₦airaland Forum

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htajz:
shut up there , didnt you see me minus lagos cus lagos does not equal yorubaland,from ranking southwest is not even at top 3 if you minus lagos.

anyways one of the purpose of puting it up is so that everyone will start questioning the governors and police in their states and stop nosing into what happens in other states and regions, also the southerners should not be deceived that because there is sharia law in the north that crime is low there, sharia does not eliminate crime afterall afgahnistan is among the top ten countries with high crime rate.

Minus Lagos?

What about minus the other states?

You've produced 'screwed' stats.

We are not all backward on NL.

If the stats are accurate then it points towards 'Yorubas' as being rampant r.apists.

Therefore its wiser the thread is moved to the tribalist sections for 'guys' to 'tribalise' over

htajz:
this is political and its the best time to discuss it,now that violation is making headlines accross nigerian media

The 'stats' clearly point towards 'Yorubas' and 'South Westerners' as being prolific r.apists.

And we all know what this will lead to on NL.

I'm just trying to 'quench' the fire before it erupts.

htajz:
moderator move to front page abeg

Mods - at the same time please move to the tribalist section because I know where this thread is heading . . . . . .

[quote author=aloy/emeka link=topic=780478.msg9326378#msg9326378 date=1318453212][size=14pt]Nigeria to invest Rp 24t in Indonesian refinery deal[/size]
The Jakarta Post | Wed, 10/12/2011 2:19 PM A | A | A |
Nigeria plans to invest Rp 24 trillion (US$2.68 billion) in Indonesia to fund the construction of three oil refineries, an official says.

The Industry Ministry's director general for manufacturing-based industry, Panggah Susanto, was quoted by kompas.com as saying that both countries had agreed to build the refineries in Indonesia.

Nigeria, which produces 2.6 million barrels of oil per day (bpd), was looking for a partner to refine its crude oil, Panggah said.

"Previously they wanted the refineries to be built in Nigeria," he said Tuesday. "However, as Indonesia is currently improving its downstream industry, Indonesia wanted the refineries to be built here instead."

The refineries, which are projected to produce 300 bpd each, will be used to process crude oil from Nigeria.

"State firm PT Pertamina will buy the crude oil from Nigeria and process it here," he said.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/10/12/nigeria-invest-rp-24t-indonesian-refinery-deal.html[/quote]@Op

This better be a joke.

Investing money to build refineries in Indonesia - to benefit Indonesians.

And again we import the refined products?

This better be a joke - I'm about to explode (Like Boko)

Mrs Fashola,

Is your husband not prostituting his 'Ynash' for Tinubu?

Expand your definition of P.i.m.p and you will find you married one.

BiafranFirstSon:
@ sun of God. I don't know if lies against the president and the ex president to sell paper and cause commotion in a troubled and distressed Nigeria is the form of freedom of speech you speak of. NL is not an umbrella where people hide and insult the president. Let's say GEJ is not older than you,yet he is your president and needs to be accorded some respect.

If indeed the newspaper has spread false news then the govt has at their disposal lawyers that can sue the paper for defamation.

As things stand what crime has the govt proved? Must newspapers now pulically decalre the source of all their stories?

If they are successful then depending on the damages awarded they may even be able to close down the newspaper.

The way they have gone about things is illegal - they have not proven anything against the publishers.

Respect is mutual - Its a two way thing. Because GEJ is president it doesn't mean I must automatically respect him.

I respect respectful people only - irrespective of their age, title or social standing.

Ps: How many false stories are printed weekly in Nigeria and how many time does the govt raid the publishers premises?

Such a thing doesn't happen in any civilised society.

Beaf - forward to your Oga.

He needs to study history rather than come up with all these gimmicks.

The question I ask is whether he will be executed with Patience or Dr Ngozi at his side?

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So GEJ is also removing the freedom of speech?

The fuel subsidy removal was not enough?

Na wa for dis regime . . . .

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala joined the Rockefeller Foundation board of trustees in 2009.

[s]Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is currently a Managing Director of the World Bank [/s] where she has oversight responsibility for the World Bank’s operational portfolio in Africa, South Asia and Europe and Central Asia. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala spearheaded several World Bank initiatives to assist low-income countries during both the food and later financial crisis. She is currently chairing the replenishment of over $40 billion for the International Development Association (IDA), the grant and soft credit arm of the World Bank.

From September 2006 to November 2007, she was Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Brookings Institution.  From June to August 2006, she was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria, overseeing Nigeria’s External Relations; and from July 2003 to June 2006 she served as Minister of Finance and Economy of Nigeria and head of Nigeria's much acclaimed Presidential Economic team responsible for implementing a comprehensive home-grown economic reform program that stabilized the macro-economy and tripled the growth rate to an average 6% per annum over three years.

Her achievements as Finance Minister garnered international recognition for improving Nigeria’s financial stability and fostering greater fiscal transparency to combat corruption. In October 2005, she led the Nigerian team that negotiated the cancellation of 60% of Nigeria’s external debt ($18 billion) with the Paris Club.  The debt deal also included an innovative buy-back mechanism that wiped out Nigeria’s Paris Club debt and reduced the country’s external indebtedness from $35 billion to $5 billion. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala oversaw Nigeria’s first Sovereign credit rating of BB—from Fitch and Standard and Poor’s—a rating that grouped Nigeria with other emerging market countries such as Vietnam, Venezuela and the Philippines.

Previously, she pursued a 21-year career as a development economist at the World Bank, where she held the post of Vice President and Corporate Secretary. This included two tours of duty (1997-2000) working in the East Asia Region during the East Asian financial crisis; two duty tours in the  Middle East Region, the last (2000-2003) as Director, Operations (deputy vice-president) of the region. Dr Okonjo-Iweala also served as Director of Institutional Change and Strategy (1995-1997). From 1989 to 1991, she was Special Assistant to the Senior Vice President, Operations.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was educated at Harvard and has a Ph.D. in Regional Economics and Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including Honorary Doctorates from Trinity College, Dublin, Brown University and Amherst College, among others. She is the recipient of Time magazine’s European Hero of the Year Award, 2004, for her work on economic reform in Nigeria, Euromoney magazine Global Finance Minister of the year, 2005, Financial Times/The Banker African Finance Minister of the year 2005, This Day (one of Nigeria’s premier newspapers) Minister of the Year award 2004 and 2005.  In 2006, she was named by Forbes magazine as one of 100 most powerful women in the world.

Portfolio, the Conde Nast International Business Intelligence magazine, called her one of 73 “Brilliant” business influencers in the world of business and public service.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is a member or chair of numerous boards and advisory groups: ONE Campaign, the World Resources Institute, the Clinton Global Initiative, the Nelson Mandela Institution, Friends of the Global Fund Africa, and the African Institutes of Science and Technology as well as the Center for Global Development (CGD).

http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/about-us/board-trustees/ngozi-okonjo-iweala

In one of my books, “Western Democrats in Glass parliament”, published in 2000, I have argued that western democracies will never tolerate Africa’s economic independence owing to the direction of their national ideologies. It is no secret that the economies of many western countries are energized by the inability of Africa’s political leaders to deploy sound fiscal policies aimed at stimulating rapid economic growth. This sad development has continued to keep Africa as an export- dependent economy despite the fact that the bulk of the raw materials used in the manufacture and production of finished goods imported by African countries are sourced from the continent.

There is no doubt about the fact that Nigeria is blessed with great brains and patriots. Among them are Wole Soyinka, Dora Akunyili, Oby Ezekwesili, Lamido Sanusi, and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala among others. What is in doubt is whether all of them are aware that the developed democracies will be too willing to do anything under the sun to promote and protect their national economies. Colonisation, the Cold War, civil wars, tribal conflicts, and the several international humanitarian/peace-keeping missions are all tools used by western democracies to secure economic victories over the African continent. It has become evident that both the World Bank and IMF are tools in the hands of western democracies. As long as African intellectuals refuse to accept this overflowing truth, their brains and patriotism will do the continent very little or no good at all. Is it not surprising that the many Africans in diaspora have not been able to make meaningful differences whenever they are given the opportunities to serve their countries in various capacities? ( Continues below,  )

[b]Perhaps, I should also point out here that Structural Adjustment Program, Currency Devaluation, and Subsidy Removal are examples of some of the pills western democracies such as the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain prescribe as cure for the continent’s economic problems. In actual sense, they hide behind these false fiscal policies to cripple the economies of African countries. As part of the plot, they task international institutions such as the World Bank, IMF, and world class universities to recruit the best brains from the continent. These intellectuals are hurriedly thought the Core Values of human and economic management. This is aimed at arousing the patriotic fiber in them. At this point, they are drugged (paid far more than their contemporaries at home), blinded (unable to recognize the evil in their employers), and given a pair of “western eyes.” At this point, these intellectuals no longer see things from the African perspective. They both reason and look at Africa with “western eyes.” [/b]

It must be noted that every society has its own peculiarities. As a result of this, what has worked in country A may not necessarily work in country B. Africans wearing “western eyes” will never realize this fact even though it is profusely clear. For instance, the governor of Nigeria’s Central, Lamido Sanusi and Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala are all bitterly agitating for the removal of fuel subsidy simply because same has worked elsewhere in America and Europe. Since they are wearing “western eyes”, they have failed to realize that: (a) Unemployment figures are very low in America and Europe (b) An average American or European worker earn as much as $130 or N19,500 per day. With this kind of salary, Nigerians can afford to buy fuel even at N150 per liter.

There is no doubt that both Okonjo-Iweala and Lamido Sanusi will not try stampeding government into removing fuel subsidy if they were earning monthly salaries of N50,000 per month. While tens of millions of Nigerians are earning less than $2 daily, they go home with outrageous salaries and allowances. One had expected them to suggest better ways of putting the nation’s economy back on track. The poor masses cannot continue to sacrifice the little they have while the few well-heeled federal government officials are allowed to laugh away in the comfort of their cars, offices, and houses each time government decides to find solutions to the problems of the country. Okonjo-Iweala and Sanusi do not need to be reminded that the removal of fuel subsidy will translate into the sharp upward movement of the prices of goods and services such as food, rent, transportation, education, health care, and building materials among others.

[b]But if one may ask: What is wrong in subsidizing fuel? Are the beneficiaries of fuel subsidy not Nigerians whose interests the president, ministers, legislators, governors, and governor of the Central Bank all swore to protect? As a matter of fact, owing to the collapse of the culture of sound political leadership, fuel subsidy has turned out to be the only sure way Nigerian masses can benefit from the oil and gas revenue accruing the nation. There is no citizen that does not benefit from fuel subsidy direct or indirectly. Removing it will therefore bring out the fire in the heart of millions of suffering Nigerian masses. This is what the west is looking for. President Goodluck Jonathan must therefore not allow American and European powers to tie his hands behind him and plunge the country into the abyss of socio-economic instability. The west does not want Africa to gain economic independence. It is only through orchestrated socio-economic instabilities that they can achieve such evil plots. This is the more reason why despite all the noise they make about corruption; American and European banks still accept billions of stolen dollars from Africa. [/b]

With the way Okonjo-Iweala and Sanusi are going about the fuel subsidy removal debate, I am pretty sure that they will one day ask the federal government to stop spending billions of Naira to construct roads. While our fiscal policy formulators and advisers are busy giving subsidy a bad name, agricultural subsidies accounts for more than 40% of the total budget of the EU. Who is fooling who? Hugo Chavez is definitely on my mind. The time has come for President Jonathan to call all the anti-people members of his team to order or fire them out rightly. There is enough evidence to show that the nation’s fiscal policy formulators and advisers are out of touch with the vision of the present administration. They have clearly run dry of ideas. Spending N600b to assist Nigerians buy fuel at an affordable price is not a crime. Rather than call for the removal of fuel subsidy, the anti-subsidy apostles should task their brains and think of better ways to increase the revenue receipt of the nation without worsening the already bad plight of ordinary Nigerians.

In this regard, government should be serious with the war against graft, reduce the monetary rewards of elected officials and political appointees, stabilize electricity to expand industrial production, increase investments in the non-oil/gas sectors, improve basic socio-economic infrastructure such as roads/railway/waterways, provide affordable quality health care service, and provide free quality education from primary to secondary levels. All of these will help energize and expand the national economy. With this, the likes of Okonjo-Iweala and Sanusi will not have any reason to bother about how much government spends to subsidize fuel.

More than that, concerted efforts must be put in motion to stop the continuous importation of petroleum products. This is part of the wider agenda of western democracies. They simply coopt a few willing Nigerians to ensure that our refineries do not work at optimum capacities. With this, they will be able to import crude from us and sell petrol and kerosene to us with a very appreciable profit margin. The same thing applies to the power sector.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala should wake up from her slumber and return the “western eyes” she is wearing. Also help Lamido Sanusi do same.

http://nigeriamasterweb.com/blog/index.php/2011/09/09/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-patriot-blinded-by-the-west

If 'Boko' release a statement warning the govt not to remove the subsidy i'm 99% sure the govt will listen to them.

Because they know they mean business.

But the common man on the street will continue to go unheard unless they also become some what militant.

I would support 'Boko' if their theme was anti-govt as opposed to anti-eductaion.

[quote author=alj_harem link=topic=778574.msg9311661#msg9311661 date=1318265021]Hear and understand now !!!!!! because it seems you and pointB are just posting with grabbing the concept I am trying to pass across

We are not against the removal of the subsidy in the long run but against the removal of the subsidy now since there are no economic and structural infrastructures in place.

3 months from Now the subsidy would be removed so what are the things in place now to ensure the removal of the subsidy is not too hard on the people.

No refinery is working

No constant electricity

etc

Once these things are done, then Beaf and Mr president are free to remove the subsidy/subsidies[/quote]Your approach is very un-islamic,

Why not just publically issue a 'fatwah'?

I think islamic violence is the only language these people will understand.

We've been so tormented by the illogicality of "fuel subsidy" that we should now call for an end to the debate. Let the great economists, governors and technocrats, who alone can understand how the economy works, have their way this time round. They have been kind enough to put us on notice: from January 1, we shall start buying all petroleum products at the right prices. My own view is that the "subsidy" should be removed today; 2012 is too far away.

For a quarter of a century, all manner of people that have run Nigeria aground have overwhelmed us with this argument I consider very stupid. I remember that this "subsidy" has been removed at least twice in the past 25 years. According to the logic of these treasury looters in the NNPC and government houses, the government introduced a subsidy to enable Nigerians buy refined oil.

The same oil is originally extracted from under the Nigerian soil as crude, but the cost of buying the crude, refining it abroad (and sometimes at the local refineries) and importing it back is much higher than the pump price in Nigeria. In other words, a man owns a goat but he has to enjoy a subsidy before he can buy a plate of pepper-soup prepared with the goat's entrails. It's only in a country inhabited by bandits that this situation can exist. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton put it correctly some three years ago: "Nigeria has oil but imports oil. That's an example of bad governance."

Former petroleum ministers Muhammmadu Buhari and Tam David-West have pointed out that there is no subsidy on fuel. But this is something that common sense can explain. This country exports an average of 2.5 million barrels of crude every day. [I was told that up to 2 million barrels more are not accounted for; they are lost to bunkering, daily.] But it lacks the capacity to refine just a tiny fraction of that (40, 000 barrels) for local consumption.

All along, only foreigners and thieving Nigerians (who are awarded oil blocks and import fuel) have been benefitting from Nigeria's oil. Our "businessmen" importers have to go to other nations of the world to buy refined fuel and sell to Nigerians at "subsidised" prices. Four refineries set up in the country are constantly crippled so that the fuel importers can have a field day. And the cost of carrying out a TAM (turnaround maintenance) on any of the refineries is enough to set up two new refineries. Truly, Nigeria has great people in abundance: great mathematicians, great voodoo economists, and great crooks.

Nevertheless, I support the removal of "fuel subsidy" now because I have always believed in market forces - the law of supply and demand. Every evil policy contains the seed for its own destruction. I can predict what will follow a rise in the pump price of a litre of petrol from N65 to N200 from next year. That's what may trigger the long-expected people's revolution. Nigerians appear to have been docile because their oppressors have succeeded in sowing seeds of division among them. For reasons of tribe, religion, class or educational attainment, they don't see themselves as citizens of one nation. It's everyone for himself.

That's why they did not storm the National Assembly to chase out lawmakers paid N5 million as furniture allowance in 1999. And, when the people's "representatives" made a law to award to themselves incredible allowances in the name of constituency projects - each legislator gets N45-100 million every three months - nobody was queried by his constituents. Accordingly, armed robbers, pen robbers and thieves of every description now display their wealth openly as if telling their poorer compatriots, "Yes, I steal from you, but you can't do me anything."

What will unite the oppressed ordinary people is hunger or the threat of imminent death. Higher fuel prices will do just that. When the prices of food and transportation services rise beyond the reach of many, anarchy will set in. I foresee commuters refusing to pay their fares and fighting with drivers and conductors. I foresee hawkers at traffic hold-ups forcing motorists to buy their wares or smashing the windscreens of those that ignore them. Landlords will lose out - many tenants will refuse or will not be able to pay. Within these shores, stories of ministers assassinated by their bodyguards and governors poisoned by their cooks may become routine.

Restaurateurs will have a hard time: not every customer will pay after eating because "man must wack". Policemen, tax collectors and road marshals will be doing the most dangerous jobs: For starters, few will agree to be exploited by the FRSC that has asked car owners to pay N20, 000 to N30, 000 tax (for new number plate and licence) on each car by August 2012.

One other advantage of higher fuel prices will be the disappearance of traffic jams in cities like Abuja and Lagos. Many of us will be forced to abandon personal cars and trek or join public transportation. Exotic cars will almost completely disappear, because their owners will be hiding them in their garages for fear of being attacked by the hungry poor. Our taste for foreign goods will diminish - the purchasing power of 90 per cent of Nigerians will shrink as never before, ultimately forcing prices down. Then, finally, the unemployment rate will reach an all-time high. We haven't seen anything yet.

Soon, Boko Haram will acquire siblings: Petrol Haram, Jeep Haram, Aircraft Haram, Office Haram, Government Haram, Politics Haram and the like.

I used to think that Nigerian leaders were just selfish and greedy. Now I know they are also myopic and do not love their children and children's children. In which country do they think their children will live? Or will they live abroad forever? It will be dangerous for their children to live in the same country as Almajiri kids, Area Boys, Egbesu Boys, OPC and MASSOB members. What if criminal gangs start assassinating (not kidnapping) the children of the rich at airports, in hotel rooms and on the streets? Their fathers, who got rich by stealing public funds, would have lived for nothing. Happily, nobody transfers riches to the great beyond.

When we paint such pictures of the future, we try to make the managers of our resources think, and come to their senses. For, if history is any guide, there is a last day for corruption in every nation. Nigeria is rich enough to give Nigerians fuel at N1 per litre. By now, the white people should have left oil exploration and exploitation to Nigerians. But due to poor and visionless leadership, we have remained a nation of consumers, not producers.


Since 1986 that I started hearing the debate on the "removal of fuel subsidy", a serious country would have had 1, 986 refineries scattered all over its territory. But no. We have been more interested in talking - organising conferences and issuing communiqués that lead to nowhere. Nobody has thought of asking the white people to set up refineries as a condition for getting a licence to extract the crude. Yet, building refineries is not rocket science; the people of the south-east and south-south were building them more than 40 years ago. Who frustrated the Ajaokuta Steel Mill that has consumed trillions of naira? We still have to depend on other nations for all the equipment and facilities needed to set up a refinery. A nation that imports toothpicks, rice and cassava products cannot hope to manufacture a pin, much less a tank.

Total deregulation of the downstream sector (that is, higher fuel prices) from next year will mark the beginning of President Goodluck Jonathan's transformation agenda. There will be transformation indeed. And I wish him good luck. A civil conflict will follow, but it is not one to be led by the toothless bulldog called Nigeria Labour Congress. This is a good war that will end all wars on the Nigerian soil.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201110101320.html

Make sure you do 'thanksgiving'

You were nearly a gonna -

[quote author=musiwa.,. link=topic=778080.msg9311286#msg9311286 date=1318261591]you dont make sense. There are white african. In their millions. Why do people assume only black people live in africa. You have white and black in the USA. So africa. There are white family who have lived in africa during the days of slavery, the same period micheal Jordan generation came to the USA.

So if you define Micheal Jordan an american , what do you define this white people whose generation have live in african.

i went to a private elementary school where every grade  my classmate were white and black.[/quote]Mr Know it all . . . . I now tend not to respond to idi.ots, however i will make an exception with you.

How many black billionaires are there in America?

How many blacks are there in the top 20 richest people in America?

Do you not think there should be more caucasian/white billionaires in Africa than blakcs?

As Arabs are a mongrel race of people with predominantly white genes  you can also include any mixed race person perieved as black in you answers to the above questions.

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From PETRUS OBI, Enugu

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Tension is currently mounting in Amaechi, Awkunanaw, Enugu South Local Government, home of former Senate president, Chief Ken Nnamani, where some Church leaders are gearing up for a showdown with the parish priest of St. Jude’s Catholic Church in the community.

Women from the Church yesterday staged a protest calling for the removal of the parish priest, Rev. Fr. John Amadi whom they accused of high handedness. The protesters also condemned what they termed unilateral dissolution of the board of Holy Angel Comprehensive Secondary School by Rev. Fr. John Amadi. The aggrieved women, who displayed various placards with different inscriptions including “Fr. Amadi, are you above the law,” “the whole world should help us,” “Fr. Amadi wants to kill us,” besieged the Church compound singing against the continued stay of the priest in their community.


They accused the parish priest of high handedness, alleging that the reverend father had succeeded in sowing seeds of discord among them. President of Catholic Women Organisation (CWO) of the parish, Mrs. Kate Egbo, who spoke on behalf of the women, alleged that the priest did not consult the parishioners before dissolving the school’s board of trustees. Recalling that the school was founded by the CWO, the women’s spokesperson alleged that the priest had converted the secondary school which belonged to the parish to his personal property. She alleged further that the parish priest now ran the school unilaterally, adding that recently, he increased the school fees from 5,200 to 8,500 without consulting the stakeholders.


Mrs. Egbo maintained that the dissolution of the school’s former board was unacceptable to them, appealing to the Enugu Catholic Bishop, Callistus Onaga, to, as a matter of urgency, wade into the matter to avoid any breach of public peace by the aggrieved parishioners. Also speaking, the First Vice Chairman of the Parish Council, Mr. Daniel Ikechukwu Egbo, further alleged that the man of God lacked accountability and transparency, challenging the priest to account for the money realised during the fund raising ceremony for the parish’s ongoing Church building held last year.


He explained that the secondary school project was initiated by the parish with a view to generating revenue and wondered why an individual should turn it into a private venture

http://odili.net/news/source/2011/oct/6/507.html

How many convictions to date?

What percentage of the amount stolen since the formation of the EFCC has been recovered?

How much has the EFCC costs - and how much have they recovered?

EFCC Targets More Ex-Governors - More Arrests Planned For This Week.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is bracing up to arrest one or two more former governors this week in continuation of its ongoing onslaught against high profile former political office holders suspected to have been corrupt while in office.

The former governors, who finished their tenure in office last May, are among 20 high profile political persons that the EFCC had concluded investigations into allegations against them and is ready to charge them to court.

A source in the Ministry of Justice, who declined to name the suspects billed for arrest, said at the weekend that this was for strategic reasons, as the commission was forced to change its strategy last week following THISDAY's exclusive story on the four former governors the EFCC had arrested last Thursday.

The former governors' arrest, it was gathered, was facilitated by President Goodluck Jonathan, who sources said did not oppose the EFCC on the matter.

THISDAY had last Sunday reported that the EFCC had secured a fiat from the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), to prosecute four former governors - Adebayo Alao-Akala (Oyo), Gbenga Daniel (Ogun), Aliyu Akwe Doma (Nasarawa) and Danjuma Goje (Gombe).

The commission last Thursday arrested Alao-Akala, Daniel and Doma over allegations of cumulatively misappropriating over N100 billion while in office and a day after their arrest, it declared Goje, who is accused of diverting N52 billion while in office, wanted for failure to honour its invitation.

The EFCC, it was also gathered, is billed to arraign the trio of Alao-Akala, Daniel and Doma this week.

The ministry official told THISDAY that the list of those set to face trial comprises over 20 names, among who are some former governors who had served at different times.

Detailing how Jonathan approved the present list of persons to be tried, the source said the EFCC boss, Mrs. Farida Waziri, had prepared the list of those the commission planned to arrest and prosecute, having conducted thorough investigations on the individuals and presented same to the president.

According to the official, Jonathan's approval was borne out of the conviction that it would be in the interest of the suspects for the EFCC to arraign them in court to ascertain their innocence or otherwise, in view of the evidence against them.

Jonathan, the official said, was ready to fulfil his promise that he would combat corruption, adding that the EFCC list became a major test in his resolve to fight graft.

He said the president was not oblivious of the fact that the international community had been monitoring his administration's commitment to fight corruption.

He also said by closing his eyes to the fate of members of his party, the president would not give in to pressure when the EFCC net catches opposition members "who might want to deploy blackmail, propaganda and dismiss any such move as political."

The ministry source said it was after the briefing of the president was concluded that the EFCC boss requested for a fiat from Adoke to prosecute the suspects.

Sources in EFCC, however, confirmed to THISDAY that the commission was forced to review its strategy for the arrest of Daniel and others when the exclusive report by this newspaper was published, adding that the commission came under intense pressure from either the suspects or their associates for leniency.

An EFCC source said the commission was aware of the posturing by some of the suspects that they would use their influence to stifle their cases, adding that EFCC was not bothered as it had presidential backing.

For instance, the source cited the case of two of the former governors who had tried to tamper with evidence of their corrupt practices.

He said one of them who is suspected to have owned a house in London while in office, had allegedly sold the building and rerouted the funds to China.

The source who declined further details on the investigation, however, said at least five of the former governors would soon be charged because investigations into their cases had been concluded.

Others, he disclosed, may only be quizzed based on available information and subsequently placed under close watch pending when further investigations are concluded

http://allafrica.com/stories/201110090082.html

Lagos stealing Oguns taxes?

How about Lagos stealing taxes from the people - period!

Slaves - See how your slave masters are bickering over your 'sweat' aka taxes.

Blaming your lack of payments for the dismal state of things on the ground -

Its all your fault -

Agitation for better standards of living remains on the rise. But wrong remittances of the personal income tax of most employees that live in border communities are robbing some states of valuable revenue needed to provide projects and amenities for the governed. Festus Akanbi examines steps being taken to bring more earners into the tax net.

When finance commissioners in the 36 states of the federation, including that of the Federal Capital Territory, met in Abuja recently, one of the issues that was on the front burner was the inappropriate remittance of taxes, especially personal income taxes, by workers who reside outside the state where they work.

An observer at the meeting said the tone for the discussion was set by the representative of Nasarawa State who lamented the loss of revenue by the state to the Federal Capital Territory Administration, to which several residents in the border communities that fall within the jurisdiction of Nasarawa State, allegedly pay their taxes.


Apart from serving as the seat of government, the FCT also serves as the headquarters of many private sector organisations with the attendant space constraints to accommodate employees of these diverse institutions. The reality is that quite a number of civil servants and their counterparts in the private sector live outside the FCT, especially in areas that fall within the jurisdiction of the adjourning states of Nasarawa, Niger and Plateau.


Today, areas like Nyanyan, Mararaba, Masaka, New Karu, and Ado, Zimbabwe are sprawling slums in Nasarawa and the inhabitants are mostly people working in Abuja in the FCT.


But according to officials of Nasarawa State Government, the aggressive revenue mobilisation of the FCT authorities is taking its toll on the finances of Nasarawa given the fact that some of the residents of the state working in Abuja pay their personal income tax to the FCTA.


Tax experts said the Nasarawa State experience is shared by some other states especially those with heavy concentration of public and private sector organisations. The list includes Lagos and Ogun, Delta and Anambra, and Rivers and Imo and Abia States. In Lagos, people troop from the adjourning states of Ogun and Oyo daily to report to their various offices in Lagos while a handful of residents of Onitsha in Anambra State cross the River Niger Bridge to work in Asaba, the Delta State capital.


Lagos State, which is the undisputed commercial nerve centre of the country, boasts the highest concentration of businesses. Apart from the major seaports and airports, the Nigerian Stock Exchange, headquarters of most of the financial institutions, newspapers houses and embassies, among others, its population is second only to that of Kano State, according to official figures from the National Population Commission.

No Government Presence
However, a combination of shortage of accommodation and the high cost of living in metropolitan cities such as Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja are driving residents to neighbouring communities, most of which fall within the jurisdiction of other states.


Characteristically, most of these neighbouring communities appear to be far from civilisation as a result of the total breakdown of infrastructure, a development which the Ogun State Government has blamed on lack of adequate funds and loss of revenues through wrong payment of taxes by residents of the area to the Lagos Government.


Areas like Olambe-Akute, Agbado Oke-Aro, Mowe, and a host of others have been practically cut off from Lagos and Abeokuta. Apart from the total collapse of their roads, residents complained of lack of government presence in the area of provision of schools, health centres, and pipe borne water.

In many parts of the country, the allure of employment opportunities and access to a measure of convenience guaranteed by big cities have led to the concentration of large a pool of workers in certain states and localities than others.


Yet, some of these cities find it increasingly difficult to cater to the housing needs of their teeming workforce as well as for those working in private institutions located in the states.


Loss of revenue
One major reason advanced by the previous administrations in Ogun State for its inability to cater to the needs of residents of the border communities was the remittance of personal income taxes of residents of the area to Lagos State where most of them work.


A source disclosed that because of the lackadaisical attitude of the previous administrations to tax collection, the list of individual and corporate organisations that wrongly remit their taxes to Lagos has continued to rise. A particular case is that of some corporate organisations with representative offices in Ogun which are still remitting their taxes to Lagos where they are headquartered.

Correcting the Lapses
Analysts explained that it has been easy for the Lagos State Government to enlarge its scope of tax collection because of its aggressive approach to revenue generation. However, the current administration in Ogun State said last week, it has begun a chain programme of reversing the trend in order to live up to its responsibilities of making life easy for the state's residents.


A survey carried out by the state government, for instance, showed that a number of towns have witnessed population explosion in the last five years including Sango-Ota and Ibafo. Also a number of villages with just 50 families in the past have been virtually transformed into urban areas.


This development, the survey revealed, has led to a huge strain on Ogun State whose financial resources have not keep abreast with the pace of population growth.


According to the report, state tax revenues have not grown in line with the population growth, thus creating a mismatch of resources and funding. The study also showed that majority of border town residents work in Lagos State but their personal income taxes continue to be remitted to Lagos State as many employers are ignorant of the law, even though many major companies have staff bus routes that start and terminate daily in Ogun State.


The report maintained that the trend in migration is set to continue and indeed increase. It therefore raised concerns that unless urgent action is taken, modern day slums will be created in the border areas.

Ogun's Revenue Drive
The state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, who expressed his concern over the development at a press conference in Abeokuta last week, disclosed that the Ogun State Government is losing about N1.5 billion every month as a result of wrongful remittance of taxes payable by people resident in the state but working for employers based in other states across the nation.


He said, “Our research is on-going, and this is a conservative estimate going by our findings.” He added that his government had begun to put in place measures to ensure that employees' personal income tax deductions due to the state are henceforth remitted to the state's coffers.


“More and more people working in Lagos and other states are bona fide residents of Ogun State, and most of them commute to work from the state. Unfortunately, many employers do not comply with the provisions of the Personal Income Tax Act,” Senator Amosun who himself is a taxation expert said.


A statement by the state's Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu added, “This violation and wrongful administration of the statutory tax by companies and institutions is marginalising Ogun State. This tax leakage is an obvious case of revenue erosion and the economic strangulation of our state.”


Quoting the Personal Income Tax Act, Olaniyonu said an employee's residence should be the determinant factor in where an employer remits the employee's personal income tax to. “The Residency Rule implication of this tax law affects residents of border-line towns like Akute, Ibafo, Magboro, Mowe, Ojodu-Abiodun and Sango-Ota, just to name a few of the locations where people commute to Lagos regularly,” he said.


He said the Ogun State government believes that compliance with this extant tax law would go a long way in ensuring that the state delivers on its obligations to its numerous stakeholders.


Consequently, the state is said to be holding consultations with all stakeholders including private and public sectors employers, employees, the business community, industry associations, professional bodies, and employee unions. so that they can “understand and comply with the residency rule” aspect of the tax laws of the country.


Some of the measures being put in place to achieve this goal include sensitisation and awareness campaigns, which was flagged off by the governor last week. Others include road shows to engage Lagos-based employers.


The Ogun State Government has also begun a simple registration process for employers and detailed enumeration exercise in the border areas to accurately understand the demographics and indentify specific employers of residents. These employers will then be actively engaged to ensure compliance.

https://serving.thisdaylive.com/0bef99d6-acf5-4e2c-9779-8fa02ba3fcd4/assets/Ngozi-Okonjo-0409.jpg?maxwidth=400&maxheight=540


http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/effort-to-bring-border-towns-into-tax-net-begins/100083/

pappy2000:
This removal of subsidy is long overdue. This is what the Nigerian people deserve. They voted for   their  enemies, now  they  have to face the consequence. The Nigerian people  deserve the govt they get.They voted for GEJ not Pdp. Now they must face the consequence of their action, they should  face it.

You sound like a politician.

jason123:
Wait a minute! Do they expect people to survive on 18000 Naira minimum wage with this increment? I dey seriously laugh. As the Yoruba peeps will say, "Esu fun e ni fila, o gba sokoto ati buba". That is, "the devil gave you a cap for your head but collected your trousers and shirt as payment". NLC, over to you . . .

The N18,000 was a gimmick - the govt never had any intention of paying it.

They are drawing up plans to tax people particulary those collecting a minimum of N18,000 from the govt.

The can collect the money from people's paychecks before giving them the balance.

The extortion of money will spread to the masses - at the same time rampant inflation kicks in.

Nigerians are in massive trouble - the future is looking bleak.

Society will change for the worse - Crime will spiral and starvation will become common.

2012 will be an interesting year - Nigeria will not be the same.

[quote author=Mr--Why link=topic=777616.msg9305598#msg9305598 date=1318182267]Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting the same result.

The current system of Forex does not favor a Banana Republic like Nigeria one bit because of weak manufacturing base.

If the economy is not fundamentally restructured and diversified, the Naira will fall further to even N500 to a US Dollar in a couple of years. The odds are against us and with the falling oil price, the future is gloomy.[/quote]Falling oil prices,
Falling production and exports,
Dwindling reserves
Increased domestic demand and imports
A currency devaluing even faster than the devaluing dollar.
Uncontrolled inflation,
Etc

The future is bleak

Fuel Subsidy - They've Decided to Kill the Poor, Citizens Cry Out

Ebun Sessou
8 October 2011

Recently governmentrevealed its intention regarding the removal of fuel subsidy, a programme that has occupied national discourse in the last 19 years.

Indications are that for a country with a reserve portfolio in excess of 36 billion barrels of oil and daily output capacity put at about 3 million barrels per day, a deregulated environment would engender an environment conducive for investments to thrive. Refineries would start springing up across the country, jobs would be created and the country would become a petroleum-products refining and petrochemicals hub, at least in the West Africa sub-region.

Granted, prices of petroleum products would increase in the short run, in the medium to long term, investments in development of infrastructure would go up owing to the large volume of human and vehicular traffic, jobs would be created, technology would be domiciled and under such circumstances, the gross domestic product, GDP of the country can only go up.

But, Nigerians say removal of fuel subsidy will only aggravate poverty, increase hardship and above all, increase the level of joblessness in the country.

Those who spoke to Saturday Vanguard suggested that government should focus on other resources that have been abandoned for long and invest in them to make the country better for everybody.

Saturday Vanguard sampled the opinions of Nigerians and reports:

Eugene Chika, a Lagos based okada rider said, "if government removes subsidy on fuel, things would be difficult for average Nigerians. "All the essential amenities of life will be difficult to get. That is why I am not in support of removal of subsidy on petroleum products because Nigerians are still benefiting from it.

"There are many places government can delve into and not in the area of removal of oil subsidy. For instance, there is coal in Enugu, we have cocoa and nobody is talking about it, I believe government should exploit those areas. Nigerian government should not make life difficult for the masses. They should go into areas that have been neglected. People should be benefiting from government and not the other way round. They should not inflict hardship on people", he concluded.

For Chris Okeke, "Nigerian government has failed to fulfill its promises. They have promised different things and they are yet to fulfill any of those things. Teachers' salary are not paid , yet there is nothing we have seen so far. Nothing has been implemented.

"What they told us to be expecting is that prices of petroleum products would be reduced for the masses to enjoy. But nobody has gained anything from government's programme. Up till date, we are still buying a litre of kerosene at the rate of N150, yet nobody has done anything about it. The expectation of good governance seems to be a mirage. What we were hearing now is that subsidy on petroleum products will be removed thereby increasing the prices of those products," he lamented.

Meanwhile Evangelist Thaddeus Anunne suggested that those who are fomenting trouble in this country should be dealt with. "I saw the story on the pages of newspapers and heard them on radio. If they eventually remove it, the question to ask is that, what is the reason for the removal? If subsidy is removed, it simply opens the doors for governors, ministers to have extra ghana-must-go by their side. How many of the governors are punished after being probed, they only go away with people's money.

You can only hear about a project being executed on the television and newspapers but in the real sense of it, those projects are not there. By giving them this money, then, you have empowered them more to accumulate and embezzle more money for themselves and wait for the consequences. How much of the money do we recover no matter the EFCC's intervention? I don't trust the EFCC because they only make noise. Those who were caught with people's money have not been punished for it. But, a clerk who steals can go to eight years imprisonment."

Relevant Links
West Africa
Nigeria
Petroleum
He continued: "The fuel is ours, how can we think of removing fuel subsidy that we use internally? How can we justify removal of fuel subsidy? We have the crude oil and all other things necessary for economic development of the country; yet, we live as servants in a foreign land. The truth is that the government of this country is not honest.

"If they remove the subsidy next year as planned and increase electricity tariffs, it means they have decided to kill the poor masses on the streets. I don't know if some persons are behind this problem or they are always looking down on the masses. They are only talking about themselves; they have not considered the poor man who cannot afford three square meals on a daily basis. Children will find it difficult to go school.

"I think, government should think of investing on agriculture instead of increasing the agony of the people. There are so many countries that are operating without oil. Togo has no oil; Malaysia invests in rice plantation and gave room for employment. If they should increase the price of any crude oil in this country, it is sabotage," he said.



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