₦airaland Forum

chile get some serious gunz for front men.

naija no score - @mukina2 - make you no dey play like dat when naija dey play serious game at all at all.

any scores yet?

be like say she dey manya for where she dey.

@mukina2

hope ya heart is still intact after last season. you guys better bring in a quality striker to replace thiery asap!

@mukina2;

please don't come here with ya bad luck man; i really don't think you are from the gambia anyway, you sound like a naija hoping naija wins but too tense to put hope on naija 'cause you don't want to be heartbroken like naija vs italy in usa '94 or naija vs denmark in france '98.

hope so too;

any scores yet?

arrest whoever they want to arrest - naija will not be well until people like odili and our so-called leaders who became millonaires overnight are all arrested and tried in our courts, and locked up forever. we are also not disciplined and need to check that as well.

This is an excerpt from Nigeria Village Square re US as a people:

Imagine a leader of a nation, leader of a State, or a leader of people’s representatives waking up one blessed morning to steal the money necessary to govern, lead, or if you permit, rule his people but decides to simply steal the money and make himself richer than the state and he does not feel guilty. Furthermore, this leader, aside from stealing, decides to transfer the funds to a developed world to buy a mansion he does not leave in for more than a week in a year, pays for lawn service, home owner’s association, pays taxes, etc., and you try to convince any sane person that this is not sign of insanity. On the contrary, do we know of any leader of a world that looted his nation’s treasury and brought his loot to Nigeria to develop Nigeria or even Africa? Never, if I may say. As if this is not enough, these so called leaders bring expatriates to rape and pillage our nation’s resources. I assure you that even the guy in “one flew over coocoo’s nest” would agree with my assertion here.

Big B1 you have a point that some others might not agree with. I personally will not be surprised if this whole thing is just for show. Those who will have a say in the fate of these criminals are all corrupt anyway; Ribadu might not be corrupt but i bet you 3/4 of The EFCC is. Good luck to US. I hope 1 day another Buhari/Idiagbon minded politicians will man the throne of OUR country and do a thorough cleansing of our society.

bush meat pepper soup/
okra soup with fresh fish str8 from river/pepper and garri/
okazi soup/bush meat or goat meat with pounded yam - the best man chop na for lagos benin road - 1 of those restaurants for road side there - tasty/
smoked fresh fish with smoked ripe plantain - ph 4 life man; i can't wait to get home this december

man pikin don work every where for this yankee men; my fellow naija people, if you no get liver to do anything to survive, stay for naija or else you go kolo. some of our people dey drive ice cream truck, 1 of them ic cream truck got blown up by akata people for chicago a while back. but all in all you got to be strong and kep hope alive, you go eventually make am. my 1st job na for japanese restaurant - shogun - i lasted 2 days. life is good now though, after being so patient.

1 by 1 they will all come to pass; abacha thought he would live for ever, but he is gone for good without our money he stole. his retarded behind probably thought he would be buried with half of that loot; he is probably in hell trying to bribe his way into getting an a/c installed in his little hell corner; the others will all come to pass as well, they know themselves!!!

south south for real - especially DONATUS and they need to shut down that ARIK air or Rivers State should take ownership of it because that na our money be dat.

the are supoposed to be men not boys. they are not under 17 but under 20, .

i sure hope they are getting lashed with dry nnama tail(koboko).

which day will these people arrest DONATUS - Peter Odili - Rivers people cannot wait man.

Like some naija idiots go talk - God gives power, ode na him all of them be. People put others in power not God. They keep on recycling themselves and we all act like everything is Ok. How many Nigerians has any of these bastards helped. I SAY LET'S ROB THEM!!!

all of you here just mouthing off need to cut it! you have no clue at all of the situation in the states that make up the niger delta. yes our state government get larger share of the wealth - and it just so happened that the governors and other state officials are looting as well and even going as far as financing some of these militants. their reason for lotting very simple - by right where should the richest group of people come from in our country? i beleive from the delta, right where the black gold is located; i don't think states like niger state - ibb and co can account for any of our wealth, and i don't think any of the other states that nigerian billionares in pounds hail from are in the south at all but they all got rich by stealing the proceeds from our God given land. compared to ibb, alams has no money or better yet ibb himself and people like dangote, obj, mark, e.t.c are richer than everyone in the niger delta. you guys are just here mouthing off because you don't have to deal with these issues daily, your behinds probably live in states there were built with oil money and your parents or some relative of yours is highly benefitting from the oil windfall as well. i wonder how you guys will manage as a country of your own if the country were to splitt into 4 places, i am very sure you will all want to move to the delta to survive you idiots. fyi - my village - 26 oil wells - no hospital or even a clinic, no roads, still have dirt roads - no light at all. peep that and let me know how you would feel if you hailed from my village.

we are backwards, same recycled people; solution - start eliminating these so -called ruling elite; i thought we had the highest # of educated blacks on earth? we all need to act collectively or else these idiot politicians will keep taking us for a ride; we suffer constantly trying to make it while their kids are constantly joy riding on our foreign treasure as if they own our country; kill them all 1 by 1.

make well all join hands begin kill all these politicians; from ibb to obj, all the past governors besides duke and yar. dem dey deprive us of our freedom; all this talk talk no go do anything; the same people just dey recycle themselves, their whole family dey live abroad; their children wey dey here dey make noise about their popsie wealth( all stolen wad), none of them don work for 1 dey of their lives; never paid any bills with their hard earned money; like i said, kill dem off clean up our country; me i don tire for how oyibo man dey treat us for their land, no be even oibo only even others too - AFRICAN na him dem go call you if them no sabi ya name; i have no problem with being an african, thats who i am and will always be but i get name. i just tire man, and if all these petty thieves no dey steal all our money and dem use our money wisely, we no go dey the situation we dey now. NOTHING GO HAPPEN FOR NAIJA UNTIL WE THE PEOPLE SAY ENUF IS ENUF.

some of us go talk say na God put them there to rule; naija people too fear man; this kind thing happen for somewhere like Haiti, those people go burn their leaders alive if their leaders begin thief thief all the money like our own leaders; all of us dey fear, and na so these people dey ruin our future and that of generations unborn as well.

the boys try well well; ideye na skilla, the guy almost score 3 goals. na god save those costa ricans. the real test na japan and the boys no go disappoint at all, them get the necessary speed to match those japs toe to toe. infact them need to sack the entire super eagles squad roll these guys over to super eagles after the tournament and get them up to training speed for the nations cup. them fit handle any of those teams for the entire continent. the only change them need na to add jmo and siasia replace dat oyibo man wey no wan live for naija but wan make naija dey pay am; chei we no go eva change man;

The hoopla generated by Ms. Chioma Anasoh's money laundering case might have led to fresh troubles for the Nigerian Customs Service, as they were said to have destroyed records associated with the six-hour detention of Chief Femi Fani-Kayode's girlfriend and special asistant, Chioma Anasoh who was caught on June 27th 2007 with $240,000 said to be cash belonging to the former minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode.
Shortly after arresting her as she got on the plane to travel on a British Airways flight to London from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode intervened to get her off the hook leaving the customs officials to take the larger chunk of the money if they agree to destroy the evidence of her arrest and subsequent detention.A source told Saharareporters that the custom officials took a big bribe and destroyed the case file on her claiming the amount found on her was legally permissible without stating how much it was.

The report had earlier been broken by Saharareporters as soon as it happened, it was reported that Chioma Anasoh was traveling with Folake St. Matthew -Daniels who was Femi Fani-Kayode's appointee to the legal department of the National Airspace Management Authority (NAMA)-also involved in laundering money for Femi Fani-Kayode.Chioma Anasoh and Folake St. Matthew -Daniels were escorted into the British Airways flight by close aides to the former minister at the airport and without regular checks conducted by airport security, however, a custom official miffed with the arrangement had insisted that Chioma come down from the aircraft, she was later found with $240,000 and arrested by customs.

Giving a spin to her ordeal, Chioma Anansoh wrote a rejoinder about our story with gave a clear insight to have the events were manipulated to get her off the hook, cleverly avoiding telling the real truth but nonetheless admitting to the story, she stated inter alia "“I wish to state categorically and clearly that there is no iota of truth in the suggestion that I or Mrs. Folake St. Mathew Daniel who I was traveling with was nabbed by operatives of EFCC (Custom) with ($240,000) in our possession. It is also untrue that we were asked to report to EFCC later.”

She continued “On the morning of June 27, 2007 I went to the airport to travel to United Kingdom. I went through the normal processes at the airport but unfortunately because I was not given a currency declaration form to fill, I forgot to do so. Once I boarded the plane, a message was sent to me that because I did not fill the currency declaration form that I should come down and do so. I gladly complied with this but unfortunately for me while I was in the process of filling the form in the company of a custom officer, they told me that the plane could not wait for me and it had to leave. Consequently, I missed my flight.”

According to Ms. Anasoh, “after filling the form, the custom officer duly certified it and the custom officer can confirm the fact that the amount of money (she refuses to state how much) with me was firmly within the lawful limit. Having been certified that the forms were dully filled and that I have done nothing illegal or questionable,the custom officer apologized to me for having to miss my flight and he advised me to take the flight the following morning which I did.”

Femi Fani-Kayode, according to his handlers is being considered for a ministerial position by the illegitimate government of Umar Musa Yar'adua. After saharareporters broke the story, he invited our reporters to a private meeting in Abuja, Nigeria promising to fly our team to Nigeria from New York, an offer we declined, his people had insisted that they have taken care of the local media in order to kill the story and might have succeeded, but Saharareporters will continue to follow the story until Fani-kayode and his co-money launders are brought to book.

saharareporters.com

i am nto surprised at the kidnapping at all, the so-called law makers do nothing but plan how much they are going to steal and how much each 1 of them gets. kidnap them all but plz do not hurt the kids.

Shawn Hattingh (2007-06-28)

South Africa has played an intimate role in the recent Nigerian
elections. Despite what the ANC government claims, South Africa's
foreign policy towards Africa is not based on Pan-Africanism or
anti-imperialism; it is rather based on promoting South Africa's
expanding business interests on the continent. In reality, the South
African state's interests, in both the domestic and African arena,
have become fused with those South Africa's capitalist elite. The
ruling party in Nigeria has served the South African capital and the
state's interests well. It has facilitated the process whereby South
Africa has become a major economic player in Nigeria in only 8 years,
writes Shawn Hattingh.


From the very start, the recent Nigerian elections, which saw Olusegun
Obasanjo placing his hand picked successor, Umaru Yar' Adua, into the
Presidential palace, were mired in controversy. The ballot papers for
the election, which were printed in South Africa, contained no counter
foils or serial numbers – features which would have made vote rigging
difficult. In fact, only 40 million ballot papers were even printed;
this for an election where over 65 million people had registered to
vote [1]. To make matters worse, only 30% of these ballot papers were
ever sent to Nigeria; the rest remained lying in a warehouse in
Johannesburg on day of the elections [2]. Of the ballot papers that
were sent to Nigeria, most were rushed off to areas that were and are
strongholds of Obasanjo's and Yar' Adua's ruling party, the People's
Democratic Party. In contrast, areas where there was strong opposition
to the government, such as the Niger Delta, did not receive enough
ballot papers. On the day of the election, independent observers noted
that vote rigging and fraud were rife. Yar' Adua supporters were even
seen stuffing fraudulent ballot papers into ballot boxes at voter
stations across the county [3]. Intimidation of opposition supporters
was also widespread. In fact, over 200 people, mainly members of the
opposition parties, were murdered in the run up to the elections [4].
This situation that led most independent observers to declare the
elections deeply flawed.

The South African government, however, had a very different view of
the elections. Spearheaded by Thabo Mbeki, it came out and said the
elections had been free and fair. Indeed, South Africa was the first
country to congratulate and offer support to the ruling party's
candidate, Yar' Adua, on `winning' the elections [5]. Immediately
following this, he was invited to Tshwane to have a personal
congratulatory meeting with Thabo Mbeki. The question is: why would
the South African government fall over itself to congratulate Yar'
Adua on `winning' an election that was so clearly rigged? The answer
to this question lies in South Africa's policy towards Africa, in the
form of New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), the
relationship that it has with the ruling party in Nigeria, and the
expansionist agenda that South African corporations and parastatals
have in Nigeria.

South Africa's policy towards Africa: neo-liberalism and NEPAD

Despite what the ANC government claims, South Africa's foreign policy
towards Africa is not based on Pan-Africanism or anti-imperialism; it
is rather based on promoting South Africa's expanding business
interests on the continent. In reality, the South African state's
interests, in both the domestic and African arena, have become fused
with those South Africa's capitalist elite.

In Africa, South Africa has used it hegemonic position, based on
leadership by consent and at times coercion, to develop a neo-liberal
policy – NEPAD - for the entire continent. The close relationship that
exists between the South African state and South African capital is
the main reason why NEPAD emerged [6]. Representatives of South
Africa's capitalist class, along with other neo-liberal government
advisors, played a central role in developing NEPAD. In true hegemonic
fashion, however, South Africa also brought junior partners on board,
such as ex-president Obasanjo of Nigeria, so that it could pass its
own initiative off as an African initiative.

Nonetheless, South Africa's control over NEPAD is underpinned by the
fact that NEPAD's headquarters are situated in South Africa. It is
also no mere coincidence that Thabo Mbeki's main economic advisor,
Professor Wisemen Nkuhlu, is the executive head of NEPAD.

NEPAD itself is based on some of the classic pillars of neo-liberal
economic fundamentalism. It views the private sector as the main
driving force of the African economy. As such, NEPAD states that all
barriers to companies making profits in African countries, such as
Nigeria, should be removed. It explicitly promotes the development of
the private sector; privatisation; free trade; financial
liberalisation; labour flexibility; and foreign direct investment in
Africa [7]. Indeed, NEPAD states that foreign direct investment is its
most important pillar. Considering that South African corporations and
parastatals are already responsible for the vast majority of foreign
direct investment in Africa, it is very clear who stands to benefit.
In fact, all of NEPAD's neo-liberal pillars are creating a climate
that facilitates the expansion and profiteering of South African
companies in Africa. The reality is that NEPAD aims to further
entrench the neo-liberal policies that the IMF and World Bank imposed
on Africa, only this time the South African government hopes it will
be to the advantage of South African multinationals [8]. Wisemen
Nkuhlu stated as much in 2003, when he said:

"South Africa's self interest in the socio-economic development of the
continent is well understood by business. South Africa needs markets
for her products and access to raw materials that are not produced in
South Africa. Countries like Angola, the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Equatorial Guinea and many other countries have resources that
are of economic interest to South Africa…. Supporting and sponsoring
NEPAD, places South Africa in a strong position to become the
preferred development partner by a number of African countries"[9] .

The South African state has not only opened up Nigeria's economy to
South African investments and exports through NEPAD, it has also done
so through bi-lateral agreements and a Bi-national Commission.

South Africa's bi-lateral interventions in Nigeria

Prior to 1999, South Africa had a poor political relationship with
Nigeria. At the time, Nigeria was ruled by a military junta that was
politically hostile towards South Africa. This, however, dramatically
changed with the end of the military government and the election of
the People's Democratic Party's leader, Obasanjo, as the Nigerian
president in 1999. From that point on, the South African state built a
strong, but unequal relationship with the People's Democratic Party
government under the leadership of Obasanjo and Yar' Adua. This
relationship was also helped by the fact that Thabo Mbeki had formed a
strong friendship with Obasanjo and Yar' Adua when he was in exile in
Nigeria from 1976 to 1979 [10].

In 1999, the South African and Nigerian governments signed bi-lateral
agreements on trade and investment. These agreements, amongst other
things, aimed to increase the amount of trade and investments between
South Africa and Nigeria [11]. Along with this, the agreement on
investments specifically protected South African companies'
investments in Nigeria, which included protection from any possible
future nationalisation [12]. Indeed, the agreement on investments was
highly favourable for prospective South African investors in Nigeria.
Added to this, the two governments also signed an agreement on
eradicating double taxation. This meant that South African companies
that paid tax in Nigeria would not have to pay tax again on profits
that were, and are, repatriated to South Africa [13]. Such measures
were aimed at increasing the attractiveness of Nigeria for South
African investors.

In October 1999, a South Africa-Nigeria Bi-National Commission was
also established by the South African and Nigerian governments. The
Bi-National Commission has been meeting twice a year ever since, and
aims to increase the amount of trade and investment between South
Africa and Nigeria. The Deputy Presidents of South Africa and Nigeria
head up the commission. Representatives from all government
departments attend the meetings along with top South African business
people. At the meetings, trade and investment opportunities in Nigeria
are identified and plans are put in place so that they can be
realised. In this way, many deals that have proved very lucrative for
South African companies and parastatals have been facilitated through
the Bi-National Commission.

The South Africa-Nigeria Chamber of Commerce also arose out of the
Bi-National Commission. Some of the largest South African companies
that have investments in Nigeria are members of the Chamber, such as
MTN, Standard Bank, First Rand, Imperial, Johncom, Massmart, Nampak
and Sun International [14]. The main goal of the South
African-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce is to identify investment
opportunities in Nigeria for South African corporations [15]. Added to
this, the South African-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce also provides
information on Nigerian government policies and how to do business in
Nigeria. It also conducts market research for South African companies
wanting to invest Nigeria. The Chamber receives strong support from the

South African government. On many occasions the President, Deputy
President and other government officials have addressed and offered
support to members of the Chamber. Linked to this, the Department of
Trade and Industry (DTI) launched the South African-Nigeria Business
Investment Forum to assist South African companies wanting to invest
in Nigeria [16].

The South African High Commission in Nigeria also provides massive
assistance to South African companies investing, or wishing to invest
in Nigeria. In fact, it works closely with the South Africa-Nigeria
Chamber of Commerce and the DTI to further South African business
interests in Nigeria. It also provides various services to prospective
South African investors in Nigeria, including providing contacts and
information on Nigeria's business climate.

All of the above measures have been extremely valuable in furthering
South Africa's business interests in Nigeria. Indeed, the South
African state has used its diplomatic power and the relationship that
it has with the Nigerian government to assist South African
corporations and parastatals to become big players in the Nigerian
economy.

South African corporations and parastatals have become big players in
Nigeria

Prior to 1999, there were only 4 South African companies operating in
Nigeria [17]. This situation has dramatically changed with the
assistance of the South African state, and the signing of bi-lateral
agreements and the establishment of a Bi-National Commission. Today
there are now over 100 South African companies doing business in
Nigeria [18]. Within a mere 8 years, South African companies have
become major players in almost every sector of Nigerian economy.

The biggest investment by South African companies in Nigeria has been
in the telecommunications sector. In 2001, MTN was awarded a license
by the Nigerian government to operate a cell phone network in the
country. In return, MTN had to pay licensing fees of over US $ 285
million. Added to this, MTN has spent a further US $ 1 billion on
setting up its operations in Nigeria [19]. Currently, MTN is the
largest cellular network company in Nigeria and has over 10 million
subscribers [20]. This has seen MTN making massive profits in the
country. In 2004 alone, MTN recorded an after tax profit of over R 2.4
billion in Nigeria [21]. Such profits have led other South African
telecommunications companies to also set up shop in Nigeria in a bid
to get a piece of the very lucrative pie. This year, Telkom announced
that it was buying Multilinks, which operates a wireless network in
Nigeria, for US $ 200 million [22].

South African companies have also become dominant in Nigeria's
construction sector. Entech, a Stellenbosch based engineering company,
headed a consortium of South African companies that were awarded a
tender worth R 2.1 billion from the Lagos State government to
redevelop the Bar Beach and Victoria Island area outside of Lagos. The
idea is to turn the area into a complex akin to the V&A Waterfront
[23]. Another South African construction firm, Group Five, was awarded
a R 585 million deal to build a power station in Nigeria for the Ibom
Power company [24].

Many large South African companies have also invaded the tourism and
leisure sector in Nigeria. Under NEPAD, the South African parastatal,
the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) has become one of the
largest investors in Nigeria's tourist sector. To date it has invested
over US $ 1.4 billion in tourism and telecommunications ventures in
Nigeria [25]. Another major player in the tourism sector is the South
African company Bidvest. Through its subsidiary, Tourvest, it has
purchased one of the biggest tourism companies in Nigeria, Touchdown
Travel. The biggest development in the Nigerian tourism sector,
however, is the massive Tinapa Project in the Cross River State. This
project falls under the auspices of NEPAD and has the full backing of
the South African and Nigerian governments. The project entails the
construction of a massive entertainment complex, consisting of 4
shopping centres, 5 bulk warehouses, 4 hotels, and a casino, and is
set to cost over US $ 300 million [26]. The major stakeholders in this
development are South African companies, such as the Standard Bank,
Tsogo Sun, Broll, Johncom and Southern Sun. Indeed, the centre pieces
of this development will be a 300 room hotel owned by Southern Sun and
a casino owned by Tsogo Sun. Another South African company, Broll,
will be the leasing agents of the complex. The South African state has
provided direct assistance to these companies so that they can carry
out this project. Indeed, the state owned IDC has provided finance,
and has underwritten these companies' investments in this project.

In the Nigerian retail sector, South African companies also loom
large. Massmart and Shoprite have opened a number of stores in
Nigeria. Added to this, Johncom has established a number of stores
selling books, CDs and DVDs in Nigeria [27]. A number of South African
companies have also entered into the fast food business, including
Famous Brands, St Elmo's and Nandos. In fact, South African companies
control almost 50% of the international fast food franchising industry
in Nigeria, and have out competed companies from both the European
Union and the United States. Considering that the fast food industry
in Nigeria is worth over US $ 2.5 billion a year, this control over
the fast food franchising business in Nigeria has meant that South
African companies have made super profits 28]. The South African
property management group, Broll, has also landed a deal to manage 594
retail fuel stations across Nigeria [29]. This deal too is worth
millions of dollars.

South African companies are also heavily involved in Nigeria's media
and entertainment sector. DSTV is a major force in the television
industry and accounts for 90% of the viewers that watch satellite TV
in Nigeria [30]. This has seen DSTV growing into the sixth largest
company listed on the Lagos Stock Exchange. Johncom has also eagerly
entered into the Nigerian entertainment sector. It has established
cinema complexes throughout Nigeria. One of these cinema complexes, in
Lagos, cost US $ 40 million dollars to develop [31]. Along with this,
Johncom has purchased one of the largest daily newspapers in Nigeria,
Business Day [32]. South Africa's parastatals have also ventured into
the entertainment industry. For example, Arivia.com was provided with
a contract worth R 140 million by the Nigerian government to assist
with the running of that country's lottery.

Since adopting NEPAD, the Nigerian state has been accelerating the
privatisation process in the country. South African parastatals have
been one of the major beneficiaries of this process. Indeed, through
its parastatals, the South African state has become directly involved
in accumulating capital in Nigeria. For example, as part of the move
towards privatisation, the Nigerian government provided Umgeni Water
with R 350 million contract to manage Port Harcourt's water services
for 3 years. At the moment, this contract could possibly be extended
to 20 years [33]. If it is extended, it would be a massive
money-spinner for Umgeni Water and the South African state.

As part of the privatisation of the energy sector, the Nigerian
government allowed the state owned ESKOM to buy a 51% stake in the
Nigerian Electric Power Authority (NEPA). With this, ESKOM received
contracts worth US $ 165 million from the Nigerian government. Eskom
has also entered into a partnership with Shell in Nigeria to upgrade
and operate gas powered power stations. The Nigerian government has
granted Eskom and Shell a US $ 540 million contract to operate power
stations in Port Harcourt [34]. It is very interesting that ESKOM, a
company owned by the South African state, wished to enter into a
partnership with Shell considering Shell's appalling human rights and
environmental record in Nigeria. Indeed, Shell has destroyed the
environment of the Niger Delta and has been directly responsible for
over 3 000 oil spills in that area since 1976. Added to this, Shell,
along with the Nigerian government, has been implicated in the murder
of over 2 000 activists in the Niger Delta since the 1980s [35].
Clearly, the South African government and ESKOM are not interested in
this; what they are interested in, however, is profit.

Prior to 1999, the Nigerian government awarded all of the oil
concessions in the country to companies from the United States, the
United Kingdom, France and Italy. As a result, companies from the
Northern imperial powers dominated Nigeria's oil sector. After 1999,
this situation began to change, in part because of the close
relationship that the new Nigerian government had, and has, with the
South African government. Companies from the Northern imperial powers,
although still dominant, no longer have a complete monopoly over the
oil concessions in Nigeria; companies from South Africa, China and
India have also got a piece of the action. One of the first actions of
Obasanjo's government in 1999 was to award the South African state the
right to market 50 000 barrels of Nigerian oil a day. In 2003, Thabo
Mbeki intervened to ensure that this was increased to 120 000 barrels
of oil a day. However, the South African government has selected to
pass on the rights to market this oil to a shadowy company, the South
African Oil Company, which is registered in the Cayman Islands. The
South African Oil Company in the Cayman Islands is 70% owned by a
Nigerian-American businessman, Jakes Lawal. Who owns the other 30%,
however, is a mystery [36]. Indeed, the Cayman Island law system
protects the identity of the shareholders that own the other 30%.
Lawal, however, has close connections with leading ANC figures. In
fact, the Mail and Guardian, reported that rumours have been
circulating that the ANC directly benefited from this deal. Indeed, it
is interesting that the Cayman Island's South African Oil Company also
has a sister company registered in South Africa. It is perhaps no
co-incidence that some of the shareholders in this sister company
happen to be leading ANC figures. These shareholders are:

• Nomusa Mufamadi, wife of Sydney Mufamadi
• Hintsa Siwisa, brother-in-law of the Eastern Cape Premier
• Miles Nzama, leading figure in the ANC Fundraising Trust
• and Brian Casey, a confidant of Penuell Maduna [37]

Other, more genuine South African companies have also enjoyed
receiving oil concessions from the Nigerian government. Ophir Energy,
owned by Tokyo Sexwale's Mvelephanda Resources, has been given the
right to drill for oil in several blocks in Nigeria. This is bound to
add to Ophir's current value of over R 14 billion [38]. The parastatal
PetroSA has also been given the right to drill in a number of oil
blocks. Added to this, PetroSA owns Brass Exploration Unlimited in
Nigeria. Through this company, PetroSA and the South African state
have a 40% interest in the Abana oilfield off the Nigerian coast.
Currently, the Abana oilfield is producing 22 000 barrels of oil a day
[39]. Some South African companies have also entered into partnerships
with well established multinational oil companies operating in
Nigeria. For example, SASOL has entered into a 50/50 partnership with
Chevron to develop a gas to fuel plant at Chevron's Escravos oil
terminal [40]. This plant will cost US $ 1.3 billion and is planned to
come on line this year [41]. It will initially produce 33 000 barrels
of fuel a day, but this will be increased to as much as 120 000
barrels a day over the next 10 years [42]. A number of South African
firms have also become involved in providing services to the oil
multinationals in Nigeria. Most notably, Grinaker established an
oil-rig fabrication yard in Port Harcourt in 2000. It assembles and
services the oil rigs that multinational oil companies use in the
Niger Delta at that facility [43].

The Nigerian people have not benefited from South Africa's expanding
investment

Despite all this investment, the people of Nigeria have not benefited.
This is partly because South African corporations operating in Nigeria
are allowed to repatriate the profits that they make out of Nigeria.
Added to this, many of Nigeria's economic sectors have become
completely foreign owned, which has had negative implications for the
country's sovereignty. The majority of South African corporations also
source most of the products that they use or sell in Nigeria through
South Africa and not locally. This means they operate in an enclave
and do not promote the creation of up stream or down stream industries
in Nigeria. South African companies operating in Nigeria have also
created very few jobs. The jobs that they have created have tended to
be casual. At many South African owned companies in Nigeria, workers
have been denied the right to join trade unions [44]. For example,
despite its massive profits, MTN has only created 500 permanent jobs.
Most of its employees are casual or temporary workers, and it has
denied all of its workers the right to join a trade union [45].

South African companies have also been involved in blatant
profiteering and looting in Nigeria. Indeed, MTN charges the highest
rates in the world for cellular phone calls in Nigeria [46]. Along
with this, some South African companies have implemented heavy handed
tactics to recover revenue owed to them by Nigerian consumers [47]. In
fact, ESKOM/NEPA has hired 10 South African companies to collect the
debt that it was, and is, owed by Nigerian consumers . Some South
African companies have even been involved in, or were complacent in,
human rights abuses in Nigeria. For example, in 2005 there was a
community protest outside of the Escravos oil terminal where Chevron
and SASOL are establishing their gas to fuel plant. Representatives of
these companies at the Escravos oil terminal called in Nigerian
security forces to break up the demonstration. On arrival, the
Nigerian forces opened fire on the crowd, killing one person and
injuring a further 30. Some of the protesters were then severely
beaten with rifle butts and other weapons. Added to this, access to
the healthcare facilities at the Escravos terminal was denied to the
injured protesters. The result was that it took several hours for the
injured protesters to find their way to a hospital [48].

Conclusion

From the above, it is clear that the ruling party in Nigeria has
served the South African capital and the state's interests well. It
has facilitated the process whereby South Africa has become a major
economic player in Nigeria in only 8 years. Indeed, South Africa has
joined the older imperial powers in looting Nigeria's resources and
dominating its economy. It is, therefore, no wonder that the South
African government immediately offered its congratulations to
Obasanjo's hand picked successor, Yar' Adua' directly after the
elections. Indeed, Yar' Adua has vowed to continue with the Obasanjo's
policies, and inevitably this will include serving South Africa's
interests well in Nigeria; even to the detriment of the Nigerian
people. For as long as Yar' Adua carries out policies that favour
South African capital and the state, he can count on the backing of
the Africa's own imperial power, South Africa.

For references, see link below.

* Shawn Hattingh Works for ILRIG in Cape Town

* Please send comments to editor@,  or comment online at
http://www.pambazuka.org/
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odili; odili; donatus; donatus; odili; arik air; hospital in sa; 2 private jets, no airport; odili; donatus; gangsta politician; i seriously wonder how his entire family live with all the injustice - and the guy na cold blooded killa; i hope the people will wake up 1 day and parade all 35 of these govs naked around naija just to set an example to the present 1s.

All the postings about corrupt governors do not even mention Dr Peter Odili, the former governor of Rivers State; people his nickname is Donatus, and I am sure some of you know this very well. This crio owns ARIK AIR, and funded this project with Rivers State wad; Rivers gets the most allocation from the feds and cannot account for what they did with all the monies dating back from 1999 until today; Yes they built a nice government house, bought 2 jets - no airport to land the jets; i guess they have resorted to using the airforce base as an airport; what a shame. even the new govt. house sef, the roads leading up to it are in shambles; ordinary nigerians do not even have constant power supply but the expatriates that work in our country have constant power supply in PH; Dr Peter Odili must be hit with the books soonest; The amount of wad he stole from Rivers people has to be something that will make someone speechless if his former speaker supposedly stole 22 bill naira. My people we need to speak up and all those useless, money wasting billboard photos need to stop as well!!!!!!

No one is talking about IBB or even better yet; the so called Dr Peter odili, alisa Donatus. What did Odili and his friends or colleagues do with Rivers monies from 1999 to 2007; If they supposedly traced 22 billion naira to the former speaker's bank account, only God knows how much Mr Donatus himself carted away; no wonder PH airport does not even have any A/C and still have 1 arrival and 1 departure gate. EFCC na where una dey abi nobody go do anything at all; If not maybe we the people suppose begin kill all these crio them.

Mr president tried, none of the present and past rogue leaders can even declare their networth. Peter Odili (Mr Donatus) for 1 needs to be castrated before getting locked up for the abuse he rendered to the River State treasury; humans like him are 1 of the main reasons Niger Delta is not safe today. Imagine the condition of PH international airport - the place no even better pass wetin i see for raid on Entebbe. Huge billboards of him picture full everywhere you go for PH like say Him be god. I can't wait for the day he goes down man. And that ARIK arline as well na our wad the guy use open that 1. But all of us just dey, nobody dey talk nothing - shuffering and smilling as usual - solution is simple, str8 up REVOLUTION; naked all of them parade them for all the streets for real.