₦airaland Forum

fellow country men , with what I have seen on AIT this afternoon, there is a real wind of change in Nigeria.
Corruption has been given the biggest blow in Nigerian  history.

From the post before mine, I can see that there is a lot of misconception about EFCC and Ribadu and a lot of misinformation.
I think that every Nigerian should seek for  a video record of those 2 1/2 hrs in the senate by Ribadu and lisen to it. I will try to source it and  store somewhere on Nairaland.



Ribadu lists corruption in high placesThursday, 28th September, 2006






A distressing picture of alleged corrupt practices in Nigeria's leadership sector was yesterday painted by the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.Ribadu, at a plenary session of the Senate, said that allegations of corruption were currently being investigated by his commission against some state governors and their officials. He added that petitions had not been received on five states, three of which he named as Cross River, Kogi and Gombe.Ribadu alleged that in Benue State, a government official barged into the office of the State's Commissioner of Police, beat up EFCC operatives and confiscated documents relating to investigations.The states he specifically mentioned where Government officials and council chairmen were under investigation were Abia, Anambra, Benue, Borno, Delta, Ekiti, Edo, Ebonyi, Imo, Jigawa, Kwara, Kano, Lagos, Nassarawa, Niger, Osun, Oyo, Ogun, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Zamfara, among others. He also named Plateau, Rivers, Lagos, Nassarawa, Jigawa, Imo, Delta, Ogun, Benue, Borno as States where the Governors were being investigated.Ribadu announced that cases had been established against officials in 15 states who would soon be charged to court.He described Zamfara State as one of the worst cases that the EFCC is investigating, specifically naming a top official as being involved in direct looting.Ribadu described the allegations against the state and reactions by its top officials as a tragedy.He said that instead of showing contrition, the state Governor, Sani Ahmed, resorted to blackmail. Sani told the British Parliament that he was being pursued by the EFCC because he was set to be the next President, according to Ribadu. All the implicated Governors, except Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Lagos State, were alleged to have perpetrated the offences by misappropriating local government funds.Tinubu's case, the EFCC chairman said, is of international dimension.Though Ribadu claimed that the commission was at present investigating fraud in 31 states, he singled out Cross River as the only state under investigation not to have a corruption case provrn. Welcoming the EFCC chairman to the session, Senate President Ken Nnamani noted the EFCC was instituted to fight corruption in the country and reminded Ribadu that the enabling Act required the agency to submit its report to the National Assembly every September."If the report of the Number Two citizen in our country is a public document, why should the report of state governors, councillors not be available,'' he queried.Nnamani assured Ribadu of the Senate's appreciation of EFCC's efforts. Ribadu claimed that the commission had a 32-page report on alleged fraud in Enugu State.The EFCC chairman, who stated the commission's readiness to go to court on the cases, said that about N8 million per month accruable to the local government councils were never remitted as the State Accountant General preferred paying allocations in cash against financial regulations.He also accused the state administration of over-pricing of about eight projects.On Abia State, he said: "Abia is number one not because it is number one alphabetically but because we have one of the biggest established cases of stealing, money laundering, diversion of funds against Governor Kalu.'' He said the Governor used his mother, daughter, wife and brother to divert N35 billion to build his business empire including Slok Airlines, Slok Pharmaceuticals, and a newspaper house. Commenting also on the corruption case at the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ribadu said that the EFCC was set to take the case to court.Concluding his testimony, the EFCC boss challenged Nigerians with evidence of corruption on any issue to come forward with evidence, saying that the agency could not be expected to do all.The chamber witnessed a series of dramatic twists as Ribadu looked at all the Senators and challenged them to stand up and mention anybody who gave out N50 million to each of them as alleged during the "third term" saga.The challenge arose from a question that the EFCC appeared to be abandoning the N50 million allegation in pursuit of other less important matters.Ribadu exploded: "Remember that each of you has a responsibility too to expose corruption. People simply make allegation but won't be ready to substantiate it. Tell me now, the name of anybody who has collected the N50 million from anybody and you will see what I will do about it."Total silence immediately descended on the chamber. Instead of taking up the challenge, some Senators who had been vocal in levelling the allegation during the third term saga quietly walked out of the Assembly.On the allegation that the EFCC was being used to fight those who crippled the tenure extension plot, Ribadu said: "This is what normally happens. They say we are selective. Who are we selecting and why? Is it to favour the President? What will he gain from it? Some people say it is because of third term. What is third term? Look at the Senate President, did we touch him?"Also reacting to a question from the Senate Deputy Minority Whip, Abiola Ajimobi, Ribadu said:"The fact that we took the former Inspector General of Police means that we are making impact even at the Federal Government level. Let me tell you that the allegation that we are being selective cannot stand. When we met the London Metropolitan Police and other international security agencies for assistance in the fight against corrupt practices, the first thing they told us was to submit the names of powerful people in Government. "The first name we gave them was that of Mr. President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. That was how (Diepreye) Alameiseigha's case started. (Mohammed Buba) Marwa's case also started from outside. So we have always worked together with the international community. So, if there is that tendency of being selective, it is from the international community." He continued: "We have worked on the Federal Government more than any other tier of Government. We have got even persons very close to the President. And not a single person from the opposition parties has been picked by the commission. But people keep spreading all kinds of rumours instead of being appreciative of the difficult work we are doing."Nnamani had to issue stern warning to Senator Isah Mohammed, who left his seat for that of Senator Sule Yari Gandi to physically challenge Gandi over matters regarding their differences in opinion.The Senate President also intervened when Senator Idris Kuta remarked that it was illegal for the EFCC to collaborate with foreign security agencies to check corruption in Nigeria.Nnamani quickly called Kuta to order and directed the attention of the Senator from Niger State to the fact that the legislative chamber had ratified a treaty entered into by the Federal Government with other countries to fight collaborate in matters of crime prevention.Ribadu also denied insinuations that his commission had no respect for the judiciary, affirming that the EFCC had never violated any court order.He disclosed that the detention of the 24 members of the Plateau House of Assembly was in compliance with an order of the Court.Ribadu also lamented that in many of the states, there had been the practice of illegal diversion of funds from the Executive to the Legislature, adding that such practice was however not operational at the Federal level.***************************

Our findings on Govs, state officials, by EFCC
Adamawa: Petition received from Senator Paul Wanpana, national vice-chairman PDP. Nineteen LGs indicted for involvement in high-scale corruption. Arrangements concluded to charge governor and commissioner for LG and Chieftaincy affairs.
Akwa Ibom: Corruption cases established against some local government officials. No comment on Governor Victor Attah.
Anambra: Mentioned the former Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chris Ngige who was accused of over-pricing of inflation.
Bauchi State: Adamu Mu'azu is also being investigated for contract inflation
Bayelsa State: Governor's wife allegedly involved in money launderingBenue State: Governor physically beat up our officers in the office of the CP and forcibly took away files.
Borno: LGs and Governor being investigated.
Cross Rivers: Two LGs being investigated but exonerated the Governor.
Delta State: Governor James Ibori and 13 local government chairmen being investigated. Progress being made sufficiently in the cases in Delta State.
Ekiti: Illegal diversion of funds, money laundering, foreign accounts operated by the governor and his deputy.
Edo State: Governor being investigated for diversion of statutory allocation and 13 per cent oil revenue.
Ebonyi: Case established against some local government chairmen.
Imo: State officials accused of diverting N56 million from each of 24 local governments for an abandoned road project.
Jigawa: Governor accused of diversion of funds and using stolen funds to sponsor pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for hajj.Kwara: Former Kwara Governor Mohammed Lawal being investigated.
Kogi: Case established against some local government chairmen and the former Governor who ran abroad shortly before he was to be taken to court.
Katsina: Case established against three local government chairmen.
Kano: Two petitions against two local government chairmen.
Kaduna: Case made against the Governor and one local government chairmen for misappropriation of public funds. Governor accused of using his companies to carry out government projects.
Lagos: Governor being investigated on an international case.
Niger: No commentNasarawa: Case established against the Governor and some local government chairmen.
Ondo: No comment
Ogun State: Governor under investigation.
Osun: No comment
Oyo: No commentPlateau:
Plateau State Assembly participated fully and directly took money from the state government.
Rivers: Three Local governments and Governor accused.
Sokoto: Governor and an individual accused of financial misappropriation.
Taraba: Case established against the Governor and State Assembly. Asked on corruption in the Federal Government, he said that the agency had shown its neutrality with the prosecution of some aides of the President even as he reiterated that no case has ever been established against the President.-

Looting: EFCC report indicts 15 governors
By Emmanuel AzikenPosted to the Web: Thursday, September 28, 2006 Sorry, your browser does not support floating frames*Fayose, Jonathan's wife fire backABUJA— AFTER months of investigation of the petitions and allegations of corruption against 31 of the state governors/governments, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday, handed over to the Senate its findings which established cases of corruption against 15 of the governors. Three former governors were also indicted.Six others are still being investigated, while there is no petition against the rest. One was cleared of the allegations against him.Those said to have a case to answer are:Orji Kalu (Abia),Boni Haruna (Adamawa), Chris Ngige (former governor, Anambra), Ayo Fayose (Ekiti), Chimaroke Nnamani (Enugu), Saminu Turaki (Jigawa), Muhammed Lawal (ex-governor, Kwara), Abubakar Audu (ex-governor, Kogi), Ahmed Makarfi (Kaduna), Adamu Abdullahi, Attahiru Bafarawa and Jolly Nyame.During his more than two hours of testimony to the Senate, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, chairman of the EFCC who claimed that the biggest fraudster ever in the world was a Nigerian said the activities of the commission in three years were now giving the country a cleaner image.Giving a run down of the states, Ribadu said three generations of Governor Orji Kalu’s family had been found to be involved in the looting of N35 billion of Abia government funds, which, according to him, was siphoned to establish multinational companies in aviation, pharmaceuticals, shipping and publishing. He cited the governor’s mother, the governor and his daughter, brothers and personal aides in the alleged illegal siphoning of the state’s resources.He described Zamfara State as one of the worst cases facing the commission with the governor of the state, Yerima Sani, fingered as being involved in direct stealing of state funds. He described the allegations against the governor and the counter efforts by governor Sani as a tragedy.Ribadu said instead of showing remorse, the Zamfara governor resorted to blackmail as he quoted him as reporting to the British Parliament that he (Sani) was being pursued by the EFCC because he was set to be the next president.He said the 15 indicted governors would soon be charged to court and that where a local government was indicted, the governor of such state was involved.All the implicated governors with the exception of Governor Ahmed Tinubu of Lagos State were alleged to have perpetrated the offences through the siphoning of their local government accounts. Governor Tinubu’s case, the EFCC boss said, was, however, of an international dimension. He said the EFCC had refused to dabble into the case of the Lagos governor.Though Ribadu claimed that the commission was currently investigating fraud in 31 states, he singled out Governor Donald Duke of Cross River State as the only governor under investigation not to have a corruption case against him.The appearance of the EFCC boss was upon the Senate’s summon on its investigations into allegations of corruption made against Governor Chimaroke Nnamani of Enugu State and officials of his administration and other states.Welcoming him to the Senate session yesterday, the President of the Senate, Chief Ken Nnamani said the EFCC was instituted to fight corruption in the country and reminded him that the enabling Act required the agency to submit its report to the National Assembly every September.“If the report of the number two citizen in our country is a public document, why should the report of state governors, councillors not be available,” Chief Nnamani said as he assured him of the Senate’s appreciation of the agency’s efforts.In his opening remarks, Ribadu thanked the Senate for bringing the agency into existence through the passage of the EFCC Establishment Act in 2004, saying the agency had made remarkable progress in its efforts to eliminate graft.According to him, the commission has received 4,200 petitions on alleged corruption, 1,200 cases were currently under investigation while 406 cases were in court. He claimed that the agency had through its efforts in cleansing the banks recovered over N200 billion from fraudulent bank officials.“If you follow our sequence, you will see that we started by taking the 419 people and they were the people giving the country a bad image. Sometimes you will find them moving with escorts and we went after the kingpins and recovered well over $750 million from them. They were the people compromising the security agencies.“It is only in Nigeria that you hear of people stealing crude oil and by today we have confiscated over 40 oil tankers. A Nigerian caused the change of the financial regulations in the whole world,” Ribadu said, adding: “The number one person who stole the most money in the world is a Nigerian. Unfortunately, there are still many others around.”He noted the case of the Benue State Governor who, he said, physically beat up the commission’s operatives in the office of the state Commissioner of Police in his effort to recover some incriminating files from the operatives.Following his presentation, Senator David Mark (PDP, Benue South) challenged the EFCC boss to name the governors involved as he reminded him that corruption cases against the Vice-President, Senators and a former Senate President were not shielded from public scrutiny.“The name of the Vice-President was mentioned. If our own colleagues can be called then we urge you to name the governors and all those who have been involved including the biggest thief in the world who is a Nigerian,” Senator Mark said.Following the submission, Chief Nnamani reminded the EFCC boss of the Senate’s resolution of Thursday, September 14, 2006 which requires him to provide reports of corruption in Enugu State and other cases involving state governors.Following the reminder, Mallam Ribadu proceeded to give brief details of the governors involved beginning with Enugu State, where he said, acts of alleged corruption had been found against the governor and some of his aides and other officials. Ribadu claimed that the commission had a 32-page report on fraud allegedly perpetrated in Enugu State. He also accused  the state administration of inflating the cost of about eight projects.On Abia State, he said: “Abia is number one not because it is number one alphabetically but because we have one of the biggest established cases of stealing, money laundering, diversion of funds against Governor Kalu,” adding that the governor used his mother, daughter, wife and brother to divert N35 billion to build his business empire including Slok Airlines, Slok Pharmaceuticals, and a newspaper house.On others, he said:Adamawa: Petition received from Senator Paul Wanpana, national vice-chairman PDP and 19 Lgs were indicted for involvement in high-scale corruption. Arrangements concluded to charge governor and Commissioner for LG and Chieftaincy Affairs.Akwa Ibom: Corruption cases established against some local government officials. Silent on Governor Victor Attah.Anambra: Mentioned the former Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chris Ngige, who was accused of inflating contracts.Bauchi: Mu’azu is also being investigated for contract inflation.Bayelsa: Governor’s wife involved in money laundering.Benue: Governor physically beat up our officers in the office of the CP and forcibly took away files.Borno: LGs and governor being investigated.Cross River: two LGs being investigated but exonerated the governor.Delta: Governor James Ibori and 13 local government chairmen being investigated for corruption.Ekiti: Illegal diversion of funds, money laundering, foreign accounts operated by the governor and his deputy.Edo: Governor being investigated for diversion of statutory allocation and 13 per cent oil revenue.Ebonyi : Case established against some local government chairmen.Enugu: Acts of corruption established against governor and some of his aides.Imo: State officials accused of diverting N56 million from each of 24 local governments for an abandoned road project.Jigawa Governor: Accused of diversion of funds and using stolen funds to sponsor pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.Kwara: Former Kwara Gov being investigated.Kogi: Case established against some local government chairmen and the formergovernor who ran abroad shortly before he was to be charged to court.Katsina: Case established against three local government chairmen.Kano: Two petitions against two local government chairmen.Kaduna: Case made against the governor and one local government chairmen for misappropriation of public funds. Governor accused of using his companies to execute government projects.Lagos: Gov being investigated on an international case.Niger:Nasarawa: Case established against the governor and some local government chairmen.Ondo:Ogun  Governor under investigation.Osun:Oyo:Plateau: Plateau State Assembly participated fully and directly took money from the state government.Rivers: Three local governments and governor accused.Sokoto: Governor and an individual accused of financial misappropriation.Taraba: Case established against the governor and state Assembly.Asked about corruption at the Federal level, he said the agency had shown its neutrality with the prosecution of some aides of the president even as he reiterated that no case had ever been established against the President.An attempt by Senator Joy Emodi to know the identity of the Nigerian reputed to be the world’s biggest thief was aborted by the Senate President.“We have investigated his ministers, his law enforcement officers. Up to this moment, no single person from the opposition has been taken to court.“In the case of the Federal Government we have checked, the NNPC, even the security vote we have not seen one case where money could be linked from a government agency to a Senator or a member of the House of Representatives.“It is impossible for us to check the account of every member of the House of Representatives. Between me and my God, I have not seen any trace,” he swore.Commenting also on the corruption case at the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), he said the EFCC was set to take the case to court.He also said EFCC had recovered N50 billion worth of ssets from the impeached governor of Bayelsa tae, Chief  Depreye Alamieyeseigha.Fayose, Duke, Tinubu Jonathan’s wife reactGovernor Donald Duke who is the only state chief executive cleared of allegations against him said last night that he had been vindicated.His spokesman, Joseph Usiaghale told Vanguard on telephone from Calabar last night that the EFCC report that “we’ve been transparent, and honest in our handling of the finances of the state.“Before now, there was the tendency to lump all the governors together. Nobody knew who was who. But now, we’ve been vindicated that we’ve been transparent and honest in our handling of the finances of the state. This should serve as a filip. It is encouraging. It shows that our efforts are not in vain.Also speaking to Vanguard from Ado-Ekiti last night, the Ekiti Commissioner for Information, Mr. Gboyega Oguntuase accused Mallam Ribadu of playing to the gallery. His words: “He is confusing the process of investigation which is the function of EFCC with the process of adjudication which is the function of the court. But he cannot be a judge in his own case.“If not for ill motive matters which ought to have been decided by courts, ought not to be commented upon by Ribadu. Moreover, there is no state earning N17 billion which its governor will convert N11 billion to his own advantage. The reality is that Ribadu is not relying on facts but merely on adversaries of government who are known to be very close to him.”Mrs. Patience Jonathan, wife of the Bayelsa State governor in a statement e-mailed to Vanguard said she would be vindicated.Her spokesperson, Kenneth Ekpelu said: “The first lady wishes to restate her unreserved respect for the institution of the EFCC and wishes Bayelsans and Nigerians at large to continue to support the organisation in its effort to attain a corruption-free Nigeria.“She, however, wishes to point out the need to separate the EFCC’s honest quest for justice from the  posturingof her husband’s opponents who strangely perceive her as the soft spot in his political armour and won’t stop hammering away at her until their decisions to oust him from office are met.”Also, Mr. Dele Alake, Lagos Commissioner for Information and Strategy, reacting yesterday, said: "It is no surprise at all that Asiwaju Tinubu’s name featured prominently in the EFCC report. What would have been news is if his name was missing from that report. Bola Tinubu has been a constant target of the Federal Government because of his persistent fight to deepen democracy, rule of law and most especially fiscal federalism."
Summary of EFCC report on govsINDICTED  

1) Chimaroke Nnamani (Enugu)
2) Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia)
3) Boni Haruna (Adamawa)
4) Ayo Fayose (Ekiti)
5) Adamu Abdullahi (Nasarawa)
6) Jolly Nyame (Taraba)
7) Joshua Dariye (Plateau)
Sani Ahmed (Zamfara)
9) Saminu Turaki(Jigawa)

UNDER INVESTIGATION1)
Adamu Mu’azu (Bauchi)
2) Peter Odili (Rivers State)
3) Ahmed Markafi (Kaduna)
4) Lucky Igbinedion (Edo)
5) James Ibori (Delta)
6) Bola Tinubu (Lagos)
7) Gbenga Daniel (Ogun)
Attahiru Bafarawa (Sokoto)

Clean bill of health1)
Donald Duke (Cross Rivers)

Women's version of creation ,

Moses' account of the creation in the book of Genesis is so familiar and
so entrenched in our cultural heritage that many accept as actual
historic fact the assertion that Woman was created from one of Adam's
ribs.

Science has railed against such simple beliefs for centuries; last week,
at a dig in the escarpments along the western shore of the Dead Sea,
archeologists have uncovered ancient, original texts that pre-date
Moses' writings by 1,300 years. Translated, their account of life's
beginnings on earth are much more scientifically plausible , ", and
God created Woman, giving her three breasts to suckle her young. And
God spoke, saying to her, "I have created thee as I see fit, but mine is
no longer the only opinion in the universe (sigh). Is there anything
about thee that thou would prefer differently?"

And Woman spoke, saying, "Lord, I am not made to birth whole litters; I
do not need but two breasts."

And God said, "Thou speak wisely, as I have created thee with wisdom."

There was a crack and a lingering odor of ozone, and it was done, and
Woman stood holding her third breast in her hand.

"Now just what am I gonna do with this useless boob?" Woman exclaimed.

And so it was, God created Man.

I see 2 key issues here.

The guy wants to ship to Portharcourt or calabar port
The guy wants to ship the bike on its own.

My advise is for him to ship to Lagos because traffic to the Eastern ports is low and probably more expensive.
Ship in a crate or ship inside a car(bus) , because probably he can't ship a bike just bare like that.

Go to berger

Juju, Obeah, vodoo are all manipulations by demons ie fallen angels. They actually exist.
A few Europeans will give them all sorts of names to make them look scientific, but they are not. They are spirutual things that can take any form at all. they can take the form of dead people or animals etc.
They are evil. Run away from them.
They come to steal, kill and destroy.

Alhaji,
Pls update me on your shipment using aaashipping. Their rates are quite low, almost unbelievable

Can you send a bike( even crated) just like that by ship. Only courier companies will handle it for you in that form and it will cost as much as 5-6 Euros/kg.
Talk to Nigerians that ship things or agents that ship things to Nigeria( do web search), They can assist you ship it in their buses.
Good luck

The best way to the best of my knowlegde is to put it in a vehicle and ship to Lagos. Clearing will be carried out in Lagos. One can still bring in commercial vehicles of any age. This attracts about 100k-120k. A bike will be cleared for a lot less. A power bike should cost slightly more to clear than an ordinary bike.
Traffic to Portharcourt for Roro is low. So the best bet is container.

Only large corporations may be paying taxes in Nigeria but generally business in Niga is tough. As long as you have an office any where even in remote parts of any town, you see all sorts of characters( with armed police) coming to ask for all sorts of levies and threatening to lock up the business.
Personally , I have decided not to complain again, but to forge ahead and to overcome.[color=#006600][/color][b][/b]

Found the english translation but there is no sign to show you that since all of it is still in chinese.

The website has no translation into english.
What guarantees do you give?
Where are your Nigerian offices ?

Sorry , you can check http://www.rmrdc.gov.ng[color=#990000][/color] for elaborate info on raw materials usage and availability in Nigeria

Sex  outside marriage is frowned at in every society.
From a christain point of view, it is a sin. Living together before marriage is "self abuse".
My sincere advice to you is to avoid it.
There is nothing good waiting for both of you at the other end of the tunnel.

In terms of manufacturing I think that Omatek is doing more as they are also into large scale manufacture of casings etc. I dont know if Zinox is doing the same.
I have used a Zinox desktop for 2 years without problems.
Zinox is doing well in marketing because the chief promoter of Zinox is a go-getter and a seasoned IT person

I am being offered a high spec acer laptop and I am a bit worried about their reliability.
Is there anyone out there who has used them before or is currently using them.

Why we’re investing $1 billion in Nigeria, by chairman, Colechurch group



Diminutive and unassuming, he does not just pride himself as the first chartered Electrical Engineer in Nigeria but matter of fact, is the founder and group chairman of Colechurch International Limited, a project, promotion, management and finance company which he founded in the UK in 1976 and was chief executive from then till about eight years ago, when he handed the job to a Briton who now heads the company in London.
Today, Colechurch is active in 32 countries worldwide and has head office in London and a sub-head office in the US.

The group has an asset base of about $300m and annual turnover last year was $125m while this year’s is expected to be $140m. The staff strength worldwide is 1,800.
Onyemelukwe has an impressive and perhaps, intimidating profile. He bagged an Engineering degree in 1956, from the University of Leeds and an Economics degree of London University in 1960. He has written and lectured widely on the power industry, economic development and growth.

His books include Problems of Industrial Planning and Management in Nigeria, Men and Management in Contemporary Africa, Economic Underdevelopment: An Insider View and The Science of Economic Development and Growth: The Theory of Factor Proportions.

As a non-executive chairman now, he is at the company’s US office, where he operates from. A member of various institutions of electrical and mechanical engineers, fuel technologists and so on, Onyemelukwe has brought his company to Nigeria to invest. The total project cost is about $I billion, but the economist cum engineer, has his share of tales of frustrations and assessment of the Nigerian environment as a potential investor.
For example, he cited bureaucratic bottlenecks and lack of data/statistics to aid a potential investor as part of the frustrations in Nigeria.
He describes the country as one of the poorest 10 in the world, stressing that a lot of Nigerians are lazy and those with money hide them.

His story
In 1961, I had to return to Nigeria because of the nation’s independence. I was then made the chief engineer of the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria. In 1961, the British handed over to us, so I stayed in the country till about 1972, then went back to UK in 1976 where I founded Colechurch. We as a company have been in existence for more than a quarter of a century now. We did initially come to Nigeria in 1978/79 and we were at that time interested in projects here. We did a $200m set of projects in Benue State but soon after that, the military came in and as a result of that we left the country. So since 1980, we have not been in this country. That made us go international. So, its only when the civilian government of Obasanjo came in; even it took us some time again to watch whether the democracy is for real. So it’s really in the last two years that Colechurch came back into this country and even at that, I wouldn’t say we are fully here, because we are still exploring the position here. The truth is that, in coming to this country, I feel that the country has not explored its potentials. I feel that the country should have moved much further than we all dreamt at independence. One felt that there are lot of things that should be done. At the end of the day, the foreign investment is not coming with the speed we expected even though the government is trying all it can and should be congratulated for all the efforts it is making in that direction. We must know in reality that the foreign investors are all heading towards China and you will be surprised the amount of foreign investment going to the US. All these places are attracting foreign investment so that compared to many of them, the African countries don’t have much chance to really get foreign investment to make a lot of difference to the economic development.

So, one of the reasons we come to Nigeria is to see what to do because we are in project development and promotion and management, to assist the country to grow in the area of industrial development. My company is also very active in project management and development in the oil and gas sector and also in the area of power because I started as a power man and of course, in industry. What we are doing is divided into two levels. We came in here and found that even the small, medium industrial sector in this country hardly had anything to write home about, which is a pity. So, we decided initially to set up what we call a bureau of small, medium industrial promotion. This is the first of its kind because we specialise on industrial promotion in the small, medium sector.

The trouble is that the small, medium industrial sector in the country is not very buoyant. We have a lot of unemployment in the country. Graduates pass out; four or five years, they haven’t got a job and it is only by developing the real sector, the productive sector that we can make any difference to this situation. The bureau is highly specialised. The trouble is that we are toying about with small, medium industrial activities. People think that running an industry is more or less the same thing as trading. It doesn’t involve anything. You buy a machine and install it and the next day, you want to make millions of naira but it’s not like that. So, this bureau is to attempt to assist entrepreneurs in this field. There is no reason whatsoever that goods come from other countries and are cheaper than our people are making it in the small, medium industry.

There’s no reason for that. People say it’s electricity and all the infrastructure the government hasn’t provided. To me, that is a whitewash situation. Afterall, if you are an undeveloped country, you are then not expected to have all the developed things -electricity that flows 365 days in a week, roads all tarred, telecommunications all fantastic. If you have all that, then, you are not undeveloped but most people want all those things before they can get into small, medium industry. That’s nonsense.

And this feeling persists that, it is government that is holding up industrial development. The reason is that people are lazy in the country. They are not ready to work. They are not ready to attempt to develop a technology base - indigenous technology I call it. People are not ready to do that. That is one of the reasons we have an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology on behalf of the Federal Government. There is a lot of research being carried out here for years and nothing to show for it on the field. So this MoU is for us to work with the ministry to start commercialising some of their findings. If we use a finding from them, immediately it uses things in terms of how to utilise the facilities here - the resources, the manpower and the rest of it. So that is what we mean by indigenous technology.

We are trying to promote this. If we are bringing any technology from outside, it doesn’t have to be the way people carry foreign technology and bring here without seeing whether it is relevant or not. And up till now, there is no technology and people simply order a machine from overseas. He doesn’t know what is inside it. He doesn’t know the position. He doesn’t know what cost, the thing will produce the good for. He installs it. The next day, he finds that what he is producing is more expensive than the one from outside, then he shouts and says it is the government that causes that. So that’s one arm of what we are doing in the bureau. The other one is on the bigger end of the scale - the large projects. [b][/b]
Our company has done a lot of projects worldwide. We have a number of major projects, mainly industrial, that we are planning. We have major projects we are planning to invest in this country and either sometimes alone or in conjuction with other foreign companies. I’m driven because I’m a Nigerian to do it. Then I can easily attract others who know us to follow us and come here and we have all sorts of associations with them. So, that’s one major thing we are trying to do.

Education
I stayed two years in University College, Ibadan (1951-53). At that time, there was no Engineering here. So every year, there was entrance for the whole country. When I took the entrance in 1951, I was the first in the country, so we got into Ibadan and they selected about 10 of us that were for science and they said the government will send us later to do Engineering. We spent two years for what they called Intermediate Science and after that, we then were sent overseas and I can say today, that I’m the first chartered Electrical Engineer in Nigeria. I went to Leeds University 1953-56 and got a degree. In 1956, I joined the then Central Electricity Generating Board in U.K. It was the organisation that undertook the generation, the transmission of electricity throughout the U.K at a time. It was a big monopolistic organisation. There I worked and became head of planning division at the headquarters. It was from there that I didn’t know people from this country were reading all the things and journals I was publishing overseas. People were very nationalistic then. One day, they called me at the headquarters where I was and said some directors of Electricity Corporation of Nigeria want to see me. So, I said what did they want? Eventually, they managed to get to me and said they wanted me to come back to Nigeria. I said I was not interested because I was quite comfortable. They finally got in touch with my mother who I hadn’t seen for 11 years and she started making hell for me. She said if she died, her death was on my neck. That is why I finally returned to Nigeria and took up the job of chief engineer.


Government’s effort in attracting foreign investment
Government has constraints. Government is not everything. At the end of the day, it is the private people. Government can only facilitate. I don’t like this idea of always saying government, government.
A lot of us are lazy. We don’t want to do the work. People with money hide them. They want to go into trade. They want to go into property. They want to go and get shares in the bank because they expect a quick turnover. So, what do you expect government to do? The government is going all over the world trying to get foreign investment but I told you the constraint they are facing because every country in this world now wants foreign investment. Have you seen the adverts they are making in England to get foreign investment? Have you seen the adverts Germans are making to attract foreign investment? Have you seen the amount of state governments in America trying to attract foreign investment? The Australians are looking for foreign investment. When all this is happening, why does somebody particularly want to come to Africa? We have to put it in context. The people here have to get up on their bootstraps and get working. That’s what we are trying to do. That is why I’m forcing my company to come and invest here, not because it is the most attractive. We are in 32 countries of the world. I’m dragging the board of my company by the neck to get here but there are lots of problems here that makes it difficult for the average foreign investor to come here. So we are now trying to work with the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission to assist them because it is alright to call a foreign investor to come in here and you might get him interested. When he wants to go about it, he finds that there are no facilities to assist him. If he wants to do a quick feasibility study, he doesn’t find anybody with the competence to do it for him, except he goes to import somebody from overseas. After a time, he says to himself, I’m not bothering. So apart from the investment we are planning to make on our own either alone or in joint venture, we are establishing a project management organisation so that if these foreign investors come, we can say to them, what do you want? What help do you want? Is it study you want? Is it the statistics you want? Do you want us to help you in the construction of what you want and give you all the facilities? And we are speaking the same language with them. You are more likely to get them to say okay, let’s take this one. But at the moment, there is a lot of loss. The percentage of people who come in to say they want to invest actually is small, because they come and see all these in an unfamiliar situation. They go away. So we are now working with NIPC to come together to provide a kind of on-the-spot assistance to these people. That’s another thing we are doing apart from our own investment but you know our own resources are also limited so we cannot do everything.

Project cost
The total project cost of what we are looking at, is about just a little less than $1 billion. That does not mean that we will all contribute that ourselves. No! We are in a number of projects some of them $100m. Other bigger ones, we have to obviously attract other people to come to co-invest with us. That is the portfolio but you know, when you are dealing with large projects, sometimes, before you see anything on ground, it may take three years because there is a lot to put together. One problem we have for example in this country is to get the statistics, the data with which to work with. We have a pipe mill we are planning in the oil and gas. For the last two years, we’ve not been able to get any information about the consumption of pipes in the oil sector. We have not been able to do that. So, if you ask me why it has taken us long, that is part of it.

Frustrations
They are too many of them, but I don’t want to appear to be critical because the public service represents all of us in the population. If I want to see the head of a government department or a minister, it is not that the minister in point is unapproachable but those surrounding him will so make it impossible because, for one reason or the other, that’s our culture. If I want to see the managing director of a bank, which is in the private sector, you get there and it is exactly the same thing. So, it’s frustrating. Bureaucracy is not just government alone. It is also in the private sector. So let’s not keep saying it’s government, government. It’s the whole population. So, after a time, the average foreigner will say to himself what the hell am I doing here? Again, lack of data; lack of statistics and so on. It’s all part of it. At the end of the day, you say it’s not worth it because there are so many more attractive places to do business in the world. The world is an open place. It is a big place and people of this country don’t understand this. When you live here, you feel the world revolves around Nigeria. Nigeria is nothing. So for those of us who operate on the world, it’s nothing. I’m interested in Nigeria because I’m a Nigerian. Ordinarily, I don’t see why I should be interested in Nigeria. Until we see that we are in an inferior position or in a competitive position, we are low down, that’s when people here should wake up and be pro-active. There are many people I see in this country. They feel that foreigners are thronging here; foreigners are so desperate to come here. There is this attitude all along and unfortunately, this causes the very obstacle that makes it difficult to invest here.[b][/b]
More investment hinged on successful democratisation?
Let’s not be carried away with this issue of democratisation. I’m only looking at democratisation from the point of view that personal freedoms are not tampered with. Afterall, today, China is not what you call democracy because the West is selling this democracy as a recipe for economic development. That’s wrong. Let’s be clear. Democracy is being sold by the West as a` political thing and they make it more attractive; they make you feel that if you have democracy, you have economic development. It’s a lie because China is everything but democracy. Let’s draw a line between the two. On the other hand, I’m not necessarily saying that I’m happy. In China, the next day, you don’t know where you will be locked up. Okay? It’s a question of where you find the balance, because at the end of the day, you don’t eat democracy. You don’t eat freedom. If you sit down free, you can’t get water to drink.
So, it comes back to the point I’m making that people have to rise up, take their own destiny into their hand. Now, the foreigners going to China; all the foreign investments; is it because China is democratic? No, it’s not! They are going to China because of the economic opportunities there even though it’s not democratic. So let’s not necessarily say that if this place is not democratic, we’ll not invest. You can see that the whole thing is more numbled up than all that.

The economist and the engineer, who’s more active in you?
As I’m getting older, I’m leaning more towards economics because I have my people who are doing the technical and the engineering. We have a powerful organisation that does it. My job is to try and inspire; to try and put ideas across to see how they do it and also get cross flow from them because presently as I move on. I find that this issue of economic development; economic growth is a serious topic. If it’s done properly; if we get the right concept of it, that’s when this issue of technology will become recognised and given the central stage, so that’s why I’m dealing more now in that direction. But I couldn’t have done it without the experience of the years in running a big organisation like that from nothing.

Relaxation
Well, I do. If you don’t, then, you are not living. There are times I sit and my wife says to me, you are lazy because when I rest, I do rest and if I go to bed about 11 o clock in the night, sometimes, by 8 o clock, if you touch me, I will kick you because I’m still sleeping. I do have eight or nine hours or more of sleep. I play tennis (lawn). In fact, when I come to this country, I play tennis every two days and I’m playing not with the older people but with the young -those sharp guys so that, when I finish, I’m really exhausted but it’s good mentally and physically. Right now, I can run a 100 yards and come back with no feeling about it.

Family life
I am married to a white American. We have been married for 41 years and my son is presently in London, although his business is in the US. So he is in the US but temporary in London. He is in finance and record label company as well. My daughter is an assistant professor in Harvard School of Medicine.
She’s in Boston and I have two grandchildren. My youngest is 32, had a company but just decided to go and do an MBA.

Parting word to Nigerians
[b]Nigerians need to work harder, Nigerians need to blame government less and know that the onus is on them to work hard to develop this country. We are very much behind. This country is one of the poorest 10 countries. Nigerians have to realise this and we are laying a very, very bleak future for our children, unless we do something about it[/b]

This stuff is actually not a phone. It is just an advanced PDA. If it were a phone+PDA , it would have been a good buy

Pls state cleary your office location. Your prices look a bit to good to be true

What other things can you do ?
Electronic devices are very much needed in Nigeria, so manufacturing them locally will be a very good venture. Secondly , there is a plan to encourage local manufacture of consumer electronics by banning importation of CBU units. So gear up for action

@ Shandex,
I learnt that fish farming attracts snakes. Do you have any incident of snakes infestation in your neighbourhood ?

Pls could you throw more light on the arcade emulator.
I am looking at what I can get locally. The big arcades are bulky to freight from abroad

Pls Give me more info on arcades and where I can source it locally

Need advice on the type of game to use for fast food restaurant to attract children and their parents

Check the guardian newspapers on wednesdays

Pls put all the details and options and prices

I am interested in used diesel with airco coaster/hiace buses , left hand drive.

let me know your contacts and cost of .5l, .75l and 1.5 l bottles respectively. I run a restaurant. Pls send pic to Nairaland /appetitto@yahoo.com

Gate crashing is no cry. With the level of unemplyment and the volume of info available to job seekers, one needs to go an extra mile to succed.
When I conduct interviews , I dont send gatecrashers back . I see them as those that have extra adrenalin and go-getters.
The jobs are just too few so only the guys who make the best efforts( mental/physical ) should be rewarded)

I have a good bus with diesel with AC used by Shell . Mileage is very low about 70,000.
Price is 1.6million. I can send picture if you want. Let me know your cell phone no

I guess that it is better to keep shut than to talk.
Orji is the worst gorvernor in the South East. Infact after Alameseigha , I think that he might be the worst in the country.
Go to Aba. He keeps on harping about federal roads when you can not point any meaningful road he completed in Abia.
He has had about 3 deputy gorvernors.
As a biz man , he is successful. As a ruler , he has been corrupt and irresponsible and a big dissappointment to the youths.
He is no achiever. I will personally campaign against his election to what ever position.

Try www.finacorpbuildingsocietyltd.com.
Most banks ask for C of O for mortgage loans. You can try Union homes and FBN Mortgages.