₦airaland Forum

Damming revelations all over. Ibori,Tinubu,Obong Victor Attah and now late Yar'dua. Who is the next?? As Mr Strive proceeds in unearthing these sleaze,do we have any journalist or anyone with a link to any of the leading media houses?? We should be thinking and planning of publishing these findings for Nigerians to see how their nation is governed if not,we will rant and pant and it all ends on nairaland. Time to walk the talk! Who knows,this matter may yet Kick start the long awaited revolution a.k.a Nigerian spring. Anybody with valuable link(s)?? Fear not about the cost. I am willing to commit to ensure that at least this particular matter is spread all over the major media houses in Nigeria and beyond.Time to walk the talk!!

Handsomegod:
Damming revelations all over. Ibori,Tinubu,Obong Victor Attah and now late Yar'dua. Who is the next?? As Mr Strive proceeds in unearthing these sleaze,do we have any journalist or anyone with a link to any of the leading media houses?? We should be thinking and planning of publishing these findings for Nigerians to see how their nation is governed if not,we will rant and pant and it all ends on nairaland. Time to walk the talk! Who knows,this matter may yet Kick start the long awaited revolution a.k.a Nigerian spring. Anybody with valuable link(s)?? Fear not about the cost. I am willing to commit to ensure that at least this particular matter is spread all over the major media houses in Nigeria and beyond.Time to walk the talk!!

As much as I admire your enthusiasm to get this issue published, I believe the people mentioned here have the power to influence what is published on the daily media.

Some empty cowardly , born to suffer for others, unemancipated, slaves from the Niger Delta still say Ibori was not corrupt. Very soon the region will be worse than Darfur. Take it for me. Any region where the people are clannish to the point of not accepting the truth and saying it will not grow. This is what destroyed the north but they are even changing. The Niger Delta will never grow because of the lightweight, vision less and decadent elite they have, not because of lack of resource control.

TonySpike:
After reading all these testimonies, it keeps me wondering on how much bribes and kickbacks must have been paid by someone like Aliko Dangote to keep his business afloat. This is so unfortunate. By the way, Masiyiwa is so right about Botswana, this is perhaps the only country in Africa that is almost 100% corruption free!

This is a front page material...

Dangote was paying bribes to most Jonathan's ministers. It is possible that the practice started with Obj regime. This was on a regular basis. You are a Nigerian. It is your right to know. Obj if you asked him never claimed not to have participated in corruption but a leader should do all he can to eliminate all non-system corruption.

OBJ, Atiku, Tinubu and the likes are darling of the West. They are actively being used to sabotage our progress as a nation and keep us in perpetual economic servitude. This matter runs much deeper than most people can imagine. I wouldn't want to go more than this. Anyone can choose to consider my post as the whining of a fevered or paranoiac mind, but the truth remains the same.

Waiting for them to be tried and convicted either in Nigeria or abroad is like waiting for a boiled egg to hatch.

[size=15pt]Strive Masiyiwa
It’s time to play by a different (ethical) set of rules (Part 10) Nigeria 4[/size]

__Witness for the people of Africa.

Corruption often involves very sophisticated bankers and lawyers in Western financial centers. When corruption happens in Nigeria, or any other African country, it usually also happens at the same time with at least one accomplice on the other side of the world, whether in London, Geneva, or the like.

The London lawyer Bhadresh Gohil, who I wrote about in my last post, is just one of scores of international advisors who handle the sophisticated movement of money in the world, in this case the money stolen from the Nigerian people and hidden in overseas bank accounts.

___When you choose financial or legal advisors, choose very wisely. Your very life could depend on it.

When Mr Gohil and other family and associates of Delta State governor James Ibori were arrested in London, I was asked by the British government to be a state witness in their trial. I agreed without hesitation.

Being a witness in such a case is not easy. It meant that I had to stop working for several weeks and just focus on preparation to give evidence. I knew I would be grilled in an open court by expensive defense lawyers who would try to challenge my integrity.

I was told that many potential witnesses had declined to give evidence in open court out of fear.

Not me!

I headed to England as a "Witness to Her Majesty's Government." For me personally, I went as a "witness on behalf of the people of Nigeria and Africa." It was my duty.

A witness can help ensure justice is done. Solid evidence is crucial in ensuring the truth is heard and that the rule of law is upheld. Without witness testimony, criminals can operate with impunity, one of the greatest threats to Africa’s future.

What is impunity? It basically means evil actions have no legal consequences. As a result, criminals are allowed to stay busy committing their crimes, knowing they can get away with it without punishment.

___A culture of impunity endangers the prospects for prosperity and security in Africa in every imaginable way.

Mr Ibori's wife, his sister, and his mistress, who each had each received money from the sale of the shares in V-Mobile (which were assets of the people of Nigeria), were also arrested in London and were sentenced to five years in prison.

My written witness statements were submitted and I prepared to appear in court to be cross-examined.

The night before I was due to take the stand in an open London court as witness for the state, I was told Mr Gohil and his associates had suddenly pleaded guilty. My lawyers told me that my witness statement was too strong and Mr Gohil and his team were afraid they would get even stiffer sentences!

In late 2010, Mr Gohil was sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison for crimes including conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to make false instruments, money laundering and proceeds of crime. The sentencing judge said to him, "You were a solicitor of the Supreme Court and holding out as a man of integrity... You have brought shame on your family, your profession and your country.”

When corrupt people like this get into trouble, they often pay some of the best lawyers in the world to help them get out of it. Taking them on successfully requires authorities equally determined and sophisticated in their approach. These authorities in turn need the cooperation of witnesses prepared to stand in court and help with the prosecution.


To be continued . . .

BlaqCoffee109:
It indeed is surprising that a thread of this nature is yet to be on front page...it is outrageous! A meretricious thread with mediocrity all over it wouldn't last a minute without it being pushed to the front page. This raises some questions about nairaland and some of its key moderator..it is sad nairaland cannot be used on a positive note as a radical agent for change we collectively as Nigerians clamour for.

I guess I'm in the wrong crowd. I'm rethinking Nairaland.

Seun, do you need fried eggs before you command this thread to front page?

Chubhie:
Seun, do you need fried eggs before you command this thread to front page?

One already made FP, there were about 4 of them..

modath:
One already made FP, there were about 4 of them..

When? I need the links so I can go through them all. Thanks

Chubhie:
When? I need the links so I can go through them all. Thanks

Just search for Strive Masiyiwa on Facebook. You'll be amazed by his posts!

Chubhie:
I guess I'm in the wrong crowd. I'm rethinking Nairaland.

...oh well

kennedyugo:
Just search for Strive Masiyiwa on Facebook. You'll be amazed by his posts!

I think the gentleman said some threads with this same topic made FP here.

[size=20pt] Seun , why has this topic not hit front page ? [/size] If this had been an Igbo vs Yoruba mud fight, a Boko Haram bomb explosion, or any topic with the following keywords like Amaechi, Diezani, Wike, Jonathan and even tonto, it would have been rushed to the front page even it it has less than 10 views. Here we are talking about a critical part of Nigeria's history and possibly future, with well over 2000 nairaland views and over 1 million Facebook views, and Seun does not deem the topic good enough for front page

I think the mods of nairaland are afraid of corruption fighting back at them.


There's a lot of indictment of supposed big men and they will fight back.

The best place for this thread is Sahara reporters. They have the mind if a lion unlike nairaland.

Seun, come and give reasons on why you think this thread doesn't deserve FP.

Seun. I can't be silenced

Oh wow. people aree now getting banned for speaking up?? Or is it the spambot??

[size=13pt]It’s time to play by a different (ethical) set of rules (Part 11) Nigeria 5
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___The long arm of the law.



Abraham Lincoln once observed, "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to see a man's character give him power."



As governor of the oil-rich Delta State in Nigeria, James Ibori had a great deal of power. What he did with some of his power was blatantly steal from the Nigerian people. Public money meant for building schools, health clinics, roads, etc. was instead diverted by slick operators to several personal overseas bank accounts across the globe.



As a public sector official, Governor Ibori had a constitutional responsibility to administer state resources to benefit the people of Delta State. Instead, he even tried to bribe the Chairman of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission!


In addition to trying to solicit bribes from me, and successfully extracting them from others, another crime was to steal about 10% of the share payments that SHOULD have gone into Delta State coffers. This was a lot of loot so as usual he decided to stash it overseas



___As I’ve told you before, to track the trail of destruction that is corruption… Follow the money!


Unbeknownst to him at the time, the British government had passed a similar law to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, known as the British Anti-Bribery Act. Although he had been under investigation since 2005, when Mr Ibori decided to divert some of the stolen funds to London, the UK bank receiving the money alerted the authorities, as they are required to on such large amounts.


Mr Ibori managed to elude justice for a while because he had immunity as a state governor. Even when his term ended, he was still protected by powerful people in President Yar'Aduah's government. However, when President Yar’Aduah died, Mr Ibori knew he would be arrested under warrant from Britain because the London lawyer (and accomplice) Bhadresh Gohil had exposed the truth.

Mr Ibori fled to Dubai but the British traced him there and used Interpol to arrest him and bring him to the UK for trial.

In February 2012 he pleaded guilty because his associates including Mr Gohil had already pleaded guilty to money laundering, implicating him in several crimes. He eventually pleaded guilty to 10 offenses including conspiracy to launder funds from the state, money laundering and obtaining money transfer by deception and fraud. In April 2012, Mr Ibori was sentenced to 13 years.


___This was a stunning victory in the fight against corruption.

We will not end corruption on this continent unless we are prepared to pay a price to end it! This means that you and I must be prepared to lose what may appear to be the deal of our lives. And let me tell you, when it is happening it is never easy; of course, it is hard.

Jesus said, "What is it for a man to gain the whole world but to lose his soul?"

If you engage in corruption, you will likely become rich, probably very rich, with all the material things in this life. Most likely you will never be caught like the hapless Ibori, and his advisors, BUT, The Master said, "YOU WILL LOSE YOUR SOUL."

To be continued . . .

And some people are clamoring for this thief, Ibori to be released!
And they are even planning to give him a royal welcome,
What a shame!

[size=13pt]It’s time to play by a different (ethical) set of rules (Part 12) Nigeria 6
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___Rights, wrongs, and rule of law in Africa.

If this were a movie, I can only give you a trailer...

When we set up the company in Nigeria, all 22 shareholders had to sign an agreement governing our relationship, known as a Shareholders Agreement. This was April 2001.

The purpose of a Shareholders Agreement is to protect the shareholders' investment in the company. It sets out the shareholders’ rights and obligations and regulates the sales of shares in the company. It also governs how a company is run and seeks to establish fair and transparent relationships between shareholders. Any company with more than one shareholder should ideally have such an agreement.

Among the most important issues for us was to ensure legal compliance with two specific provisions:

1. What do shareholders do if they want to sell, transfer or dispose their shares in the company and get out?

Answer: They must first offer them to another member. They can only sell them to an outsider if the other members either decline or fail to pay within 30 days.

2. How do shareholders resolve any disputes between members involving the company?

Answer: Any aggrieved party must ask for Arbitration (rather than go to court). According to our Shareholders Agreement, a three-member international commercial arbitration panel had to be appointed by The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria. The decision of this panel was to be final and binding on signatory parties to the Shareholder Agreement.

When the other shareholders, led by Delta State Governor James Ibori, decided to throw us out of the company, they did two things that violated the provisions in our Shareholders Agreement, as well as Nigerian law:

1. They "cancelled" our shares and removed our name from the share register of the company. No one has power to do this except a court and usually only the highest court in a country, as it is tantamount to expropriation of property rights. They did it anyway and dared us to go to court. We did, and it took us exactly 10 years to reverse what they did. The judges of the courts of Nigeria were harsh in their criticism of this decision by the other shareholders. They called it "disgraceful.” It was a form of gangsterism!

2. They did not offer us the right of first refusal. Instead they offered their shares to a third party (a company from the Middle East) without first offering them to us as an existing shareholder. Of course, in their minds, it was not necessary because they had first "cancelled" our shares.

___There's no legal right for other shareholders to say, "We no longer recognise you as a shareholder," then hold private meetings and make resolutions as if you don't exist. (Protection of shareholder rights is sacrosanct if we want to mobilise investment and see the people of our continent prosper. Otherwise the whole investment climate is thrown up in the air!)

To right these wrongs, we first had to approach the Chief Judge of the Federal Court of Nigeria. Her name was Hon. Justice Ukeje. She inexplicably refused to grant our request for nearly five years. When she retired in 2008, we petitioned her successor Hon. Justice Mustapha. He granted our request and appointed a three-member international panel of legal experts to serve on the Tribunal. Two of them, including a retired judge, were Nigerian. It took him less than three months to make the appointments, for which we have waited nearly five years!

This Commercial Arbitration Tribunal was constituted under the auspices of the UN Commission for International Trade Law. The Tribunal ordered all the shareholders to appear before them with their lawyers.

It took almost four years of hearing evidence and arguments from lawyers and financial experts. We counted that there were more than 50 lawyers involved in the case, many of them from Europe and the United Kingdom, as well as leading lawyers from Nigeria.

The Tribunal issued its ruling on 22 December 2011.

To be continued. . .

Chief Judge of the Federal Court of Nigeria.
Hon. Justice Ukeje. 
See your life!

Pangea:
Chief Judge of the Federal Court of Nigeria.
Hon. Justice Ukeje. 
See your life!

The rot in the Nigerian judicial system is legendary.

[size=15pt]It’s time to play by a different (ethical) set of rules (Part 13) Nigeria 7[/size]

___Even if justice takes time, be patient and never lose faith.

The International Tribunal appointed by the Chief Justice of the Federal High Court of Nigeria took four years to complete the process of arbitration. This included hearing from lawyers representing all the shareholders who had been involved in the original sale to Zain (the company from the Middle East), and also lawyers from Bharti Airtel (the company from India) that had bought Zain's shares.

The Tribunal issued its ruling on 22nd December 2011. It was a great Christmas present!

Key findings in the Tribunal's ruling:

# Econet had never ceased to be a shareholder despite the cancellation of its share certificate. We remain shareholders to this day, and those shares are now worth more than $200m.
# There was sufficient evidence that Econet had raised $1.5bn in cash to buy the shares that were sold illegally to Zain.
# The sale of shares, first to Zain of Kuwait, and then later to Airtel of India, were found to have violated Econet's rights of first refusal under the Shareholder's Agreement. The sale was declared "null and void" in law.
# The people who bought the shares (Zain and Bharti Airtel) were ordered to pay us hundreds of billions of Nigerian Naira in compensation, and damages for their violations.
# All shareholders who had supported the sale were ordered to pay compensation.
# The local shareholders who had stood with us throughout were absolved of any wrongdoing.

In short, after being presented years of evidence, the Tribunal agreed there been multiple breaches of the Shareholders Agreement.

Whilst most of the Nigerian local shareholders immediately paid the money due, Bharti Airtel and Zain refused to pay what they had been ordered to pay. This was despite the fact that all parties are supposed to accept an Arbitration ruling as final. Instead they took the unusual decision to go to court, in Nigeria, and try to overturn the decision of the international Tribunal:

First, they went to the High Court of Lagos State; it ruled in OUR favour. (October 2012)

Then, they went to the Nigerian Federal Court of Appeal; it also ruled in OUR favour, supporting previous rulings in OUR favour. (February 2014)

___We had our hearings. We were heard. We've had patience and faith, and the rule of law prevailed.

Finally, they went to the Nigerian Supreme Court. We are now waiting for their ruling. I will let you know when it comes.

In a separate ruling, the Nigerian Federal High Court and its Appeals Court dismissed the allegation that Econet had not originally paid for its shares. This allegation had been widely circulated in newspapers as the reason for our departure.

They accepted evidence that Econet paid for its shares just like all the other shareholders, calling the allegation spurious and malicious. It took 10 years to get this ruling from the courts.

Like in any major conflict, all sorts of skirmishes have taken place. We had to fight other related legal battles in England, in Denmark, and in The Netherlands (including at The Hague Court of International Arbitration).

Throughout this saga in Nigeria, I had with me a few Nigerian brethren (and sisters) who stood by me. They were prepared to risk all to ensure justice prevailed. I salute them and all who stand up to protect the rule of law.

During the long period that went by, more than 10 years, I never stopped going to Nigeria despite the threats. I never stopped investing in new things in the country that interested me. I deepened my understanding of the country. I learnt to avoid many of the pitfalls of the past. I stayed true to my deepest convictions.

__I enjoyed myself.
__I love Nigeria.

The ensuing years have also been years of unprecedented growth and expansion of our business interests in Africa and around the world. We set up businesses as far afield as New Zealand, and invested in places as far as Latin America.

Yes, we prospered and we went from strength to strength. The path of those who stand for justice is as a "shining light, getting brighter and brighter unto the perfect day…"(Proverbs 4:18)

The end.

[size=15pt]Final of Part 14 - Corruption Series

Let’s play by a different (ethical) set of rules (Part 14)[/size]

__Ending corruption: It only takes one brave person.

Sometimes just one person trying to do the right thing can change the course of history.

Anas Aremeyaw Anas of Ghana is an undercover investigative journalist with a focus on exposing corruption, exploitation and human rights abuses. Last month his work changed the course of Ghanaian history when he released an anti-corruption film called Ghana in the Eyes of God, Epic of Injustice.

“The most powerful weapon against corruption is transparency and exposure,” says Anas, who was born in the late 1970s and first trained as a lawyer. He says the aim of his life’s work is to “name, shame and jail” people who hurt others and break the law.

Released in late September, Anas’ new three-hour documentary has led to the shocking suspension of seven of Ghana’s 12 High Court judges and 22 lower court judges who were secretly filmed in an alleged judicial bribery and corruption scandal which Anas investigated for about two years.

Money, sex, yams and even a goat were among the alleged pay-offs. In exchange, many robbers, murderers, drug dealers, rapists and others allegedly received shortened sentences or went free.

Anas notably works undercover, usually wearing disguises and pretending to engage with “bad people” who he then tries to film committing crimes.

__People rarely see his face. Even when he gives public talks about his work or receives awards, he hides it.

Could corruption charges against these judicial officials be true?

Ghanaians are now waiting for rule of law to take its course -- for all parties concerned. What seems to have come to light through Anas’ brave undercover work is 500 hours of raw footage of judicial corruption in action, allegedly involving some 180 judicial officials – judges, magistrates, court clerks, policemen, state attorneys and bail contractors!

In trying to block the screening of Anas’ whistle-blowing film, one High Court judge ironically argued that showing the film “brings the authority and administration of the law into disrespect and disrepute…”

Each of the seven implicated high court judges has been give a week between now and 11 December to appear before a special Chief Justice Committee. Anas will also appear for cross-examination, and some defendants have demanded that he remove his disguise when in court.

___The five-member Committee has contended this week that Anas is protected by the Whistle Blower’s Act. As such, he must not be unmasked and is also covered by immunity.

While not his first choice, Anas says he believes working in disguise is necessary, given the powerful and sometimes dangerous subjects of his investigations.

Acknowledging his own fear and the hazards of doing the work he does, Anas advises, “You’ve got to take intelligent decisions… If you don’t, you will end up losing your life.” (He usually works with a backup team of private investigators).

Notwithstanding the risks, Anas says he and all professional journalists have the responsibility to keep the public informed about activities affecting the health of their democracies, and their own personal lives. Colleagues say his work is driven by the belief that it is corruption that is holding Africa back.

Anas Aremeyaw Anas, I salute you.

Image Credit: TED Conference

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