The man is really courageous. Stuffs like this is a norm in our society. The likes of Dangote, Adenuga, Otedola et al are definitely involved in "if you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours"...

Same OBJ baboon is masquerading now as saint, change indeed!

michlan:
OP. Can you add his previous and subsequent posts for enlightenment. There's a thread like that in the politics section and i've been following the man's revelations on facebook. The posts are really eye openers to the corrupt nature of so-called anti-corruption crusaders. I just wish people can be patient enough to read all the posts.

follow him on facebook, there are many of his updates there.

anytexy:
Chai! See what Jonathan has done. The only corrupt man in Nigeria. Lol

Was Jonathan mentioned in his speech? I wonder how some people reason

anytexy:
Chai! See what Jonathan has done. The only corrupt man in Nigeria. Lol
Was Jonathan mentioned in his speech? I wonder how some people reason

anytexy:
Chai! See what Jonathan has done. The only corrupt man in Nigeria. Lol

Was Jonathan mentioned in his speech? I wonder how some people reason

Nigeria has become the corruption that corrupt the world

Even the SATAN cannot withstand our corruption

Ibori again. A real champion of corruption. Thank God he is in jail on vacation.

Including BAT = Tinubu

newheartub:
Ibori and Obj must involved. corruption no be today

M4gunners:
You forgot one man from Lagos State that time.

that old thief

I do follow d man's story 4m part 1, we r in part 9 now. His story s touching,revealing all d challenges dat he faces, how corrupt officials try 2 induce him 2 b part of dem, but he refuses, at last diet corrpt practices bounced back on dem. follow him on fcbk @ strive masiyiwa.

Noted

modath:


The curious case of the unnamed 2nd person.

He is not likely to mention it to avoid a lawsuit.





@pangea,


See what I advised- "The Topic Title", it must be catchy.....You did good but...

Lol
The most important thing is the discussion
We all need to start talking about bringing down corruption in Nigeria.
The more people that get enlightened by what strive is saying, the better.

https://www.nairaland.com/2612215/corruption-econet-nigeriathe-bombshell-econet

Pangea:


Lol
The most important thing is the discission
We all need to start talking about bringing down corruption in Nigeria.
The more people that get enlightened by what strive is saying, the better.

https://www.nairaland.com/2612215/corruption-econet-nigeriathe-bombshell-econet

Sure & we will get there someday...

when a thief will be a thief irrespective of geo zone.

I wanted to shed tears while reading this post, but when I think of where James Ibori is today, (and where Alison Madueke will soon end up), then I rejoice. Time, they say is a funny old business that delights in frustrating one's plan.

This is the problem with majority of Nigerians. They leave what
is substance to converse on things that's irrelevant.

These people have been milking you dry from time long ago and some are
so foolish, logically dysfunctional and agrarian.

There was a court suit between Oba Otudeko (as Econet investor) and
Wale Tinubu ( obviously fronting for Jagaban, obviously, Lagos state share was sold to Wale Tinubu) for selling Econet without
proper guidelines.

In submission, Ibori, Attah, Jagaban are all complicit.

It's a lie my father had mobile phone in the 90's.

baby124:
It's a lie my father had mobile phone in the 90's.

Iti!
What ur father had was a mobile phone not a GSM.

Is he soliciting for sympathy? mtcheeew! .I bought my econet line for 25k and paid another 10k I don't know what they needed it for.And even though the name is now Airtel,they still steal 100 naira occasionally from my credit for SMS,s I never sent.If he was a saint ,he shouldve started per seconds billings before Glo networks came to our rescue....gerrara hia meeeeen!

segebobo:
If this man is saying the truth, I admire his courage.
If only we know the effects of corruption, duplicity & lies on the society as a whole. It's one of the reasons why despite the abundant resources we are blessed with, we still depend & look up to the whites for even the most basic things

what do you mean by "if this man is saying the truth...? don't you know that any venture embarked upon in Nigeria with Nigerian politicians being part of the deal,that that venture spells CORRUPTION? corruption is the bane of our society;it is the reason we are where we are development-wise.

I can't wait for him to get to the facts about how Lagos state divested it''s own shares.
Y'all know who was in charge of Lagos then?
Jagaban in da buildiiiiiiiiiig!
Dr. Strive please tell us about Lagos too. It is our tax money!
No wonder they keep selling the technical partnership; from Econet to Vmobile to Celtel to Zain to Airtel, all within a decade!
What a house of corruption

CR77:
Evidence pls

Even with the mention of that man in UK jail you are still looking for evidence?

Remember he said two state governments was involved. All in all, the bribery sum was 9B. If James pocket 4.5B, it means Tinubu make do with 4.5B. The man need to talk more or he should shot up .

But bolaji balogun was the person that brought econet to nigeria now

No body shd listen to this crook called strive massiya..he came to nigeria with only his experience to run a telco. He came wit econet wireless international (EWI) while the nigerian investors-the oba otudekos, tinubu n ibori led econet wireless nigeria, EWN.

EWI had no dime and out of $285m contributed zilch. Yet EWI toook CEO,CFO,CTO and came wit 200 zims. Each earning almost $78k den. And all their salaries were paid into massiwaya's private account, for him to now pay them.

Ontop on all dis EWI had 90% shares EWN had only 10% and they EWN brought all the money.plus massiwaya was getting 3% of turnover...not even 3% of net profit.imagine.

After getting the licence,they needed $10m to roll out. Massiwaya n EWI still didnt have a dime n Delta lagos n otudeko got first bank to raise a 10m facility for econet.

yet massiwaya thru his zim appoinees was controlling the money(CFO), he was controlling the company(CEO) and he was controlling the technology (CTO).

how you go use nigerians head. In a board meeting, they now gave him an ultimatum, inject money or we whittle down your shareholding. Thats how from 90% ownership, he was cut down to 5% shares.

he packed up and left starting a 10year fruitless legal journey.

corruption didnt drive him out...his greed did. The man is such a coward..he mentions ibori but now refrains in mentioning tinubu..is it becos one is doing time in her majestys jail, as such he has nothing to fear from him n the other is hobnobbing with the president?

Yeye man

YES.I AM IN

cityAdventures:
No body shd listen to this crook called strive massiya..he came to nigeria with only his experience to run a telco. He came wit econet wireless international (EWI) while the nigerian investors-the oba otudekos, tinubu n ibori led econet wireless nigeria, EWN.

EWI had no dime and out of $285m contributed zilch. Yet EWI toook CEO,CFO,CTO and came wit 200 zims. Each earning almost $78k den. And all their salaries were paid into massiwaya's private account, for him to now pay them.

Ontop on all dis EWI had 90% shares EWN had only 10% and they EWN brought all the money.plus massiwaya was getting 3% of turnover...not even 3% of net profit.imagine.

After getting the licence,they needed $10m to roll out. Massiwaya n EWI still didnt have a dime n Delta lagos n otudeko got first bank to raise a 10m facility for econet.

yet massiwaya thru his zim appoinees was controlling the money(CFO), he was controlling the company(CEO) and he was controlling the technology (CTO).

how you go use nigerians head. In a board meeting, they now gave him an ultimatum, inject money or we whittle down your shareholding. Thats how from 90% ownership, he was cut down to 5% shares.

he packed up and left starting a 10year fruitless legal journey.

corruption didnt drive him out...his greed did. The man is such a coward..he mentions ibori but now refrains in mentioning tinubu..is it becos one is doing time in her majestys jail, as such he has nothing to fear from him n the other is hobnobbing with the president?

Yeye man

Finally found someone with some clue on this story.
I followed this story closely and I was typing an epistle when I saw your comment.
The men involved might be truly corrupt but that was not what chased Strive away. He simply did not have the deep pocket needed, especially when MTN started expanding. He repeatedly was unable to honour his right of first refusal.
Yes they abused court processes to hack him down but they would not have gone down that room if he brought the needed cash to the table.
He tried jobbing crooks and got his hands burnt.

tolastikha:
Remember he said two state governments was involved. All in all, the bribery sum was 9B. If James pocket 4.5B, it means Tinubu make do with 4.5B. The man need to talk more or he should shot up .

It could also be Akwa Ibom state he was referring to. They also had shares.
You guys are too quick to see tinubu in your dreams.

‘I made the first GSM phone call in Nigeria... then corruption chased me out’ - Mr. Strive Masiyiwa

Chairman of telecoms giant, Econet Wireless, Mr. Strive Masiyiwa, in this post on his blog —
http://www.econetwireless.com/strive_masiyiwa_blog/index.php/its-time-to-play-by-a-different-ethical-set-of-rules-part-7-nigeria-1-of-5/, tells the story of his first hand nasty experience in the hands of corruption in Nigeria while challenging all to “be the generation that fights 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 Olusegun 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.

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. 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 grovelling at the feet of Satan. Let’s be the generation that fights corruption… and ends it! Will you join me?

Hmm day explains why the network provider have been changing names like sanitary pads....

segebobo:
If this man is saying the truth, I admire his courage.
If only we know the effects of corruption, duplicity & lies on the society as a whole. It's one of the reasons why despite the abundant resources we are blessed with, we still depend & look up to the whites for even the most basic things

I can testify that strive masiyiwa is a pathological liar, the first gsm call in nigeria was made on may 16 2001 on the platform of mtn whilst econet's network was not functional till the 22 of august even though they did a ceremonial launch on the 6th of august. That aside econet never paid for their 5% equity share in the company and this was the real Reason they were driven out. I know this because I was an insider in the industry then.