₦airaland Forum

Lazy man!
Since fashola left, Lagos has gone into suspended animation!
All noise and no movement !
The feeling of good governance has almost disappeared!
The money that was meant for roads and other physical infrastructure, you are saving to steal later?

Even, if she escape the court in UK and nigeria, she wil not escape the court of God and the people!

Who wants to kill him when he is already rendered inconsequential?
Let him stop shouting conspiracy and stop running from his shadows!
If the story is true , his engineer should be quizzed, maybe he is owing them salary!

Definitely more of sinners than saints!

Spactacle:
and here we go again..
Saraki,what have you done?..

The wickedness of man even makes the devil to shout,
Blood of Jisos!

No amount of perfume will turn a pieces of shiit to rose!
No award, image laundering or detergent will stop kashamu's date with justice!

Height of stupidity
Bundling bomb suspects into their vehicles.
If the bombs are on them?
That's it !
Kaboom!

What does she need these kind of money for when she is quarter to?

UK!
Please do the needful!

ArodewilliamsT:
This revelations raises more and more questions. Did MTN pay the bribes to powerful people in government? How did they manage to hang on?
He mentioned Lagos and Delta, Who was the governor then in lagos? Why is he walking free while Ibori is in gaol?
There were allegations that MTN paid a certain percentage 'kickbacks' to the President (OBJ) on *1* to stay afloat, why was it swept under the carpet?
The halliburton scandal also comes to mind, OBJ the then president was implicated there as taking kickbacks, why is he not standing trials?

questions, question and more questions.

There are no saints!
The whole nigerian state rests on the foundation of corruption and kickbacks!

It is an institution in Nigeria!
No one is clean!

Strive Masiyiwa
Afterthought 1

So many of you have shared stories and concerns about systemic corruption in your own countries. I've read them all. You’ve also asked what can be done to stop it. First, in your spirit, you must reflect and discern - is this action wrong or is it right? If you have to ask yourself, it often means you already know something is wrong. Do not ask yourself, "Does the end justify the means?" For a Christian, that is the wrong question. As I said in the opening post on this subject, CORRUPTION is

Only God knows what MTN is doing to remain relevant in nigeria?

All the articles in this thread:

https://www.nairaland.com/2612215/lesson-all-nigerians-corruption-kills

Make I bookmark

Another masturbatory article for the wailers!
Unfortunately for you lot,
You have four years to wail to your heart content, and by then the country would have made the needed progress!

Make I note this!

Strive Masiyiwa
Spiritual Reflection
I could easily have agreed to pay the bribes and I would have remained in the company earning millions every year. My shares could have increased and I would have earned billions. It was all there for me. All I needed to do was to accept that the payments be made. After all, the money was not coming from my own pocket I also knew the price I and my company would have to pay:

-Lucrative contracts would be lost.
-Our reputation and prestige would be affected as these people would tell lies about the reasons we had to leave. They had powerful friends everywhere including some of the press;
-Many people would lose their jobs.
-My company could collapse.
-I faced personal danger.

Knowing all that, I still said NO!
In Matthew chapter 4, Satan says to Jesus, "If you bow down to me, I will give you all the kingdoms on earth and their wealth."
Those who engage in corruption ( or ignore it) have bowed down to Satan. Whenever I see someone who is corrupt, or chooses to be quiet about it, all I see is someone groveling at the feet of Satan.
Let's be the generation that fights corruption... and ends it! Will you join me?

PassingShot:
This is the part for me and it is what we all need to understand.

Those who stand to defend Sarakis, Diezanis, IBBs and other who have caused untold hardship to the common man are as guilty as those looters.

Until we all rise up to fight corruption, I see no real development in this generation.

Confused bunch!

Where is Shekau?

This latest expose is a condemnation of corruption in nigeria!
I pray that Ibori character rot away and never released from jail!

I have always been wondering why Econet became stagnant and was changing names like a chameleon while mtn and the others took off?

It’s time to play by a different (ethical) set of rules (Part 7) Nigeria 1 of 5

___Sometimes the price can be very high in the fight against corruption.

I had the privilege of making Nigeria’s first GSM phone call back in 2001 when I called the regulator to say, “We’re live!” Who would’ve believed then that Nigeria today would have more than 167 million mobile phones?!

It all started out as a very exciting new chapter for enterprise in Africa. Shortly after President Obasanjo was elected, the new government announced an incredibly transparent international auction process for three national mobile phone licenses.

To participate in the bid, you not only had to raise money, but there had to be a member of the bidding consortium who was an experienced GSM operator. Econet Wireless met the requirements because of its experience in Zimbabwe and Botswana. Our Nigerian partners, which included state governments, local banks and high net worth individuals, were financial investors. The largest shareholder had only 10%. That was the written agreement.

I managed to assemble a consortium of 22 investors to put up the money needed to bid. Our shareholders were all Nigerian, mostly institutional investors including leading banks and two state governments, Lagos State and Delta State. The license cost us $285m and was the most expensive license ever issued in Africa at the time. This was 2001.

We considered the investment not only about putting together a network, but also about building a nation. We knew it had the potential to transform Nigeria’s entire business and social architecture.

Most of our investors had between 1-10% shareholding. Econet Wireless Nigeria had only 5% of the shares, but that was fine because it was 5% ownership of a very big pie.

As the "technical partner and operator," Econet was the company with the expertise to build and operate such a business. Our financial investors recognised this, and also allowed us to receive 3% of the turnover as our fees. This was standard practice in the industry.

We were one of the winning bidders and they gave us just six months to set up business and get our network operating. We were under a lot of pressure but our network was live two days before the others! Customers were pouring in. We were number one in the market with an estimated 57% market share.

___Then came the fateful day when I was told that our company must pay a total of $9m in bribes to senior politicians (in state government) who had facilitated the raising of the money to pay for the license.

I refused to authorise the illegal payments. Meeting after meeting was held to try to get me to agree, but I would not. The money would not be paid as long as Econet was the operator and I had signing authority.

James Ibori, the Governor of Delta State, was demanding $4,5m be paid to him in his personal capacity. He was one of the most powerful men in the country and had a reputation for violence. When he heard that I was refusing to approve payment he issued an ultimatum:

___"Pay or I will chase you and your people out of the country."

I refused.

The shareholders met and voted Econet Wireless Nigeria out of management. They cancelled our management contract. James Ibori and his colleagues personally attended the meeting to remove us. After the meeting one of them (a prominent local businessman even today) came up to me and said: "Unfortunately for you, God does not have a vote."

I had to withdraw all my staff and their families: 200 people in all. We left Nigeria.

Most of our people had to be retrenched. The loss of the contract almost drove us to bankruptcy as a group.

They invited a big international operator to replace us as technical partner and operator. They changed the name of the company from Econet to V-Mobile.

Within days of their arrival, the managers of the new operator signed off the payments demanded as bribes.

Then what happened?

A few noble Nigerians had both the integrity and courage to carefully collect all the documentation on the movement of the money, and pass it all on to me.

___There’s a saying worth remembering in uncovering the trail of destruction that is corruption: “Follow the money”…

I bided my time... then I wrote a letter to the United States Department of Justice!

It was 2003.

To be continued…

Is this a joke?

With these kind of lawyers?
The case will be thrown out of court!

Some people never learn!
You all should realise that the Internet is not a beer parlor!
Some things you write can get you, your family or even your tribe into trouble!
The whole country is on edge and some people are looking for scape goats!
Don't be the tinder box that will set everything on fire!

I think PMB has just outsourced the corruption fight to both Britain and the US

Danlami Saad,
Writes:
Plesae i want you to write about your experience in nigeria because i was at a time following your case at the court but stop and i was later told that you have won your case.

My reply:
I always save the best to last Danlami.
Nigeria is next. I have 4 posts on the Nigerian saga. We fought legal battles in courts in 4 different countries at the same time:
Nigeria, South Africa, UK, and Netherlands.
We also had international arbitration in 3 different international jurisdictions: London, The Hague, Denmark, and Nigeria.
WE PREVAILED!
-six people including a Governor (James Ibori) were jailed.
-Nigerian courts ruled in our favor all the way to the Appeals courts. Producing world class judgements.
- we received record compensations.
- our shares were given back by the courts, and we remain a shareholder to this day.
"We can do nothing against the truth but for the truth."

Afterthought 4.
No citizen of a country should feel he or she has the power to threaten other people in the manner I was threatened at the time. I don't think even the Head of State of a modern, law-abiding country makes threats to throw people out of a country without due process of the law. When that guy said he was going to get us thrown out of Kenya, I was ready for a battle all to the way to the Constitutional Courts. After I took a stand, so many Kenyans called me to show their support even at very high levels in the government.

Afterthought 3.
The speed with which the Kenyan courts acted was amazing. The judge had excellent training in commercial contracts and disputes. This is how it should be.

Knowing how real investment decisions are made in big companies, it does not surprise me that some of the largest investments that are not resource industries are increasingly being made in Kenya.

Afterthought 2.
Crises like this one are part and parcel of business. Whether they are big or small, the key is always to take them in your stride. Don't panic or flap about. And don't be intimidated because someone holds a powerful position or has powerful relatives.

Afterthought 1.
As an entrepreneur, you must always know your legal position in a dispute. Where possible, try and negotiate, only going to court as a last resort. But even as you negotiate, always ensure you have a full understanding of the legal position.