₦airaland Forum

Video 1 - Oando's Wale Tinubu sets record straight on fuel subsidy issue - Full Video1
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztBnOZwaHFg


Video 2 - Oando's Wale Tinubu sets record straight on fuel subsidy issue - Full Video2
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U-BpF3dDws


Video 3 - Oando decries tagging as subsidy beneficiary
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYTIKFAgOr0&feature=related


"It's a bit of a misnomer for us to use the expression "benefited" from the PSF scheme, We don't benefit from the scheme, the Nigerian public benefits from the scheme, We simply make a claim, we bring in a cargo for $30m and sell at the pump for the equivalent of $15m, we simply make a claim to the government for the differential pursuant to a law that exists. We do not benefit from the scheme, the money belongs to our Nigerian shareholders and Nigerian banks, "

- Wale Tinubu, CEO Oando PLC

Video 1 - Oando's Wale Tinubu sets record straight on fuel subsidy issue - Full Video1
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztBnOZwaHFg


Video 2 - Oando's Wale Tinubu sets record straight on fuel subsidy issue - Full Video2
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U-BpF3dDws


Video 3 - Oando decries tagging as subsidy beneficiary
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYTIKFAgOr0&feature=related


"It's a bit of a misnomer for us to use the expression "benefited" from the PSF scheme,  We don't benefit from the scheme, the Nigerian public benefits from the scheme,  We simply make a claim, we bring in a cargo for $30m and sell at the pump for the equivalent of $15m, we simply make a claim to the government for the differential pursuant to a law that exists. We do not benefit from the scheme,  the money belongs to our Nigerian shareholders and Nigerian banks, "


- Wale Tinubu, CEO Oando PLC
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Oando denies benefiting from oil subsidy, claims N4bn outstanding
On January 30, 2012 · In Energy , Email0
BY PETER EGWUATU

The Group Chief Executive Officer of Oando Plc, a quoted company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Wale Tinubu, has denied alleged reports that his company was a beneficiary of fuel subsidy, just as he disclosed that the company has outstanding N4 billion of unpaid subsidy in 2011.

Tinubu noted that Oando Plc is the largest publicly quoted energy company in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa’s largest indigenous energy company, based on revenues, with primary listing on the NSE with a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Speaking at the public hearing on the management of subsidy being organised by an ad–hoc committee of the House of Representatives, the Oando boss noted that the money paid to marketers as subsidy was not a profit or windfall but under-recovery, arising from the differentials between the landing cost of petroleum products and the official pump price.

He stated that the use of the word ‘beneficiary’ was a misconception as the money was not a special favour from the government but a refund of the actual cost incurred by marketers in the importation of petrol.

Tinubu stated that the marketers spent an average of $30 million to import a 30,000 metric tonnes cargo of petrol but sold the products at almost $15 million; while the balance was paid to marketers as subsidy.

“The Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) expected that there would be under-recovery. For example, when the landing cost was higher than the pump price, the government owed us money, which is paid as subsidy. When there is over-recovery, that is, when the landing cost is less than the pump price, we pay back to the government. For example, during the Yar’Adua administration, when the petrol price was N65 and the crude oil price dropped to $50 per barrel, the marketers paid back to the fund. I remember that Oando paid  N1.6 billion back to the Federal Government,” he said.

Tinubu stated that when the subsidy regime was introduced in 2006, three major marketers, including Oando Plc, participated in the scheme, along with NIPCO Plc and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

According to him, Oando accounted for 53 per cent of petrol importation in 2006 and 47 per cent of subsidy payment. He, however, stated that the company’s market share in terms of subsidy receipts and petrol importation dropped to 11 per cent in 2011 due to proliferation of companies that participated in the PSF scheme.

Tinubu stated that when the subsidy regime was introduced in 2006, only companies that had at least 25 petrol stations and 5,000MT storage capacity were allowed to participate, according to the PSF guidelines. He said the scheme was abused when companies that did not have retail outlets and storage facilities were allowed to participate in the importation business, at the detriment of companies that built capacity.

“In terms of summary of our subsidy payment, we collected approximately N120 billion by the end of 2011 and we imported well in excess of one billion litres or about 700,000 metric tonnes as at August 2011. By the end of 2011, we had imported about 1.3 million MT into the country,” he said.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/01/oando-denies-benefiting-from-oil-subsidy-claims-n4bn-outstanding/

Yet another presidential gaffe
By Editorial 19 hours 1 minute ago

•Jonathan’s attempt to demonise Lagos over fuel protests is careless and condemnable


PERHAPS it is not inconceivable that even kings and presidents sulk, either when generally things have not gone their way; or when a policy they laid much store by has taken a terrible hiding from an irreverent public.

What is not conceivable is when such sulking is made a piece of public presidential speech. Worst still: when the audience of that presidential address are youths being given a pat on the back for doing well; and when the logic of that rather simplistic sulking is no more than presidential old wives’ tale!

That is the sum total of the latest exchange between President Goodluck Jonathan and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) on a rather careless presidential comment on Lagos, vis-a-vis the controversial withdrawal of fuel subsidy, a strike on which ground the country for the whole of seven days, from January 9 to 15, until the strike was called off on January 16.

Hosting National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members who made the NYSC President’s Honours Award in Abuja on January 16, President Jonathan had grumbled rather aloud that his government could not continue to subsidise the pump price of petrol for adult delinquents who had 10 to 15 cars, and gave those cars to their juvenile delinquent children to cruise around by the grace of cheap petrol “in Lagos”!

This rather careless statement has worked up to lather the ACN, the ruling party in the state. In a riposte fired by Alhaji Lai Mohammed, ACN’s national publicity secretary, the party interpreted the president’s comments to be an assault on the integrity of Lagos as a city-state and foremost economic contributor to the Nigerian pot; as well as the proud bastion of democratic dissent that has not only kept budding Nigerian dictators at bay, but secured the delicate balance of the Nigerian polity.

The party, quite correctly, cautioned the president against ethnicising pan-Nigeria anger against his ill-thought out fuel subsidy removal policy. It also told the president to be wary of making Lagos and Lagosians the wilful object of his ire, else he might just box himself into a politically precarious corner. The ACN then asked for a presidential apology to the government and people of Lagos.

To start with, the ACN rebuke is welcome and we fully ally ourselves with it. The reason is simple: the presidential cut is most unkind and unfair. Lagos might have been the beach head for the mass protest against the hugely unpopular petroleum downstream deregulation policy. But then the same Lagos just taught the rest of Nigeria the beauty of largely violent-free protests, in which the people, without breaking heads or hacking limbs, made their voices heard loud and clear.

But even the more sublime beauty of the Lagos protests, with its epicentre at the Gani Fawehinmi Park (GFP), now informally renamed Gani Freedom Park (GFP), was the tenor and composition of the protesters. Though Lagos is ethnically Yoruba, the organisers built on the city’s status as a former federal capital and the enduring commercial capital to amass a truly metropolitan and articulate pan-Nigeria crowd that proved democratic dissent is not necessarily treason. Why the president should pooh-pooh the city’s demonstration of solid democratic culture with insult is bewildering.

But, of course, the president with his misguided handlers wanted to secure a regime, even if it harbours dangerous anti-democratic tendencies. But the Lagos protesters did not want to topple the government, even if they were determined to topple its anti-democratic penchant. Still, all these niceties are often lost to desperate power merchants, driven by power for power’s sake.

But on that, Lagos has bad news. From the colonial age of Lugard, to the military generation of power ruffians and now to the present age of “cabals” (for and against Jonathan), Lagos has stood firm to insist on what is best for the democratic polity. Even a president with a notorious record of unforced gaffes ought to have kept quiet to lick his wounds, instead of enveloping himself in another avoidable controversy from which he would emerge even more diminished.

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/editorial/34422-yet-another-presidential-gaffe.html

Why Senate can’t probe Obasanjo – Sen. Ojudu
on JANUARY 22, 2012 · in SUBSIDY SERIES

By BASHIR ADEFAKA

Babafemi Ojudu, a senior journalist elected senator for Ekiti Central District in the April 2011 National Assembly elections, is Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Public Service and Establishment. Ojudu will forever be remembered for his good days either at the National Concord or The News and Tempo magazines for his arrests, torture and detention several times during the Sani Abacha regime (1993–1998).

He was detained for three days at the Shangisha facility of the state security, Lagos on 11 August 1996 for his article in The News on former petroleum minister which alleged that the erstwhile minister was giving government contracts on behalf of the NNPC to his family and friends.

He brought his journalist and activist thing to play in this interview with Sunday Vanguard as he speaks on the fuel subsidy removal and why the Senate of which he is member can’t probe former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Excerpts:

You carpeted the subsidy removal proposal at the last Ondo NUJ conference in Akure. President Jonathan made through his plan to remove the subsidy, which plunged Nigeria into a loss of over N500 billion (take it from the N1.3 trillion acclaimed annual subsidy fund), loss of lives of protesting citizens and untold hardship on the masses. They fixed petrol price at N141; now it is 97. What is your disappointment of the whole scenario? Do you see what FG has done as true deregulation; I mean in which civilization in the world could you point to, where government deregulate and still determine price (apart from price control, which they never did)?

The whole thing is a charade. We have just paid for our lack of vigilance. When last year the PDP spent money on the presidential campaign as if we needed to empty our treasury and we failed to raise questions, I knew we were in for trouble after the elections. If you budget N250 billion for a so-called subsidy and, by October, you have spent N1. 3 trillion, you know somebody will be asked to come and pay the difference.

It is that difference we are now being called to pay. As somebody once creatively put it, it is Robbin Hood in reverse, that is robbing the poor to pay the rich. You probably are aware that during the PDP primary to elect their presidential candidate, each of the delegates was openly paid money. We don’t know how much the big wigs collected.

In the week of the elections, traditional rulers across the country were handsomely paid. Unions, and civil society organizations were not left out. Musicians, Nollywood actors and actresses, youth groups were all handsomely paid.Who paid for the thousands of billboards erected across the country? What was the cost of the adverts in the newspapers, television and radio? It is the price of that bazaar of 2011 we are being asked to come and pay.

Nigerians felt that the president added salt toinjury when he ordered deployment of soldiers on the streets of Lagos, claiming that protesters were hoodlums, using the instrumentality of government to force N97 per litre of petrol on the already impoverished people and blackmailing them into submission. Is this the kind of Nigeria of your dream, one; as a journalist and two; as one most senior law maker of the seventh Senate?

It is wrong. Those who are defending the deployment of forces to prevent peaceful protest today should also have done so or should have condemned our protests then against the cabal who insisted that Jonathan would not become the acting president of Nigeria when Yar’Adua was away for treatment in Saudi Arabia.

Scores of our people flew in from Lagos to Abuja on two occasions to be part of the protest and I remember that, after the resolution of the crisis, Jonathan hosted the leadership of the movement to thank them for supporting him. It is this same people he is vilifying today for giving expression to their opposition of a government policy considered hard to bear.

I have witnessed several protests in Nigeria. This last one was perhaps the most peaceful. Yes a number of people died, which is bad enough, but do people know how many Nigerians were killed and properties torched during the SAP protests under Gen Ibrahim Babangida? Nothing, in my opinion, calls for the deployment of soldiers to prevent peaceful expression of anger by the people of this country. What Jonathan has succeeded in doing by his action is to diminish his presidency. He will need to do a lot to regain the confidence of Nigerians.

The Senate ad hoc committee on the probe of BPE of which you were a member has responsibility that is relevant in the current national discourse. You told me last time that there would be no sacred cows. You have submitted your report indicting Obasanjo and others but the larger Senate developed cold feet, rather than act, it started beating about the bush. If you are called upon to do similar job in future, is this not demoralizing enough to make you decline?

No! I will not decline. You do not stop struggling because you failed at one attempt. I think despite what might have happened, we all should continue to ask questions and we must continue to demand answers. In spite of what happened, I think the document that emerged is strong enough to serve in the process of asking strong questions and calling for actions.

Unfortunately, in Nigeria, we have a very weak opposition, an opposition that is not attentive enough to latch on to these little gains to demand vigorously for a more transparent Nigeria. On this issue of privatization , it is certain that posterity will have several questions to ask General Olusegun Obasanjo.

Now labour has called off the strike and protests have been halted. What is next?

What is next? Oh Nigerians should demand a public probe of the so-called subsidy account. They should hold all of the pro-subsidy campaigners to their promises of the Eldorado. Again, talking about vigilance, the economic tsar of this regime, Madam Okonjo Iweala, made some promises of gain the nation was bound to make if we paid our foreign debt.

That was when she was serving in Obasanjo government as finance minister and she joined her boss on his first tour of duty. Where is the gain today? We have never asked her to account for the shortfall of the documented promises she made to the nation then. It is in the same way, a year or two from now, we would have forgotten all of the promises they, including the same woman in another government headed by no more than Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, are making now.

Let nobody be deceived that, in this last battle, Nigerians have been defeated. They have not. In fact, Nigerians have woken up to the possibilities of the people power. It is left for us politicians and elected leaders to begin to put on our thinking caps and address the wishes and aspirations of the people.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/01/why-senate-cant-probe-obasanjo-sen-ojudu/

ACN blames Fed Govt for inaction

By Kelvin Osa- Okunbor and Muritala Omikunle 15 hours 14 minutes ago

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) yesterday described the weekend bomb attacks in Kano as a fresh demonstration of Federal Government’s embarrassing cluelessness on how to tackle the Boko Haram crisis.
According to the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Boko Haram sect has become more brazen in its attacks.
The party also said it was an irony that the Federal Government that “deployed armed troops against unarmed citizens in Lagos could not checkmate those who are posing a real threat to national security, leaving them to run amok and mow down security agents and ordinary citizens, including a journalist who was shot in the line of duty.”
It warned that the longer the government delays in seeking a creative solution to the crisis, the more emboldened Boko Haram will become, and the more the likelihood that the crisis will push Nigeria to the precipice.
The party said: ‘’When the government decided to engage in the use of brute force, as it is wont to do when confronted with situations that demand imaginative solutions, we warned that it would be counter-productive. When the government decided to impose a state of emergency in some states, we warned that, imperative as that might seem at the time, it would only push the sect to extend its attacks to areas not covered by the measure, hence the need to seek a lasting solution.
‘’Unfortunately, those warnings have proved to be prescient, and the government has continued to shy away from seeking a creative solution, which we believe is to start off by calling a national security summit to be attended by stakeholders, who will help proffer solutions to the crisis. We will also like to reiterate our call for some form of engagement, instead of relying solely on the use of brute force, which will not work.’’
The party expressed shock and sadness at the scale of the latest attacks and the number of innocent people who died and condoled with the families of the victims.

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news/34098-acn-blames-fed-govt-for-inaction.html

Strip Ringim of national award — ARP

JANUARY 22, 2012 BY CHUKWUDI AKASIKE 35 COMMENTS
THE African Renaissance Party has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to strip the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim, of his national award.

It will be recalled that Jonathan conferred an award of the Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic on Ringim last year.

But the ARP said the escape of the suspected Christmas Day bomber and member of the violent Boko Haram sect, Kabiru Umar (a.k.a Sokoto) was an indication that the IG did not deserve a national award.

The party noted that apart from the escape of Umar, the poor handling of the security situation in the country was enough for the police boss to be stripped of the national honour.

National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Jackson Omenazu, urged the President to stop pampering Ringim, insisting that he had no clue on how to deal with the current security situation in the country.

Omenazu said the President needed not to give Ringim any ultimatum to ensure that the suspected bomber was re-arrested, adding that failure of the IG in the past was enough for him to honourably resign.

Omenazu, who spoke with SUNDAY PUNCH in a telephone interview on Friday, expressed shock that the police could allow a suspected serial murderer to escape from their custody at a time Nigerians were becoming worried of their lives and property.

He said, “It is surprising that the Inspector-General of Police is still allowed to occupy that position. How on earth would the police have allowed a prime suspect in the Christmas Day bombing to escape?

“Nigerians need to be shown that their lives and property are safe in this country. The escape of Umar is a clear indication that Ringim has failed in his responsibility.”

Omenazu called on the Federal Government to begin an investigation of the Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, for his alleged relationship with the suspect.

The ARP publicity secretary described the Boko Haram onslaught in the northern part of the country as a national issue that should be taken seriously.

“The governor of Borno should be expressly investigated because we learnt that the suspected bomber was arrested at the governor’s lodge in Borno. Those working in the governor’s lodge should also be interrogated,” Omenazu stated.

According to him, Nigeria will only move forward if well-placed individuals in the society were made to face the law without being protected unduly by government.

http://www.punchng.com/news/strip-ringim-of-national-award-arp/

Police may bar SNG from protesting on Saturday

JANUARY 20, 2012 BY ENIOLA AKINKUOTU 12 COMMENTS
There are indications that the Lagos State Police Command will not allow the Save Nigeria Group to stage any protest on Saturday.

In a statement by F.O. Ubani, and addressed to the Commissioner of Police for the state command, Mr. Yakubu Alkali, the SNG had requested for Police support and cooperation for a rally which will hold on Saturday.

However, our correspondent learnt that the command would deny support to the SNG without stating reasons.

A senior police officer, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said the refusal on the part of the police was due to the fact that hoodlums could easily make the protests violent.

He said, “The Federal Government deployed soldiers to forestall protests or rallies because of fear that they could turn violent.

“Also, in the past, hoodlums had seized the opportunity to perpetuate violent acts and disrupt public peace.

“Therefore, no protests will be allowed to hold on Saturday or anytime soon until things settle down.”

When contacted, the spokesperson for the state command, Mr. Samuel Jinadu, said he could not comment on the issue. When our correspondent called the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Yakubu Alkali, on the telephone, the following conversation ensued.

Correspondent: Sir, we learnt that the police will not allow the protest to take place on Saturday

Alkali: What kind of question are you asking? Last week we supported protesters and everything went on smoothly, you did not write about that. Now that we have refused some people permission to go on protest against fuel subsidy removal, because the Trade Union Congress and the Nigerian Labour Congress have disallowed anyone embarking on protests. I refused them permission to go on protest and you’re now asking me questions.

Correspondent: I just want to confirm if you will give the protesters support or not

Alkali: We are Nigerians; let’s tell each other the truth. You never wrote anything good about what we did during the last week protests, neither did you write anything good about the Lagos State Police Command.

The way you people are doing things; you act as if some people are special. From Monday to Friday you wrote nothing good about Police activities. Anything you like, go and write in the paper.

http://www.punchng.com/news/police-may-bar-sng-from-protesting-on-saturday/

JANUARY 20, 2012 BY ADEMOLA ONI AND FIDELIS SORIWEI 10 COMMENTS

The Federal Government on Thursday made a U-turn on an earlier claim that it was behind the deployment of the soldiers that crushed the recent anti-fuel subsidy protests in Lagos.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja, the Director of Defence Information, Col. Mohammed Yerima, said the troops were not deployed by the federal authorities. Yerima, who spoke at the Defence Headquarters, said the soldiers were members of a joint police-military security team “set up and sponsored” by the Lagos State Government.

Yerima said, “The soldiers seen on the streets of Lagos are still the same men of the Special Task Force code-named: Operation Mesa. It was set up and sponsored by the Lagos state government long before the fuel subsidy protest for the purpose of supporting the civil police in protecting lives and property, as is the case in many parts of the country.

“The men of the task force who are currently in Lagos have been there and were not brought from outside Lagos. They are members of Lagos State Government sponsored Operation MESA and the demand for their withdrawal is therefore uncalled for.”

Yerima’s claim, however, contradicts a statement credited to the Minister of Defence, Dr. Haliru Mohammed, on Tuesday.

Mohammed had told journalists that the Federal Government deployed soldiers in Lagos to forestall a breakdown of law and order during the anti-fuel subsidy removal protests.

Mohammed had said, “From the reports available to government, these people were planning to ignite actions typical of what is going on in Syria and other Arab countries and there is no way any responsible government would fold its arms and watch some people destabilise any part of the country.

“The deployment of soldiers was meant to forestall anarchy, so government stepped in to control the situation so that people with the wrong motives can be put in check. The soldiers will be withdrawn as soon as normalcy returns to the streets of Lagos and other parts of the country where soldiers are on such duties”

In its reaction on Thursday, the Lagos Government was quick to point out the contradictions in the statements of the two senior government officials.

In a statement by the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba, the state government described the Federal Government’s latest version of events as “an obvious afterthought.”

[b]Lagos said the central government only came up with a new version of events because of the condemnation that greeted the deployment of soldiers to crush a peaceful protest.

Ibirogba emphasised that the claim of the Defence Headquarters contradicted the explanation of Mohammed and asked the military to back up its claims with proofs.

Ibirogba said, “The state government challenges the military authorities to show proof of the request of troop deployment in the streets of Lagos State.

“Instead of simply taking the honourable path by apologising to the people of Lagos for an unpopular act, they have resorted to offering spurious and bogus claims aimed at deceiving the people.”

The commissioner added, “This attempt to cover up has left the public with much confusion, as the Minister of Defence offered one reason and the Military authority has offered another. They should just take the honourable path by apologising to the people of Lagos State, and withdraw the soldiers forthwith.

“The presence of the Police, Army and other federally controlled security agencies in Lagos does not translate to their been under the control of the state.”[/b]

http://www.punchng.com/news/fg-lagos-disagree-over-soldiers-deployment/

Police arrest 7 doctors for protesting colleague’s abduction
on JANUARY 20, 2012 · in NEWS
     
BY TONY EDIKE

ENUGU- SEVEN officials of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Enugu State chapter, were on Wednesday arrested by the police in Enugu for protesting abduction of an eight-month pregnant medical practitioner, Dr. Chidinma Okwor, by suspected kidnappers.

The doctors, who staged a peaceful protest on some streets of Enugu, were arrested and detained at the state CID for over five hours before they were released Wednesday night.

Arrested were the state Chairman of NMA, Dr Kenechukwu Madu, his Vice, Dr George Ugwu, state Secretary, Dr Peace Amaraegbunam, Chairman, Association of Resident Doctors, ARD, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, UNTH, Enugu, Dr Ugwunna Nwachukwu, his secretary, Dr. Enebe and two other doctors.

The state Police Public Relation Officer, PPRO, Ebere Amaraizu, who confirmed the arrest yesterday, however,  said the medical practitioners were only invited for questioning and were released after their statements were obtained.

He said they were arrested for violating the state government’s law banning any form of public procession in the state.

”The doctors were arrested because their protest march was against the law made by the state government banning any form of public procession. Going by that law, any type of protest is outlawed in the state and we are enforcing it, he said”.

”They were only invited for questioning and after taking their statements they were released. We did not detain any of them,” the police spokesman said.

The medical doctors who narrated their ordeal to newsmen yesterday condemned the action of the police saying they were not aware of any law that proscribed peaceful protest in the state or in the country as a whole.

They NMA members who converged at the  Parklane Hospital, Enugu for another round of protest yesterday dispersed because of the presence of plain-clothe security men    deployed to check mate them.

The doctors were angered by what they described as the failure of the police to secure the release of their colleague who was abducted since ten days ago from her residence.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/01/police-arrest-7-doctors-for-protesting-colleagues-abduction/

Zakari Biu: Fate of a controversial cop
By OLUKOREDE YISHAU and OLUKAYODE THOMAS 22 hours 56 minutes ago
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The embattled Biu
Until a fortnight ago, many would have vowed that he was no longer a policeman. But controversial officer Zakari Biu, recently promoted  Commissioner of Police (CP), has long been ‘secretly’ back in the force. The escape of the Madalla  bombing suspect from his custody has put the enigmatic policeman to the limelight. Will this be his end? OLUKOREDE YISHAU and OLUKAYODE THOMAS write
He was a man after the heart of Inspector-General of Police Hafiz Ringim. Zakari Biu, the embattled police officer in charge of terrorism in whose custody a bombing suspect, Kabir Sokoto, escaped two days ago, was until this year a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP). Ringim recommended him to the Police Service Commission (PSC) for promotion to Commissioner of Police. The PSC, after its 25th plenary meeting, approved Ringim’s recommendation. The commission, in its wisdom, also decided that Biu’s promotion should take effect from last December 15.
As the commission announced Biu’s promotion on New Year’s Day, it also said nine other officers were reprimanded. A Deputy Superintendent of Police was demoted to Assistant Superintendent of Police for conduct not expected of a senior officer.
Its Chairman, Parry Osayande, said the PSC would always reward diligence with elevation and punish offenders.  Less than a month after it happily promoted Biu, the commission, most likely, will have to review its decision, with Biu’s alleged negligence leading to the escape of a suspect believed to be central to the Madalla blast in which scores died.
He is on suspension. Sadly for him too, the officers, whom he asked to escort the suspect to his house before his gang waylaid them and set their colleague free, fled yesterday, leaving Biu all alone.
Like Ringim, Biu is due for retirement next month. [b]For many who have had encounters with him, nemesis may be at work. Under the regime of the late Gen. Sani Abacha, the embattled cop was terror personified. As head of the regime’s Presidential Task Force on Terrorism, he terrorised journalists and human rights activists, who he labeled terrorists.
Journalists on the stables of The News, TSM and Tell were the worse hit. The publisher of the now rested TSM, Chris Anyanwu, who is now a senator, narrated how Biu physically assaulted her and practically got her eyes permanently impaired. Founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) Dr. Frederick Fasehun, can never forget Biu, whom he told the Oputa Panel set up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo how the embattled cop assaulted him. Senator Babafemi Ojudu, who was Managing Editor of The News, said Biu put a gun to his head, threatening to blast his brain.
The Borno-born cop is also criticised over the death of a reporter with The News, Bagauda Kaltho.Biu claims Kaltho was trying to detonate a bomb in a hotel and got killed in the process. Kaltho’s widow was also tricked by Biu to reveal information about Independent Communications Nigeria Limited (ICNL), publishers of The News on the pretext of reuniting her with her husband. It turned out he only deceived the woman, as he used the information to invade the magazine’s offices, carting away its property. Of course, he also arrested workers found on site during the raid. Biu’s deceit became clear to Mrs. Kaltho after the dreaded cop announced her husband’s death. He claimed a copy of Wole Soyinka’s book, The Man Died, was found at the scene where Kaltho was supposedly consumed by a bomb he was trying to detonate. Yet the book was not defaced by the explosion, which killed Kaltho! His remains were never released to his family. [/b]
Biu, at a press conference after Abacha’s death, said Kaltho was the “unidentified” person who died while planting a bomb which went off at Durbar Hotel, Kaduna in January 1996. He then showed the media a video recording of the scene of the blast and two photographs – one of a charred body and another of the journalist. Biu said he  “strongly suspects the management of ICNL of having connection with the Durbar Hotel bombing or else James Bagauda Kaltho .”
He later said Abacha’s Chief Security Officer, Major Hamza al-Mustapha, may have been responsible for Kaltho’s fate.  “I have never seen Kaltho in my life, either alive or dead and don’t know the whereabouts of Kaltho. Only the Chief Security Officer to the late Abacha, Maj. Hamza al-Mustapha, can explain what happened to Kaltho,” he said
When Biu appeared before the panel, he refused to be put on oath with the Holy Quran, because “he is not pure.” He denied all the allegations against him.
A retired Commissioner of Police Abubakar Tsav, who also appeared before the panel, debunked Biu’s claim. He said: “Everything he is saying is not true. I mean the evidence he gave in respect of Bagauda Kaltho. He said he got photographs from the wife of Bagauda Kaltho. He also said he got reports from the SSS through the Inspector-General of Police, which said the person who was killed in the bomb blast at the Durbar Hotel was Bagauda Kaltho. And he said that he never met Bagauda anywhere in his life. Then how could he come to that conclusion that the man killed was Bagauda Kaltho? He merely saw his pictures …He (Biu) should be in prison. As far as I’m concerned, he is a prisoner on parole.”
James Danbaba, a colleague of Biu,  said Kaltho was “summarily executed on the orders of the Inspector-General of Police, because  Kaltho was said to have seen  IGP Ibrahim  Coomasie suddenly collapse and was foaming in the mouth.”
Danbaba added: “ The journalist was ordered to be arrested and executed because of a disclosure that he (Coomasie) is suffering from epilepsy may jeopardise the I GP’s well preserved and seriously guarded position and ultimately lead to his untimely retirement from the police force.”
He added: “After the said journalist, Bagauda Kaltho’s summary execution, a bomb was attached to his corpse and detonated. I reliably learnt that this was directed at selling a story to the C-in-C that a NADECO journalist has died of a bomb explosion while attempting to plant a bomb, thereby finally covering their track of having killed Bagauda Kaltho and the reason for his murder.”
[b]After the death of Abacha, his successor, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, deemed it fit to ‘dash’ Biu a national honour, a development which irked many of those who regarded him as a brute.
In his book, Trials and Triumphs: The Story of The News, Dr. wale Adebanwi, had harsh words for Biu. Adebanwi said: “Zakari Biu, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), the crude and sadistic officer in charge of the Presidential Task Force on Terrorism, was probably the best man for the operation designed as the “final solution” to the grave problem posed by the ICNL publications to the Abacha regime. Biu was an officer who represented the most grotesque face of the Nigerian Police. He saw the force as a repressive organ of an unaccountable power. And with the official bigotry that not only sustained him to the heights of the force, anything that looked like ethnocidal project excited him.”
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was sent to jail by the Abacha regime, felt Biu was not fit for the force. He was said to have asked then Inspector-General of Police Musiliu Smith if the controversial cop was still in the force, after meeting him at a function. Not long after this, Biu was dismissed.
But, unknown to many, he was long back. Soyinka, in an interview in 2010, said he was aware Biu had been recalled. The Nobel laureate said: “Zakari Biu was dismissed from the Nigeria Police and has been recalled into the Nigeria Police Force, despite his crimes against humanity during Abacha’s dictatorial rule by torturing innocent citizens. He could be likened to Charles Taylor of Liberia. He is brute and has no concern for humanity. For his past history, he should not be trusted with any national responsibility as he is capable of causing terrorism, which could destroy the image of Nigeria.”[/b]
The Nation learnt that after Obasanjo’s exit from power, Biu petitioned the PSC. Mike Okiro was the IGP then. Biu said he was retired without getting a fair hearing. He argued that by law, only the commission could fire him. Osayande saw merit in his case and ordered his recall.
The then Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, said: “Biu is back in the Force as his name had never been removed from the Police register. Biu is now an instructor at the Police Academy in Wudil, Kano State.”
Ringim’s emergence as IGP paid off for Biu, as he was entrusted with curbing terrorism, which in the country is synonymous with an insurgent group, Boko Haram, whose root is deep in Borno, Biu’s home state.
Now he may have got his fingers burnt. Only a few are weeping with him.

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news/33815-zakari-biu-fate-of-a-controversial-cop.html

Subsidy: ‘Nigeria pays daily for 24m litres of unaccounted fuel’
By Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja 22 hours 10 minutes ago
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Diezani Alison-Madueke

The House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on fuel subsidy regime yesterday learnt that Nigerians have been paying for 24million litres of petrol that were smuggled to neighbouring countries on a daily basis.
This was revealed when the management of the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) appeared before the Farouk Lawan-led committee.
PPPRA Executive Secretary Reginald Stanley said the payment and smuggling have been going on since 2006.
According to the agency’s figures, while Nigeria imports 59 million litres of fuel on a daily basis, only 35 million litres are consumed in the country.
Stanley said Nigeria pays subsidy on the 59 million litres imported on a daily basis.
According to him, until he assumed office, the system in place at the agency paid for all the fuel discharged. He said the discharged fuel from vessels and the volume consumed are two different things, because the country paid for the bulk.
“In the past, what was discharged was what was paid for. That is what I met on the ground,” Stanley said.
The PPPRA chief said the practice would soon end as he promised to introduce what he called “triple two system”. This, he said, would assist in tracking the volume of fuel consumed in Nigeria.
Stanley said the figures of consumed PMS since the beginning of the subsidy were arrived at through two different approaches of the actual or the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.
He said: “In 2007, our GDP growth was 6.4. That was statistically sound, while in actual fact, what was recorded as our consumption on PMS was 26million litres per day as against 27million litres per day. The variance was very minimal.
“For 2011, the figure quoted 35million litres per day, while the GDP growth rate put it at 36.3million litres per day. So, the variance was also minimal. The projection for 2012 is 39.2 million litres per day. These figures cannot be faulted.
“Even if our GDP growth is driven by high crude prices, it means there will be more revenue for government to power its activities of infrastructural development and more macro-economic activities in the land.
“The apparent confusion was between what stock and consumption is. But based on what we have done, I think there is not much difference of opinion on the actual consumption vis-à-vis the stock. This is why we are advocating strategic stock, in case of supply shock in the event of glut.”
The PPPRA chief said he appointed an independent inspector, based on his experience in the oil sector, adding that there was no need for the Customs to verify the volume of imported fuel since no payment of duty is made on petroleum products.
Lawan bemoaned a situation whereby the consumption level of the country is known but certain people still import extra and pay subsidy on it. This is criminal, the lawmaker said.
He added: “Taking 2011, for instance, per day discharge was 59million litres and, consumption, from what was presented to us here, was an average of 35million litres per day. What that means is that there is a gap of 24 million litres per day being funded by Nigerians as subsidy that was not utilised by them.
“This, of course, amounts to overpayment; or, in order words, sharp practices, while we are paying for 59million litres per day instead of 35million litres per day. Someone, somehow, is being short-changed. That is, Nigerians, by 24million litres per day.
“The second implication of this is that smuggling is being encouraged by the system because if local consumption is 35million litres per day and we are paying for 59million litres per day, it means we are making available 24million litres per day for importers to smuggle out, because it cannot be consumed and this is on a daily basis for 365 days in a year.
“Moreover, it was being stated that we do not have enough storage capacity for this unaccounted for fuel that could possibly be used at the end of the year.”
NNPC Group Managing Director Austin Oniwon said at no time did he illegally take money out of the Federation Account for subsidy payment.
He said: “Let me put it on records that I have never taken money from the Federation Account. The same way this Act allows the NNPC to deduct cash call before the balance is paid into the Federation account, is the same way the Bill allows the NNPC to deduct subsidy before the balance is paid into the Federation Account.
“If we are not quarrelling about deductions of cash calls, which is allowed by the same law, I am always at a loss when I am being accused that I am touching the Federation Account.
“We don’t take money from the Federation Account. We take as provided for by the law. But the adequacy or inadequacy of what was provided for is a question I believe the Ministry of Finance will be able to talk about.
“So, I do not touch the Federation Account, I do not intend to touch the Federation Account and in a totally deregulated environment without subsidy, nobody would have any recourse to deduct anything at all.
“I only deduct what is authorised by PPPRA. Once they give me the certificate, after checking with all authorised inspectors and auditors, it is that value that constitutes what is deducted as per the Appropriation Act.
“I don’t go outside that. So, it is not for me to determine what is deducted from the crude’s value. Before I deduct, I write to the Minister of Finance that the PPPRA has approved it for me.
“That is the procedure I have been using and I believe that it is the same my predecessors used. I hope that everybody would join hands to ensure that we move towards a fully deregulated environment where subsidy is placed on production rather than consumption.”
On the differential between N360billion against N630billion claim as subsidy for 2008, Oniwon argued that NNPC at no time provided information to the Nigerian Extractive Transparency Initiative (NEITI) on its operation.
He said: “For NEITI, I don’t know how they arrived at that calculation. I have not communicated to NEITI; I never knew where the body got that figure from. I only heard the figure for the first time. We have that document for N630 billion. The N1.348 trillion was the reconciled figure between NNPC, PPPRA and Ministry of Finance.
He added that the corporation recovered N15 billion from oil marketers when the price of crude oil nosedived and the demurrage cost was built into the subsidy.
According to him, the amount paid as subsidy include the cost of five days demurrage and other cost elements on imported fuel based on the approval of the PPPRA Board.
Oniwon said: “It was the arrears of N250 billion for kerosene that was responsible. In the component of N1.3trillion that was presented, N250billion of that was for kerosene and there was kerosene arrears paid at different points, not stated in that document with you. The N1.09trillion was for PMS for the period under review, that is, 2011.
“Nigeria was declared a war zone by other exporting countries that forced vessels to pay high premium on insurance as well as on the vessels too. Secondly, the exchange rate to the dollar, whereby we buy in dollar and sell in Naira.”

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news/33809-subsidy%3A-%E2%80%98nigeria-pays-daily-for-24m-litres-of-unaccounted-fuel%E2%80%99.html

Zenon Never Benefited from Policy Payments

18 Jan 2012
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Mr. Femi Otedola

Managing Director of Zenon Petroleum and Gas, Mr. Kanmi Kareem Otaru, has denied that the company had anything to do with the subsidy regime.

He made the denial to the House Ad hoc Committee investigating the subsidy regime chaired by Hon. Lawan Farouk. He stated that he decided to honour the Committee’s invitation out of deep respect for the House leadership and to also use the opportunity to clear the air about the rumours and outright misinformation going on through the social media platforms that Zenon and indeed Mr Otedola belong to a “cabal” exploiting the subsidy scheme, revealing that it was all a figment of people’s imagination.

He said “for the avoidance of doubt Zenon never participated or benefited from the subsidy scheme or Petroleum Support Fund, PSF.”

According to him going by the Act which established the PSF scheme, “Zenon couldn’t participate in it because we don’t have a network of PMS retail outlets which was one of the key criteria beneficiaries must meet and as such we are not qualified to participate in drawing from subsidy payments on PMS. So we never collected as records will show” he declared.

Stating further that the need to set the record straight had become urgent as a result of wild rumours and innuendos being circulated by mischief makers who are out to impugn the integrity of the company and its managers.

He told the committee after he was asked if Zenon imported PMS in 2011, that Zenon did not import any (AGO and/or PMS) in 2011. He further mentioned the losses sustained by the company in 2007/08, of over a N100 billion, due to the fall in international crude and products prices and the devaluation of the naira.

Earlier, Farouk had said neither Zenon or Otedola was on trial but that Zenon was invited by the committee because of its role as a key player in the downstream sector and that such input into the committee’s work was needed from Zenon.

http://www.thisdayonline.com/

Understanding Jonathan’s Deepest Fear By Sonala Olumhense -Exclusive For NVS/SaharaReporters
Posted: January 18, 2012 - 23:18

Goodluck Jonathan
Columnist: Sonala Olumhense
I do not know if, last weekend, President Goodluck Jonathan gave “transport money” to the leaders of the Trade Union Congress and the Nigeria Labour Congress, collectively referred to as the Labour Movement, to encourage them to abandon the nationwide protest.

Remember: last week, the Movement was roaring like an injured lion. And then, curiously, it entered this week spread-eagled like an overpaid prostitute.

Not a kobo less than N65, the Movement had declared it was screaming into the ears of the government, not one brown kobo less. And then, as the Labour leaders vanished into the mists of history, President Jonathan announced how much they had sold for: 32 pieces of silver.

Thirty-two is the difference between the “victory” N97 the labour leaders said they won, and the N65 they had sworn by.

But Mr. Jonathan had heard the voices in the streets much more clearly. The sycophants at NTA did not want him to, but he learned that Nigerians had gone beyond merely asking him to revert to N65; they were asking him to justify himself. They wanted him to prove he is not corrupt, and that he can and will fight corruption.

And Jonathan knows that is beyond him. Instead, he gave up his allegiance to democracy and decided to share power with the military. In one day, our democracy was given over to armed soldiers who then engaged, unwittingly, in helping Jonathan avoid the corruption challenge. The soldiers thought all they were required to do was rip away from peaceful citizens a right of protest that is a constitutional relative of the right to vote.

What was more laughable—and I do not know if NTA permitted Jonathan to see this—the soldiers pointed at the unarmed citizens guns purchased with their tax funds and remnants of the oil revenues in contention. “Step back,” they ordered, “or we’ll shoot. We have orders to shoot!”

It was pretty horrendous to hear, not to mention treacherous. Once, just a little while ago, Mr. Jonathan was appealing to voters—not soldiers—for their support. Once, just a little while ago, Mr. Jonathan was a boy without shoes. Now, armed with a transformation agenda by which he believes he has metamorphosed into a tiger, he authors orders to kill the people who paid for his shoes.

But remember: Jonathan was clear about it all: he sent soldiers to the streets not to fight against N65, but to sidetrack the growing din to confront corruption.

But let me return to Labour. Actually, as last week wore on, it was clear labour was bartering away its credibility. In an article on Sunday, I urged its leaders not to misunderstand their place in the story.

They did not listen, and as a result, they will now be remembered for trading vision for blindness, strength for weakness; wisdom for idiocy, and relevance for ignominy. When the stench dissipates, they will share the graveyard of infamy with the politicians who sold Nigeria into slavery.

The first mistake Labour made was the easiest temptation of all: arrogance. Dressing themselves in borrowed robes, they posed as leaders and spokesmen for the protests, rather than as one of the parties in it. They forgot there were robust protests before they started borrowing those robes.

Elsewhere in the world, there have been remarkable labour leaders with a clear ideological grasp of the contest between the poor and those who keep them poor.

Not Nigeria, where our labour leaders, deficient in strategy and substance, claimed negotiations with the government. They probably were negotiating with the government, but as we now know, it was hardly for the people. They did not understand the people. They did not understand the moment.

Labour, just like Mr. Jonathan, cannot see the welts on the backs of the people of Nigeria from five decades of being flogged with empty political promises. Labour, like Mr. Jonathan, cannot see the deep stab wounds on the spirits of Nigerians leaking with pain and disappointment. Labour, like Mr. Jonathan, cannot see the blood gushing out of hearts of Nigerians where hope used to gush. Labour, like Mr. Jonathan, cannot see the tears streaming from the faces of women and children, and the old and the infirm as they tire of waiting for justice and fulfillment.

Instead, Labour was satisfied simply with another free-food, free-form negotiation for “improved conditions.”




What about strategy? Every schoolboy negotiator knows that if you are foolish enough to travel into someone’s territory for negotiations, you have already absorbed half of the defeat. But our labour leaders, easily outmanoeuvred, went posing for pictures in Aso Rock wearing rock star smiles where grins of granite were required. In a contest in which the entire farm was on the line and lives were being lost, they seemed delighted Aso Rock had merely opened the gates.

I am sure the cakes and coffee of the presidential palace are delicious: Mr. Jonathan is spending nearly one billion fully-subsidized Naira this year to guarantee that. But when you are negotiating the lioness with the lion, you insist on a neutral location, not its lair. When you dine with the devil, you do not take the chance he will not flavor your tea with something nefarious, or that he will not manipulate the airconditioning and meeting schedules to his advantage, or send a bevy of voluptuous women to count dollars bills in a corner.

And Labour did not seem to have bothered with a written set of demands, either; if they did, there is no evidence they won any, unless you consider 32 pieces of silver to be some kind of victory. Clearly, aggregating and articulating the demands of Nigerians was beyond those amateurs.

It is doubtful they had actually heard what the protesters were saying in Nigeria and all over the world, or read the scandalous KPMG Report, or studied the subsidy subject. It is doubtful they saw the need for specific proposals and timelines in line with the demands of the protesters they claimed to be representing.

The re-dedication of civil society organizations and the more intelligent and focused arm of labour this week must therefore agree and sustain the clear and simple message that the war against corruption, represented by N65, is the agenda of the moment, and that it must be conducted and governed by definite reporting timelines, measurable achievements, public recovery of assets, and punishment.

The government is still the same. It is the people who have changed, and to whom the government must prove its credibility. To that extend, all the old tricks of speeches without action must end, NOW.



This must begin with Mr. Jonathan who must place action where words and pretences are. In 2006, a Joint Task Force on corruption which was set up by President Olusegun Obasanjo listed Mr. Jonathan for prosecution for false declaration of assets, including a Lexus Jeep worth N18 million; a BMW 7351 Series worth N5.5 million; and acquisition of properties outside legitimate income.

It is one of the wonders of Nigeria that the same Obasanjo eventually placed Mr. Jonathan on the 2007 PDP presidential ballot. But it is no surprise that when they won the election, Mr. Jonathan refused to declare his assets. When he was finally forced to do so, he was worth an incredible N295 million. It is not much of a surprise that now he is the boss, he has refused to declare.

Perhaps it is understandable then, that although he speaks about corruption, he is not really doing anything. The subject of well-investigated corruption allegations by NEXT newspaper in 2011, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, retained her position as Jonathan’s Minister for Petroleum Resources. It is the joke of the moment that the same Minister now claims she is deepening reforms and rooting out corruption.

This is further proof that Mr. Jonathan’s anti-corruption scheme is a bundle of loopholes and contradictions. It is all thunder and lightning; there is never rain, and nobody goes to jail. That is why any further engagement with him must involve specific deadlines of a short order, including immediate, 30-day and six-month commitments. There has been an entire library of corruption-related reports hidden away in the presidency since he assumed office nearly two years ago; let him publish and implement them.

I do not think this is likely. Jonathan is scared of what might come down the tree should he shake the branch, an option that should not be available to anyone who prospected for votes. In this case, Jonathan can see where such an attempt would lead, and the soldiers on the streets in his new power-sharing arrangement are his secret weapon for guaranteeing the status quo.

This is Jonathan’s deepest fear, and his gamble. And Nigeria’s poor and marginalized, as long as we are docile and forgetful, will have our own money and our own soldiers used against us in this way forever.

• sonala.olumhense@gmail.com

http://saharareporters.com/column/understanding-jonathan%E2%80%99s-deepest-fear-sonala-olumhense-exclusive-nvssaharareporters

Abuja Judge Issues Late-Night Court Order Compelling INEC To Restore Jonathan's Candidate In Bayelsa Guber Election
Posted: January 18, 2012 - 22:04

Seriake Dickson
By SaharaReporters, New York
An Abuja Federal High Court judge has granted a late-night  ex-parte order aimed at compelling the  Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chair Prof Attahiru Jega to include the name of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Henry Seriake Dickson  as candidate in the upcoming governorship election.

Justice Olootu of the Federal High Court in Abuja gave the unusual order in chambers protected by soldiers and policemen deployed by the presidency.

The petition was heard and concluded in less than 15 minutes tonight between 9: 00 -9:15 PM. Mr. Dickson had secretly approached the court over his  exclusion   from the list of those who will contest the governorship poll next month in Bayelsa state.


http://saharareporters.com/news-page/abuja-judge-issues-late-night-court-order-compelling-inec-restore-jonathans-candidate-baye

PETROLEUM MINISTER SPOTS A $20,000 HAND BAG AT MEETING WITH LABOUR
Font size: 16/01/2012 05:51:00

As the Federal Government continues its campaign for total deregulation of the downstream sector, removal of subsidy and consequent hike in pump price, Petroleum Minister, Deziani Alison-Madueke has been spotted carrying a Hermes Bag to negotiations with labour.

Allison-Madueke who is one of the arrow heads of the policy attended the meeting Saturday night carrying a Hermes Kelly bag worth Thousands of dollars.

The clip and close shot of the bag was shown on Channels Television shortly after the meeting with labour.

A check by Pointblanknews.com reveal that the minister had on her shoulder, a Hermes Birkin 30 Bag Black Gold with a recommended retail price RRP of $19, 750 which is about N3.2 Million.

A check also revealed that the cheapest Hermes found on the Hermes official website reveal that Authentic Hermes 32cm Black Box Cal Kelly, $3, 500; Authentic Hermes Bleu Electrique 35, $14, 979; Hermes Gold 32cm Togo Kelly Retourne Bag, $9, 250.

The proponents of subsidy removal who are members of the Federal Executive Council have continued to live in opulence while urging the masses to make sacrifices.

Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala recently bought a massive home in upscale Maitama, Abuja worth N1.2 Billion.

http://pointblanknews.com/new/exclusive/3480-petroleum-minister-spots-a-20-000-hand-bag-at-meeting-with-labour.html

Kano defies NLC’s order to suspend strike

Written by Auwalu Umar, Kano Tuesday, 17 January 2012 05:02


Kano State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has defied the directive by NLC’s national leadership to suspend the nationwide strike over fuel subsidy removal by the federal government, saying they will not return to work until the fuel price is reversed to the old rate of N65 per litre.

Addressing a press conference in Kano yesterday over the strike suspension under the auspices of NLC/TUC/JAF Committee for the Kano Struggle, chairman of the state NLC chapter Comrade Isa Yunusa Danguguwa said the mandate given the NLC’s national leadership by the National Executive Committee of the congress was “grossly violated.”
He said the mandate was that the labour leaders should make federal government to restore the subsidy first to open a window of negotiation, saying Kano people must know what necessitated the NLC national leadership to suspend the strike without first reporting back to the National Executive Committee of the congress on what had transpired between it and the federal government.

He said the struggle is beyond the NLC and TUC and so the views of Nigerians must be respected. The message of Kano people, according to him, is still: “No to withdrawal of fuel subsidy, no to fuel price increase.”

Kano, according to Danguguwa, will continue to protest and demonstrate peacefully on the streets and that no amount of propaganda will stop them.

“Even if the national leadership of NLC will not continue with the struggle, we will remove NLC T-shirts and caps to join the good people of Kano to carry on with the struggle. We will continue to fight; we shall remain peaceful in our action”, he said.

However, there was a mild drama soon after the press conference when chairman of Kano chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Comrade Isa Yunusa Danguguwa escaped being arrested by plain cloth security operatives who laid ambush for him around the venue of the briefing at the Old Campus of Bayero University, Kano.

No sooner the chairman came out of the venue after the briefing than the security operatives swooped on him. He was able to escape from their hands when lecturers, students and many NLC members around immediately came to his rescue by over-powering the security personnel.

It was learnt that when it was clear to the security operatives that the surging crowd would descend on them they quickly took to their heels.

http://dailytrust.com.ng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=152498:kano-defies-nlcs-order-to-suspend-strike&catid=2:lead-stories&Itemid=8

Soldiers ‘ll remain on the streets – FG
on JANUARY 18, 2012 · in HEADLINES

By Rotimi Ajayi, Henry Umoru & Gbenga Akanmu

ABUJA- THE Federal Government declared, yesterday, that it was not in any way prepared to withdraw soldiers who have been deployed to patrol the streets of Lagos and some other cities across the country until there was total peace in such areas. This came as Lagos lawmakers have joined others in condemning government’s action and called for the withdrawal of the soldiers.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja yesterday, Minister of Defence, Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed said that the deployment of soldiers became imperative following security reports that some persons had concluded plans to hijack the protests and rallies and make the government ungovernable for President Goodluck Jonathan even if the organised labour called off the strike. He explained that soldiers were deployed to give support to the Police.


President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurating the Golf Course of the Air Force
Flanked by the Minister of State, Defence, Erelu Olusola Obada; the Permanent Secretary, Linus Awute; the minister who noted that the government took the decision to drive away those who were determined to bring down the government and cause crisis, stressed that it was the responsibility of government to stop violence and nip in the bud any plan of anarchy before it occurs.

The Minister said: “Let me emphasise that under no circumstances will the government stand aloof while some misguided elements unleash violence on the Nigerian society. As a responsive government, the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration is irrevocably committed to promoting the greatest good for the greatest number of Nigerians irrespective of tribe, religion or political affiliation. As soon as the situation is brought to normal, the soldiers will be withdrawn.”

It will be recalled that following the deployment of soldiers on the streets of Lagos, the State governor, Babatunde Fashola, on Monday kicked against the move and called for the immediate withdrawal of the military personnel from the streets, saying that there was no justification for it as the rallies in Lagos had been conducted peacefully.

Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka and a number of other Nigerians had also condemned the deployment of soldiers and called on the Federal government to withdraw them.

The Minister commended the efforts of the officers in the rank and file of the Nigerian Armed Forces, the Police and other Security agencies for displaying what he described as enviable maturity, understanding and professionalism in their conduct while the protests and rallies lasted.

Mohammed who said that Nigeria was at the cross road of insecurity, stressed that at the moment, the country does not face any external threat, but bombings which have become a new development in the nation’s history are highly condemnable, even as he commended Nigerians for the peaceful protests and rallies carried out which was an indication that democracy has come to stay.

“On the present insecurity in the country, which is our immediate concern, the bombings, shootings and killings going on in different parts of this country form a new dimension of security problem to this country. Prior to this period we never knew suicide bombing or bombing of any type as a form of protest, but now it has become the reality, it is totally condemnable by all our citizens and all civilized beings all over the world. Therefore it is the responsibility of this government and the Ministry of Defence is in support of this resolve, and we should not waver or get deterred in confronting this senseless act of few misguided elements of this country. We call on all Nigerians to remain calm and go about their lawful businesses while the government is determined to get to the bottom of the causes of this act of violence and remove them from the face of this country.”



Withdraw soldiers from Lagos, Lawmakers tell Jonathan



Meanwhile members of Lagos State House of Assembly have called on President Goodluck Jonathan to, as a matter of urgency, withdraw the military from the streets of Lagos.

Addressing newsmen yesterday in Lagos, Chairman, House Committee on Information, Segun Olulade stated that the House condemned in strong terms the deployment of military personnel to disrupt peaceful protest in Lagos.

“We view this action on the part of President as provocative and undemocratic particularly in a democratic dispensation. Due respect and courtesy ought to be extended to the deserving authority and failure to do this usually results in chaotic situations”, he noted.

According to him: “This is reminiscence of the sad period of military junta in Nigeria and must be erased completely in our national life. We recognise the right of every citizen to freely express himself and we therefore identify with every citizen engaging in peaceful protest against or in support of any policy of Government”.



President hid troops deployment from Governors



In a related development, more facts emerged yesterday that President Goodluck Jonathan may not have consulted the governors of the affected states before deploying troops to Lagos and other cities last Sunday ahead of the scheduled Monday rallies and protest called by Labour and Civil Society groups.

A very reliable source who attended a meeting the President held with the governors late Sunday night revealed that at no time did the President ever hint of his intention to deploy troops.

According to the source, the President only discussed the need to rally a nation-wide support for the removal of subsidy in order to boost national revenue and it was learnt that the governors were divided on the timing of the subsidy removal.



Some of the governors who were said to be opposed to the removal of the subsidy by the President were those from the South West states.



Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola was particularly said to have told the President of the need to tackle corruption at the Federal level so that monies being stolen by public office holders could be available for national development.

It was learnt that the governor told the meeting that once corruption has been tackled, the Federal and State Governments should then put concrete infrastructure on ground that would empower Nigerians to make economic choices.

His position was said to have been supported by the Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi and Lagos Governor Babatunde Fashola.

It was learnt that the President assured the Governors that he would reduce the pump price of petroleum from N141 in order to get the strike called off.

“This was the final agreement at the meeting before they left Abuja for their states late Sunday night by flight. By the time we got to Lagos around 3.15 am and we were on the road to our state, we were surprised to see soldiers deployed everywhere.

“Our convoy was stopped three times by the soldiers and the ADC had to explain who was in the vehicle before we were allowed to continue our journey. We were stopped three times. The decision to deploy the troops was a huge surprise for us as the President never mentioned this and certainly the governors would have been opposed to it” the source said.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/01/soldiers-ll-remain-on-the-streets-fg/

ACN tackles Jonathan for denigrating Lagosians, demands apology

JANUARY 17, 2012 BY AGENCY REPORTER 38 COMMENTS
The Action Congress of Nigeria has expressed surprise at President Goodluck Jonathan’s reported denigration of Lagos State during the 2011 National Youth Service Corps President’s Honours Awards in Abuja.

The party said Jonathan’s comments that the bulk of government’s fuel subsidy was consumed by people living in Lagos with 10 or 15 cars at the disposal of their under age children amounted to ‘meaningless propaganda’.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said it was unfortunate that the President was comfortable turning the fuel subsidy debate into a sectional issue. It noted that this was unhealthy
for national unity and unbecoming of a President, who received
a pan-Nigeria mandate.

”While speaking at the 2011 President’s NYSC Honours Award in Abuja
on Monday, President Jonathan was quoted as
saying the government cannot continue to borrow money to subsidise
fuel for people ‘who have 10 or 15 cars and all their
under-aged children will be driving the cars around Lagos’.

”Apart from the fact that the statement is unpresidential, singling
out Lagos in a country that has many other cities with a high
number of cars, just to justify the government’s unpopular policy of
fuel subsidy removal, is putting a presidential seal on the
crude and irresponsible newspaper adverts by groups that have
introduced a sectional/ethnic angle to the debate on fuel subsidy.

”The President’s statement, on the same day he deployed troops to
Lagos to harass and intimidate unarmed citizens, is a window
to his innermost thoughts and feelings about the people of Lagos in
particular and the entire South-West in general. If this is not
so, we demand a retraction of that unfortunate statement and an
apology from the President,” ACN said.

http://www.punchng.com/news/acn-tackles-jonathan-for-denigrating-lagosians-demands-apology/

Goodluck Misleading International Community, UN Advisor Says-PM News, Lagos
Posted: January 17, 2012 - 01:39

By PM News
Jeffrey Sachs, special advisor to U.N. Secy General Ban-ki Moon, says he was misled about the now-controversial lifting of petrol subsidies at a meeting with the Nigerian President.

After a recent session with President Jonathan, Sachs was reported to have praised the removal of fuel subsidy as a good move. He called the removal “a bold and correct policy” and used the word “innovative.”

But after a deluge of tweets on Twitter and other venues from outraged Nigerians, Sachs backed off of his earlier remarks.

Writing on his twitter handle @ JeffDSachs, the professor of economics confessed: “I do my homework very carefully in general, for 30 years, but not on this one. A mistake I regret…I see better that I don’t know the specific details on the subsidy to be accurate.

“ I’m listening and learning. Most important thing I could say is government must build trust with civil society based on anti-corruption, fairness, accountability.”




On whether he knew about the level of corruption in Nigeria before endorsing removal of subsidy, Sachs said: “They didn’t have to tell me. I’m very heartened to see civil society rising against corruption. Yes, I walked out of a meeting and into a sound bite! Not good. The situation is complex and deep reforms are needed…

"I’m sorry that I’ve been misinterpreted. It’s hard to be heard accurately in this noisy world!”

He assured those bombarding him with questions that he understood what they are going through in Nigeria. “I’ve noticed how the politicians barely care about the universities. Sad and costly for Nigeria!” he said.

The Professor of Economics said he had no idea about the subsidy removal until it happened, as he was “not in regular contact on macro policy.”

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/goodluck-misleading-international-community-un-advisor-says

Quizzing President Jonathan: Beyond Fuel Subsidy By Okey Ndibe
Posted: January 16, 2012 - 23:57

Okey Ndibe
Columnist: Okey Ndibe
Those who last April hailed President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as a consummate democrat and people’s man must now solve the puzzle of how their man shed his tame demeanor for the armor of violence. It is remarkable that, despite the provocations of a failed, inept and corrupt state, Nigerians exhibited extreme restraint during their protests against raised fuel prices. By contrast, Jonathan – who has accumulated no funds of trust since finding himself the president – decided to unleash soldiers on largely peaceful protesters.

Significantly, Mr. Jonathan, who fancies himself a transformational leader, is staunchly against lifting a finger against the cabal of fuel importers that defrauded Nigerians of hundreds of billions of naira in the name of fuel subsidy. If our president ever sends a soldier to the doorstep of some member of the cabal, it would be to protect the scam artist. But when dehumanized Nigerians, their backs against the wall for decades, demand accountability and a curtailment of corruption, Mr. Jonathan suddenly remembers he’s commander-in-chief. He deploys his well-armed forces on a mission to maim and kill the victims of his (and past) government’s contemptible, self-serving policies.

Even if the protests cease, Mr. Jonathan – who seems obsessed with looking strong and decisive in dealing with impoverished Nigerians – would be mistaken to gloat. Nigeria has entered a different phase in its history, a phase in which anything can happen. A president who has depleted his goodwill, as Jonathan has done, will find himself utterly alone – and sorry – if (or when) he faces a serious test.

Transformational leader – indeed! We have on our hands a president with a knack for prescribing the wrong antidote. The major ideas of his short presidency have been uniformly off the transformational mark.

His first significant political proposal was to change the constitution in order to allow a single term of seven years for the president and governor. He sought to sell that non-starter as the panacea for the sundry maladies that plague our political space, from violent, rigged elections to corruption.

Then, faced with the scourge of terrorism that’s had a chilling effect on Nigerians in several northern cities and towns, including Abuja, and now threatens to plunge Nigeria into a sectarian war, Mr. Jonathan proposed that we pray and then patiently resign ourselves until such a time as the terrorists in our midst reach saturation point and choose to abandon their gory pastime! It was only belatedly that the president came up with the idea of targeted declaration of a state of emergency in selected local government areas. Nobody can quite say what purpose that measure is serving; nobody knows how it curtails terror.

And now, in a country roiled by the gruesome killings of worshipers leaving a Catholic Church on Christmas Day, Mr. Jonathan decided that it was a priority to remove so-called fuel subsidy on New Year’s. That singular action – thank God! – has opened Nigerians’ eyes to the essential scam and organized fraud that pass for governance in our would-be nation.

President Jonathan has entrusted the defense of his unpopular policy to the tag team of Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, and Central Bank Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

The party has done a wretched job of justifying the removal of subsidy. At best, their argument – made most eloquently by the CBN’s Sanusi – is that licensed fuel marketers have made a sport of defrauding Nigerians of hundreds of billions of naira in fuel subsidy. That conclusion is so impeccable that Nigerians, I conjecture, would unanimously accept its truism.

Most Nigerians part ways with Jonathan and his team only with regard to their bizarre insistence that the logical – indeed only – answer is to remove fuel subsidy. More than anything, that solution signifies a government that’s so ineffectual as to be non-existent.

So here are a few questions for Mr. Jonathan and his troika of advocates.

You have the police, the SSS, the Ministry of Justice and other law enforcement and security apparati at your disposal. How many fuel marketing fraudsters have they ever interrogated, arraigned, and prosecuted? Does it make sense to presume to run a government that permits alleged criminals to walk? Where’s the justice of imposing a burden of higher fuel prices on Nigerians instead of going after the cabal – or mafia – that gobbles up the subsidy?

Your government has accused unscrupulous Nigerian officials (NNPC, the Customs, and PPPRA) of colluding with fraudulent fuel marketers to falsify fuel import data in order to fleece the country. Again, with all the agencies at your disposal, how many of the conniving officials have you ever unmasked, fired or tried? How many have you forced to refund their ill-received gain? Why can’t your government check apparently fraudulent claims of fuel shipments against the records of the foreign refineries (that sold the fuel) and the shipping companies (that reportedly freighted them to our shores)?




Your government provides “security vote” for all the ministers. What’s the security vote? Why does any minister need such a vote? Are your ministers – say of information or agriculture – now in the (side) business of combating terrorists as well? If not, why then hand them free cash that’s deceptively couched as “security vote”? Why, in addition, do your ministers have access to as many as ten SUVs each?

To stay with this security vote matter: Do you know of any other country in the world where the president, governors, ministers and local government councilors are given cash that they need not account for – in the nebulous name of handling security? If you were dragged before a tribunal of the people and asked to explain the expenditure of your monthly security votes, would you be up to the task?

Nigerian legislators hold the world record in the salaries and allowances they collect. Every quarter, your government calmly deposits the equivalent of $1.4 million in the account of each member of the House of Representatives, and $1.7 million for senators. These payments are called constituency allowance. Please tell Nigerians how these payments advance the interests of the various constituencies, or foster the ends of development and democracy.

For that matter – yes, let’s make things a bit personal – please detail for Nigerians the impact you have made in their lives since becoming president. What are the achievements of your presidency? If you were asked to set out the achievements of each member of your cabinet, are you confident of making a case that they have served Nigeria creditably? And can you justify what they have received in compensation?

You, Mr. Jonathan, have often made the point that, given its huge population, Nigeria is not really a wealthy nation. Why then do you not realize the oddity of the presidency boasting a fleet of eight (or more) airplanes? Are you aware that many leaders of wealthier nations don’t own one jet, but must travel by commercial airlines?

Nigerian politicians are enamored of pompous titles. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo called himself the “founder of modern Nigeria.” Our senators are “distinguished,” even if they don’t know how to spell the word bill. Our ministers are “honorable,” even when they’re solely adept at dishonorable conduct. Our “excellent” governors are “icons” and boast of “totally reinventing the art of governance.” Every Nigerian political office holder trumpets her/his delivery of the “dividends of democracy” and claims to be moving the nation/state/local government area “forward.” You’ve styled yourself a transformational leader. And so it goes.

Then this: Nigerian elections are marked by corruption and violence. Do you believe, for a moment, that the politicians who perpetrate all that bribing of electoral officials and all that violence are desperate to have the opportunity to serve us?

On a routine basis, you and other officials fly abroad for medical checkups, treatments – or even to die. Why are you unwilling to enjoy the “wonderful” healthcare system that you and your cohorts have bequeathed to the rest of Nigerians? Why do you and other top government officials expend huge costs on foreign trips to seek medical treatment? If you, your ministers and governors are paying attention to bettering our nation, why are you and your ilk in a haste to send your children and wards to foreign countries for their education?

We’ve touched on Nigeria’s lawmakers, but we must return to them yet again. As arguably the world’s most expensive legislature, what exactly are their members’ achievements? What concrete contributions have they made in close to thirteen years to Nigerians’ well being? If you fit the transformational bill, why aren’t you out proposing that Nigeria change to a part time legislature – with each legislator earning allowances based on the number of sessions that she/he sits?

The immunity clause in the Nigerian constitution shields the president and his deputy as well as governors and their deputies from prosecution even when they commit crimes. Do you agree with this expansive principle of immunity? Why not champion a constitution amendment to ensure that those who commit crimes whilst in office – whether as president or governor – can be docked immediately? Remember that former President Bill Clinton of the US was tried for lying on oath about his relationship with a young intern, Monica Lewinsky. More recently, former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to fourteen years in jail for seeking to auction off President Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder.

In sum, why should Nigerians trust you and your government to reduce infant and maternal mortality rates and improve the country’s infrastructure when you can’t handle the simple task of identifying a handful of leeches who’ve been stealing from fuel subsidy funds? Why should the rest of us endure inhuman, serf-worthy privations while you and your inept team live like emperors and unconscionable conquerors?

Please follow me on twitter @ OkeyNdibe
(okeyndibe@gmail.com)

http://saharareporters.com/column/quizzing-president-jonathan-beyond-fuel-subsidy-okey-ndibe

JAF Condemns ‘Militarisation’ of Nigeria, Rejects N97 petrol price
Posted: January 16, 2012 - 18:35
Organizers of today's march, the Joint Action Front (JAF) in Lagos has condemned the ‘militarization’ of Nigeria, and reiterated that no amount of intimidation or harassment can make it abandon its struggle to free Nigerians from the economic slavery of the Jonathan administration inspired by the IMF and the World Bank inspired.

In a statement signed by Ebun Adegboruwa, the JAF stressed that the people of Nigeria have rejected the arbitrary imposition of N97 on the pump price of petroleum, and will accept nothing below N65.

He said that it was in furtherance of that resolve that many Nigerians, led by civil society groups, activists, lawyers, and members of JAF, today took to the streets of Lagos, marching through to Ojuelegba and on to Fadeyi and Palmgrove, following their gathering at Labour House, Yaba.

He narrated how, at Palmgrove, a detachment of armed soldiers and policemen invaded the procession, insisting that the rally could not go beyond that point.

“They were led by a Captain, who told us that they had express orders to shoot,” he said. “We engaged them in dialogue but they insisted we could not go further.”

Mr. Adegboruwa said that it was while they were consulting among themselves on their next line of action that the soldiers shot live bullets and tear gas canisters into the midst of protesters.




“It is condemnable for government to unleash terror and violence on defenseless citizens who were exercising their constitutional right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” he said. “We are not in a situation of war in Nigeria presently and it is against all democratic norms for government to invade peaceful and armless civilians.”

The statement saluted the salute the courage and resolve of the people of Nigeria, and reiterated the confidence that, together, they will triumph.

Also today, the Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola, condemned the deployment of soldiers on the streets of Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital.

He observed that the citizens who have gathered in several parts of Lagos in the protests have largely conducted themselves peacefully, singing and dancing.

“That in my view should not offend those of us in Government,” he said in a public speech. “The majority of these people who represent diverse interests have not broken any law. If they have, it is my opinion that in a constitutional democracy, it is the police that has the responsibility for restoring law and order if civil protests threatens the breach of the peace.”
He stressed that that constitutes no justification for sending out soldiers after unarmed citizens.

“Every one of us, or at least majority of us who hold public office, danced and sang before these same people when we were seeking their votes,” he recalled.
And then he asked: “Why should we feel irritated when they sing and dance in protest against what we have done?”

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/jaf-condemns-%E2%80%98militarisation%E2%80%99-nigeria-rejects-n97-petrol-price

BBC, CNN Demand Explanation For SSS Invasion Of Lagos Offices-PUNCH
Posted: January 16, 2012 - 16:39
By Punchng.com
The British Broadcasting Service and Cable News Network on Monday afternoon demanded explanations from the Nigerian government over the invasion of their Lagos offices by State Security Service agents.

The agents were said to have forced their way into the offices of the BBC and CNN at noon to stop them from further reporting on the street protests over the removal of fuel subsidy by the Nigerian government.

In postings on its BBC Newshour handle, the BBC wrote, “We’re investigating reports that secret service have forced their way into CNN, BBC building in Lagos, Nigeria.

“We’re talking to our Lagos bureau team now to find out what’s going on. Security services leave BBC, CNN building in Lagos. Correspondent tells us Nigeria wants to keep media on a “short finger”.




In a posting on its Twitter handle, CNN wrote, “Nigerian authorities enter CNN Lagos bureau unannounced today. No raids occur. CNN requests explanation and continues to report as usual.”

A foreign journalist, Sami Srhan, also confirmed the invasion of the media organisations’ offices by the SSS.

Source: Punchng.com

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/bbc-cnn-demand-explanation-sss-invasion-lagos-offices-punch

Home | News Update | Workers stay away, businesses re-open in Port Harcourt
Workers stay away, businesses re-open in Port Harcourt
By Shola O'Neil 2 hours 53 minutes ago
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The streets of Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital and other towns in the Niger Delta were deserted on Monday as workers disobeyed President Goodluck Jonathan's appeal for them to return back to work.
Attempts by former warlord and leader of the Niger Delta Volunteers Force, Asari Dokubor to drum up support for the resumption of normal business and work activities were also ignored by the workers.
The Nigerian Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress ordered a sit-at-home last night after its negotiation with the Federal Government over the controversial subsidy removal ended without an agreement.
President Jonathan ordered a new pump price of N97 per litre (down from the initial N141) after the gridlock and directed workers to return to their duty posts on Monday morning.
The Nation gathered that government and public offices including banks and oil companies across the Niger Delta region remained under lock and key as Nigerians chose to obey the NLC/TUC directive.
Reports from Warri, the commercial nerve centre of Delta State indicated that nothing much has changed, as the gates of Shell Petroleum Development Company, Chevron Nigeria Limited, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiaries –the Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company , and the Nigerian Gas Company, among others remained closed.

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news-update/33430-workers-stay-away-businesses-re-open-in-port-harcourt.html

Afenifere deplores presence of soldiers in Lagos
By Our Reporter 2 hours 34 minutes ago
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The Afenifere Renewal Group on Monday deplored the presence of armed soldiers and other military personnel in Lagos State.
The group called for caution in the government handling of the petrol subsidy imbroglio.
“We deplore the taking over of Lagos State by the military ostensibly under the order of President Goodluck Jonathan. Even the worst of military regimes in Nigeria never assaulted our people in such brazen manner.
“We need to remind President Jonathan that he ostensibly won the presidential elections in April 2011, not because of the prowess of his South- South people but because the people of Nigeria sought a change in the political structure of the country.
The people of Nigeria thought that his emergence would fast track the modernization and restructuring of the polity, having emerged from nothingness and having not been endorsed by any of the derided power structures in the country, “the group said in a statement.
ARG said further, “We now know that President Jonathan mistook these confidences to mean that he could become a dictator and lord his views and that of a small clique on all Nigerians.
“Calling in the military in matters over which civil authority would have sufficed, overwhelming the governor and people of Lagos State in manners that smacked of absolute disdain and disregard for the Constitution.
“We in Afenifere Renewal Group can only call for deep reflection on the part of the president that such brazenness rarely last.
“In the meantime, we continue to endorse the position of the NLC/JAF/Civil societies that the strike should continue until complete reversal to the N65 benchmark and all military men are withdrawn from the roads. “

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news-update/33431-afenifere-group-deplores-presence-of-soldiers-in-lagos.html

Soldiers Shoot To Disperse 'Occupy' Protesters In Lagos As Nigerian Secret Police Raids CNN's Office
Posted: January 16, 2012 - 14:09


By SaharaReporters, New York
Soldiers deployed by Nigeria's head Goodluck Jonathan forcefully dispersed protesters around the city of Lagos today. Several protesters were dispersed by heavily armed soldiers shooting live bullets above their heads leading to mayhem as the protesters scampered to safety. Several protesters marched on Lagos streets in defiance of earlier orders by the government to prevent further protests.

Mr. Jonathan had slightly reduced prices of gasoline during an early state address in the morning, but protesters rejected the unilateral reduction and went on the streets to protest against the policy withdrawing fuel subsidy by the Nigerian government. Soldier had flooded Lagos streets since last night, dismantling public address systems put in place by the Save Nigeria Group at the popular square named after late Lagos lawyer, gain Fawehinmi.

Human rights lawyer Femi Falana told SaharaReporters earlier that soldiers prevent him from reaching the venue of a scheduled rally at the park. He was refused access despite protests that the military violates his rights by preventing him from reaching the venue.




However, defiant group of protesters led by a prominent activist, Bamidele Aturu and Abiodun Aremu of the Joint Action Front (JAF) defied the soldiers and marched on Ikorodu road until armed soldiers dispersed the crowd shooting recklessly. No injuries were reported so far.

A group of 5000 youths also gathered at Femi Kuti's shrine, chanting anti government songs and vowing to march on the Ojota venue of the #Occupy Nigeria movement.

Also, a batch of plain-cloth security invaded the offices of the CNN Lagos today apparently to prevent the cable news channel from beaming reports sympathetic to the Occupy protesters. The SSs also raided the offices of the BBC and briefly arrested Christian Purefoy (formerly of CNN) and later released him as he told them he no longer works with CNN. The CNN visiting correspendent Nima Elbagir has been invited by the SSS to their Kingsway road office in Ikoyi Lagos.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/soldiers-shoot-disperse-occupy-protesters-lagos-nigerian-secret-police-raids-cnns-office

“People In The Niger Delta Now Recognize That Jonathan Is A Waste Of Time” – Isaac Osuoka
Posted: January 8, 2012 - 21:42

Isaac Osouka
As Nigerians from all walks of life gear up for the beginning of the “mother of all protests” on Monday, January 9, 2012, over increase in fuel price, journalist and author of Time to Reclaim Nigeria, Chido Onumah, interviewed Isaac Osuoka, director of Social Action and one of the leaders of civil society in Nigeria. Osuoka has been active in the country’s pro-democracy and Niger Delta peoples movements. He was one of the founders of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) and acted as its first spokesperson in the late 1990s. Osuoka who is currently a Vanier Scholar at York University, Toronto, Canada, speaks on the situation in Nigeria and why Nigerians must look beyond President Jonathan.

Excerpts:

CO: Whether we like it or not, you can’t deny the fact Goodluck Jonathan enjoyed a measure of support before the 2011 presidential election. What was responsible for this?

IO: Many Nigerians believed that Goodluck Jonathan was a different breed from the backward cabal that have held Nigeria hostage for the better part of the last 51 years. They thought that because he is a native of the Niger Delta with very minimal historical ties to what was referred to as the Hausa-Fulani oligarchy, that he represents a refreshing change from the past. They saw a meek looking and educated man and felt that maybe he is the change that Nigeria needs. Well, Goodluck Jonathan has proven to Nigeria that he is not the change the country needs. In fact, Jonathan is the worst President that the ruling class has ever foisted on Nigeria.

CO: Was it a case of misplaced optimism?

IO: Exactly! The man has shown that he is clueless. He has shown that he lacks the capacity to address the very serious challenges confronting the country. And what is even worse is that he does not care. He does not care for the people of Nigeria. He does not care for the progress of Nigeria. He has the mentality of a Local Government caretaker committee chairman. He has surrounded himself with similarly clueless characters who are only interested in how much they can loot while the booty lasts. This is a president that hates Nigerians whom he thinks forced him to be president and he seems determined to punish them.

CO: Let’s talk about the recent increase in fuel price which has precipitated massive demonstrations across Nigeria.

IO: The removal of fuel subsidy demonstrates again that the Jonathan presidency does not care a bit about the welfare of Nigerians. Can you imagine the puerile argument that fuel subsidy does not benefit the majority of the Nigerian people? Only those that see benefit in terms of how much you loot can make such a stupid argument. You see, since they know that the figures of how much the government is expending on subsidies is over bloated because of the corruption in the system, and they know the few individuals that have benefited from all the fraud, they have come to associate benefit with whose hands are in the lucre. That is all they see. The loot. That is all they are interested in. From their exalted position, they don’t see the mass of the Nigerian people who are mostly unemployed or have the lowest incomes anywhere in the world. That is why World Bank sponsored economists like Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will ask during one of her meetings with the NLC why people were so worried over subsidy removal when about 70 per cent of Nigerians don’t own cars! That is why the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who behaves more like a politician will talk down to us and insist we must accept the fuel increase while he is comfortable spending almost N20 billion ($133million) of tax payers’ money on a piece of land to build a “world class international conference centre”. This has always been their modus operandi. Was it not David Mark, then a soldier-minister under General Ibrahim Babaginda (now senate president and a champion of democracy) who berated Nigerian students for protesting increase in fuel because not many students owned cars, as if many of us who went to universities outside our state of origin had to trek to school. Can a ruling elite be more insensitive!

CO: Many Nigerians are saying that rather than remove subsidy of petrol, the president should consider removing subsidy on government inefficacy.

IO: What can I say? We are all aware of the billions earmarked for feeding the president and the vice president in 2012. The vice president will spend N1.7 billion ($11.3 million) on trips in 2012 and N1.3 billion ($8.6 million) on office stationeries. This amount includes N12 million ($80,000) on books, N45 million ($300,000) on newspapers, and N9 million ($60,000) on magazines and periodicals. Does this show a government that is serious? Go back at the end of the year and see how many books were bought. We are in an emergency, but our rulers are busy frolicking. Our rulers don’t see that there is no effective mass transit system anywhere in the country and the people depend on petrol fuelled vans, motocycles, tricycles, and kabukabus to move from home to work. They don’t see that the public electricity system has all but collapsed and businesses and homes depend mostly on petrol generators to do business. They don’t see that the people of Nigeria are important. But why should they? They are used to rigging elections and subverting the will of the people. For someone like Goodluck Jonathan who has been the biggest beneficiary of the PDP rigging machine right from when he was summoned to go and become deputy governor in Bayelsa, the people don’t matter. Have you not seen how irritated he looks anytime he is on national television and he is asked about lack of positive result with his policies? The man does not understand why Nigerians should continue to complain. Over and over again he has given the story that Obama or some foreign head of state has praised him for what he is doing and he feels that is what Nigerians should also do. But Obama does not live in Benin City and has not experienced power failure in his life. So how should Obama be the one to decide whether Jonathan is performing or not.




CO: Are you saying Jonathan is a stooge of Western powers?
IO: It is worse than that. Jonathan is a stooge of backward Nigerian political elite who are generally stooges of Western powers. Though as a stooge of stooges, Jonathan has shown that he is particularly spineless and is most amenable to even the slightest of pressure from those he considers powerful. The man is so scared of those he considers powerful. Like the governors. Now let us look at how this backward ruling elite always attempts to selects its weakest elements to act as pawns in the name of president. As far back as the eve of Nigeria’s independence, the Sarduana, who was a powerful leader of the North, selected a weak Tafawa Balewa to be Prime Minister. So we then had a situation where the head of government of Nigeria, the largest state in black Africa, was a mere stooge of powerful northern politicians and contractors who expected the head of government to just represent their interests. We later had Gowon who was maybe the weakest among northern soldiers that took power at that time. Again, Gowon was a stooge for the main powers who remained behind the scenes to share their loot while Gowon was speaking English in public. The same thing with General Obasanjo who as military head of state was not the main power. The same with Shagari, Nigeria’s first really clueless head of government. Like Balewa the northern political establishment selected a weak Shagari who will not stop them from looting. Babangida, Abacha. Those had their different styles, but were really all continuations of a reprobate regime of waste.

CO: You agree then with Chinua Achebe that “the trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership”.

IO: I agree completely. Anytime someone strong and a bit independent minded emerges, they kill him. But sometimes the scheme of the dominant power blocs in the country backfires. For example, when they sponsored Obasanjo to return as civilian head of government in 1999 against the wish of even people in Obasanjo’s village. Obasanjo came and decided to play the game on his own terms. He had learnt how to play the game from the soldier-politicians. He made sure he handed over power to a weak politician. He carefully selected Yar’adua, a man he knew to be terminally ill. Someone who will be too sick to rule. Obasanjo also forced Jonathan - against Jonathan’s will, to become Vice President. Today Jonathan is Nigeria’s most unwilling president. Political jobbers around him, including those of them from the Niger Delta, asked him not to throw away the chance of the Niger Delta.

CO: If that is the case, is he representing the interest of the Niger Delta?

IO: President Jonathan is the worst thing to happen to the Niger Delta. Go and see the East-West road. The road from Warri to Port Harcourt and beyond. The condition of that federal road is worse than ever. This is an outrage! Every year there is a budget allocation for everything. At the end of the year nothing to show for all the billions. Why? This is because Jonathan is superintending over the biggest looting spree in this history of Nigeria. Governors see state funds as their private estate. Ministers see their office as reward for loyalty to governors and opportunity to chop. Local government chairmen. Those are the biggest rogues! The National Assembly is more or less a college of self-serving opportunists – most of whom cannot even get close to winning in free and fair elections. They say most of the big houses in Abuja have been built or bought by civil servants. Where did they get the money? These people, all these people that have continued to loot, are part of the political elite. They are happy that a clueless and spineless person like Jonathan is President. They are the people insisting that Jonathan remove fuel subsidy so that they will have more loot to share. Simple. But Jonathan can’t see it. He doesn’t have that kind of vision. He and those eating with him can’t see the groundswell of opposition to fuel increase. They can’t see that opposition to fuel increase will ultimately result in resistance to everything the ruling class represents in Nigeria. This is just the beginning. In that case, the increase in fuel price is good. For the first time in a long time Nigerians from different ethnic, religious and even class backgrounds are massing together to build a new movement for change. That is what excites me. Supporting the new movement should be the duty of every person who is keen to see Nigeria progress. Neither Jonathan nor his PDP can do anything good for Nigeria. What we need is not just a change of government, we need a system overhaul. This needs struggle and perseverance on the part of the people.

CO: What do you make of the economic policy direction of the Jonathan administration?

IO: He has none? We don’t see any direction. We have heard them talk about a transformation agenda, but what is that agenda? There is none! Corruption is on the increase. Have you asked yourself why the president has not made public his asset declaration? What is he hiding? The biggest challenge facing the Nigerian economy is electricity. The government has done nothing to show that it even appreciates the urgency. Statements, statements everyday, but nothing to show. What they want is to continue to drill and sell crude oil and share proceeds to the three tiers of government for onward looting. It is sad that the same thugs that have benefited from the looting of Nigeria are the same people that Jonathan has assembled to be part of his so called economic management team. These are people that Jonathan feels indebted to because they provided cash for his campaign. But is there no other way to reward political donors? Must you hand over the management of the national economy to them? The governors are well represented in that economic team. But what have they done in their states to demonstrate that they can manage any economy? The heads of private banks are also prominent. These people know how to make profit for themselves – mostly by conniving with politicians and civil servants to launder stolen money. Does that qualify them to manage Nigerian economy? Then you have Okonjo-Iweala - an agent of international finance capital.

CO: Talking about Okonjo-Iweala, civil society groups are asking President Jonathan to sack her. Do you share that view? She is serving at the instance of the president, shouldn’t the focus be on the president?

IO: I agree that the focus should be on President Jonathan, but Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala is dangerous. Her case is special. This is a person sent by the World Bank to continue economic policies that have failed everywhere in the world. Okonjo-Iweala wants to deregulate because deregulation is an essential ingredient of the neoliberal economic doctrine of the World Bank and IMF. She is too far away from the realities of Nigeria to understand that deregulating fuel price in Nigeria will have negative impacts on all aspects of productive life. But does she care? No. All her bosses in Washington DC expect is for Nigerian government to have as much cash as possible to service the debt profile that is sure to increase under Jonathan. Okonjo-Iweala’s greatest achievement in government has been the biggest single transfer of wealth from Nigeria to other parts of the world. The so called debt forgiveness meant that Nigeria gave money to Europe and North America - representing the biggest wealth transfer in human history. They said the savings from debt deal will be used to improve infrastructure. Where is the infrastructure? Okonjo-Iweala is now saying that the gain from oil subsidy will be used to improve infrastructure. Does this woman think that Nigerians are fools all the time? It is just sad the way these people protect their private interests and claim that they are trying to improve Nigerian economy. Recently, I read that the Federal Executive Council awarded contract in the billions for the importation of plastic trash cans from Europe. This is for use in Abuja. Can you imagine that? Is Jonathan and his cabinet saying that there are no plastic manufacturers in Nigeria who can do the job? There are plastic manufacturers all over the country. All the government needed to do was give specification to local producers and monitor and enforce compliance. Keeping the job at home would have meant creating or protecting jobs at home and all the benefits that come from local production. But this government does not care for any local production apart from the production of crude oil. That is why they can even think of increasing fuel price, the same action that could completely destroy the local artisanal sectors where the bulk of production in Nigeria takes place.

CO: The people in the Niger Delta must really be disappointed with President Jonathan.
IO: I can tell you that there was real excitement with the idea of a son of the Niger Delta becoming president of Nigeria. Our people had been treated like second-class citizens since Nigeria was created. So people were happy to see Jonathan as president and went out to vote – even though we know that state governors schemed to inflate the votes for their own purposes. But what has been the benefit of a Jonathan presidency? Symbolic. Only symbolic. Today, the traditional dress of the Niger Delta male, in particular, the Ijaw male, has become something of a national attire. People from the Delta now dress as such and can move in Abuja with a swagger. You did not have this before. Apart from the symbolism and cosmetic impact, there is nothing substantial for the people from the Jonathan presidency. Environmental pollution and destruction of livelihoods by the petroleum industry is worse now than ever before. Today, we have a major offshore oil spill by Shell and the Jonathan presidency is looking the other way. There is no serious attempt to call Shell to order. Compare that with the response of the Brazilian government to recent offshore spill by Chevron. But with Jonathan in Nigeria, there has not been any serious attempt to address the issue of lost livelihoods for the coastal communities as a result of the recent Shell spill. It is a shame because there are people in Jonathan’s system that had campaigned all their lives for environmental justice. Now that they have the rare opportunity to do something, they are looking the other way. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) produced a report on pollution in Ogoniland. The recommendations from UNEP should have provided the Jonathan presidency with an opening to address the historical environmental abuse of the Niger Delta. But all he did was set up a committee like he does on everything. Anytime Jonathan sets up a committee, you know the man is not serious. Or he just doesn’t care.
CO: It is a shame because President Jonathan is a major beneficiary of the struggle of the people in the Niger Delta.

IO: President Jonathan is a beneficiary of the struggles of the Niger Delta which he was never part of. Today, he is enjoying the goodwill of even ex-militants who have continued to support the amnesty programme because they feel their son is president. But Odi has not been rebuilt? Even Okerenkoko has not been rebuilt. I agree that the amnesty programme has been very successful in keeping militants off the creeks. The result has been restoration of oil production to optimal levels. The government people are the biggest beneficiaries. But the relative calm or peace as some people chose to call it has not been utilized by the government as an opportunity to improve social infrastructure in the Niger Delta or anywhere in Nigeria for that matter. Things are getting worse every day. A few months ago, people in a village next to Jonathan’s were protesting against Shell for abuses. People in the Niger Delta now recognize that Jonathan is a waste of time. Let me tell you that petrol is very expensive in the creeks of the Niger Delta.

Combined with the fact that the engines of boats consume a lot of petrol, it means that removal of subsidy will affect the Niger Delta the most.

http://saharareporters.com/interview/%E2%80%9Cpeople-niger-delta-now-recognize-jonathan-waste-time%E2%80%9D-%E2%80%93-isaac-osuoka

Troubled times for NASS, Executive relationship
By Sunday Oguntola 22 hours 31 minutes ago
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Things are definitely falling apart. The last one week has revealed a serious crack in the relationship between the presidency and lawmakers. Lawmakers have made pronouncements strong enough to rattle even the bravest President. The Presidency has hit back, accusing them of inciting Nigerians. When the executive accuses lawmakers of inciting citizens, there is no doubt things are no longer at ease. Yet, this is one battle President Goodluck Jonathan has been very careful to avoid. But his insistence on the removal of fuel subsidy has caught him at a wrong divide with the lawmakers.
It all started last Sunday. The House of Representatives, which has been characteristically vociferous, chose to hold a special emergency session. In the nation’s democratic experience, the move was as novel as unprecedented. Lawmakers are known to be hesitant to sacrifice their recess for anything. But the speed and excitement with which they accepted to convene on a Sunday alarmed the Presidency. There must be something untoward about the emergency session, many presidential aides felt.
This unease emanated from how the leadership of the lower chamber emerged. Like his predecessors, Jonathan was as interested as anxious in who leads the House. This is more so because the House of Representatives has always been indisposed to external influence. Former Speaker Ghali Na Abba gave President Olusegun Obasanjo so much headache to the point that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) made sure he never returned to the House. All efforts to pacify Na Abba to cooperate with the presidency met brick walls.
Jonathan also had a raw experience with former Speaker Dimeji Bankole during the succession crisis that resulted from former President Musa Yar’Adua’s illness. Bankole allegedly sided with the famed cabal that worked against the confirmation of Jonathan as acting president. Even after Yar’Adua died and Jonathan succeeded him, Bankole remained headstrong. Desperate to avoid a face-off, Jonathan managed him until last April. In the run-off to the hotly contested PDP’s Presidential primary, Bankole allegedly worked with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, at the expense of Jonathan.
Coming from this background, Jonathan became interested in Bankole’s successor. When the PDP South West caucus opted for Hon. Mulikat Akande- Adeola, the Presidency was elated. Akande-Adeola is a pro-establishment who can be easily relied on for support during crisis. With Obasanjo behind her, presidential aides exuded confidence her speakership will be a smooth sail. There will at least be someone that can call her to order for the presidency.
But this was not to be. Opposition members had another idea. They constitute a sizeable number that can pull weights in the House, they realised. So, they opted for Hon Aminu Tambuwwal, who thrashed Akande-Adeola despite presidential backing. That was an audacious message to the presidency. It was clear: The House of Representatives may not be controlled by the executives.
Tambuwwal, ever conscious of how he emerged, has been most eager to pacify opposition members. They head more committees than before and call shots. It was not unlikely he realised most of them are against removal of fuel subsidy and chose to play along. Last Sunday’s emergency session, it was gathered, held despite serious presidential pressure. Presidential aides were most desperate to prevent the sitting. Several overtures were made to the House leadership.
But most members were bent on the sitting. ‘’You see whenever we sense the presidency making agitated efforts to make us do something, we become alarmed. We resort to self-preservation tactics and become resolved to do exactly what they don’t want us to do, ‘’ Chairman of a House Committee, hinted last week. This was exactly what happened. The members had their way and the sitting held.
The sitting itself was a serious session. It was obvious members were boiling and desperate to have their way. They spoke without caring a hoot on how Nigerians are worse off with removal of fuel subsidy. Their constituents, they claimed, will have nothing to do with the deregulation policy until federal government restore the price of petrol to N65. This is the position of labour, which has shut down the nation with massive protests in the last one week. At the end, the House passed a resolution asking the federal government to suspend the policy and engage labour in dialogue.
The Speaker, in his remarks after the resolutions were adopted, noted that the decision of the House was taken in the best interest of the country. He said, ‘’I believe what we have done as members of the House of Representatives of Nigeria is in the best interest of this country.
‘’I believe that all of us as leaders, it is our collective responsibilities to ensure that our government, indeed our country, is governed through due process, respect for the rule of law that will promote and sustain fundamentally the harmonious and corporate existence of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
I therefore implore all men of goodwill, either in government or outside the government to understand the position of the House of Representatives.’’
The Presidency was seething with anger. It considered the resolution as insulting. Presidential spokesman, Dr Reuben Abati, carpeted the House for playing to the gallery. The resolution, he insisted, was merely an opinion aimed at inciting Nigerians.
He said: “Well, I mean what the House of Reps has said is merely an opinion and in a Constitutional democracy, people have a right to hold debates or to discuss.
“But I think it is most unfortunate that a House of Representatives will hold a special meeting on a Sunday. To the best of my knowledge, that is the first time that will happen in contemporary Nigerian history, that a special meeting will be called on a Sunday just to debate an issue of deregulation.
“Of course, I followed the debate for the most part on television and the quality of the debate as well. I think the less we say anything about that, the better because I have cited the example of a member of the House misinforming Nigerians about the President’s movement.
“And of course you saw how one lawmaker after another had no basic facts. There was so much interest in grandstanding and I think that the entire exercise is more of a comment on some of the individual contributors to the discussion.
“That extraordinary session coming a day on the eve of an attempt by some people to disrupt law and order could be interpreted in some quarters as an attempt by the House of Representatives to incite the Nigerian people against the government and the last time I checked the lawmakers are also a part of this government.”
Almost immediately, the House responded to the grave allegations. Deputy Chairman House Committee on Media and Public Affairs Rep Victor Ogene, said the lawmakers were not bothered by the failure of the Presidency to accept their resolution.
The House, he said, will invoke its powers under the constitution to restore subsidy. According to him, “If dialogue fails, we will invoke our lawmaking and appropriation powers, in accordance with provisions of the 1999 Constitution as amended, and put in money in the 2012 budget in tune with the wishes of most Nigerians.”
Ogene also dismissed the Abati’s allegation of inciting Nigerians as childish. He said, ‘’That statement was childish even though we don’t want to waste our time responding to everything; but I am sure the ad-hoc committees will have to look into it.” With this crossfire, there is no doubt the battle line is drawn.
Senators also,
Also on the people’s side, the senate convened a closed-door session on the contentious removal of fuel subsidy. It joined the House of Representatives in asking President Goodluck Jonathan to revert fuel pump price to N65 per litre. The senators urged the Senate President, Senator David Mark to convey the message of the upper chamber to President Jonathan within 24 hours.
With the Presidency bent on pushing the deregulation of the downstream oil sector through, the stage is set for a possible executive-lawmakers’ face-off. This time, it is difficult to imagine how intense it will be.

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/politics/33275-troubled-times-for-nass-executive-relationship.html

Nigeria Or President Jonathan’s Cabal? By Leonard Karshima Shilgba, PhD
Posted: January 15, 2012 - 19:14


By Leonard Karshima Shilgba, PhD
On January 8, 2012, I watched live as Prophet TB Joshua warned President Jonathan to allow Nigerians to talk some more about fuel subsidy rather than go ahead with removal of the subsidy, for which organized labor and civil society had called out Nigerians for mass action that was to commence the following day Monday, January 9, 2012. The obstinate president obviously ignored the “opinion of God” (as the prophet had put it), even as Nigerians demonstrated across the land their commitment to not only force Jonathan to reverse the pump price of PMS to N 65 a liter, but also to make clear demands for transparency, justice, reduction of waste in the political system, and true nationhood.

I saw my brothers and sisters across Nigeria—Southerners and Northerners, Muslims and Christians, rich and poor—go hand-in-hand demanding for a better Nigeria that benefits all Nigerians regardless and not just a few. I was moved from deep within; I became prouder as a Nigerian. I saw what was possible. The lies of the oppressive Nigerian political class were exposed—Nigerians are all united against oppression, deceit, and corruption. There is no war between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. I saw Muslims and Christians preach against injustice at the rallies. Nigerian Christians protected their Muslim brethren as they took time off the rallies to observe the mandatory Islamic prayers!

But I also saw the unfortunate and troubling. I saw a stolid president who clearly either did not read the situation well or put his confidence in the wrong places. He watched silently as ethnicity was steadily injected into the crisis. He was silent as some Niger Delta people, led by Niger Delta opinion leaders such as Asari Dokubo, Ms Anniko Briggs made statements such as “If Nigerians don’t want Jonathan to lead then it means Nigerians don’t want our oil,” and “If PENGASSAN shuts down oil wells, Niger Deltans would take them over and PENGASSAN would never return.” I have written quite a lot about the (past) neglect of the Niger Delta; I have published a book that places their plight in clear public domain. I have, in my expositions on re-engineering or re-structuring of Nigeria, advocated resource control as an important element that would drive national growth and development; resource control is a singsong of the Niger Delta people. Jonathan obviously delights in threat by ex-militants in the Nigeria Delta to swim and sink with their brother president.
A true leader would never encourage degeneration into ethic sentiments. Among the three rapid society destroyers— Ethnic and religious sentiments, and economic deprivation—the first two are the most damning. And President Jonathan clearly encourages one of them. We Nigerians must choose between President Jonathan and Nigeria. On the morning of January 14, 2012, I was curious to hear what Prophet TB Joshua would say about the obduracy of President Jonathan. As a Christian preacher and teacher of the Word myself, and a believer in the fact that God is interested in nations and usually reveals the path that should be trodden in each situation, I am curious to listen to fellow servants whom I believe have a passion for the nation. I believe that God shows His servants important things about their society and family. The prophet preached about sacrifice of love. He alluded to the biblical story of the direct encounter between Jesus Christ and Peter. Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him; He also thrice asked Peter to demonstrate that love by “feeding” His sheep and lambs. A leader must sacrifice for those he leads. In fact, Prophet Joshua asked that sacrifice should come from the leadership of Nigeria, even as he told the nation that “Nigerians should not seek to embarrass the president.” The prophet claimed that he had sent a message to the “authorities.” He went on to call for “shifting of grounds” and “compromise”. To buttress his point, the prophet read a biblical passage in which Jesus Christ, in response to a question about the propriety of paying taxes to Caesar, said, “Give what is to Caesar to Caesar, and what belongs to God to God.” Prophet Joshua concluded by assuring Nigerians that “God is on top of the situation.” Besides, he advised that President Jonathan should listen to “politicians” and not to “technocrats” on the matter of fuel subsidy crisis.

The poor Nigerian has no more sacrifice to make. The Nigerian has no ground to shift. It is in the hands of President Jonathan. Furthermore, Nigerians are not embarrassing the president; it is the president who is embarrassing himself. As I wrote, President Jonathan was meeting with governors and ministers over the fuel subsidy palaver after the collapse of talks between labor and government the previous day. It was reported that he would address the nation later in the night. Whatever he said after the essay you are reading, he has created a huge task for himself.

At this time in our history as a people, we must choose between pleasing President Jonathan and his cabal and rescuing Nigeria. The continued impoverishing of Nigerians while Nigerian public officials live lavishly at our expense is not the will of God. Nigerian crude oil does not belong to Jonathan, so Nigerians cannot cede to some oppressive hike in the pump price of PMS. Rather, President Jonathan must give to Nigerians what is ours—subsidized pricing of petroleum products, prosperous society, transparent and corruption-free nation, and a just society.

The Nigerian Summit Group’s hasty meeting announced for Monday January 16 and Tuesday, January 17, 2012 in the midst of the nation-wide mass protest is to me a red herring. It is a joke, especially when it is being pushed by President Jonathan’s man, Mr. Tony Uranta, who confessed publicly that President Jonathan was in knowledge and approval of it. Let us be serious in this country. The group has unilaterally chosen participants at the summit to discuss deregulation of the downstream oil sector, the constitution, and security! What became of the phantom constitution committee that Jonathan inaugurated last year, which I lampooned? To the summit, people like Adamu Ciroma, Solomon Lar, Audu Ogbe, Maitama Sule, Asari Dokubo, Pat Utomi, Ben Nwabueze, etc., were invited. When asked to tell what informed the choice of participants at the out-of-the blues summit, the secretary of the summit and Jonathan’s friend, Mr. Uranta, simply said that they could not invite all Nigerians, and that those invited had “influence” in their domains. Well, it is a joke. The point I want to make is that President Jonathan has demonstrated that he would rather play the comedian with serious national issues than solve our problems that he was elected to tackle. Just consider the president’s announcement of the purchase of 1,600 buses for all of Nigeria and calling these “palliatives” for fuel subsidy removal!

Irrespective of how the fuel subsidy issue is resolved, Nigeria cannot be the same. Nigerians have discovered themselves this year. We must use our new-found strength to negotiate our union. Ignoring the shenanigans of the Nigeria summit group, we must initiate the process of just remuneration of Nigerians and their servants (the public officials), resource control, a people-oriented constitution, restructuring of system of governance and federating units, prosecution of corrupt public officials, business men, and companies, and demand for just restitution.

As I was about concluding this article, I saw on television an announcement that the Nigerian Summit Group had “postponed indefinitely” their earlier hastily announced summit. The comedy couldn’t be more obvious. The choice between Jonathan and his cabal and Nigeria can’t be more urgent. President Jonathan lacks both the moral strength and intellectual capacity to lead Nigeria.


Leonard Karshima Shilgba is an Associate Professor of Mathematics with the American University of Nigeria and President of the Nigeria Rally Movement (www.nigeriarally.org ). He is also the Chairman of the Middle Belt Alliance (MBA).

TEL: +234 (0) 8055024356; EMAIL: shilgba@yahoo.com

http://saharareporters.com/article/nigeria-or-president-jonathan%E2%80%99s-cabal-leonard-karshima-shilgba-phd

President Jonathan’s Last Speech By Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo
Posted: January 15, 2012 - 19:25

Fellow Nigerians, the last few days have changed my understanding of the people of this great nation. I have developed a greater sense of respect for the passion with which millions of you trooped to the streets to register your opposition to the policy of my government.

I have heard you. Without hesitation, I hereby announce an immediate reversal of the oil subsidy removal.

The debate we’ve had and the energy your actions infused into our political process make me feel so strong about this decision. Living in this bubble called Aso Rock Villa, I often forget that the mandate I have came from the people. I appreciate the stress and hardship you went through to remind me of that very important tenet of our democracy.

On behalf of the nation, I wish to extend my sincere condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the demonstrations. Their deaths will not be in vain. In the future, I hope we can find a way to do the right thing without losing the precious life of a single Nigerian.

If I read your message right, my government has not earned your trust. And without trust, we have no moral authority to demand sacrifices from you. More so when we, the government, have not made sacrifices ourselves. I have come to realize that more than everything else, the Nigerian people want accountability from their leaders. It is through the door of accountability that you will open for us the room where your trust resides. You all have taught me that only a foolish man will put his tomorrow in the hands of a man who cannot account for his yesterday.

Even a government with good intentions is not always right. In our haste to implement a policy we felt was essential to our economic well-being, we failed to envision the ramifications of our action. We appeared silly arguing that we did not expect the price of food items to go up because trucks and buses use diesel and not fuel. But the truth, which we should have known, is that once the price of one thing goes up in Nigeria, the prices of other things follow. In fact, prices go up in Nigeria for the mere fact that workers got a pay increase.

Also, our argument that the only way we can control corruption at the downstream sector of our oil industry is by removing the subsidy is like arguing that amputating a leg is the only way we can cure a laceration. With that approach, we will soon end up severed into tiny bits that cannot work together.

At several points in the course of defending our position, we portrayed ourselves as incompetent. We gave the impression that we are incapable of protecting our borders. We gave the impression that we have people in this country who are above the law. We gave the impression that we are more interested in protecting our indulgences while demanding unbearable sacrifices from you all.

I have seen the anger in the hearts of many suffering Nigerians. Your anger is well justified. The anguish of our youths, the despair of the old, can no longer be taken for granted. I fully accept the blame of all that happened. I am not ashamed to say that we did not get it. Our assumptions were wrong. For so long, we looked the other way while millions of you suffer. Until last week, I thought it was enough to promise you that the suffering would be temporary. Now I know it isn’t.

We are going back to the very basic. From your litany of complaints, I understand that at the very core of our problem is that we have not managed the affairs of this nation well in the last 50 years. And I saw in your faces, the determination to change that. In the stomping of your feet, I heard a demand that extended beyond the oil subsidy removal.

I have mapped out a new path. And that is what I plan to explain to you in this speech.

Thanks to you, we are going to fundamentally change our ways. It is no longer going to be business as usual. And to kick it off, I will start with myself. I believe there cannot be accountability without transparency. I have not been transparent. But that ends today.

The law demands that I declare my assets at the beginning of each term. I have not done so before now out of fear that Nigerians may not understand. But the Nigerians I saw in the last one week are people who want the truth more than they expect what is right. I want Nigerians to know that I am worth 50 billion Naira(?). My salary and allowances each year is about N320 million naira. That, my fellow Nigerians, is outrageous in a country where hundreds of millions of my fellow citizens live on less than N320 a day.

To show how serious I am about the changes I want to put in place, I will forgo any salary and allowances for the rest of my term as president. Moving forward, I will pay for the feeding of my family and so will the vice president. I am slashing the budget for feeding at the presidency to N300 million a year and that will be for visiting dignitaries alone. The 25% cut in salary that I announced two weeks ago for staff of the executive branch, I want to increase it to 50% for those making more than N2, 000,000 a month. And it includes cuts to their allowances. I’m also cutting all other expenses in the budget for the presidency by half. That alone will bring in N100 billion Naira back into the treasury. I have ordered the presidential fleet of aircrafts to be reduced to two instead of nine.

We have serious problems in this country and we need to tackle them with all seriousness. Now, I cannot do it alone. I need your help for us to transform this country. I sincerely believe that the lawmakers can live on 50% of their current income. I cannot cut their pay on my own. I need you to put pressure on them to do the right thing. If you have to occupy their offices and their homes, I urge you to do so. The same thing applies to the governors and the local government chairmen. They can live on less. They will not do so unless you push them. There is no reason why a governor should have a private jet in a country like ours where the basic needs of our people are not being met.

We all have known for a very long time that the corruption in our system is so endemic. What we didn’t know, until you all hit the street, is that we have in us the will power to confront corruption. To that end, I am sending a bill tomorrow to the National Assembly abolishing the ICPC and the EFCC. Those two toothless agencies have not lived up to the expectations of the Nigerians I saw on the streets. In place of these two bodies, I am establishing the Nigerian Bureau of Investigation. The new agency will have far reaching powers to investigate and prosecute all crimes committed against the federal government. We will train elite members of the police and prosecutorial staff who are upright and passionate about eradicating corruption in our society.

I believe that corruption is like uncontrolled flood. We are wasting our time paving the roads and coating the surface with bitumen if we have not built formidable drainage system of solid culverts and gutters. That is where we need to begin the enormous works that face us. Once we get the drainage system right, reconstruction of our roads, our educational system, our health sector, our larger society, will be a lot easier.

From your actions in the last one week, I believe that there are still good people in our society. Our job is to create the environment for these good people to come out and serve our country. At this point, I’m announcing the dissolution of my cabinet. Tomorrow, I am sending a bill to the National Assembly asking them to quickly modify the constitution to allow me to trim down the number of federal ministries in Nigeria to twelve. I want to merge various ministries that duplicate their works and thereby trim down the federal workforce by at least half. I want the freedom to appoint credible men and women to serve our country irrespective of their region, ethnicity and religion.

I am also sending a bill to the National Assembly creating state police in Nigeria. I want every state government to be responsible for security of lives and property in their state. And with more responsibility comes greater accountability. States that fail to provide security will be held liable for lives and property of its citizens. The federal government cannot do it alone. Government is more effective when it is closer to the people.

The seriousness of what we face in this country requires that you all stay on the street and apply pressure until the people constitutionally charged with making laws make the right laws that will transform our country. And you need to be vigilant to ensure that the laws are implemented.

Thank you all for reminding me that the possibilities out there for Nigeria are unlimited, for ours is a blessed land. Yesterday may have been bad but tomorrow, with your continuing push, will be glorious.

From the very beginning, I was talking about transformational presidency but it was when you got into the street that I actually knew what I meant. When the overburdened mass of our people lead, I, the president, have no option but to follow. Your resilient is a source of inspiration to me. With your help, we will transform this country to one that we all shall be proud of. If I have to join you in the street, I will. I am your leader and I will follow you.

This journey is not going to be easy. There would be entrenched interests that will come out swinging and hoping to crush what you have set in motion. I believe that together we can take them on and push them off the space of this beautiful country of ours which they have, for too long, dominated and occupied for their selfish ends. The inner strength of the Nigerians that I see in the last week will lead us through.

The journey to a new Nigeria starts now – a Nigeria revived by the people and for the people. This journey continues until we remove misery and restore dignity to the lives of every man and woman in our country.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

http://saharareporters.com/column/president-jonathan%E2%80%99s-last-speech-rudolf-ogoo-okonkwo

Nollywood stars who dumped GEJ!
on JANUARY 14, 2012 · in HOME VIDEO PEOPLE

By Ben Njoku

As the protest over fuel subsidy removal rages, many Nigerian entertainers who initially supported Goodluck Jonathan during his presidential campaign last year have eventually dumped him to his fate.

Top on the list of these entertainers is actor Desmond Elliot. He was one of the many Nollywood stars that endorsed Goodluck Jonathan months before the April 2011 polls.

Surprisingly, the same actor on Wednesday, made a U-turn on his support for the president, while speaking at the mass protest against the fuel subsidy removal, in Ojota, Lagos.

The baby-face actor said the action is not only meant to inflict untold hardship on the innocent masses but also, it is a harsh decision on the part of the government.

He took to his Twitter account to express his disappointment in the incumbent administration. He tweeted:

‘We have lost everything we met on the land. Cocoa, palm oil, groundnuts, cotton, cashew and rubber have been forgotten and are better produced by nations who came to learn from us. We have lost our moral compass, our society is fractured, our statehood is threatened.

“Our citizens are in all prisons around the world. Some of them prefer foreign prisons to coming back to Nigeria. Our passport is treated with disdain everywhere you present it. Why should our government be this big with special advisers on cassava and beans affairs.


Desmond Eliot, makes a u-turn
Do we need 36 ministers? Why would our president spend close to a billion on food while close to eighty percent live on less than a dollar a day? Why should he budget a billion for generators and diesel when he is urging us to believe in his power sector reform? Why should we believe the government when it says the subsidy gain will be properly reinvested. Bad leadership and coruption must stop.

Also Dickson Iroegbu who campaigned for Jonathan has equally dumped him. A notable film maker cum writer, Iroegbu last year relocated to Abuja, all in the bid to campaign for GEJ. “Goodluck for Nigeria” and “It’s Possible” was his slogans then.

Lending support to the President last year, Iroegbu said “like many actors, we have seen Jonathan improve by the day. I personally trust him. I can fight for him to shine like a star. He said he will ensure that no Nigerian goes to bed hungry, it is not about crying, he has started taking actions already.

Mr. President is in dire need of all of us to drive away the hawks in power, and as our leader, he has shown the right direction so far. A little benefit of doubt can solve the “Ifs” theory in film making. If he continues this way, then soon, very soon we shall be united.”

Ironically, speaking against the fuel subsidy removal, the notable film maker accused President Jonathan of being insensitive to the plight of the poor masses.

His words “I have said it before, it is an insensitive action. It is anti-masses. Personally, I don’t care what government thinks they are doing in the name of palliatives. First and foremost, government should go back to status quo. I feel aggrieved. I feel sad. This deceit must stop.”

This government is losing credibility too fast. The price of goods, transportation, medical, and everything else has skyrocketed. People who traveled to various places can’t return to base, we can go on and on. It is quite disheartening.

I am also suffering it. People have called me names I don’t deserve, just for supporting President Goodluck Jonathan.”

On his own, Segun Arinze urged the president to listen to the voice of the masses and do well to revert the fuel price. He faulted the government for not building trust in the Nigerian citizens before implementing such policy.

Arinze whose faction of the Actors Guild of Nigeria(AGN) recently organised a “Nollywood Roundtable on Deregulation” at Eko Hotel and Suites to drum support for the federal government on the removal of the controversial fuel subsidy was speaking at a television show monitored by HVP.

Other Nollywood stars who should bury their faces in shame included Francis Duru who co-ordinated Naija Artistes for Goodluck project with an umbrella body called Goodluck Campaign last year alongside Richard Ossai, veteran actor Olu Jacobs, Monalisa Chinda Ramsey Nuoah Susan Peters, Genevieve Nnaji, Ufuoma Ejenobor, Ngozi Nwosu, Nonso Diobi, Clem Ohameze and Femi Brainard.

Others are; Linc and Yul Edochie, Yemi Blaq, Mercy Aigbe, Ejike Asiegbu, Uche Iwuji, Chinyere Winifred, Uche Obodo, Emmanuella Njudigbo, Maureen Solomon, Tony Umez, Emeka Enyiocha, Benita Nzeribe and several top Northern based actors who trooped into the audio visual of the MSquad crew to shoot a video for a song, which was produced by Asuquo. Today, these entertainers are singing a different song.

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Enneyi
All of you abusing Desmond Elliot and Bringing tribalism into this matter at hand are very foolish and insensitive. The young man has just spoken his mind, as a true patriot, then why insult him? I am an Ijaw man, and the truth is, GEJ is threading the path to destruction. Y would u take from the poor masses that do not have to build what we know he will never build. We have been on this road far back in the late 80's where every government comes with stories of removing subsidy and putting things in place, but what do we have? Stories and siphoning of public funds. So tell us now y we have to believe in Jonathan, we he has yet not put anything in place. Take Fashola for a good example. He has done so much in Lagos State within a short time. Did Fashola task anyone before putting BRT in place? Did he tax anyone before putting all the street light and road in place? No he never did dat. He made sure he had most basic infrastructures in place before introducing tax, and because of what he had already put in place, people gave him the benefit of doubt , and started paying their taxes. This is sincere people do things. I even saw reason why I should pay my tax, because I saw the improvement in the city of Lagos, and its environs. That is how to know a good government. Jonathan deceived everyone, and today we are seeing its implication. Why did he not provide better transportation, good roads, better electricity system, before embarking on his stupid subsidy regime? Y do we have to wait for him to remove subsidy before doing all that? Where are all the billions his propaganda Efcc has recovered from corrupt government officials? Where are all the money recovered from corrupt officials of the past government? Nobody is asking all these questions, yet you want 9gerians to pay more and suffer, while they syphone the money into their own pocket. The truth here is, before we can trust any government now, let us see what they have done. They should take loans like Fashola did to put infrastructural amenities in place, and then, proceed with their so called pricing regime, then we will believe them, but in as much as they have refused to put anything in place, and yet they want to get mo out of the masses, they I will urge all 9gerians from all quarters to resist such policy. We have suffered too much in the past to allow anyone take us for granted again. Y are dey not arresting and prosecuting corrupt officials? We only hear of dem been arrested and nothing more. Jonathan and his cohorts are just fighting an paparazzi corruption campaign. They are only doing it fot the cameras, hence I will advise all 9gerians to stand up and fight for their land. Let us chase all the corrupt ans pad leaders away from our land, so we can have some good fresh air to breath!!!!!!
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6 hours ago 18 Likes

sadiq bello
i wish Nigerians would listen to your advice and chase these corrupt public officers once and for all, imagine some crazy northerners were sad that Atiku lost the PDP presidential primaries, Atiku!who said in kano that God does not answer the prayers of poor people, they are all birds of the same feathers
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Subsidy war: Expect mother of all strikes from Monday –– Labour
By Yusuf Alli 2 hours 49 minutes ago
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Protesters
•NLC, TUC take final decision today •People's will must prevail
Nigerians should brace up, from Monday, for what the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday called the “Mother of all strikes”.
The President of the NLC, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar, said yesterday that Nigerians should prepare for a prolonged strike from Monday if the government does not reverse the pump price to N65 per litre.
The NLC boss did not elaborate on what he meant by “Mother of all strikes”.
However, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) on Thursday threatened to shut down operations in the upstream and downstream sectors, including export terminals, if by Sunday the Federal Government refuses to revert the pump price of petrol to N65 per litre.
At a briefing in Lagos, PENGASSAN President, Babatunde Ogun, said, among other implications, Nigeria would default in its contractual obligations to the international community as there would be no crude and gas supplies.
According to him, it would cripple telecommunications, power and healthcare delivery to Nigerians and the country will not meet its crude production quota for the next six months.
His words: “PENGASSAN remains committed to the ongoing popular and nationwide protests, and will continue to work with all concerned groups to sustain the struggle, until the Federal Government respects the will of Nigerians.
“The resolution of the House of Representatives and the Senate has said it all.
“All branches of PENGASSAN in the downstream, refineries and upstream sectors have been and shall remain fully mobilised in the actualisation of NLC/TUC directives on the on-going strike.”
The Federal Government on Thursday night at a meeting with Labour insisted on full deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry.
But the Labour insisted on the mandate from workers that government must reverse the pump price to N65 per litre.
Apart from the reversal to N65 per litre, Labour is also asking for a 90-day moratorium to allow a window for discussion between the government and stakeholders. The stakeholders will look at the challenges of subsidy withdrawal, pump price and ways for appropriate pricing for the PMS.
Both the NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC), led by Comrade Peter Esele, are scheduled to take a final decision today on whether to continue with the ongoing nationwide strike action or suspend it.
A labour leader, who spoke with our correspondents, said: "Saturday's session will define the next stage of the strike. The NECs of the NLC and the TUC will meet to take a final decision on the negotiation offers from the government.
"After the NEC session, the labour leaders will also meet with the government on the same day. So, the strike might either be called off or continue."
The General Secretary of the NLC, Comrade Owei Lakemfa, said: "Labour is giving Nigerians an opportunity on Saturday and Sunday to refresh and stock their homes with foodstuffs in readiness for a prolonged strike action from Monday."
Notwithstanding, the Labour yesterday held a three-hour rally at Julius Berger Roundabout in Abuja.
At the rally, the NLC President insisted that the people's will must prevail and "there is no retreat, no surrender on the demand for N65 pump price."
He also asked Nigerians to prepare for the “Mother of all strikes” from Monday should government fail to reverse the pump price to N65 per litre.
Omar said: "They say in the definition of democracy, there are three sides. They say it is government of the people for the people and by the people. This word is true, no be so? Na so! But do you know the largest group of the people? No! That is the people. This means if you run government, it is people who will run government that is by the people. But if it is run for the people, therefore it is among the people that you choose another small number of people to go and do government.
"But when the large number says this is how it will be, is it justifiable for the small group that is working for this large number to say No? No! Therefore, the people’s will must prevail. I want to talk today very briefly but let me start, comrades, by telling you about where we are today.
"We have a committee that plans everything we do everyday. That is why we take different routes everyday. Today, in consideration of so many factors, our planners said the only way we can get relaxed is during the weekend so that by Monday, if government is yet to change the cost of fuel from N145 per litre to N65, we are going to come out on Monday very strong.
"Please, those who have never come here before, inform them, maybe they are your brothers, sisters or your friends or even your parents because in Lagos , all ladies came out to the streets and protested. So, tell everybody that we should start coming in such a way that we must be noticed. If Nigerian government will not notice us, we would be so large that the international communities will notice us and they will begin to talk to them”.
Omar added: "We want to make sure that people will get refreshed by the weekend, but Monday morning, it is going to be the ‘mother of all crowds’. Do we agree? Yes, do you agree? Yes. I must say again on behalf of my colleagues that we are grateful.
"Several agencies of government attempted hired crowds, where they will say they will give them N5, 000 each and get 1, 000 people. The 1, 000 would disappear in less than 1, 000 seconds. As soon as they have taken the money, they will go away. Nobody is giving you anything but you are here because you are patriotic, because you love Nigeria and you want your welfare to improve.
"Therefore, this is something we must continue to do. I want to assure you to relax tomorrow and Sunday. We will get ready for a greater struggle beginning from Monday."
The NLC President debunked the insinuations that labour leaders have compromised.
The NLC President said: "Yesterday or day before yesterday, I swore to you that we are people of honour and integrity. I swore to you that we will do that which we are asked to do by the people.
"If anybody is practising true democracy, we are the people practising true democracy. We are saying that because people put us here, they have given us mandate. We must have to carry out the mandate of the people and do you remember the mandate people gave us? What is the mandate? N65 or nothing! I tell you comrades, this is exactly the message we have sent across to the government.
"We are aware that there are a lot of rumours going round. Some people will say labour has compromised. They have given them money, given them this and that. I don't know, comrades, who will have the courage after taking somebody's food, you will still look at him in the face and abuse him, is it possible? No!
"We went and told them that the mandate we have from Nigerian people is that you have to revert back to N65. And when government insisted and they keep saying they are not ready to come down and reduce the price, we told them that we have principals but because we have a system, it is just by calling the people who gave us the mandate. We said the highest thing we can do is to go back to our principals.
"We will give them the message and it is up to them to give us either a new message or say what are you talking? Go back and maintain our position. By the night, we could not agree yesterday with the government. Despite all their pleas and what they told us that our economy will collapse, we told them we have a mandate and our standing mandate is: reverse back to N65.
"If anybody is sending a text message to you, saying whatever, I want to assure you that as far as we are concerned, it is just blatant lies and nobody will intimidate us with those text messages. If anybody has given any money to anybody, let that person come us and say I have given a particular sum of money and we shall pray with everybody to say that whoever has done this, Holy Ghost fire!”
He added: "And to our Muslim brothers, we will also ask them to do Alqunut. That is to tell you that, as far as we are concerned, it is not about money. If it is about money, I tell you by now, we would have been exceedingly rich and we would also become part of the cabal but that is not our will. We have undertaken for ourselves that we must always stand by the masses and by the grace of the Almighty, so shall it be.
"Comrades, we have discussed here and I told you time without number that some government agencies have been trying all they could to destabilise us in Abuja . And the only way they think they can do that is by sending people to create certain problem, then government will now make a broadcast that because of the security threat in Abuja, there is going to be 24 hours’ curfew from dusk to dawn so that they will not allow us to come out to meet again.
"But we believe our strength always lies in our unity and collectivity. We must continue to come out. We are very grateful to you that you are not getting tired. In fact, more and more people are coming and we will continue to come but, comrades please, you must also bear with us. As your leaders, we will never lead you astray by the grace of God but please, take it that all plans to create problem, we must avoid them."
On his part, the President of the TUC, Comrade Peter Esele, said: "I want to say a very big thank you for all your support. The other people give them money. Did we give you any money? If they give you money, collect it because that money is your money that they have stolen. That money means the education of your children. That money means good roads, that money is your healthcare.
"One thing you must know, it is time for change. We must always seek good governance. What do we want? Good governance. It is only good governance that will change this country. The reason we are here is that we love Nigeria. If we love Nigeria we must love one another. It is for the love we have for Nigeria that is why we are here."
The Vice-President of the NLC, Comrade Issa Aremu, said: "As the President of NLC has said, without your struggle, without your sacrifice, the Federal Government of Nigeria could not have met with the NLC and TUC yesterday.
"And for the first time in recent times, our President, the Vice President, the Senate Government and ministers have to meet to address the plights of Nigerians. It is due to the struggle, which you have put up in Abuja , Lagos , in Kano , in Port-Harcourt and virtually in all the 36 states of the Ffederation. Let's give them a hand of applause.
"We should not give up in this struggle. The struggle is not over until it is over. As Comrade Omar has said, please don't let us lose our focus. We have to be organised, we have to be focused and we have to be purposeful. And we should not forget what is our demand. We don't want other forces to add other agenda that are not our own. "Government itself is also spreading propaganda so that they can divide our ranks. This propaganda is what the NLC president has said that your leaders are being compromised. And I am happy he has addressed that”.
He added: "There are also some forces who are not in government, who have different professions and they want to have a different agenda. I don't want to mention names because now we have emergency comrades. Don't you know what we call emergency comrades? Those who used to be in government and even oppressed workers. They are now identifying with us. I don't want to mention names but you know them.
"So we must be focused about our agenda. Now the second thing I want to raise is that there are those that are against the masses. Please, let us give one special Gbosa! to the House of Representatives Speaker for being with the masses and convening a meeting on a Sunday to address the plights of Nigeria and they passed a resolution to revert to N65. And they also called on Labour so that we can suspend the strike. I think we need to commend them on that.
"So, let also give the Senate President applause. That is Senator David Mark. I also want to say that there are some of the governors but there are some terrible governors. And I want to say the governor of Enugu State, we need to give a special boo to the Governor of Enugu State, Governor Sullivan Chime. He was not just pushing for the removal of subsidy but he was also attacking those that are protesting. He has a mobile court. This is a governor we will not only take to the judicial process in Nigeria.
"So today we want to reaffirm solidarity to the people of Enugu State . I want to declare that we are fully in solidarity with them. And we call on President Jonathan that what he cannot do to Nigeria is that we have our right of freedom of assembly. This is because no governor has the power of a president. Yet, we are peacefully protesting in Abuja .
"So I want to say, comrades, forward ever and backward never. Stay with your leaders and your leaders will stay with you. Together with you, we are going to achieve victory. We have decided to save Nigeria and there is no going back."

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It Is Not About N65 By Chika Ezeanya
Posted: January 13, 2012 - 19:41

Chika Ezeanya
By Chika Ezeanya
A well meaning follower of my penned thoughts sent me a moving mail. I publish excerpts below,
For the past several days I have been checking on your blog in the hope of reading comments about what is going on in Nigeria right now. I am dying to read your opinion about the current situation and I am sure I am not the only one who feels this way lots of other readers who are following up your blog probably feel the same. Please say something you can't possibly keep silent at a time like this. I am looking forward to hearing from you shortly.

My response:
Thank you very much for your mail. Truth is I am so overwhelmed and angry at this time. I have been thinking of writing, but words fail me. I am really hurting deeply. I wonder what I have to say that remain to be said. People have been writing, talking, and doing all they can. I believe you saw the piece I wrote on the subsidy removal "Support for Removal of Oil Subsidy; Shame on You United States". I am a great believer in preventive measures and it seems like things have gotten out of hand now.

, Believe me, at this time, the words are not coming; at least as I write to you. Maybe they will come in the next hour or 24 hours or 48 hours, I do not know. I will keep following events closely, reading and thinking. As soon as I have something to say, I will write.

But thanks much for investing so much expectation in me.

Regards

Do I now have the right words to say? Not at all. Have my discordant thoughts metamorphosed into a coherent and seamless whole, such that placing my hands on the keyboard will fill the blank MS Word pages with sweet blackness? I am not of that view.

My heart remains heavier than my mind. I was raised not to speak when angry. I have carried into adulthood, Mum’s gentle reprimands that usually followed my childhood and early adolescent tantrums. Her deeply imprinted words to wait for the anger to subside before uttering a word are ever in my heart. For oftentimes, words spoken in heated haste are deeply regretted in calmed thinking.

My heart has been filled with anger since this debate on the removal of fuel subsidy started, yet again, under the current leadership. The kind of anger doctors warn against. I have waited for the anger to abate, I have tried all known palliation. But each time I read the news, my heart gets heavier and my mind gets lighter. My mind gets lighter not because my reasoning abilities are being cleared and redirected to saner thoughts, but lighter, as in light headedness. I become sort of hare brained by the day, thinking about Nigeria.

I hold in front of me, the words of Spinoza the great Dutch philospher who said “ I have laboured carefully, not to mock, lament, or execrate human actions, but to understand them.” Putting it more succintly in another piece he said “ I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them.” I have been engaged in a battle against my intellectual side. I have tried not to deride, not to derogate, not to belittle the actions of Goodluck Jonathan, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Mallam Sanusi and the rest of those currently holding Nigerians hostage. But the more I seek to work my mind around to understand their actions and utterances, the lighter my mind becomes until I now fear possessing the light headedness of a lunatic.




President Jonathan, it does not make sense. It will not make sense. Not now. What is happening is beyond N65, and it is not necessarily about your recent utterances. It is about the seat you inherited and currently represent. It is about the oppression that has characterized governance in Nigeria for the past 50 years and counting. My mother talks of the Independent celebrations that usually equalled Christmas day festivities in the 1960s. The joy of the masses at being free from colonial rule. The hope invested in Nigerian leaders. She would pause to hiss and say “mana agha emebisigo ife nine” meaning “the war has spoilt everything.” But still she would go on to tell encouraging stories of life after the war. She would tell of how interesting The New Masquerade drama series were, and how people would enter the house of strangers to watch the show. If you were walking on the street and it was time for Zebrudaya to show, you simply would stop at the next house that boasts of a television set and avail yourself of 30 minutes of laughter. And then she would say “mana uwa a di atozi uto” the world is no longer sweet.

Based on Mom’s utterances, I grew up worried that I was headed for a very horrible existence. Little did I know that my worries were little compared to what was coming. My mind has never conceived of the evil that will befall my generation in the present day Nigeria. Of the hardship that will stare me in the face everyday. Of the fact that the fear of kidnapping has robbed me of my most cherished annual vacation in my village home. That being Christian and Igbo, I can no longer freely visit my Muslim Hausa friends in the beautiful landscape of Northern Nigeria. That I am one of privileged minority if I have a job that pays my transport, feeding and other miscellaneous allowances. That I must glance around me all the time for fear of being robbed by frustrated young men and increasingly, young women. I never thought that at this stage in the history of my great country, corruption will still be the order of the day, and that when exposed, it will be treated with indifference by the authorities.

It is far beyond the price of a loaf of bread, Mr. President. It is not about N65. It is far deeper, far broader and far higher than light blue, red and peach coloroured bank notes. Yet, it is simple. It is uncomplicated. It is not at all complex. It is about respecting the human beings who populate the geographical entity called Nigeria. It is about seeing them for who they are; hard working people who want the best out of themselves, for themselves and for their community. Respecting the spirit of this exceptionally brilliant caste of Africans who have shrugged off decades of insults and theiving, believing that if they just worked harder, things would be alright. It is about doing right to a people who have since taken their destiny in their own hands by erroneously hoping that if they ignored the government, the government would leave them alone to attend their businesses. But government after goverment have robbed, killed, maimed, cheated and lied to this great but gentle people. Outsiders have laughed at them and called them stupid. Stupid you must be, the foreigners say. For how else could you tolerate all the things we read about being perpetuated against you by your leaders.

Mr. President, you came in at a strategic time and you had the right opportunity to set things right. The wearied Nigerians voted for change, like the Americans did with

Barack Obama. Far more people voted in the election that brought you than ever recorded in the recent history of Nigeria. People came out en-masse to seek change. You should have realized that was the first sign of what is going on right now. That it will never be business as usual with Nigerians. No. Never. A knowledge and understanding of changing times often make for adequate response, but you seem to be a little slow in reading the national mood.

Perhaps you mean well, but you are being misadvised, Mr. President. These are not times to put your feeble foot down on a people who are down already. It is time to lend them a hand to arise and build with them. It is not the time to talk to these overly oppressed and ready to implode people. It is time to talk with them; human being to human being. The blood of the faithful departed in the past five days will haunt your administration. They cannot die in vain.

By drawing the battle line, you spoke the exact same words uttered by Otto Von Bismarck who said that great issues of his day will not be settled by public opinion and parliamentary debates, but by iron and blood. World Wars I and II were the results of his utterances.

Chika blogs at www.chikaforafrica.



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