abdulraheem would say, we do not need to agonise but to organise. The time has come for us to do more to diversify our economy and make it less dependent on oil. We have said this for so long that it has become a cliché. The rude shock from the oil market should be a wakeup call on us all.
There is growing confidence of investors both domestic and foreign in the Nigerian economy. We ourselves should therefore not say or do anything that would cast doubt about our ability to steer the economy towards the safe and sound direction. The granting of full membership status to the Nigerian Stock Exchange by the World Exchanges Federation is a vote of confidence on the Nigerian economy. With a self-confident person like Okonjo-Iweala at the helm of our economic management team, the goodwill of the international community and with our prayers, one hopes that Nigeria is safe.

http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/opinion/38124-okonjo-iweala-and-nigeria-s-economic-health

ON THE sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Cape Town last year, I chaired a book launch with Nigeria’s formidable former and current finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. She had recently published Reforming the Unreformable, about her time as finance minister between 2003 and 2006. She had been the architect of the deal to pay off Nigeria’s $30bn debt and led a team of technocratic reformers seeking to tackle corruption and build efficient public and private institutions.

Without any notes, Okonjo-Iweala gave a fluent, inspiring and courageous presentation, breaking down complicated economic concepts in ways that were easy for the audience to understand. She berated Nigeria for its failure to create a system of sound planning and financial management of its oil resources; detailed Herculean efforts to fight vested interests at great personal cost; and described how she had used her impressive international network to achieve Nigeria’s debt deal. It was a virtuoso performance to a South African audience fed with stereotypes about corrupt Nigerian drug traffickers.

My impression of Nigeria’s "Iron Lady" was of an incredibly competent, courageous, and intelligent individual with a sense of public service. But I also had the impression of a diva who was aware of her own importance, enjoyed her celebrity status, and who came across as an aspirant head of state.

The 60-year-old technocrat’s economic credentials are from Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she obtained a doctorate.

Okonjo-Iweala grew up in a solidly middle-class Nigerian family, with both parents being professors. Her upbringing was an idyllic one, full of ballet classes and piano lessons, until the civil war of 1967-70 forced her family back east, having lost all their savings. Living on one meal a day, seeing children die, and sleeping on the floor of a bunker were formative experiences that made Okonjo-Iweala determined to succeed, and perhaps contributed to her nearly 30-year exile in graduate school and at the World Bank, where she rose to become vice-president by 2002.

Okonjo-Iweala avoids personal details in Reforming the Unreformable and focuses on her time as finance minister. Despite the technical subject matter, this readable book is devoid of jargon. The story is well told and presents a bird’s-eye view of Nigeria’s chronically underperforming and staggeringly corrupt state. It covers the strategies of Okonjo-Iweala’s economic team; efforts to address the structural constraints to private enterprise through liberalisation, restructuring of the public service, and reform of the trade, tariffs, customs, and banking sectors; the crusade against corruption; the battle to annul Nigeria’s debt; and the lessons learnt from the reform process.

In an impressive example of south-south sharing, Okonjo-Iweala based her reform efforts on Brazil’s experiences, in stark contrast to SA’s obsession with western models. She led her reform team to develop the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), which set out to tackle poor economic management; poor governance and weak public institutions; failure to deliver public services; and a hostile environment for private-sector growth. To increase transparency, Okonjo-Iweala published details of the funds that state governors and local governments received in national newspapers. Another major achievement was the liberalisation of the antiquated telecommunications sector.

But Okonjo-Iweala’s NEEDS strategy was a top-down plan imposed without proper consultation and buy-in from critical civil society actors. These actors are nameless and faceless in her book. Their criticism of NEEDS is never explained. One does not have a sense of serious engagement with these groups. Okonjo-Iweala instead tends to lump all opponents of reform together, sometimes blurring the line between opportunistic vested interests and genuine intellectual opposition. The views of African economists are also absent, and indigenous solutions to deep-seated problems do not seem to have been taken as seriously as external advice.

After serving as a widely respected MD at the World Bank between 2007 and 2011, Okonjo-Iweala returned as Nigeria’s finance minister. But her "second coming" has not proved as messianic as the first. She unsuccessfully ran for president of the World Bank in 2012. Her impeccable integrity of the first term has been increasingly questioned, amid accusations of turning a blind eye to graft to pursue political ambitions. The marquee achievement of her first term — the debt deal — is in danger of being reversed, as Nigeria’s external debt has risen to $9.38bn.

Nigeria’s "Iron Lady", however, should be credited for her incredible achievement in annulling the country’s external debt and for bringing some sanity to its financial management.

• Adebajo is executive director of the Centre for Conflict Resolution.

http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/columnists/2014/09/22/a-diva-but-she-deserves-the-epithet-nigerias-iron-lady

Nigeria has been ranked far ahead of its peers on the continent based on the strength of the country’s macroeconomic indicators.

A Lagos-based research and financial advisory firm, Renaissance Capital (RenCap), revealed this in its latest report on sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) titled, ‘Who’s Hot and Who’s Not’.

Other countries assessed in the report were Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Nigeria, in April this year, rebased its gross domestic product (GDP), which saw estimates hitting $509.9 billion. Following the rebasing exercise, Nigeria emerged Africa’s biggest economy and the 26th largest in the world.

Also, in spite of the huge infrastructure gap and security challenges in the country, THISDAY recently reported that activities in the Nigerian manufacturing sector had continued to grow, attracting huge foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows by global multinational brands.

The RenCap report highlighted the country’s improving external position (9 to 10 months of import cover) and a small fiscal deficit (1 to 2 per cent of GDP), as major factors driving its macroeconomic growth.

Moreover, it pointed out that a recovery in the oil sector had led to stronger growth in Nigeria.
Accordingly, RenCap revised its growth forecast for the country to 6.3 per cent and 6.5 per cent in 2014 and 2015 respectively, as against its prior forecast of 5.7 per cent and 5.6 per cent.

It explained: “Nigeria’s macro (economic fundamentals) stand well ahead of its peers. Yes, elections are almost upon us (February 2015), but we do not think that should detract Nigeria’s otherwise solid macro credentials – especially given our view that the electoral process and outcome will be relatively stable.
“Post-elections, we expect interest rate cuts as soon as the second half of 2015, which we think will allow year-on-year credit growth to pick up from current high single-digits to the mid-teens.

“This is positive for equities and the banks should also give a lift to the consumer, as the effect of any pre-election wage hikes dissipates.”

It also rated Nigerian banks above their peers in Kenya based on valuation.
“Admittedly, the operating environment in Nigeria is tougher versus other key SSA markets and this has led to a lower sector-wide return-on-equity (RoE).
“The good news is we see a recovery from the second half of 2015, when we expect Nigeria’s monetary policy to ease, which is banks-positive,” it declared.

Nigeria’s economic growth improved to 6.5 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2014, as against the 5.4 per cent year-on-year attained a year earlier, on the back of a recovery in the oil and gas sector.

After six consecutive quarters of year-on-year contraction, the oil sector grew by 5.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2014, compared to 1.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2013.

This reflected the moderate improvement in oil production to between 2.20 and 2.25 million barrels per day in the first half of 2014, from 2.20 million barrels per day in 2013.

The improvement in oil production was mainly attributed to better patrolling and monitoring of oil facilities in the first half of 2014.

“We expect these measures to support a continued improvement in oil production. Nigeria’s potential oil output is 2.5 million barrels per day.
“The risk to our outlook is resumption in the decline of oil output and a lower price. We are projecting output of 2.2 to 2.3 million barrel per day and price of $100 to $105 per barrel in 2015,” it added.

The ramping up of oil output in the US had placed downward pressure on the international oil price and a strengthening dollar, owing to prospects of higher US interest rates, implies downside risk to commodity prices.

RenCap also noted that Nigeria’s recovering forex reserves at $39.57 billion brings an anticipated cut in interest rate closer.

It argued that the measures the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had taken to “plug the holes” in forex reserves, including the revision of the Bureau de Change (BDC) regulations, would help conserve reserves.

“We no longer expect naira devaluation only some depreciation as the February 2015 elections approach.

“We think a firmer currency will help dissipate inflationary pressures and improve the likelihood of rate cuts,” it stated.
Nevertheless, in Kenya where fiscal policy is expansionary, RenCap anticipated higher public investment as a percentage of GDP, particularly in energy and transport infrastructure.

In Ghana, where discussions between the authorities and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on turning around the economy started in early September, the report stated that it expects the ensuing restrictive policy reforms to be negative for banks and consumer companies; and to slow fixed investment, which is negative for cement stocks.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/nigerian-economy-ranked-far-above-its-african-peers/189165/

Someone need to advised this guy to watch his mouth before he speaks!

Let's give the president the benefit of doubt.

In response to the long-standing desire of the Nigerian diaspora to support economic development in the country, a high level Executive-Legislative team is currently holding a series of interactive sessions with Nigerians in Europe and the United States. The sessions are organized by the Debt Management Office, led by its Director-General, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo.

The delegation is headed by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and includes key members of relevant committees in the National Assembly. The members of the National Assembly are: Senator Ahmed Makarfi Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Senator E. Uzamere, Chairman, Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, Senator Ita Enang, Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Honourable Adeyinka Ajayi, Chairman, House Committee on Aid, Loans and Debt Management, Honourable Famurewa Ajibola Israel, House Committee on Diaspora, Honourable Abdulrahman Terab, House Committee on Finance and Honourable Emmanuel David Ombugadu, House Committee on Appropriation.

It will be recalled that Nigerians in the Diaspora have been seeking ways and means to contribute more to the country’s development. This interest is backed by substantial capacity: the value of remittances from Nigerians abroad in 2013 was $20.77 billion; for the first half of 2014 it is $10.40 billion. This includes contributions through remittances to their families, friends and communities, medical missions and provision of scholarships.

Indeed, the experience of countries such as Israel and India shows that the Diaspora are a force to be reckoned with in the growth and development of any country, through the funding of critical development projects, among other means. The current effort is directed at providing the Nigerian Diaspora similar opportunities.

The Meetings which started yesterday in London, will continue in New York, Washington DC and Houston between September 2-4, 2014. The London meeting hosted by the Nigerian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, H.E. Dr. Dalhatu Sarki Tafida, was attended by over 140 invited Nigerian professionals. The meeting provided an avenue for the CME and the other members of the team to update Nigerians in the Diaspora on the developments in the Nigerian economy, the major achievements of the Transformation Agenda under the Administration of His Excellency, President Goodluck E. Jonathan and the opportunities available in Nigeria for Diaspora Nigerians.

Nigerians were also reassured of the developments in Nigeria with respect to the Ebola Virus Disease and the Government’s management of the situation. Participants expressed concern about the security situation and urged the government to do more particularly with respect to the return of the Chibok girls. Participants also showed a lot of interest in contributing to development with investments in infrastructure, SMEs and in the housing sector.

It is expected that through these Sessions, Nigerians in Diaspora will be better informed about developments in the country and be encouraged to contribute in various ways to the development of the economy and nation-building in general.

Paul C Nwabuikwu

Special Adviser to the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance

I would like to commend the Nigerian health care professionals who have put their lives on the line to precent the spread of Ebola in Nigeria.

Their spirit and determination are embodied in the heroic self sacrifice of two women Dr Stella Adadevoh and Nurse Ejelonu who put the wellbeing of all Nigerians ahead of their own when they treated Nigeria's first case of Ebola and worked to prevent its spread.

My thoughts are with their families and loved ones as we mourn their passing and celebrate their courage. May they stand as an example to all Nigerians.

My condolences also to the families of other victims of Ebola. May the Almighty comfort and grant them strength at this difficult time.

https://www.facebook.com/ngoziokonjoiweala/posts/801631913220408?notif_t=notify_me

Our attention has been drawn to an erroneous story in the Daily Trust Newspaper of Friday, August 1, 2014 titled “World Economic Forum on Africa: Federal Government Loses N1 Billion on Import of 290 Cars”. The story demonstrates ignorance both of Nigerian government policy and standard universal practice in the management of waivers. To expect beneficiaries of government waivers to return the goods for which the waivers were issued, as Daily Trust proposes in its story, demonstrates a misunderstanding of elementary facts and logic.

In the said article, the newspaper claimed that the Federal Government lost N1 billion in respect of a duty waiver granted to import 290 cars for the World Economic Forum on Africa (WEFA) held in Abuja in May, 2014. As already stated, it then tried to make an issue of the fact that the cars were kept by the company after the event. This is clearly another example of poor journalism and an attempt by Daily Trust and embittered interest groups to cause mischief.

For the benefit of the public, the facts of the matter are as follows:

i. Government granted import duty waiver to Messrs Globe Motors for importation of vehicles for the WEFA in May 2014, following a formal request by the Federal Capital Territory Administration, the hosting city for the event;

ii. The company that used its own money to import the vehicles naturally gets to keep its goods after deploying them to service the event. Government does not purchase such vehicles but only grants duty waivers on them in return for the services provided by the importing company. To expect the company to give the vehicles to government after the event is preposterous, to say the least. And Daily Trust trying to make an issue out of this clearly shows an embarrassing lack of understanding of what the process entails.

iii Waivers are granted to serve as encouragement to the company providing the transportation services for visiting delegates. The service provided to government is the value which the country gets from granting the incentive. This is the way it has worked for similar events organised by other State governments such as Lagos, Rivers, Delta, etc, that have benefitted from the scheme in the past. The rationale for this approach is that the Nigerian private sector has not yet developed a viable car leasing industry.

The newspaper further claimed that Nigeria lost N1.4 trillion to waivers in the last 3 years. Here again, the correct position is that waivers worth a total of N170 Billion were granted to a variety of sectors to assist their development, including Power, Agriculture, etc. This is a common instrument that countries use as part of their industrial development strategy.

Decent journalism requires at least a minimum ethical standard of reportage. This one does not. We cannot stop Daily Trust from reflexively attacking government but it should, in the interest of journalism ethics and its readers, do its homework.

Paul C Nwabuikwu
Special Adviser to the Coordinating Minister of Finance and Minister of Finance

In the month of May, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) exceeded by 69.8 percent or N234 billion the 2014 government monthly tax revenue target.
Total tax revenue collection (oil and non-oil) shows a target of N335.15 billion against N569.21 billion actual collection.
Non oil accounted for 62.12 percent of contribution to the total collection, while Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) accounted for 37.88 percent.

The FIRS had a target of N149.145 billion for Petroleum Profit Tax but actual collection was N215.63 billion; for the non-oil taxes, it targeted N186.01 billion but collected N353.58 billion.
Figures from the planning, reporting and statistics department of the FIRS show that the revenue agency had target of N85.85 billion for Company Income Tax (CIT) revenue, but it collected N280.64 billion.

Also, for Gas Income, there was a target of N8.02 billion, but only N927.5 million was collected; it had targeted Capital Gains Tax revenue of N850.8 million but it collected N117 million, while under Stamp Duty revenue, which it set target of N705 million, it realised N721.5 million.
In the VAT pool, the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) – import VAT revenue, the FIRS collected N17.75 billion against the set target of N17.93 billion. For the non-import VAT, it set a target of N53.81 billion, but collected N47.66 billion.

Source: http://businessdayonline.com/2014/07/firs-exceeds-tax-revenue-target-by-n234bn/#.U8ZrjobogtE

Tax enforcement: raising standards and protecting rights
Part 1. Introduction: Definition of terminologies: It remains incontrovertible that defining Legal terminologies has been a problem to lawyers. This much was noted by a Professor of Jurisprudence, J.M.A Ojomo when he said;
“As long as definitions are a translation of thoughts into words, they create problems for lawyers. Law itself is an exercise in controversy. And for as long as the teaching of Jurisprudence begins with the hypothesis that words have no particular meaning except in the context within which they are used; therefore depending on the speakers’ abstraction, words are not more than verbal recommendations of what the speaker feels they are in the context which they are used.”
Litigation has been variously defined. Justice Y.V Chandrachud in his book Advanced Law Lexicon described Litigation as:
“A Judicial Controversy, a contest in a Court of Law; a judicial proceeding for the purpose of enforcing a right. Law Suit; process of carrying on a law suit.”
The Black’s Law Dictionary defines litigation as:
“The process of carrying on a law suit. A law suit itself or several litigations pending before the Court.
From the foregoing, it can be said without much fear of contradiction that the category of definitions to litigation and indeed other legal terminologies are never closed and almost always depend on the context in which these definitions are used. However, for the purpose of this paper, Litigation procedures are all those processes involved in undertaking a lawsuit; be it civil or criminal before courts.
a. Civil litigation:
A civil action is often brought to enforce, redress or protect a private or civil rights; a non-criminal litigation. It is a personal action which is instituted to compel payment or the doing of some other thing which is purely civil. It is a proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction by one party against another for the enforcement or protection of a private right or for the redress or prevention of a private wrong. The civil action maybe involving a private party suing another private party or a private party suing or being sued by the Government but the proceedings do not involve criminal proceedings. Under the Federal Inland Revenue Act civil actions are provided for under Section 34(1) and states as follows:
“Without prejudice to any other provision of this Act, or any other Law listed in the first schedule to this Act, any amount due by way of Tax shall constitute a debt due to the service and maybe recovered by a civil action brought by the Service.”
Civil litigation presupposes that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (hereinafter referred to as FIRS) has legally engaged the defaulting Tax payer with all the statutory demand Notices, Reminders and Distrain. Civil litigation is therefore undertaken as a last resort to redress a particular civil wrong perpetrated against the Service. Under the Federal Inland Revenue Act, the Tax Appeal Tribunal also has jurisdictions to deal with tax related matters which are civil in nature.
It is important to note that for reasons of the nature of the private (non-tax) rights sought to be enforced, the proper parties in any civil litigation undertaken by the Service are: FEDERAL INLAND REVENUE SERVICE Vs. ABC TAX PAYER/A COMPANY.
b. Criminal proceedings:
A criminal proceeding is defined as action or proceeding instituted or prosecuted by the state in its own name against a person(s) who is accused of a crime to punish him therefore. A criminal proceeding is ordinarily one which if carried to a conclusion may result in the imposition of a sentence such as death, imprisonment, fine or forfeiture of property.
It is important to note that the gamut of legal rules that govern the mechanism under which investigation, prosecution, adjudication and punishment of crime as well as protection of the constitutional rights of the accused, constitutes a criminal procedure.
Under the Federal Inland Revenue Act, criminal offences and penalties against the FIRS are listed under Part VI of the Act.
c. Jurisdiction:
Note that the Federal High Court of Nigeria (FHC) has Original Jurisdiction in all causes or matters (civil or criminal) initiated by the Federal Inland Revenue Service. Additionally, any dissatisfied party has the constitutional right of appeal against the decisions of the FHC to the Court of Appeal and where necessary to the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service has a mandate among other things to administer all the enactments listed in the first schedule to the FIRS act or any other enactment or law on taxation in respect of which the national assembly may confer power on the Service.

2. Civil procedure in liti-gation:
Under civil litigation, the Federal Inland Revenue Service strives to enforce its civil right against a particular Tax payer(s) who has defied all the Statutory Assessments and Demand Notices issued by the Service and duly served on them (the Defendant(s)). The process culminating to a civil action instituted by the Service is as follows:
i. The L&P Department of FIRS as Claimant, files a specially endorsed Writ of Summons and Statement of Claim at the Federal High Court in the location where the Defendant(s) resides or carries on business.

Source: http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/business/29236-tax-enforcement-raising-standards-and-protecting-rights

'A Buhari Presidency will be a Triumph of Boko Haram, Jihadists over Nigeria'-Fani-Kayode


Nigeria's former minister of aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has taken to his Facebook to write a scathing post on former Military President, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd).

In the post, Fani-Kayode put Buhari on blast for his recent comments against President Goodluck Jonathan's battle against boko haram.

The Post which is titled, "Behold the Words of the King of Haram", read, "On 22nd July 2014 General Muhammadu Buhari told The Nation Newspaper that "our country has gone through several rough patches, but never before have I seen a Nigerian President declare war on his own country as we are seeing now. Never before have I seen a Nigerian President deploy federal institutions in the service of partisanship as we are witnessing now. Never before have I seen a Nigerian President utilize the common wealth to subvert the system and punish the opposition, all in the name of politics. Our nation has suffered serious consequences in the past for egregious acts that are not even close to what we are seeing now. It is time to pull the brakes''.

One may have been prepared to accept the general's words as being those of a genuinely concerned and committed patriot who simply wanted our President and his Government to do a better job and who was worried about the unfolding situation in our country if he had not consistently exposed his true colors and his obvious soft spot for Boko Haram.

Permit me to share just one example of the expression of that soft spot in this contribution. On 3rd June 2013, Thisday Newspaper led their newspaper with the following headline: ''The military offensive against Boko Haram is anti-north- General Muhammadu Buhari''.

The headline was followed by these words: ''Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, has criticised the declaration of state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States and the subsequent military offensive against the Boko Haram Islamic sect. Buhari, who featured on the “Guest of the Week,” a Hausa programme of the Kaduna-based Liberty Radio, yesterday said the federal government’s action was a gross injustice against the north. According to him, unlike the special treatment the federal government gave to the Niger Delta militants, the Boko Haram members were being killed and their houses demolished. He said he was not in support of the declaration of state of emergency in the three north-eastern states because President Goodluck Jonathan had failed from the outset in addressing the security situation in the country''.

The implications of these shameful and indefensible comments, coming from a former Head of State, are obvious and self-evident. If the truth be told Buhari's peculiar affinity with the terrorists and his fawning about their safety and welfare is as unbearable as it is nauseating.

Yet that same General Buhari who said these unacceptable things one year ago is now busy pontificating about his concerns for our nation. Many would argue that that is pretty rich coming from him given his past comments about a ruthless group of terrorists who, more than any other, merit the award for the greatest ''troublers of our nation''. Given this I regard Buhari's comments to the Nation Newspaper on the 22 July 2014 as nothing but self-serving and belated clap trap and balderdash.

Yet this clap trap and balderdash is worthy of a little attention. Of particular interest to me were the following words: ''never before have I seen a Nigerian President declare war on his own country as we are seeing now''. Really? Correct me if I am wrong but I thought that the war that President Goodluck Jonathan had declared was against terrorism and Boko Haram and not against the Nigerian people.


Does General Buhari find it difficult to make a distinction between the jihadists and the Nigerian people? Does he see them as being one and the same? Does he actually equate members of Jamā'at ahl as-sunnah li-d-da'wa wa-l-jihād with the Nigerian people? Does he regard the military offensive against Boko Haram as being an offensive against OUR people? Does he honestly believe that anytime that a Boko Haram terrorist is killed by our Armed Forces and security agencies or that his house is blown up that it is an attack on the Nigerian people or an assault on the north? Are those people that Boko Haram slaughtering, terrorising, abducting, pillaging, robbing and raping on a daily basis all over our country not the real Nigerians?


Does he honestly believe that Boko Haram is representative of the thinking of our people or even the majority of the people in the muslim north? Has this man not lost touch with reality? Does he really belong to the 21st century or is he nothing more than an old relic from the distant past who secretly craves for a return to the norms, ways and values of 6th century Saudi Arabia? Is such a man really fit to be President of our country?


Is he still insisting on having another muslim as his running mate in order to establish his strange dream of a muslim/muslim President and Vice President for our country or has he shelved that idea due to public resentment and outrage? Does he have any respect for christians? Does he have any empathy with the christian community in northern Nigeria for the immense suffering, degradation, humiliation,contempt, shame, indignity, persecution and mass murder that they have been subjected to in the north for the last 53 years and particularly in the last few years?

Does he regard christians as being human beings? Does he accept the fact that Boko Haram are nothing but beasts? Does he recognise the fact that no-one has the right to take the life of another human being in the name of religion? Does he know that compulsion has no place in any civilised religion and that each human being has the right to exercise his or her free will to determine which religious faith he or she wishes to espouse?

Does Buhari understand the meaning of the words ''secular state'' or the concept of the secularity of the state? Can he possibly accept the virtues and comprehend the wisdom of such an equitable and reasonable constitutional arrangement which guarantees the rights of all faiths and which does not allow one faith to laud it over another anywhere in our country?

Does he recognise the fact that Nigeria is in actual fact a secular state in which the rights and dignity of the members of every faith, including the christian faith, are guaranteed by the constitution? Does he accept the fact that in this day and age it is a heinous crime against humanity and particularly the girl-child and that it is a complete violation of the laws of our land for little girls of the age of 5, 6, 9 13 and even up to 16 to be married off and subjected to rape in the name of religion and marriage?

Does the General support paedophiles, sexual predators, sociopaths, sadistic perverts and the criminally-insane like the Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau who are sexually attracted to innocent and defenceless little girls and who believe that they can be ''sold in the market'' and ''forced into marriage and slavery?'' Does he honestly believe that Boko Haram are human beings? Does this man that wants to be President of our country not recognise a heartless and callous beast when he sees one?

Does the wanton and relentless shedding of rivers of innocent blood, including the blood of children, not move his heart? Does the open abduction of almost 300 little girls, each of whom is young enough to be his grandaughter, from the sanctity of their school dormitory in the dead of the night not evoke pity in him and not stir him to rage?

Does he have any compassion and does he feel no pain for the suffering of the victims of Boko Haram? Does he know that Boko Haram has killed as many muslims as they have christians in their insane attempt to establish an islamic fundamentalist state in our country?

Is his inability to make a distinction between Boko Haram and the Nigerian people informed by the fact that he is a closet Haramite whose stated desire is to ''spread sharia to throughout the whole of the country'' as he said in 2001? Does Buhari still believe that ''muslims should only vote for those who will protect their interest'' as he said in 2001?

Does he still believe that ''christians should not worry when muslims chop off their own arms and hands in the name of sharia because it is none of their business'' as he said in 2001? Does he still believe that Boko Haram members should be forgiven, granted amnesty, pampered, sent abroad to learn and given monthly allowances like the Niger Delta militants like he suggested in 2013?

The questions are legion. Given his views and obvious sympathy for Boko Haram does General Muhammadu Buhari have the moral right to condemn anyone, least of all the President and the Federal Government, for the challenges that we are facing in this country?

Never before have I seen a former Nigerian Head of State openly express sympathy and covertly support a murderous and bestial terrorist organisation that has killed well over 15,000 innocent Nigerians in cold blood, that has abducted and raped our little girls and that has slit the throats and drained the blood of our young boys.

Never before have I seen a former Nigerian Head of State openly defend a bunch of cowardly, uncouth and barbaric jihadists that have bombed and burnt alive the weak, the vulnerable and the elderly in our country and that have slaughtered our soldiers,policemen and intelligence agents at will and with such callousness and glee.

Never before have I seen a former Nigerian Head of State openly canvass restraint and mercy for a bunch of bloodthirsty, cold-blooded mass murderers and criminals that have turned our country into a pariah nation, that has made the north the home of the most callous, ruthless, hateful, vile and evil terrorist organisation in the world and that has transformed our nation into a horrendous haven for ruthless islamic fundamentalists and bloodthirsty islamist militias.

If the truth must be told the only thing that is worse than Boko Haram are those in the Nigerian political class that secretly support and covertly assist them. A Buhari Presidency would be a disaster for our country, a danger to the christian community and clear evidence of the final victory and triumph of Boko Haram and the jihadists over the Nigerian state. It would also represent the end of Nigeria as one nation.

http://www.nigerianbulletin.com/threads/a-buhari-presidency-will-be-a-triumph-of-boko-haram-jihadists-over-nigeria-fani-kayode.85389/

APC and Boko Haram: ‘The US is playing a dangerous game in Nigeria’ – Jacob Zenn

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By TheHerald Admin on July 23, 2014 Government

It is 100 days since the abduction of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok, Nigeria, by Boko Haram, the notorious islamic terrorist organistion. The Bow Group today publishes a damning report that casts new light on the role the US has played in the rise of Boko Haram in West Africa. Authored by Jacob Zenn, an internationally renowned commentator, the report casts a stark warning on the future of Africa’s largest economy, and the economic and poltiical stability of West Africa, as Nigeria’s Presidential elections approach in just seven month’s time (February 2015).
Bow Group Chairman Ben Harris-Quinney said: “”Very often, and particularly over the last decade, UK involvement in the affairs of foreign states has produced intangible or no benefit to Britain.
The war in Afghanistan and Iraq was a huge investment for our domestic security in financial, human and reputational terms. The UK will therefore naturally be keen to avoid such high stakes and high-risk major engagements in the future.
An early investigation into the backers of Boko Haram and their links to the APC, followed by potential sanctions designed to prevent Nigeria becoming a future safe-haven for terrorists, and threat to UK citizens at home and abroad, therefore seems an appropriate and important strategy to prevent future terrorist threats before they take hold.”
Summary:
Boko Haram operates as Al-Qaeda’s representative in Nigeria and must be challenged on a domestic, regional and international level
· The US government’s delay in designating Boko Haram a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) initially hampered international attempts to combat the terror group’s overseas financial transactions—there have been over 3,000 deaths this year alone in Nigeria and Cameroon
· The US State Department should clarify the standards used to make the terror designation and explain why Boko Haram did not receive the label under the leadership of former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, despite traceable evidence linking Boko Haram to Osama bin Laden
· There are concerns in the international community and Nigeria that the U.S. Democratic Party or its advisers may be associating themselves with northern Nigerian politicians, despite reported links to Boko Haram
· Any political pact between US officials and the APC carries risks – the US must adopt a neutral approach to the Nigerian elections and political landscape
· An international investigation that can bring sanctions against political and business leaders in Nigeria and abroad who are financing Boko Haram should be commissioned immediately
Recommendations:
1. The U.S. government should clarify why it refused to label Boko Haram as an FTO before November 2013 and outline the criteria and standards upon which it will be used in the future.
2. Former Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, and the U.S. Democratic Party, including its consultants, should establish and maintain a position of neutrality in advance of the Nigerian Presidential elections.
3. International support and cooperation with the Nigerian government should be enhanced. More support is needed to ensure early successes in the war on Boko Haram are taken advantage of, and any chance of the terror group re-taking strongholds in the country are avoided.
4. An international investigation under the auspices and coordination of the US, UK, France, Nigeria and other leading states must be called to examine Boko Haram and its relationships with in-country political figures, businesses in West Africa and abroad and international terrorist groups. The probe and its conclusions should be neutral and objective and delivered well before the presidential elections next year.
5. The UK should take an active interest interest in the the situation by seeking to formulate its own coherent policy on the matter and influence US policy given Boko Haram’s links to Al Qaeda that could pose a potential bed for terrorism in the UK. The new Foreign Secretary should treat this as a matter of urgency.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT LINKING APC TO BOKO HARAM HERE

About the author:
Jacob Zenn, Analyst for Eurasian and African Affairs, The Jamestown Foundation
Biography:

Jacob Zenn is the author of “Northern Nigeria’s Boko Haram: The Prize in al-Qaeda’s Africa Strategy,” which was published by The Jamestown Foundation in 2012, andis a frequent contributor on Boko Haram for the West Point CTC Sentinel. In November 2013, Mr. Zenn provided testimony to U.S. Congress on “The Continuing Threat of Boko Haram and Ansaru” on the day both groups were designated foreign terrorist organizations, and in February 2013 he testified before U.S. Congress on “Islamist Militant Threats to Eurasia.” Mr. Zenn consults on countering violent extremism in Nigeria and Central Asia and on the international law and best practices related to freedom of association and provides expert testimony on Nigeria in terrorism-related court trials. Mr. Zenn received a J.D. from Georgetown Law, with the commendation of a Global Law Scholar, and earned a graduate certificate in international relations from Johns Hopkins SAIS campus in Nanjing, China. Mr. Zenn speaks Arabic, Chinese, Indonesian, French, Spanish, and Russian.

http://www.bowgroup.org/sites/bowgroup.uat.pleasetest.co.uk/files/Jacob%20Zenn%20Bow%20Group%20Report%20for%2022.7.14.pdf

Opposition politics should not be an over reliance on problem spotting over problem solving and shooting down ideas instead of providing alternative ideas. Unfortunately, that is the situation in which we find ourselves in Nigeria.

To get my drift, ask yourself when the last time was that the main opposition party in Nigeria commiserated with victims of the Boko Haram insurgency without using the opportunity of their statement to launch an attack on the Federal Government or the President? To the best of my knowledge, they have never done this.

All their statements of commiseration and condolence end with broadsides against the government that it almost looks as if the commiseration or condolence is an after thought and the attack is the main dish.

Since leaving University, I have devoted my life to political communications and this focus has led me to study both governments and their oppositions. I have done this in Nigeria under Obasanjo, at the British Parliament and in The United States as an operative in a Democratic Party leaning consultancy, and one thing I have learnt is that the most vital factor in ensuring consistent political success is effective communication.

For the most part, both the party in government and the opposition party must device feed back mechanisms that tell them what the electorate think about them so they are not restrict in their visions of themselves. A government or opposition that fails to do so will develop tunnel vision which to rigidity and political rigidity leads to political atrophy which if not arrested will result in political morbidity.

How do I mean?

In a hierarchical structure, you may get away with the mindset of ‘when I want your opinion I will give it to you’ but that will not fly in a multi party democracy. If communication is the life blood of sustaining political power, you cannot depend on seeing the world as you are. You must see the world as it is.

This requires that from time to time you must step out of your role, your narrow focus and non judgmentally take in the big picture from a bird’s eye perspective. You must be willing to step into the shoes of even your political foes, not so that you can agree with them as much as it is to understand them.

Let me go even deeper.

Consider that during the games of the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Brazil a team has been playing only at average performance and the team members feel they can do better. Would it make sense for them to continue to study their games and the way they played and focus on that, or would it make better sense to take in the whole picture and study their plays, the opponents plays, the officiating and the audience reaction?

Of course the latter approach is better because all those factors contribute to success.

Now, let us relate this to Nigeria and our politics.

Recently, there was an election in Ekiti state in which the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party emerged victorious. His victory was all the more spectacular giving that he defeated an incumbent of the opposition All Progressive Congress, APC, who is universally considered a gentleman and a new breed politician. More troubling for the opposition is that everybody that witnessed the election deviated it to be a free, fair and most credible election.

In the wake of their loss, the APC has unleashed its powerful media machinery (some would say propaganda). But rather than communicate with Nigerians, the party and its operatives have chosen to have a monologue with Nigerians and OpEd after OpEd and article after article has been written to castigate the citizens of Ekiti for voting the way they did! Imagine this from a political party!

It has not occurred to the APC that they have tunnel vision. The party and its leadership appear unable to shift its focus from this Oedipus complex of gazing at their beauty and wondering why, given the choice, the electorate has chosen a rival suitor.

Grown men should not sulk. You change the situation or you adjust your attitude to it if you can not change it.

Instead of this sulking the APC is best advised to dispassionately detach itself from the field and go into the stands of the stadium where it and its operatives can get a birds eye view that will give them the other-focus they need to make adjustments to their behavior rather than their present self-focus.

The APC must learn that while people are entertained by the dramatics of reading and listening to bombastic political statements and stinker letters addressed to political opponents, Nigerian politics has evolved to the point where people vote substance over form.

And every information that does not lead to transformation is entertainment. In politics, if you are not telling the people how you will transform their lives, your communication is meaningless to them.

When only power matters to an opposition party it tends to over rely on the assassination of character and ideas. However, it is a dangerous thing for people to remember you for only how you tore apart at your opponents instead of how you articulated your own ideas.

A man who points out problems, points out what everyone sees. It is the man who points out solution that is a visionary. He sees what others don’t.

Even in a corporate environment people who take such a position are very vocal in meetings but they are hardly upwards in mobility in the organizational hierarchy.

Rain on your opponent’s parade if you must but by all means make sure you have your own parade!

As I said, enough has been written by the APC as a post mortem of why they lost in Ekiti. Let me now attempt a post mortem of why the PDP won in Ekiti and will continue to win in Nigeria.

The effectiveness and success of the PDP under the Goodluck Jonathan Presidency can in my opinion be summed up in this: the refusal of the President to shift from the positive narrative of the Transformation Agenda irrespective of every effort by detractors to make him focus on the negative narrative.

More specifically, I call this principle of political communication The 5 to 1 Principle.

To be successful, every political organization, whether government or opposition must have five times more positive conversations with their public than negative ones.

For instance, the APC has mocked the President for constantly condemning the terror activities of Boko Haram with some of their more shallow operatives nick naming him the Condemner.

But has it ever occurred to the APC that the President commissions projects and has been at the center of activity in much more positive conversations and communications with Nigerians at at least five times the rate of whatever negativity they throw at him?

He spends five more times communicating how the Transformation Agenda has transformed, is transforming or will transform the lives of Nigerians than he does responding (not reacting) to the negativity that his detractors contrive.

And do note that word respond. It is a deliberate counter to an opponent’s deliberate stimuli. It is not an automatic reflex or reaction which reaction would of course have been the desired behavior expected of the opponent thereby leaving you under his control.

In the process of this positive communication between the President and Nigerians his integrity is growing as Nigerians relate his promises of positive transformation to the physical reality of their everyday lives.

Let us quickly consider the facts.

Under the Jonathan administration Nigerians are living longer according to the United Nations (from an average life expectancy of 47 in 2009 to 52 today). Their economy is now the largest in Africa as corroborated by the World Bank. They can now ride a train from Lagos to Kano at 20% of the price of the same journey by road and 10% of the cost by air. The residents of Lagos now ride air conditioned trains to and from work, saving on petrol money and the drudgery of the notorious Lagos traffic. From one million in 2009, the annual volume of passengers of the Nigerian Railway Corporation has grown to five million today.

Going further, Nigerians can now buy an inexpensive brand new Made in Nigeria Nissan, and use that car to travel on the reconstructed Lagos-Benin-Ore road and be in Benin from Lagos in three hours. If they drive their new Nissan on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, they can actually see Julius Berger reconstructing the road. If they drive it on the Kano-Maiduguri Road they will notice that major portions of that road have been reconstructed and dualized.

Residents of Southeast Nigeria now have an International Airport in Enugu and do not have to take connecting flights to Port Harcourt, Lagos or Abuja and can now spend the fifty thousand Naira they would have spent in connecting flights on themselves.

For the first time in their lives, itinerant Islamic scholars, also known as Almajiris, are going to school in one of the 125 Almajiri Model Schools built in every Northern State. The people of Kogi, Katsina, Nasarawa, Bayelsa, Jigawa, Ekiti, Gombe, Ebonyi, Taraba, Zamfara, Kebbi and Yobe states now have Federal Universities courtesy of the Jonathan administration.

Even as a metaphoric bridge is beinglj built between North and South at the ongoing National Conference, Nigerians are seeing Nigeria getting smaller as the Oweto Bridge in Benue nears completion and promises to reduce travel time and cost between North and South even as the 2nd Niger Bridge is underway in Onitsha and promises to do same.

Residents of Abuja watch in Amazement as the Abuja-Kaduna railway is materializing before their eyes at breathtaking construction speed and the people of Baro in Niger state are in a state of wonder as they prepare to receive large vessels as a result of the dredging of the River Niger which has destroyed the myth that Northern Nigeria is land locked.

Nigerians are buying foods such as maize and fruits all year round instead of at certain seasons and can see that the dry season farming of the Jonathan Administration is reality rather than rhetoric. 250,000 Farmers in Ebonyi, Katsina, Kano, Bauchi and other states produced 1.1 Metric Tonnes of rice in the dry season alone! Nigeria is beginning to break the jinx of decades of dependence on imported food under the watch of President Jonathan.

Women are seeing the glass ceiling removed from over their heads as President Jonathan fulfills his promises of opening up the Nigerian Defence Academy, NDA, to female combatants for the first time ever. The 35% reservation of appointments for women has seen Nigeria have its first ever female minister of petroleum as well as her first ever Coordinating Minister for the Economy. Even when economists praised the President for the Youth Enterprise With Innovation in Nigeria, YouWIN initiative, he went further to ensure that the third phase of the initiative was exclusively reserved for women.

These and other positive development and growth narratives are driving the type of conversation that made Nigerians troop out in unprecedented multitudes on Saturday, June 7th 2014 in Ekiti to see the President.

So, when the APC said that the massive crowd that turned up on that day only came because of the President and not Ayo Fayose, they failed woefully to comprehend the principle of transfer of credibility.

The President’s credibility was transferred to Ayo Fayose, while the opposition’s liability was transferred to poor Dr. Kayode Fayemi and the rest is history.

And it is this ground swell of ordinary people impressed with the positive conversation of the Jonathan administration that will continue to transfer his credibility to anything he endorses. Quite literally, President Jonathan can be said to have the Midas touch.

So rather than write sulking pieces attacking the person of President Jonathan and the PDP, the opposition is advised to go back and reframe the conversation it is having with Nigerians.

You may have heard careless negative, alarming and threatening talk from the opposition envisioning doom about Nigeria when the world is flocking to Nigeria to invest, making her the top recipient of FDI in Africa bar none and you have undoubtedly asked yourself ‘whose report would I believe’ or your sub conscious has asked it for you.

When others threaten to ‘roast’ you, President Jonathan offers to toast you. When others threaten to ‘soak’ you, President Jonathan can be seen busying himself growing democracy into a mighty oak tree. When others want you to ‘go and die’, President Jonathan is implementing policies that ensure that you live a longer life expectancy.

To borrow from 7-Up, ‘The Difference is Clear’.

So whose report would you believe?

The answer to that question is this: are elections now transparent in Nigeria? Has your living condition improved in the last three years? Have those who are prophesying doom told you of their plans for your future? If your present is better than your past and those who are attacking your present have no plans for your future to speak of, the only logical question becomes this: wouldn’t you rather go with the man with a plan than the one with only a plan to shoot down a plan?

Reno Omokri is Special Assistant to the President on New Media.

http://dailypost.ng/2014/07/10/reno-omokri-post-mortem-apc-lost-ekiti/

Millionaires in Nigeria to rise 174% to 43,000 this year
Wednesday, 04 December 2013 13:58 EF Times E-mail Print PDF
Africa's richest man, Dangote
Africa's richest man, Dangote

Millionaires in Nigeria, Kenya and Angola will more than double by 2030, boosting the prospects for private banking in Africa, according to research firm New World Wealth. Millionaires in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, will rise 174% to 43,000 from 15,700 this year, the UK-based company said, after using a sample of high-net-worth individuals and World Bank data to compile a report.

The continent’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, hails from Nigeria and is reported to be worth more than $22bn. South Africa will retain the highest number on the continent with a 78% increase to 86,700.

The country has grown its previously disadvantaged dollar millionaires to 7,800 last year from 4,300 in 2007 — although the rand has fallen about 25% to the dollar over this period.

This means about 16% of South Africa’s millionaires are black, Indian, coloured or Chinese, according to the research. Whites still dominate the list with 36,500 white males and 4,400 white females.

The names topping the list of the wealthiest black South Africans come as no surprise.

Patrice Motsepe of African Rainbow Minerals is ranked first with $2.6bn in wealth made from, among other things, mining interests. He is followed by Cyril Ramaphosa of Shanduka Group with $550m and Tokyo Sexwale of Mvelaphanda Group in third place with $200m. Both men have been major beneficiaries of black economic empowerment deals.

Exxaro Resources CEO Sipho Nkosi, who also owns a stake in Sanlam, makes fourth place on the list with $163m. Chairman and former CEO of MTN Phuthuma Nhleko ranks fifth with $142m.

"We expect Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya will be the main drivers of wealth management growth in Africa," Andrew Amoils, a Johannesburg-based analyst at New World Wealth, said. "They all already have relatively well developed banking sectors so private banking is a logical next step."

Barclays and HSBC Holdings are among the banks seeking to attract rich African clients as the expansion of industries from commodities to telecommunications creates more millionaires.

UBS, the world’s biggest wealth manager, is targeting individuals in Nigeria and Angola and sees potential in Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Botswana, Sean Bennett, the bank’s Johannesburg-based MD in sub-Saharan Africa, said last month.

Nigeria will leapfrog Egypt into second place behind South Africa, with Kenya in fourth place, in New World Wealth’s projected 2030 ranking of African countries by dollar millionaires.

Millionaires in Ghana will triple by 2030 with an advance of 144% in Angola, the report said. The number of high-net-worth individuals in Ethiopia, which grew the fastest over the past six years, will almost triple to 7,900 by 2030 amid a privatisation programme, said Mr Amoils.

Barclays’s African unit and Citigroup said in August that they saw opportunities managing wealth for Africans.

HSBC expects "selective growth" in Africa, primarily in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, an official at the lender said last month.

The number of Africans with at least $1m of investable assets climbed 9,9% to 140,000 last year, according to a report published in June by Cap Gemini and Royal Bank of Canada.

That was the fastest rate of increase outside North America as the economies of countries such as Nigeria and Ghana grew at more than 5% last year. The development of the continent’s wealth management market has some way to go.

The UK had 465,000 millionaires with 282,000 in Switzerland, according to Cap Gemini and Royal Bank of Canada.

Nigeria has a "pretty diverse spread of millionaires" with transport, finance, real estate, basic materials and telecommunications also driving the economy, Mr Amoils said yesterday.

High-net-worth individuals are accumulating fastest in Côte d’Ivoire, where millionaires are expected to more than triple to 7,200 by 2030 as cocoa and oil production boost the economy, according to New World Wealth.

Copper, agriculture exports and tourism will help triple millionaires to 2,700 in Zambia, where some rich farmers have relocated from neighbouring Zimbabwe, the firm said.

New World Wealth based some findings on research by Credit Suisse and Trading Economics.

http://www.eftngr.com/opal/news/1-latest-news/3291-number-of-millionaires-in-nigeria-to-rise-174-to-43000-this-year

#IntelOpinion: When Oversight Becomes a Problem – Mark Amaza
Posted by Editor on January 10, 2014.
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala


A few days before Christmas last year, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala presented the budget proposal of the Federal Government for the fiscal year 2014 to a joint session of the National Assembly. After the presentation, she appeared before the Finance Committee of the House of Representatives where quite some drama ensued, a video of which went viral and the now famous 50-question assignment the committee gave her.

While the House members and their supporters might argue that they are just carrying out their jobs, a study of the questions the minister was asked makes one question the capacity of these legislators.

For example, question number 4 calls into question the knowledge of economics those on the House Finance Committee have, when they are asking why our economy is not growing at 20% per annum; or when question 5 where they are asking why our debt-to-GDP ratio is low compared to industrialized nations conflicts with question 9, where they are lamenting Nigeria’s high level of debt and wondering if the debt has been productive.

The question that worries the most is question 7, where they questioned Nigeria’s “rush into wholesale privatization of the electricity sector, when countries like South Africa are generating 54,000MW from a power sector still in public hands.” It is worrisome for me because the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA), the law which ended government’s monopoly on the power sector was in the National Assembly for four years until it was passed in 2005, and the privatization process begun from that year until its conclusion last year. Yet, they still called it a “rush”.

Space will not allow me to dissect each question, especially as there were many repetitions, although some questions are very relevant, such as questions 14 and 16.

This is not to say that our legislators should not perform their oversight roles; indeed, more than ever, oversight is needed over our executive. For example, in the budget estimates Okonjo-Iweala presented to the National Assembly, a lot of items raise eyebrows such as budgeting N14.5million for two animals in the State House Zoo and N20million for car trackers for vehicles in the presidential fleet. These are just but a couple of weird spending requests the executive is making this year.

However, there is a clear line between what legislative oversight is and what pure mischief is. The episode of last year when the 2013 budget was delayed for months because of the refusal of President Goodluck Jonathan to sack the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms. Arunma Oteh is all too fresh in our memories.

It is pure mischief when the same set of legislators that passed a bill to set up a government body then turn around to question its existence, as they did with question 24 and the Sovereign Wealth Fund and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) that manages it.

This year, it does seem that the 50-question assignment will be the grounds on which the House of Representatives will find reason to most likely delay the budget. This becomes highly probable considering recent events in our politics, especially the defection of 37 House of Reps members to the opposition All Progressives’ Congress (APC), giving them a slight majority in the lower house and their insistence that Okonjo-Iweala must give ‘satisfactory’ answers to the questions.

Without a doubt, 2014 will be a year of high-stakes political games with the APC making every effort to better their chances ahead of the general elections next year; and so far, they have the upper hand in the lower house with the Senate likely to follow suit. Expectedly, the opposition will likely do all they can to cast the ruling party in a negative light in order to increase support for itself or reduce support for the ruling party.

While we cannot prevent politicians from, well, playing politics, we can remind them that as elected representatives of the people, their political goals should not be at the detriment of the people.

Legislative oversight should not become the reason why there will be stagnation in our government and by extension, economy. It should not become a problem in itself.

http://www.nigeriaintel.com/2014/01/10/intelopinion-when-oversight-becomes-a-problem-mark-amaza/#comment-58512

Premium Times has become the official mouthpiece of APC. I'm not surprised with the way they doctored the video.

The recent lamentation by the governor of Rivers state over the World Bank/ADB loan ‘non-approval’ or delay by the Federal Government smacks of bluff, subterfuge, and depicts the extreme political chicanery that has invaded governance, at the expense of citizens.

It has become a direct blackmail, as if a Guarantor is simply an insignificant signatory to the ADB loan agreement.

Banks will always advice that it is dangerous to recommend anyone who you do not trust. Being a Guarantor to a World Bank/ADB loan is even more dangerous. The penalties of failure in performance or payments is stiff not just for the Borrower, but also the Guarantor, especially, if the Guarantor is a member state, and it is all clearly stated in Section 10 of the General Conditions Applicable to the African Development Bank, Loan Agreements and Guarantee Agreements (Non Sovereign Entities) document. Every responsible government will first of all profile the Borrower’s performance in major collaborative projects like PPPs, and the Borrower’s project management capacity.

The will to commence a project is never enough, what counts to a Guarantor is the ‘capacity’ to comply with the terms of the loan agreement, and to perform and deliver as agreed. The Federal Government is right to have hesitated, because an analysis of major projects undertaken by the Rivers state government calls for gradualism in the Guarantor’s approval process.

The $150m Mega Specialist Hospital project turned out to be a scam. The government doesn’t even talk about it these days. On September 29, 2009, the governor said “the Justice Karibi Whyte Mega Specialist Hospital has been designed to make Rivers State the number one Medical Tourism destination in Africa. It would have a leisure arm that would make it a major tourist attraction.” He promised it would be completed by December, 2011. This project is in collaboration with Clinotech Canada. The project is nowhere, as I write.

The $318m Mega Monorail project is another. This perhaps will go down in the history of the Southern Nigeria as the biggest white elephant project ever. As early as September, 2010, the governor had doled out N11b for the project. The governor assured that the monorail, not the entire project, not the phase 1, but the phase 1A will be completed by December 2013. After four years of award, less than 25% of the project has been achieved. The governor promised his people “that the monorail would be the first of its kind in West Africa, and will be developed for mass transportation within the Port Harcourt metropolis, decongest roads in the city, and create job opportunities.” The project failed!

The Rivers state government has not been completely honest with the FG and the World Bank/ADB.The state government has barely met the conditions set by the World Bank.The State Ministry of Water Resources developed a Water Master Plan for Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor. The design was concluded since 2011. Thereafter, the governor promised to release N5billion available for the first phase of the project, nothing happened. Much later, the governor reneged, and decided to adopt the Cross River state model. They began the chase for $200m World Bank/ADB loan.The State Water Board has been without form. The World Bank/ADB listed conditions for the loan amongst which is that a reform must be undertaken to create an autonomous agency that will have its own board of directors and a finance management framework that is independent.The governor directed the speaker to pass a bill for the creation of the Port Harcourt Water Corporation, Rivers State Small Towns Water Agency, and the Rivers Water Regulatory Agency. The bill was signed on the 30th day of May , 2012. Since then, like every other bill passed by the rubber stamp Assembly of the state, it has remained just a documentation. Only a bill board exists at the Rumuola Water station in Port Harcourt.

The Rivers State Ministry of Water Resources has since advertised vacancies in these ‘demo’ agencies in national dailies. Of course, these advertisements were also included in the documentation to the World Bank. But if you were one of those who applied, Sorry! Nothing is happening. It is all deceit. No such agencies exist in the state. Therefore, the most fundamental condition given by the World Bank/ADB has not been met. No Board, no management, no organization, no structure. Rivers state has not met any of these conditions.

The Amaechi administration is desperate for the World Bank loan because it provided zero allocation for Water in the state 2013 budget. Consequently, all water stations in Rivers state are grounded as I write. Would any responsible government allow things to get this bad because they are waiting for a loan?

Now, for any loan to a state/state agency to get the final nod of the World Bank/ADB, a key condition is that the national government – in this case the FG – must act as a guarantor. Considering the record of the Rivers state government in collaborative ventures like the few projects listed above, would you recommend that the FG guarantee a $200m loan to a government that has been unable to deliver on any major project? The Guarantor is as liable as the borrower.

The problem is not Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala, the problem is Gov. Amaechi’s government. They could not deliver on the $150m Mega Specialist Hospital; they could not deliver on the $315m Mega Monorail Project. How can he deliver on this?

Merry Christmas.

Follow this writer on Twitter: @imaginasion1

http://www.thescoopng.com/ross-alabo-george-why-the-fg-doesnt-trust-amaechis-water-project/

Ngozi is no coward. She is up to the task and she will put Jubrin to shame.

Can somebody pls tell Amaechi to keep his mouth shut? I'm tired of listening to this guy everyday. He should look for something better to speak about.