PART 2
contd….

Remember that some hundred years ago fistulas were as common in the west world as it is in Ethiopia today. Only when trained midwifes and hospitals with surgical service became generally available in the west world, the incidence of fistulas decreased, and is now unheard of.

Teen-age pregnancies are not very uncommon in the developed world, certainly not in the USA (where you even have religious sects practicing polygamy, child marriage and child pregnancies) but VVF/RVF are extremely rare due to the fact that good obstetrical service is at hand, and no obstructed labor goes unattended for a longer period.

Another important fact to keep in mind is that more than 50% of the fistula patients in Ethiopia are multipara (have already delivered one or more children), so it is certainly not exclusively young first time pregnants who are victims of VVF/RVF.

Any midwife who has seen a large third degree tear (a tear involving the rectum) in an otherwise normal delivery will understand that the soft tissues can never cause any major obstruction to delivery. The expelling forces are simply too powerful. That is why female circumcision, even in its most extreme form, is not related to fistula. Some years ago a Swedish gynecologist published her result of comparing the second stage (the time from start of pushing to the delivery of the child) in circumcised and uncircumcised women. Very surprisingly she found that the second stage was shorter in circumcised women!

Only when good obstetrical service is generally available, are fistulas prevented.

So we easily appreciate the problem in Africa. Poor health care, and postponing pregnancy is a quick and cheap fix to this serious problem. In rural areas, the prevalence rate is said to be higher due to inadequacy of facilities for pre and post-natal care. In such areas, long distances combined with high cost of care; ignorance and poor nutrition make women more vulnerable to VVF.

Causes of VVF could be direct or indirect:

Direct causes of VVF – The main and direct cause of VVF is ‘unrelieved’ obstructed labour. This means that in an ideal situation, where there are health facilities to prevent obstructed labour, and where pregnancy has been monitored during the course of at least 6 months before the onset of labour, the likelihood of obstructed labour is minimised. Other factors that influence the incidence of VVF include accidental surgical injury related to pregnancy, and crude attempts at induced abortion.

Surgical procedures that cause VVF are of two types. The first, orthodox medical accidental injury, which refers to injury caused to the bladder during surgical obstetric procedures performed within a formal/modern health care system, such as a hospital. Such procedures include Caesarean sections and difficult forceps deliveries.

The second are traditional procedures commonly employed during pregnancy and labour, and sometimes result not only to VVF, but also haemorrhage and sepsis. Examples include female genital mutilation (FGM), ‘Gishiri’ and ‘Angurya’ cuts.

In conclusion, fistula’s are related to young pregnancy due to social constraints, including poor nutrition, poor perinatal –cum– obstetric care and social abandonment, and not due to the ‘age factor,’ itself. If these confounders are resolved, there will be minimal to nil incidence of fistulas in the young. Due to the irresponsibility of our men, however, setting age limits and possibly even banning marriage altogether for some men is understandable.

Historical and Cultural perspective: Coming of Age

From a traditional point of view, there was never a magic bullet age (18) as obtains today– implemented by the colonial master. Traditionally in African and Judea-Christian cultures, at puberty a man or woman was deemed mature. However, to further protect the individual, certain social exercises were conducted to determine and prove the individual was ready for manhood, or womanhood as the case may be. This is called the ‘coming of age’ ceremony. It included strenuous tasks and contests the boy had to overcome, to become a man, and likewise the girl. Youth stood and endeared painful lashes of a cow tail, jumped bulls, climbed heights and jumped down and other rigorous tests to prove at puberty that the individual was ready to be a man or woman.

Westernization largely wiped away these traditional methods of adulthood determination. Coming of age ceremonies are native to all extremes of the world, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Korea, Taiwan, South Africa.

Biblically, the same are called the Bar and Bat Mitzvah for boys and girls. After completing the bar or Bat Mitzvah, the Jewish child is now an adult man.

In Christianity, though the exact age is not known, based on Jewish culture the age at which Mary had Jesus is put somewhere between 12-16 years.

The Protevangelion of James, a rare Biblical book from the ‘Lost gospels:’

CHAPTER 8: 2 And when she was twelve years old, there was a council of the priests, saying: Behold Mary is become twelve years old in the temple of the Lord. What then shall we do with her ? lest she pollute the sanctuary of the Lord. And they said unto the high priest: Thou standest over the altar of the Lord. Enter in and pray concerning her: And whatsoever the Lord shall reveal to thee, that let us do.

CHAPTER 8: 1 And Joseph cast down his adze and ran to meet them, and when they were gathered together they went to the high priest and took their rods with them. And he took the rods of them all and went into the temple and prayed. And when he had finished the prayer he took the rods and went forth and gave them back to them: and there was no sign upon them. But Joseph received the last rod: and 1o, a dove came forth of the rod and flew upon the bead of Joseph. And the priest said unto Joseph: Unto thee hath it fallen to take the virgin of the Lord and keep her for thyself. 2 And Joseph refused, saying: I have sons, and I am an old man, but she is a girl: lest I became a laughing-stock to the children of Israel.

The Catholic encyclopedia supports this age estimate ( http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15464b.htm), Bible gateway, a popular Christian Biblical information source online also suggests this age range for the old Joseph and young Mary: http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Matt/When-Virgin-Gave-Birth

Considering the importance and advantage of coming of age, over UN dates. A person can be 19 and too immature to marry, whereas a 16 year old Fulani cattle rearer, may be so physically and socially mature and developed, delaying him will be meaningless and risky.

Coming of Age ceremonies around the world

CHINA


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo-bn0LU6v0&feature=player_embedded

TAIWAN


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmLO5kQ10sA&feature=player_embedded

“…Twenty years ago I consulted with elders about the meaning of the ‘coming-of-age’ ceremony. They said that the two-day ceremony was part of the 10-day harvest festivities. Rituals dedicated for men and women were separately held in two days during the festival. There was also a special ceremony to test if the young people were able and mature enough to become adults… whether they had experienced life in the forest and if they were able to form families and start careers. A cultural tradition was thus established….”

NATIVE AMERICA


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQxPR8sr7vM&feature=player_embedded

SOUTH AFRICA


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDexTdXOcm0&feature=player_embedded

PUYUMA


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCAAq8545Yo&feature=player_embedded

ETHIOPIA


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ld8Y6gsL7g&feature=player_embedded

Islam

In Islam, sexual puberty is the delineating factor in marriage. Once a woman is biologically mature and the social experts determine her mature, with her consent and the consent of her parents, she can be married off. It must be pointed out that there is no forced marriage in Islam, the young lady must agree. Case to note in Islam is the report of the prophet marrying/being bethrothed to Aisha at age six, and the marriage being officiated at age 9–though the age is debated ( http://www.muslim.org/islam/aisha-age.htm). Though these ages can not be certified, what must be realized by Muslims and non Muslims alike is the condition in which the marriage was consummated. See: http://newsrescue.com/prophet-mohammed-of-islams-young-wife-aisha-was-mature/

Maturity of Aisha

Aisha stated of the occasion of her marriage:

The Prophet engaged me when I was a girl. We went to Medina and stayed at the home of Bani-al-Harith bin Khazraj. Then I got ill and my hair fell down. Later on my hair grew (again) and my mother, Um Ruman, came to me while I was playing in a swing with some of my girl friends. She called me, and I went to her, not knowing what she wanted to do to me. She caught me by the hand and made me stand at the door of the house. I was breathless then, and when my breathing became Allright, she took some water and rubbed my face and head with it. Then she took me into the house. There in the house I saw some Ansari women who said, “Best wishes and Allah’s Blessing and a good luck.” Then she entrusted me to them and they prepared me (for the marriage). Unexpectedly Allah’s Apostle came to me in the forenoon and my mother handed me over to him, and at that time I was a young girl.

What happened? – She lost her hair.
What was the remedy?- No treatment, maybe water on her face and gentle reassurance
And what was the outcome- It rectified it self. Her hair re-grew!

It is self explanatory that the hair loss she made sure to mention in that hadith, served the purpose of informing that maturity was essential before man and woman can consummate.

Reversible hair-loss being a traditionally recognized sign of puberty.

Here is the modern medical assertion/confirmation of pubertal hair loss-

“…Female hair loss can first show up at puberty. However, this may be due to normal hormonal changes and it invariably rectifies itself….” http://www.buzzle.com/articles/female-hairloss/

“..The very first signs of the effects of androgens on scalp hair growth occur soon after puberty, which is the stage in the human life when the reproductive organs reach maturity. In boys, puberty occurs around age 13. After puberty, the front hairline above the temples may recede. In some men, this may be as far as the balding process will develop…” http://www.ehealthmd.com/library/hairloss/HL_causes.html

“…When blood levels of androgen decrease during puberty, patterned hair loss may begin its pattern….” http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=73233
“…Female pattern hair loss may begin as early as puberty…”
http://www.aocd.org/skin/dermatologic_diseases/female_pattern_hai.html, http://www.ahlc.org/causes-f.htm

It is important for those wishing to marry young girls or women at any age whatsoever to understand this feature of young marriage. Puberty must be attained and it must be determined and confirmed by social experts, parents, the court, maternity nurses. Islam does not allow a man simply picking up a young girl without such sincere verification of physio-social puberty.

Pedophilia

Paraphilia’s are sexual perversions. According to the DSM statistical disorders manual, there are over 500 paraphilias. These include, wearing your wives panties, which is a disorder. Love of the elderly (Gerontophilia), Menophilia, menstrual sex. Nasophilia- love of noses. Foot fetishism- loving feet and the like. Homosexuality used to belong to this group of disorders, but in 1976 after a APA meeting it was liberated from this group. It is important to know that, though the common man loosely throws these names, these are all medical disorders requiring professional diagnosis. Ephebophilia is when an adult loves adolescents, 15-19. Hebephilia is age-related love. Pedophilia is still included in this group of paraphilias and is defined as the recurrent exclusive sexual interest toward prepubescent children. It is a medical diagnosis as mentioned above and involves exclusive love and obsession with prepubescent children. If you have an old wife and add a young wife, you are not a pedophile because your interest is not exclusive. If you date or marry anyone post pubescent, you are not a pedophile, because the precondition for this diagnosis is love of sex with children pre-sexual/biological maturity/puberty. Key words- recurrent, exclusive and pre-puberty.

The challenges

Are there any advantages of early marriage? Medically there are some as well as disadvantages of delayed marriage and pregnancy. According to the US National Cancer Institute, early child birth, IE- the first child has been correlated with decreased risks of breast cancer. Getting the mammary tissue working, with full breast-feeding early helps to prevent it from developing breast cancerous properties. Source: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/reproductive-history You must breast feed for several months however after delivery, aborted pregnancies have the opposite effect, they lead to breast engorgement/tissue-lactation related changes and then if an abortion takes place, the ‘confused’ tissue is more susceptible to malignant transformation later in life.

The younger a woman has her first child, the lower her risk of developing breast cancer during her lifetime.

A woman who has her first child after the age of 35 has approximately twice the risk of developing breast cancer as a woman who has a child before age 20.

Additionally, the obvious exists, the increased risk of STD’s when a man or woman is delayed from marriage, while his or her hormones are shouting. We know all these, the hundreds of thousands of single parents and ‘illegitimate births’ in the western world is a testimony to the results of delayed marriage with the reality of hormones in youths. Abortions and the entire abortion debate is largely a complication of delayed adult life for western education purposes. We all want education for all, but what of where there is no chance of education, should our youth sit down doing nothing but having illegitimate, risky sex, waiting for their 18th birthday? Here we introduce a largely overlooked aspect of this discussion:

Right of the Child

What is the right of a child, yet unborn. Do we ever consider the rights of unborn children in these discussions? OK, with delayed marriage there is an upsurge in abortions. This must be considered in these discussions. In addition, delayed marriage as is manifest in the west, leads inevitably to single parenthood. Children born to parents out of wedlock. There are currently several programs in New York, by the state governor, intimidating the public with the negative social outcomes of single parenthood. Face it, at puberty, hormones are secreted and people want to have sex. What happens next? In the modern world, you have the sex, sometimes you use condoms and wait till you are 18. Many times women get pregnant and in USA for instance many women get HIV and die of AIDS, the most common killer of black American women between 25-34(http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/reproductive-history). In Africa, sex happens just as much and most resulting pregnancies are aborted. In America, the kids are born and these cheated infants are welcomed into the world, deprived of their rights of a functional family consisting of married father and mother. There are many social ills and social and educational disadvantages these children of single parents automatically face. These can be looked up online. Point is, we trade off one problem for another when we force higher marriage ages. And as society becomes more irresponsible, the age of majority is likely to be pushed higher, to 19, 20 maybe.

The choices

Will I prefer my daughter to decide–note she must decide–to marry an older man, or will I prefer her to delve into fornication, abortion and have children out of wedlock as is common today? I am not sure. Joseph was an old man when Mary was betrothed and wed to him. There are supposedly advantages from a human survivalist point, of older men marrying younger women. This study found: It turns out that older men chasing younger women contributes to human longevity and the survival of the species, according to new findings by researchers at Stanford and the University of California-Santa Barbara. Read more at http://scienceblog.com/14203/old-men-chasing-young-women Importantly, we must always be reasonable and abide by the laws of the society to which we belong. Children are born not to be abandoned to destitution or sold. Wives are not property, bought or sold, but partners to be loved, adored, respected and cared for. Divorced women, abandoned sick women with fistula’s and other such conditions are a shame to us and ways we incur the wrath of God. Without our religious and social responsibility, I dare say that we loose our privilege to marry as a whole, talk less, take young brides. There are many problems in this world and different ways to tackle them. This paper was written because of the obvious inflated obsession in Nigeria with this particular problem.

A MUST READ: My Thoughts On ‘Child’ Marriage – By Dr. Peregrino Brimah

Posted By Editor On 21st July, 2013. Under OPINION

Firstly, it is important to correct an outrageous error that spread as fast as bad news is know to, all over the Nigerian media and blogosphere. The senate proceedings on child marriage were actually not about child marriage. Section 29 is in respect to the right of a married lady no matter how young, to be empowered “of age,” to take important decisions like renunciation of her citizenship, if she so desires–to seek foreign asylum for instance. Being “of age” after a legal marriage is global legislative setting which proffers on the individual various rights and abilities to make decisions and choices to be respected by all parties and the state, as well as entitlements. Marriage must first have occurred legally and the topic of marriage age and requirements is not covered under section 29 in view.



Age of marriage in America

The United States is by no means a standard for Nigeria’s legal decisions or considerations, however for a robust conversation, I will like to point out the ages of marriage in various states in America. In all states, to marry without parental and/or court consent, the minimal age is 18. But, with parental and in some cases, additional family court consent, the ages of marriage are rather interesting and will be a cause of grief for Nigerian senators and the media, no doubt: New York has the minimum being 14 years. North Carolina allows marriage at 14 years too. South Carolina sets it at 14 for females and 16 for males. And New Hampshire sets their minimum age of marriage at 13 years.

But it gets more interesting. In several states, there is actually no legal minimum age of marriage. Nigerians will say, ‘so you can marry at one year old?’ Yes, so it appears in the United States–with court approval, theoretically you can. Washington state, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Texas and Rhode Island states set no minimum age of marriage for Americans. Once you can get court approval, you can marry in these states, regardless of your biological age. This information is freely available online. This website carries it: http://www.usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/teen_marriage_laws/

Who is a child?

This is the next relevant question in this essay. The phrase, ‘child marriage,’ is notably unpleasant. So we will summarily discuss who a child is. There are two markers for the defining of who a child is.

Western/UN: According to the United Nations (UN), a child is “a human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier”. Thus, the UN defines child based on the ‘age of majority,’ which is set by the state. Age of majority, as opposed to ‘minority,’ or being a minor, is an age limit set by countries usually ‘18,’ by which time minors have assumed the legal rights of adults.

Biological/Cultural: According to medical science and biology, as well as from a traditional and cultural perspective, an adult is anyone who has attained puberty. Puberty is defined as physical and social maturity, based on hormonal changes and their related effects on the individual. This is called ‘Biological adulthood.’

READ: A Nation Of Paedophiles – By Femi Fani-Kayode

The day I hit puberty, I stopped being a child

As can be expected, Western/UN adulthood hardly ever correspond with biological/traditional adulthood. One, the former is strictly based on years and does not consider the physical attributes of the individual, whereas the later, Biological adulthood, considers the attributes and development of the individual on a case basis. From an economic stand point, the former, Western/UN adulthood based on set age of majority, is more easy to regulate, as it will limit assessments needed to check individual by individual, the physiological and social maturity as the later demands. With this understanding, we get an insight into the rules of marriage in the United States. The approval for minors (children) is granted by a court which evaluates biological maturity, as these states in America do not subject themselves to the adult age regulations of the Western/UN maturity ‘age of majority.’

It is also important to mention at this stage, that the UN strictly in a big-brotherly manner, watches and criticizes developing nations who utilize similar methods as the United States does, not relying devotedly on the global UN recommended age of majority set point, simply because we, Africans for instance are not mature, and our health care system can not cope with nutrition related complications of biological maturity marriageability determination. This leads us to the next aspect:

VVF (Vesico-Vaginal Fistulae)

Does early marriage predispose to VVF? The surprising answer is no, not anymore than living in Russia causes rickets. Early marriage and pregnancy does not cause fistulas unless you are malnourished and in a third world country with poor health care. The United States is developed world leader in teen pregnancies. With up to 500,000 teen pregnancies per year and over 4000 pregnancies at age 12, the United States should have some of the highest VVF rates in the world, but not so. VVF is not a problem in America, this is because of nutrition and good health care. Consequently, the UN does not breath down their necks. See: http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_tee_pre-health-teenage-pregnancy

VVF arises as a result of obstructed labor due to multiple causes, either due to Cephalo Pelvic Disproportion CPD (“the baby is too big and/or the pelvis too narrow”) or Malposition (“the baby comes the wrong way” – ex. transverse or oblique):

A study from Nigeria found that more than 30% of the fistula patients were younger than 16 years of age. These women usually have had just 1 pregnancy. In Ethiopia, more than 60% of the fistulas seen are a result of a woman’s first delivery.As mentioned previously, these women are usually isolated and have limited support. Another study from Nigeria found that 80% of fistula patients had been abandoned and 60% were divorced or separated. An overwhelming number of these women are uneducated. One report from Nigeria found that 99.4% of the fistula patients were illiterate. In another report of 1443 patients who underwent surgery for vesico-vaginal fistulas, only 3 had received any conventional education. As a result, these women maintain a subordinate position in society. They are often excluded from decision making, even decision making about their own health. As noted by Zacharin, “in an unequal world, these women are the most unequal among the unequal.”

Another factor is the lack of skilled obstetric providers in the developing world. It has been said that the incidence of obstetric fistulas is a direct indicator of quality obstetric care in an area. It is easy to understand that Ethiopia has one of the highest rates of obstetrical fistulas, considering the fact that there are more Ethiopian doctors in New York City than in Ethiopia. Source: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/455965_4

A very important study of Fistulas at the Aira fistula Hospital, in Ethiopia had this to say: Even if all marriages and first time pregnancies could be delayed until whatever age, even if malnutrition could be prevented and female circumcision eradicated, there would still be a lot of new fistula patients.

One has to focus on the fact that the one and only cause for a fistula is lack of competent nearby obstetrical service. Everything else is of no or minor importance. If only every woman in labor had access to obstetrical service, so that a caesarean section could be performed within four hours after the delivery gets complicated, there would be no fistulas occurring.

Ref CNN http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/14…ath/index.html
Yemeni girl, 12, dies in painful childbirth “Although the cause of her death was lack of medical care, the real case was the lack of education in Yemen and the fact that child marriages keep happening,” said Seyaj President Ahmed al-Qureshi.

Cont.....

Oh Allah shower Your blessings on these senators.
Never knew that freedom of religion is not part of democracy.

Was watching Amanpour interviewing the President of Afghanistan last week all I could imagine was GEJ sitting on that seat, as that Afghan President was intelligently handling Amanpour. I wait to see how my president will fair, though i can imagine it to be dericted to Mali war.

This is not magic its some elementary physics, the process involve heating/warming the bottle thereby heating the air in the bottle which create a vaccum in the bottle then put the boiled egg on the bottle and stop warming, u will be surprised to see how the fresh air rushing to fill the vaccum created in the bottle will push the egg into the bottle with out damaging it. you can try it cos I have done it several times using coke bottles, though with unshelled egg.

omenka: Oga president when r u gonna show the slightest hint of common sense? All these msgs of urs detailing how uve given express orders and deployed govt resources (our resources) to make conditions favourable for a hitch free xmas celebratns (results of which only exist in Aso Villa) sends a very bad signal to our muslim brothers up north. You are the president of Nigeria and not CAN president. How many agencies of govt did u give marching orders to ensure potholeless roads, fabulous airports, increased power generatn, et al, when they celebrated Salah? Enough of ur foolishness already. We know you are a christian from the south so stop rubbin it in the faces of the northerners. Be sensible and sensitive for once. Stop this inane display of religeous bias! You are the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria sir!

Beside He is the only Nigerian president that addresses the nation from the pulpit of a religious institution.

Buhari at 70 and 73 by 2015 this is a clear indication that he is not fighting for himself but for us his children and grandchildren.
happy BD Baba!

Kewt: I expected him to say something... That, he has done!

It's now left for gullible Nigerians to accept this cheap lie! Is the Son's daughter's illness/surgery a justification for his refusal to disclose such amount of money?

There's more to it....

There is alot more to even what u percieve of the situation.
To me the greatest question is why laundaring a mere N7million?
anyway a crime is a crime.

May Allah grant her jannat al firdaus! Ameen

Pastor Oritsejafor’s New Jet And Its Portent



Posted: November 15, 2012 - 16:39


By Rotimi Fashakin

The news media, print and electronic, were awash with the news of the acquisition of a Private Jet by Pastor Ayodele Joseph Oritsejafor, the current President of the Christian Association of Nigeria founding Pastor of Word of Life Bible Church, Warri, Delta state. The news had it that the special occasion, which had President Goodluck Jonathan in attendance, was a double-header- birthday and 40th anniversary on the pulpit. We were also told that it was a hugely exhilarated Pastor Oritsejafor that informed his congregants, for which they danced and sang for several minutes, that their money had given him a Private Jet, a 10-seater bombardier/challenger 601 plane. Unconfirmed reports put the cost of the aviation bird (excluding fuelling, hangar charges and pilots’ fees) as ranging between N2Billion and N8Billion, depending on the age, model and fittings. The report further had it that this effectively put the flamboyant Pastor as a member of the crème de la crème of super rich folks in the nation’s polity. However, what was not clearly stated was whether, as the case with many Nigerian Pastors, there is any difference between the church funds and Oritsejafor’s personal money.

I met Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor for the first time in 1981 as a student of University of Ife. A Christian musical group had invited him to preach at its campus-wide outreach program. First, he asked if we knew how to get excited. He went on to jump up a few times before settling down to preach. He told us about his escapades with the ganja-smoking gangs in Lagos Island before his conversion.

That day, Pastor Oritsejafor made such great impression on our young minds that we clapped excitedly. Later, in the late eighties, I read about the relationship turned sour with his erstwhile Mentor and Spiritual Father, Late Arch-Bishop Benson Idahosa. This unmanaged disagreement ultimately led to his exit from Pastoral work at the Warri branch of Idahosa’s Church of God Mission.

Indeed, Pastor Oritsejafor’s jet is just another statistic in the fad among Gospel preachers in the materialistic lusts that bear no biblical basis. These avaricious desires have often been explained away as necessary to facilitate the movement of the founding pastors for the work of evangelization. Time and again, this argument has often been defeated by the fact: the Queen of England and the British Prime Minister, the heads of government of Britain – where most of the missionaries that brought the gospel to Africa came from – do not even have official private jets! It is part of the behavior of man to rationalize obscenity. It does not occur to these pastors that, with a burgeoning army of unemployed youths and deliberate government policy to pauperize the citizenry, the only place of succor for the people should be the church! There is hardly any church with sustained and sustainable welfare program to cater for the peasants that form the preponderant population as congregants. It is incredibly callous to imagine the level of inequality that is cultivated and sustained in most Nigerian churches. In his speech at Stanford University in 2005, the late co-founder of Apple Computer said: “I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it” That aptly explains the indelible impression that a devoted, selfless and well-entrenched welfare program of religious bodies can have on peasants. When the Nigerian Pastor adorns himself with the most expensive garment from famous designers, he deludes himself with the same worn-out rhetoric: only the best is good for my God! The unfortunate thing is that this mindset is at variance with the biblical principles. From the Old Testament scriptures, the LORD had firmly established the principle of the-strong-helping-weak as a basis for continued national blessing. Of course, it is diametrically opposed to the world’s economic system – predicated on the ‘strong devouring the weak’. In the book of Deuteronomy chapter 15, the LORD, having established that the poor would always exist at any instantaneous time, went to establish their sustenance by the rich, as a basis for continued blessings. The LORD reasoned that, by this mindset in HIS people, poverty would, inexorably, be banished in the Land. Also, this was the principle that the early believers showed in ‘Acts of the Apostles’ that distinguished them and caused such mighty miracles that was the magnetizing basis for numerical growth!

James ‘Jim’ Bakker is an American Tele-evangelist, former host with his then wife (Tammy Faye Bakker), now late, of the PTL Club, a popular evangelical Christian television program. By the early 1980s, the Bakkers had built Heritage USA in Fort Mill, South Carolina, (south of Charlotte), then the third most successful theme park in the US, and a satellite system to distribute their network 24 hours a day across the country. Contributions requested from viewers were estimated to exceed $1 million a week, with proceeds to go to expanding the theme park and mission of PTL. In their success, the Bakkers took conspicuous consumption to an unusual level for a non-profit organization. PTL’s fund raising activities between 1984 and 1987 underwent scrutiny by The Charlotte Observer newspaper, eventually leading to criminal charges against Jim Bakker. From 1984 to 1987, Bakker and his PTL associates sold $1,000 "lifetime memberships", which entitled buyers to a three-night stay annually at a luxury hotel at Heritage USA. According to the prosecution at Bakker's later fraud trial, tens of thousands of memberships had been sold, but only one 500-room hotel was ever completed. Bakker "sold" more "exclusive partnerships" than could be accommodated, while raising more than twice the money needed to build the actual hotel. A good deal of the money went into Heritage USA’s operating expenses, and Bakker kept $3.4 million in bonuses for himself. Following a 16-month Federal grand jury probe, Bakker was indicted in 1988 on eight counts of mail fraud, 15 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy. In 1989, after a five-week trial which began on August 28 in Charlotte, the jury found him guilty on all 24 counts, and Judge Robert Potter sentenced him to 45 years in Federal prison and a $500,000 fine. According to Frances FitzGerald in an April 1987 New Yorker article, "They epitomized the excesses of the 1980s; the greed, the love of glitz, and the shamelessness; which in their case was so pure as to almost amount to a kind of innocence.” Detractors often said the PTL, acronym for Praise The Lord, as meaning: Pass The Loot. I have often believed that if the same kind of scrutiny that Jim Bakker passed through is allowed in Nigeria, many of the Pastors on the pulpit now in our Churches would be in Jail or on their way to Jail!

Churches are exempted from paying taxes because they are categorized as non-profit organizations. However, if a supposed non-profit organization procures an asset worth hundreds of millions of naira for assuaging the luxurious indulgence of an individual, the State should, by fiscal policy, be made to eke some revenue from such transactions. The ‘non-profit’ status conferred on any organization should subsist so long they exist to ensure that the preponderance of the people find meaning to life; if the purpose of a supposed non-profit organization changes to promoting ostentation, the status should equally be reviewed.

A closer look at this Oritsejafor’s Plane connotes other things. The conspicuous presence of Mr President on the day has its portent. Ordinarily, it can be said that, owing to the fierce closeness of the twosome, there is nothing strange in the President’s presence. Before the April 2011 Presidential election, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor had used his privileged position as CAN President to promote candidate Goodluck Jonathan as ‘the anointed of the LORD’ among Nigerian Christians. Following the post-election violence, like a bolt out of the blues, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor held a Press Conference on April 25, 2011 and called for the arrest of General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB). It did not matter to the obscenely flamboyant pastor that his incoherent and unverifiable allusions are unsupportable in any organized human establishment. Sensing that this may be a prelude to his formal arrest by the Jonathan regime, GMB (through his spokesman, Yinka Odumakin) said inter-alia: “Our attention has been drawn to a totally misguided call for the arrest of General Muhammadu Buhari by Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor in a reckless abuse of the office of the President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) for a purely political consultancy for Aso Rock.

”It is unfortunate that he has chosen the Easter day, when most Christian leaders were espousing the message of love which the risen Christ symbolizes, to make a satanic call capable of only pouring gasoline into a burning flame which casts him in the mould of a PDP goon rather than a responsible faith leader whose words at the moment should be of healing and reconciliation.

”In all his sound and fury, Pastor Oritsejafor did not provide any evidence to link Gen. Buhari to the wave of unfortunate spontaneous revolt against vote theft in parts of the country beyond playing the role of a "false accuser of the brethren".

“It is on record that the CPC Presidential flag bearer has distanced himself and the Party from the mayhem severally and strongly condemned the burning of worship places and alleged killings of youth corps members. Till date, nobody has brought out any contrary facts beyond false innuendos and character assassination which Pastor Oritsejafor has also been recruited into.

“The ridiculous claim by the cleric that Buhari is culpable because there were disturbances where he won is like calling Oritsejafor a hemp smoker because someone is seen smoking marijuana around the premises of Word of Life Bible Church. Absurdity!

“While we concede to the Villa Priest who is widely believed to be a beneficiary of the rot that presently defines governance in Nigeria the right to defend the tainted victory of the PDP, we frown at the use of the CAN mask to prosecute his Aso Rock brief.

”Our collective memory is not so short as not to know that unlike other revered men of God who have been on that exalted seat and spoke truth to power in the order of Samuel who put God's command above the fat of oxen, we don't have a quote of Pastor “Oritsejafor on the unbridled corruption and open banditry that has been the defining rule of governance in the country. The images of him the people have is roaming the villa corridors and parading government houses across Nigeria giving spiritual succour to treasury looters.

“If Pastor Oritsejafor happens to be a sounding board for President Jonathan's crackdown, we strongly suspect he is, we can only say: G00D LUCK!”
Rumor mill had it that the President’s presence was actually to deliver into Oritsejafor’s hands, the generous gift from him. Indeed, the antecedents of Dr Goodluck Jonathan reveal his rich generosity to those who have helped his ascendancy to the throne. Dr Reuben Abati, after his deployment of literary prowess in skewing negative public opinion towards GMB as the originator of the post-election violence in his Guardian Newspaper column, was promptly rewarded with a top position in Jonathan’s government. Confiding in his former Boss and Publisher as the basis for desiring the Job, Abati had reasoned that this would afford him the opportunity to travel around the world with the President. In short, in the despicable attempt to blacken GMB, there was a confluence of a life-long dream and a capricious lust for power!

What this obscenity in our churches portends is the disappearance of free, passionate service by the youths. Virtually everything is now monetized! Churches now pay handsomely the Youths (in the congregation) to play musical instruments for the weekly services. If the Youths of the Nation are being orientated with the mindset of constantly gauging their services against the pecuniary returns, then the nation’s future is blighted indeed. The wider implication of these societal anomalies is seen in the new private universities dotting the landscape. The preponderance of these universities is owned by religious bodies. I dare to ask: how many children of the peasants (of the church organizations) are in these schools that charge very prohibitive fees? In the early 90’s, I was at a book launch in which the late business mogul, Chief MKO Abiola, was the chief launcher. He bought some copies of the book (with a fat cheque) to be given to his alma mater, the Baptist Boys high school, Abeokuta. He then went on to eulogize the Baptist convention for giving him a chance for education despite his indigent status. He further revealed that there was never any school term that he ever paid his tuition fees in less than four installments! So it goes to show that whilst the missionaries, that travelled far and long to bring the gospel, came with the matra of ‘freely you have received, freely give’, the Nigerian clergy have now reviewed this to assuage their avaricious appetites. As I was putting finishing touches to this article, I discussed with a friend and class-mate at the University. He narrated how the Pastor of a church (that established a secondary school and University somewhere in Ogun state) withdrew his son from the secondary school (on the first year) because of inability to cope with the prohibitive tuition fees. Meanwhile, the Pastor/Founder of the Church organization rollicks around with at least two private Jets. Is it a tale of the Pastors prospering while the ‘plundered’ congregants struggle to eke out decent living?

If the truth must be told, the religious bodies (especially the church) are fast losing relevance, owing to inability to cater for the dislocations of the people’s economy as a result of the deliberate pauperization policies of the government. How the church moves from here to repair its besmirched reputation is what would be evinced in the immediate future.

Meanwhile, I wish Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor safe flights in the exquisite jet with the gold-plated interior!

Rotimi Fashakin (Engr.)
Plot 1132, Festus Okotiebo crescent, Utako Abuja.
08033025866
Fashakin is the National Publicity Secretary of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

http://saharareporters.com/article/pastor-oritsejafor%E2%80%99s-new-jet-and-its-portent

take dat: @ Demdem, thanks

This government have devised a means of hood winking unsuspecting and gullible Nigerians through the President's media team, paid journalists and internet trolls. The earlier Nigerians see this government for what it is the better.
I am yet to see a government like ours who will always blame their redundancy on either opposition or some imaginary cabals only known to the government.

See WORD!

Jazakumullah bi khair!
Aa a REMINDER
For those of us intending to perform "lehya" (sacrificing an animal on the eid day), we should remember not to shave or cut our nails from 1st until the 10th day of the new month, as is the sunnah of our noble prophet (SAW). Thanks

Independence Limerick

Wed, 26/09/2012 - 12:05am | HANNATU MUSAWA Columns The Wednesday Column
http://www.leadership.ng/nga/columns/35669/2012/09/26/independence_limerick.html


There is a great land named Nigeria

Whose chaos level was superior.

Strife and trouble there reigned,

Greed, corruption sustained

So much so this land became inferior!



As this nation marks its independence

With governors and kings in attendance.

They’ll pretend all is fine,

And ignore our decline

Notwithstanding our near non-existence



Now onto our President Goodluck,

Whose luck seems to have come unstuck.

Once did not have a shoe

Now he aint got a clue

How to undo the troubles running amok.



When fate picked our Johnny to rule,

It seemed cool; at least he’d been to school.

But it soon became apparent

That his actions were errant

Now he looks like a cruel April fool!



Abati, that wonderful fella,

In the past he produced a top sella.

As a genius, he’s hailed,

Yet he’s frequently failed

Now his speeches are pitched arcapella.



Farouk Lawan I really admired,

Until he fell for that bribe and got fired.

Even if it was a set-up,

His let up and get up

May stop him in future getting hired.



Edwin Clark’s old enough to be granddad,

But my word, he is such a big fad.

He talks all this rubbish

Of conspiracy skirmish,

‘Zip it Sir, your case really is sad!’



One can’t bypass A.G Adoke,

Not my favourite man I must say.

He’s a lawyer like me,

So with legal espirt

I’ll delay to display his dossier.



Mark’s assent as Senate President,

Does ferment that scent of dissent.

A successful legislator,

And a peace regulator.

It must be because he is a gent.



Asari Dokubo aired his contention,

to peers at a recent convention.

He warned all opposing Johnny,

(Mujahedeen’s’ way of making money),

He’s a slowpoke out to cause more tension.



A lady named Obi Ezekwesili

Is the epitome of an African lilly,

We need her like in our throngs,

To correct some of our wrongs.

She’s a person with values sincerely.



The best officer has got to be Fashola,

He channels the popularity of Abiola.

One wishes he’d compete

For the president’s seat

And you can shout that from a high gondola.



The slayers named Boko Haram,

Just kill without giving a damn,

Their demands are outrageous

Uncourageous and disadvantageous

One can’t wait till they’re caught in a jam.



Those who bomb people’s houses and churches,

Are hell-bound, this is from the researches.

Why should you declare war

On one’s worshiping door

When you take no insult on your perches?



The leak in our force is amazing,

Now top secret info is appraising,

Yes I heard from a Sarge,

That it’s thought by and large

In the SS some spies are hell raising.



NEPA’s well on its way to restore?

But it just seems as dark as before!

A few hours of light

Is no cause for delight.

We need constant electricity galore!



We don’t have a national airline to fly.

Most of our planes are not fit for the sky.

It’s bad that a nation

With a high population

Has passengers always on standby



Going to market makes one feel apprehensive

Because everything there’s so expensive

How can Nigerians survive

In this state of deprive?

It’s no wonder the nation’s so pensive.



See our roads with their craters so large,

So big they resemble a barge.

But our maintenance habit

Is not fit for a rabbit

And you can bet that it’s not free of charge.



A talented young Nigerian named Bob,

Had a master’s degree but no job.

Cause the unemployment figure

Had grown bigger and bigger

So to make ends meet, he would rob.



Some entrepreneurs in debt far too deep

Were living a life that’s not cheap.

Now the banks in all zones

Stopped from giving them loans

They thought they will not sow but just reap.



The opposition is being so lame,

One must think, what’s the point of their aim?

If they can’t all unite

For the 2015 fight

They must know they have lost in that game!



From subsidy to five hundred naira notes,

To ‘don’t give a damn’ and similar quotes,

Government’s not done so well,

In a minute they fell

A sinking ship like with Titanic’s boats!



The insecurity and lack of fuel,

Is a mark of incessant misrule.

Our life is absurd

and from this I’ve inferred

There’s a need for government renewal.



Those that are northern are so lazy,

Now some Hausas are religion crazy.

How can the region progress

With so much distress?

Get it together or your future is hazy!



The snag of Arewa is the leaders,

Where octogenarians are still the main feeders.

Instead of educating their fleet,

Take their kids from the street,

They are bent on remaining the breeders.



There is nothing amiss in the East,

Igbos are hardworking and creative at least.

But their thirst to get rich,

Is their hitch and main glitch

And they must get their unity increased.



Our most sophisticated come from the West,

Maybe because they are education obsessed.

But it’s hard to give trust,

When their word they adjust

Still Yorubas have impressed in their test.



‘THE OIL IS OURS!’ –‘Yes we’ve heard!’

The South-South proclaim- ‘How absurd!’

But the truth of the story,

An example’s Ibori

Are their poor have no benefit conferred.



Our nation is a federation of tribes,

This transcribes variant opposite vibes.

They dislike one another,

Reject their brother

And reduce each other with jibes.



It’s a custom in these our parts,

To draw ethnic dichotomy charts.

Those that hate with such ease,

Harbour a grave disease;

One that eats up the good in their hearts.



I hope Nigeria as one will pull through.

But it’s just not by force -that’s my view.

So let’s waiver the raver.

‘No one’s doing me a favour!’

Each can survive on their own; and that’s true!



For Nigerians to explain their desire

we must know just what word we require.

When we become objective,

Think as one collective

it’s from bad governance that we really ‘don tire!’



North, South, West, East must stand up together,

To overcome this most turbulent weather.

Treat all with respect,

Drop abuse and suspect.

Let disdain reach the end of its tether.



Peace and unity, that is the key,

our forefathers on this did agree.

Now they’ve gone to their grave,

Look how we misbehave.

If they knew, broken-hearted they’d be.



See the labour of our heroes thus past,

Feel the ‘call and obey’ that is asked;

Turn and give me your hand,

Let us stand as once planned;

Give Nigeria a peace that will last!



I know my words often causes despair.

But I’ve no notion to tear out your hair.

I just speak for the mass

Who have no voice alas!

Those I mentioned, I hope you’re aware.



When we celebrate on the 1st of October,

Let’s all pray for peace, but moreover

Let us thank God for all,

Our fortune’s not small.

Let’s be fair, let’s be just, LET’S GET SOBER!

Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria Mr. Femi Falana has lashed out at governments of the United States of Ameria and other major western nations who fuel corruption in Nigeria and other African nations but turn around to heap the blame on corruption of developing countries.

Speaking at a workshop organised by the Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), Falana highlighted the conviction of top American officials and business executives and recovery of N3 billion fines under Obama’s watch for bribing governments around the world.

He said $1 billion was paid out by US companies and individuals involved in many financial scandals in Nigeria alone.

The prosecutions, he said, were carried out under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). “But in order to cover up the Nigerian officials involved in the international scam and frustrate their prosecution in Nigeria, the Obama administration has refused to release the certified true copies of the judicial proceedings in violation of provisions of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption’’.

Continuing, Falana said, in 2010, the former US vice president, Mr. Dick Cheney, was charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Nigeria over his involvement in the $180 million bribe paid to Nigerian officials by Halliburton when he was the chairman of the company. The case, he said, was dropped after a “political plea bargain” that led to the payment of $120 million fine to the Government of Nigeria.

“In order to cover up the involvement of western governments and corporations in the promotion of corruption, terrorism and drug abuse in Africa, the impression is often created by top public officials of some foreign governments that Africans are the most corrupt people in the world,” Falana observed noting that only last week, the US secretary of state, Mrs. Hillary Clinton, kicked off her 11-day tour of some African states in Senegal by condemning corruption in Africa and urging African leaders to fight it in order to get good governance in the continent. He said it was also the kernel of President Barack Obama’s message to Africans when he made a brief stopover in Ghana three years ago.

“While we do not condone corruption, it is high time the Obama administration was told to stop blaming the victims of grand corruption promoted and fuelled by western countries led by Switzerland, France, United Kingdom and United States,’’ Falana said.

Falana said that, a few months ago, a former Nigerian governor, Chief James Ibori, was convicted of fraud and money laundering of £250 million.

“Although the trial judge condemned the reckless looting of the public funds of a poor community in the impoverished Niger Delta, the criminal roles of the British banks and mortgage institutions that provided a conducive environment for the trans-atlantic financial crimes were not penalised,” he said.

He went further to state that the brutal killing of the former Libyan ruler, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi which was supervised by the allied forces, was not unconnected with the decision of western leaders to prevent the eccentric dictator from exposing their shady economic deals in Libya at the International Criminal Court at the Hague where he was wanted for crimes against humanity.

Switzerland, he said, operates a fraudulent banking system which provides a safe haven for corrupt leaders to keep stolen wealth. “Through such dubious banking system, Switzerland has frustrated all legal measures to recover billions of dollars stolen from poverty stricken nations.

“After the Arab Spring it was revealed that the illicit wealth accumulated by the deposed rulers of Libya, Tunisia and Egypt stands at an estimated $190 billion. The bulk of such stolen wealth is kept in secret accounts in Switzerland.”

However, the director-general of GIABA, Dr Garba Shehu, averred that money laundering and terrorist financing inhibit economic development, threaten social and political stability, cause artificial rise in the cost of business, and impede direct foreign investment.

“The fight against money laundering and terrorist financing is therefore a collective responsibility of all stakeholders.

“GIABA recognises the valuable contributions that civil society can make to the public policy –making processes and attaching great importance to the institution’s own dialogue and partnership with civil society organizations.”

http://www.leadership.ng/nga/articles/31970/2012/08/08/western_nations_fuel_corruption_nigeria_falana.html

There’s no money like young money.
While African millionaires and billionaires like Onsi Sawiris, Raymond Ackerman, Aliko Dangote and Deinde Fernandez may have more money than most of us can ever dream of, there’s one thing they can never buy: Youth. Even money has its limits.

But there are a handful of young Africans in their 20s and 30s who have built businesses and amassed enviable million-dollar fortunes. Call them million-dollar babies.

While some are corporate animals; others are empire builders- like Ladi Delano, the restless 30 year-old Nigerian entrepreneur who founded Solid XS, a hugely successful premium Vodka business in China when he was barely 23 years old.

He subsequently flipped his vodka company for millions of dollars. Today, he is a co-founder and CEO of Bakrie Delano Africa, a $1 billion investment vehicle committed to making acquisitions in Nigeria’s mining, energy and agriculture sectors.

There are thousands of young and immensely successful entrepreneurs across the African continent. There’s a growing number of Africans aged 40 and under who are legitimately amassing multi-million dollar fortunes. They don’t inherit stuff; they build it themselves.

Vinny Lingham, S’African
Age: 33
Founder, Yola Inc:

Lingham, a South African national, is the founder ofYola Inc, a San Francisco-based Web 2.0 outfit that provides free website building, publishing and hosting services to over 3 million active users across the globe.

Yola has attracted over $30 million in venture capital financing from institutional investors such as Columbus Venture Capital, a subsidiary of South African billionaire Johann Rupert’s Richemont Group. Prior to Yola, Lingham foundedClick2Customers, a hugely successful search engine marketing company with offices in London, Cape Town, and Los Angeles.

Click2Customers rakes in about $100 million in annual revenues. Lingham is a co-founder of the Silicon Cape Initiative along with fellow South African entrepreneur Justin Stanford.

Mark Shuttleworth, S’African
Age: 38
Founder, Knife Capital

When Shuttleworth was 22, he founded Thawte, a digital certificate and internet security company which he sold to VeriSign for $575 million in 1999, when he was 26. Shuttleworth used a fraction of his proceeds to start HBD Capital (now called Knife Capital), a Cape Town-based emerging markets investment fund.

HBD has made a series of successful exits including Fundamo, a mobile financial services company which was acquired byVisa for $110 million in 2011; and csense, which was acquired by GE Intelligent Platforms the same year.

Shuttleworth also founded and funds Ubuntu, a computer operating system which he distributes as free open source software. Shuttleworth has a net worth north of $500 million.

Ashish Thakkar, Ugandan
Age: 29
Co-Founder and CEO, Mara Group

Thakkar, 29 is a co-founder and CEO of Mara Group – a Ugandan conglomerate with tentacles in financial services, hotels, renewable energy, technology and manufacturing. Annual revenues are approximately $100 million and the group has an active presence in 16 countries on four continents.

Devoted philanthropist: Through his Mara Foundation, Thakkar provides mentorship and seed funding to young East African entrepreneurs. Also funds Next Generation Schools, an independent charity focused on improving education quality in disadvantaged secondary schools in Uganda.

The Mara Group recently signed a $300 million deal with the Tanzanian government to develop a 3.5 million square foot state of the art mini-city.

Kamal Budhabatti, Kenyan
Age: 36
CEO, Craft Silicon

Kamal is the founder and CEO of Craft Silicon, a $50 million (market value) Kenyan software company which provides software in core banking, microfinance, mobile, switch solutions and electronic payments for over 200 institutional clients in 40 countries spread across four continents.

Yolanda Cuba, S’African
Age: 35
Executive Director, South African Breweries

The only woman to make it to this list. When Yolanda Cuba was 29 she was appointed CEO of Mvelaphanda Holdings, a Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed investment holding company. She was awarded stock options worth over $10 million which she exercised before stepping down as CEO last year.

She subsequently took up a job as an Executive Director at South African Breweries. Cuba still serves on the boards of South African blue chips such as Steinhoff International Holdings and Absa Group.

Jason Njoku, Nigerian
Age: 31
Founder & CEO Iroko TV

The maverick Nigerian Internet entrepreneur is founder of Iroko TV, the world’s largest digital distributor of African movies. Iroko TV has been dubbed the ‘Netflix of Africa’.

Earlier this year, Iroko TV raised $8 million in venture capital from Tiger Global Management, a New York-based private equity and hedge fund run by billionaire Chase Coleman. IrokoTV enjoys lucrative content distribution deals with Dailymotion, iTunes, Amazon and Vimeo.

Ladi Delano, Nigerian
Age: 30
Founder and CEO, Bakrie Delano Africa

The jet-setting Nigerian serial entrepreneur made his first millions as a liquor entrepreneur while living in China. In 2004, at age 22, he founded Solidarnosc Asia, a Chinese alcoholic beverage company that made Solid XS, a premium brand of vodka.

Solid XS went on to achieve over 50% market share in China and was distributed across over 30 cities in China, and pulled in $20 million in annual revenue. Delano subsequently sold the company to a rival liquor company for over $15 million and ploughed his funds into his next venture-The Delano Reid Group, a real estate investment holding company focused on mainland China.

Today, Delano is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bakrie Delano Africa(BDA) – a $1 billion joint venture with the $15 billion (market cap) Bakrie Group of Indonesia. Bakrie Delano Africa serves as the investment partner of the Bakrie Group in Nigeria.

Justin Stanford, S’African
Age: 28
Founder & CEO, 4Di Group

South African-born Stanford is a software entrepreneur and venture capitalist. After dropping out off high school, Stanford set out to launch an internet security company which flopped. When he came across ESET, a Slovakian anti-virus software package, he negotiated with its manufacturers and cornered the exclusive, lucrative Southern African distribution for the product.

Today, Stanford’s ESET Southern Africa operates the ESET brand in the region and sells ESET’s range of internet security products in about 20 sub-Saharan countries, leveraging on an extremely successful internet business platform and digital distribution model for online software sales and service.

Today, Stanford’s ESET brand records over $10 million in annual turnover and controls 5% of the anti-virus market in Southern Africa. Stanford is also the founding partner of 4Di Capital, a Cape Town-based venture capital fund.

Magatte Wade, Senegalese
Age: 36
Founder, Adina World Beat Beverages & Tiossan

In 2004 Magatte Wade founded Adina World Beat Beverages, a San Franciscobeverage company that manufactures coffee, tea and fruit juices using traditional beverage recipes across Africa and organic ingredients sourced from smallholder farmers in Africa and Asia.

Within five years of launching, Adina raised over $30 million in venture capital from institutional investors and the products began being sold by Whole Foods and United Natural Foods.

Magatte stepped down from her position as CEO to grow her second company,Tiossan, a manufacturer of luxury skin care products based on indigenous Senegalese recipes.

Mike Macharia, Kenyan
Age: 36
Founder & CEO, Seven Seas Technologies

When he was 25, Macharia, a Kenyan national, founded Seven Seas Technology, now easily East Africa’s most reputable IT services firm.

The $50 million (annual sales) company is a leading provider of integrated business and technology solutions across Africa in the telecom, financial, Real Estate, service industry and government. Seven Seas is gearing up to get listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange next year.

Source: Forbes Magazine

Oil Theft Worsened After Jonathan’s Election
Thu, 28/06/2012 - 2:14am | BLESSING ANARO Cover Stories News
The claim by players in the oil and gas sector that oil theft has been on the rise in Nigeria has been supported by findings.

Alexandra Gillies, governance adviser at Revenue Watch Institute, said the proliferation of middlemen involved in selling Nigeria’s oil since Jonathan’s election last year had resulted in considerable uncertainty over ownership.

“If NNPC only issued term contracts to companies with the capacity to lift crude, then nobody would be able to pose as a company flipping (reselling) a cargo. The confusion is a symptom of Nigeria’s sub-optimal system for selling its oil,” she said.

The large number of companies involved in selling oil via term contracts means it can be tough for even experienced traders to tell the difference between real and fake offers.

Industry sources said the number of companies selling Nigeria’s oil increased dramatically after Jonathan’s election as part of a strategy to broaden local participation in the country’s oil sector.

According to documents cited by Reuters it revealed that oil thieves were offering mouth-watering $10 million discounts to lure buyers to take off the commodity from their hands, even as traders feared the deal was too good to be genuine.

Representatives of oil thieves, according to the documents, showed spot cargoes of several hundred thousand barrels of crude could be picked up at discounts of up to $10 million.

But the documents are suspiciously flawed, suggesting the financial scams for which Nigeria is notorious have spread to its oil sector.

State oil company Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has placed a “Scam Alert” on its website warning of “unsavoury characters purporting to be bona fide staff of the NNPC or contractors to NNPC or purchasers of Nigerian crude oil or contractors to the Nigerian government”.

The sellers include one UK-registered firm purporting to be near the top of a sales chain in which oil cargoes can change hands up to half a dozen times before being refined.

Two of the firms contacted by Reuters said they were able to sell oil cheaply because of special access to NNPC contracts.
The documents point to the difficulty faced by President Goodluck Jonathan in making reforms when there is considerable doubt over who is responsible for selling the oil.

One recent step has been the creation of higher barriers to entry for participation in NNPC’s 2012-2013 term allocations. The results have not appeared since the initial tender document was released in March.

On Tuesday Jonathan sacked the managing director of the NNPC and three other senior directors.

A report that government-funded watchdog the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) sent to the authorities in January showed billions of dollars missing from Nigeria’s oil revenues.

Five written offers reviewed by Reuters show a close resemblance to official paperwork circulated among traders, including documents attributed to NNPC, stamps from terminal operators and shipping lists with vessels and loading dates.

They include arcane oil market jargon such as ‘laycan’, which refers to the timeframe for loading and ‘STS’ meaning ship-to-ship transfer of the cargo.

One shipping list showed a tanker called the ‘Elsa Craig’ - a name close to an actual Panama-flagged crude oil tanker called the Ailsa Craig 1 - next to other cargoes booked by western oil majors such as Chevron.

“They are full of imagination,” said a West African oil trader, commenting on the document.

A second oil trader with a London-based oil firm suspected that some of these offers were attempts to resell the oil siphoned off by thieves in the Niger Delta, since the majority of offers were for the local grade Bonny Light.

“A lot of this oil on the side may be bunkered (stolen) and does go to people in the Delta to sell. It’s a side business and I think some buyers are doing good business there,” he said.

A third oil trader said he had considered buying a cargo from an Abuja-based company called Sunny Industrial Lubricant but rejected it only after a member of the compliance team noticed a flaw in the NNPC logo.

NNPC’s logo - a green, red and yellow wagon wheel - has 20 spokes compared with 22 on this document.

“We discovered that the logo was not fully accurate. It’s difficult to distinguish and it’s a big risk,” said the oil trader who asked not to be named.

When contacted by Reuters via email, the firm’s chief executive, Sunny Eze, said he was able to gain access to oil produced in excess of Nigeria’s official OPEC production target, known as ‘off-OPEC’ crude.

“Our company outsources crude oil for buyers from NNPC bulk allocation, otherwise known as OFF-OPEC. We are using our strong influence with NNPC JVC to outsource and deliver products to interested buyers,” he said in an emailed response to Reuters’ questions about the company. OPEC has not assigned individual OPEC country quotas since last year.

Another firm, the UK-registered Current Energy, said in an offer letter that it was reselling 5 million barrels a month of the benchmark Bonny Light grade obtained from an NNPC contract holder at $6 a barrel below the market price.

This amounts to a saving of $6 million per cargo, about 7 per cent on a cargo that would currently cost around $90 million.

Reuters shipping data showed that 4 million to 8 million barrels of this grade, sourced from the Niger Delta, have been available for export monthly this year.

When contacted by Reuters, company director Akin Aboaba said he was reselling oil obtained from an NNPC contract holder who had received the oil to compensate for oil spills from regional pipelines.

Nigeria’s oil is sold by equity holders including oil majors Total and Royal Dutch Shell, which have a stake in production and via term contracts handed mostly to oil trading firms.

But critics point to this as an example of the cronyism that is helping to buttress support for Nigeria’s political elite.

“It will be interesting to see whether the issuing of the latest crude tender to include Nigerian companies is a return to the political patronage of the past dressed up as increasing Nigerian content,” said an oil industry consulting source in Nigeria.

Under every new regime, military or civilian, the list of those authorised to sell Nigerian crude is usually torn up and a new one issued to include friends of the new government.

Last year’s allocation list showed a considerable increase in recipients from 2010 and had more than 40 names ranging from top commodities trading houses such as Glencore and Trafigura to little-known Nigerian firms including Masters E. and Delaney.

“NNPC makes a lot of decisions in an opaque way, without much oversight ... Politics and discretion likely play a big role,” said Revenue Watch’s Gillies.

Term contracts allocated to oil firms without the know-how or logistics to handle multi-million dollar oil shipments are often re-sold or “flipped” to other traders, industry sources said, making it hard to verify who really has oil to sell.

http://www.leadership.ng/nga/articles/28408/2012/06/28/oil_theft_worsened_after_jonathans_election.html

@ Poster
I dont know how one can separate hausa from fulani and vice versa.

Beaf:

Any ethnic group or section that feels too big to be governed by a man from a minority ethnic group can leave.
It is now in every groups interest to arm up, nobody will take bullshiit from anybody in the name of population or "born to rule."
Simple as 2 + 2.

[quote author=Beaf]

Chai! see inferiority complex killing this guy slowly.
This thing will never allow u and ur people think straight.

Jonathan Vows to Contain Jos Crisis [AllAfrica, Jan 19, 2010 ]

Jonathan vows to consolidate the gains of the [Niger Delta] amnesty [CNIELTS, February 15, 2010]

Nigeria's president Goodluck Jonathan vows to hold clean elections [Christian Science Monitor, April 13, 2010]

New Nigerian President Vows Electoral Reform Before Next Year's Vote [Voice of America, May 07, 2010] “...Our total commitment to good governance, electoral reform, and the fight against corruption will be pursued with greater vigor."

Jonathan Vows to Tackle Erosion in South East [AllAfrica, 24 February 2011]

Jonathan Vows to Prosecute Those Behind Violence [AllAfrica, Apr 15, 2011]

Jonathan vows to end Boko Haram menace [AFP, April 19, 2012]

Jonathan vows 'major changes' for Nigeria [Dailymotion, April 20, 2011.

Jonathan Vows to Return Nation to Order [Vanguard, 21 April 2011.

Nigeria: President Jonathan vows to address falling education standard [West African Democracy Radio, May 18, 2011]

Nigerian President Vows to Strengthen Democratic Rule [Voice of America, May 30, 2011]

Corruption: No more sacred cows, Jonathan vows [Vanguard, July 26, 2011]; would rid the nation’s procurement process of all forms of corruption, he said at the fourth National Procurement Forum.

Nigerian president vows to bring terrorism under control, go after group that bombed U.N. building [Associated Press, August 27, 2011]

UN Building Bombing - Jonathan Vows to Track Down Bombers [Daily Trust, August 28, 2011]

Jonathan Vows To Crush Terror Groups, Says Sponsors of Terror groups now unveiled [Nigeria Tribune, September 23, 2011]

Jonathan vows to fix public institutions, Says strong institutions recipe for Nigeria’s Greatness The Sun, Sep 28, 2011 ]

President Jonathan Vows to Combat Security as Nigeria Celebrates its 51st Independence Day [IQ4News, October 1, 2011...

Jonathan Vows to get bombers (Vanguard, October 2, 2010); “It is a wicked independence anniversary gift.”

President Jonathan vows war on crime, saying he had put in place a new national security strategy, [Africa Review, October 2, 2011]

Jonathan vows war on crime as Nigeria turns 51 [Africa Review, October 3, 2011]

As Boko Haram changes gear, Mars Eid-El-Kabir celebrations in North, Jonathan vows to protect Nigerians [National Daily Newspaper, November 6, 2011]

Christmas carnage in Nigeria, Nigeria's president vows to bring those responsible to justice [CNN, December 25, 2011]

President Jonathan Vows To Exterminate Boko Haram [blanknewsonline, December 26, 2011]

Jonathan vows to "crush terrorists" [Reuters, Dec 31, 2011]who set off a series of bombs across Nigeria on Christmas Day. "We assure Nigerians that we will protect them…We will crush the terrorists. If there are institutions ... which are harbouring terrorists, we will deal with them."

Jonathan vows to protect Nigerians [National Daily], November 6, 2011

Jonathan vows vengeance; to "crush the terrorists" who set off a series of bombs across Nigeria on Christmas Day [Mail & Guardian, South Africa, Dec 31, 2011]

...it’s fight to the finish, Jonathan vows [The Punch, January 1, 2012]… he would not spare any effort aimed at fighting the sect, which he described as a “group of evil-minded people,” to the end.

Jonathan vows to work for the welfare and wellbeing of all Nigerians [Newsdiary, January 16, 2012]

Jonathan Vows to Check Destabilisation Plot [ThisDay, January 17, 2012]

We'll wipe out Boko Haram – Jonathan [The Punch, January 23, 2012]; vowed in Kano the federal government would soon wipe out the dreaded Boko Haram

Jonathan vows stronger relations between Nigeria and Ethiopia [Channels TV, Jan 31, 2012]

Jonathan vows to increase petrol refining capacity [The Moment, February 3, 2012]

Jonathan vows to sack appointees over 2015 campaign [ThisDay, Feb 21, 2012]

Jonathan vows justice [The Nation, January 23, 2012]

Jonathan vows to replicate Asian Tiger feat in Nigeria [Channels TV, March 26, 2012]

Revenge attacks follow Nigeria church blast, Goodluck Jonathan...vows "to end the spate of mindless attacks and killings" Al Jazeera (12 March 2012]

Jonathan vows to fast-track power masterplan (News Diary Online, March 26, 2012].

Jonathan Vows To End Boko Haram Menace In June [March 28, 2012, Yonhap News Agency, South Korea]

Jonathan vows to end culture of favouritism (Premium Times, April 12, 2012 ): “You don't have to know somebody who knows somebody before you can be given any high office to serve in the new direction we want to chart for the country.”

I will deal with Boko Haram, Jonathan vows [Apr 13, 2012]

Jonathan to sack heads of MDAs for distorting 2012 budget [Premium Times, April 13, 2012]

Jonathan vows “to sack heads of departments and parastatals indicted for lobbying members of the National Assembly for upward review of their budget (The Nation, April 14, 2012)

Jonathan vows to correct structural defects in education [Vanguard, April 15, 2012 ), lamenting that the defects in the system were responsible for the failure of children.

Jonathan vows to end Boko Haram menace [AFP News, April 19, 2012], “security situation in Nigeria is not as gloomy as it is painted and the government “is working very hard and that we’ll bring this under control…”

Jonathan vows to end Boko Haram menace [AFP News, April 19, 2012], “security situation in Nigeria is not as gloomy as it is painted and the government “is working very hard and that we’ll bring this under control…”

Jonathan vows to eradicate polio by 2015 (Channels Television, April 24, 2012): “One thing I promise the Nigerian child, and also the Nigerian father and mother is that if we cannot solve all the health problems in this country now, one thing this present administration is committed to is to eradicate polio by 2015”.
Fuel Subsidy report: Presidency vows to bring culprits to book [The Punch, April 26, 2012]...would punish all those found culpable in the N1.07tn fuel subsidy scam.

Jonathan Vows To Punish Oil Thieves [Nigerian Pilot, April 26, 2012]
President Goodluck Jonathan has vowed that his administration will not shield any corrupt person from investigation or prosecution by the anti-graft agencies in the country [NewsDiary, May 4 2012].

That is why I always support the NYSC programme despite its disadvantages, cos I come to realise that we dont really understand ourselves, when I was posted to a construction company for my primary assignment after the NYSC orientation in mid 2000s, on introducing myself as an Engineer from Kano state, my supervisor who to my assumption is a highly enlightened and educated southerner was amazed to the brim, he went ahead to say "I thought all of you from Kano studied political science", which I later come to realise he meant his words.

saharareporters.com/article/transmutation-military-ruler-democratically-elected-civilian-leader-general-muhamad-buhari-g

Transmutation Of A Military Ruler To
Democratically Elected Civilian
Leader: General Muhamad Buhari
(GCFR)
Posted: April 15, 2012 - 23:24
By Femi Ogunsanwo
I have taken special interest in the
furore engendered by the statement
credited to the Congress for
Progressive Change (CPC) National
Leader, General Muhamadu Buhari
(GMB) while receiving a delegation
of political admirers in Kaduna some
days ago. In that occasion, General
Muhammadu Buhari had stated,
inter-alia, that owing to the
leadership deficit and the truncation
of the hope of the common man
through the pervasive injustice in
the land, he would continue relevant
political activism in the run to the
2015 general elections.
The entire media space has been
inundated with several calls why
General Muhammadu Buhari should
not aspire for the highest office in
the land. Several reasons was
adduced by skeptics and his
traducers why he should not aspire
for the Presidency chiefly because he
participated in a military putsch that
truncated the highly corrupt
government of Second Republic.
But his supporters are of different
opinion and many reasons informed
their decision why he should re-
contest for the highest office in the
country. General Muhamadu Buhari
(GMB) is admired by many for his
uprightness and stand against
corruption. The government he led
between 31 December 1983 till 27
August 1985 is revered for their
ability to keep the country afloat by
making progress through sheer
economic ingenuity even when it
rejected IMF loan and refused to
adopt IMF conditionalities to devalue
the Naira.His government is praised
for its gain in reducing inflation by
refusing to devalue the nation's
currency, the Nigerian Naira, curbing
imports of needless goods, curtailing
oil theft and using counter trade
policy to barter seized illegally
bunkered crude oil for needful goods
like machineries,enabling it to
export above its OPEC quota during
that period.
General Muhammadu Buhari was
appointed Head of State and
Commander In Chief of the Armed
Forces, General Muhammadu Buhari
justified the military's seizure of
power by castigating the civilian
government as hopelessly corrupt,
and his administration subsequently
initiated a public campaign against
indiscipline known as "War Against
Indiscipline" (WAI). Aspects of this
campaign included public
humiliation of civil servants who
arrived late for work whilst guards
were armed with whips to ensure
orderly queues at bus stops the
whole measure even though
draconian brought a measure of
sanity into the country during that
period. General Buhari's admirers
believe that he was overthrown by
corrupt elements in his government
who were afraid of being brought to
justice as his policies were
beginning to yield tangible
dividends in terms of public
discipline, curbing corruption,
lowering inflation, enhancing
workforce and improving
productivity compared to the
excruciating decay and malfeasance
in our polity today.
i) What Is Good For The Goose Is Also
Good For Gander:
It’s really appalling when people
especially the educated, enlightened
and well-informed ones make so
much noise that General Muhamad
Buhari being a former Military Ruler
should not aspire to rule Nigeria
again. Many of the people with this
opinion are being economical with
the truth, reason the ruling
government Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) presented a former
Military Ruler General Olusegun
Obasanjo in 1999 for election ,he
won the election and ruled
democratically for 8 years. More
examples abound in PDP, there are 2
serving Governors today in PDP who
participated in Military Junta in the
past. Former Military Governor Niger
(Feb 1976-Dec 1977) and Former
Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Murtala
Nyako(Rtd) is the current Governor
of Adamawa State, Former Military
Governor of Benue(August 1985-Aug
1986), Gongola(Aug 1986-Dec 1987)
David Jonah Jang is the current
Governor of Plateau State. In the
upcoming Edo State Gubernatorial
election PDP candidate in that
election will be a retired military
man, General Charles Ehigie
Airhiavbere. Serious explanation is
needed from the skeptics why PDP
the ruling party can have Ex Military
Officers participating in a democratic
setting but General Muhamad Buhari
does not enjoy same privilege.
ii) Examples From Far And Near:
There are many examples of Military
Dictators who transmuted into
civilian leadership and General
Muhamad Buhari will not be an
exception.On 22nd July 1994 a young
officer(28 years old) Col Yahya
Jammeh seized power from
President Dawda Jawara in
Gambia.Two years later in
September 1996 he was elected
democratically and still in power up
till date. Another example of a
former Military Officer is Hugo
Chávez of Venezuela, he became a
career military officer, and after
becoming dissatisfied with the
Venezuelan political system, he
founded the secretive Revolutionary
Bolivarian Movement-200 (MBR-200)
in the early 1980s to work towards
overthrowing it. Chávez led the
MBR-200 in an unsuccessful coup
d'état against the Democratic Action
government of President Carlos
Andrés Pérez government in 1992,
for which he was imprisoned.
Getting out of prison after two years,
he founded a social democratic
political party, the Fifth Republic
Movement, and was elected
president of Venezuela in 1998. He
subsequently introduced a new
constitution which increased rights
for marginalised groups and altered
the structure of Venezuelan
government, and was re-elected in
2000 and still in power till date and
going for reelection soon. The
examples will offer the opportunity
for skeptics and traducers of General
Muhamad Buhari that his aspiration
to be transmuted to a democratically
elected civilian is not out of place.
Moreover the record of the two
gentlemen mentioned since they
transmuted to civilian leadership has
been excellent,the Gambian
economy has improved
tremendously under His Excellency
Yahya Jammeh watch.The tourism
industry in Gambia is second to none
in Africa.Likewise President Hugo
Chavez is giving all the
Multinationals in the Oil and Gas
Industry sleepless nights in
Venezuela especially in Orinoco
Basin where vast Hydrocarbon
deposits was discovered,the Local
Content Act in Venezuela is
addressed to the letter.The
Venezuelan economy improved
tremendously since he assumed
power also.They offer strong, virile,
credible and honest leadership
which is what is lacking in Nigeria
today and for Nigeria to exit the
present doldrums where
malfeasance pervades our polity we
need a STRONG, VIRILE,
CREDIBLE,HONEST and INCORRUPTIBLE
man like General Muhamad Buhari to
rule again.
iii) Boko Haram Militancy And
Religious Extremism:
As for its religious leaning as Islamic
adherent, General Muhamad Buhari
in anyway cannot be described as
extreme more than any other
person would be who practice his
religion devotedly. Moreover a man
that appoints a Christian South as his
cook and steward cannot be an
extremist because your life depends
so much on them. Another serious
allegation leveled against General
Muhamad Buhari is the issue of Boko
Haram militancy and the alleged
sponsors of the Sect. We all knew
from record that Boko Haram was
formed since 2002 but the militancy
and the spate of bombings escalated
when Muhamed Yusuff self-styled
leader of the Sect was killed extra
judicially in 2009, why anyone will
now blame General Muhamad Buhari
for the Sect activities beats
imagination. Some people went to
the extent that because he was quiet
and mute during the bombing after
the Presidential election means he is
complicit in the whole saga that will
be the lamest excuse to accuse
anyone of such grievous offence and
its intellectual laziness of the highest
order.
iv) Achievements And Records As
Public Official:
General Muhamad Buhari first came
to widespread public attention in
1976 when he became the Minister
(or "Federal Commissioner" for
Petroleum and Natural Resources
under then Head of State General
Olusegun Obasanjo. Before then he
served as Governor of the newly
created North-Eastern State (Borno)
during the regime of Gen Murtala
Mohammed. He later became head
of the newly created Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation in
1977. Before being asked to head the
Military Junta that overthrew the
corrupt regime of the Second
Republic in 31 Dec 1983. During his
time as a public official the man is
revered as being Incorruptible,
Credible, Honest, Discipline, which is
what is lacking in our present crop of
leadership.
It is on record that General Muhamad
Buhari mandated the former
Petroleum Minister Prof Tam David-
West to award the Petrochemical
Refinery Eleme Port-Harcourt in
1984. During his stint either as the
Federal Commissioner for Petroleum
and Head of Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation two other
Refineries were built; Warri Refinery
Petroleum Corporation (WRPC) and
Kaduna Refinery Petroleum
Corporation (KPRC) and he also
rehabilitated the old and first
Refinery in the country Port Harcourt
Refinery. In 1985 the first phase of
the biggest power station in the
country Lagos Thermal Station Egbin
via Ikorodu Lagos(1,320Megawatts)
was commissioned by General
Muhamad Buhari the total amount
spent then was around 2Billion
Naira. Since he was overthrown in
August 1985 the country has not
been able to build any new Refinery
and not one single Megawatt has
been added to the National Grid for
power consumption whereas since
PDP assumed power in 1999 we are
regaled with several National
Independent Power Projects
(NIPP);Geregu,Alaoji,Okpai,
Omotosho,Olorunshogo,Egbema. We
all got the report from Hon Ndudi
Elumelu leo Power Probe
Commission that PDP Government
spent a whooping sum of $16 Billion
on the power projects and till date
not one single megawatts has been
added to the National Grid
The list of General Muhamad Buhari
achievements and exemplary
records as public official are endless
compared to the ruling Government
but the man is being maligned all
over the country for reasons yet
unknown, the only reason for the
general widespread accusations
against him will be because of his
avowed stance against corruption.
But if we desire an egalitarian and
disciplined society again please let
us give General Muhamed Buhari a
chance to clean the “Augean Stable”.
Femi Ogunsanwo is a Social
Commentator and Political Analyst

See how my little daughter is looking at me, is dad crying or laffin!

Beaf:

You mean Tinubu has joined PDP or is he ACN's youth leader? Lol!
Abeg, leave me alone jare!

Dont mind them jare!
Despite all the noise they'll still vote 4 PDP provided "na my man" b the PDP candidate.
lolll!

Is this for real?
I just cant believe some comments here.
but remember what u wish others is what befalls you.

So they can even list the no plots ElRufai awarded to his family members? In that case Elrufai is more than a saint among Nigeria's political class, Moreover, I aint looking for a siant to make GEJ & Co to start using their heads 'cos without the likes of Elrufai we 'll only come here to post rubish which end up here and nothing more.

Lamentations of a ‘frustrated’ Nigerian Surgeon


The story below depicts how corruption in other institutions would never allow Nigeria’s health system perform optimally. I worked with the writer during my housemanship a couple of years ago. He shared this on Nigerian doctors facebook group. Kindly read on…

Ahidjo Abdulkadiri Kawu wrote;

“Colleagues,
1. I am a spine surgeon employed at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada Abuja as a consultant.
2. I was a fellow of Scoliosis Research Society at the New York Hospital for Joint Diseases, US in August 2010 under the tutelage of Dr Baron S Lonner.
3. At the completion of my training, Dr Baron S Lonner on my behalf approached Samantha Torres of DePuy Spine Inc US for donation of spine equipment to help operate indigent patients in Nigeria to put to practice all I have learnt with him.
4. On the 15th December 2010, DePuy Spine Inc US approved the donation of some spine items for use by me at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada.
5. I contacted my hospital management who informed me to ship the equipment to Nigeria.
6. My clearing agent Siklaw Global Resource Ltd after completing the Form M and risk assessment paid the custom duty on the 6th march 2011.
7. The equipment was shipped in to Nigeria from the US and arrived in May 2011.
8. On arrival, the O/C (Officer in Charge) Custom Services Mr Wakama GAP inspected the document and said that we must settle him before he release the good since the donated equipment has a value of about N50 million.
9. I instructed the clearing agent to refuse to part with any money.
10. In order to frustrate the release of the equipment he refused to examine or release the equipment till it incurred a demurrage of N27, 800.00. His Immediate boss intervene and directed him to inspect and release the equipment
11. In-order to justify his delay in inspecting the goods, he wrote a report that we undervalued the goods so as to evade payment of the requisite custom duty
12. Due to his greed; the need to justify his action and covered his crime he forgot that medical equipment and donated materials for humanitarian purpose do not attract any duty
13. This issue dragged on till 15th July 2011, when I wrote an official petition to the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Custom Service.
14. There was no response from the Nigeria Custom Service till October 2011 when I officially reported the case to ICPC for further action
15. In November, I was invited by the investigation officer from Nigeria Custom Service to tell my story
16. I was informed by the investigating officer that I have not done anything wrong and that the officer knows that too and that the equipment will be brought to the hospital for me.
17. Since November till date, the equipment is still at the storage which the Nigeria Custom Service has refused to release
18. I have discharged home to die many patients who would have benefited from this equipment.
19. I wanted the government to investigate this claim and appropriate sanction should be applied to this irresponsible officer whose greed has led to death of many indigent patients in Nigeria, yet I have not received any correspondence from them.
This is the story of Nigeria, where thieves have taken up our lives and greed is our religion”

Thank you for patiently reading through.

Many innocent Nigerians lose their lives because of ugly tales like this. Sometimes essential and emergency life-saving drugs are unavailable in the entire country because of the corruption and/or bureaucracy of the Nigerian Custom Service. Yet, import waivers are given to some allegedly corrupt entrepreneurs. How long would ordinary Nigerians continue to suffer from the institutional corruption continually being perpetrated by officers who are supposed to work for our welfare and national interest?

http://donlaz./2012/03/20/lamentations-of-a-frustrated-nigerian-surgeon/

Call Elrufa'i whatever! Im sure and confident that he will do alot better than these guys u voted!
If u dont like Elrufai unbuckle your belt and hang your self! Bigots!!

You making profit or the so called 'secular' banks making profit on you which would you prefer?
I only give you a yr ull all be regretting the trash you are posting here.

Is this really from Soyinka mouth. If true Im super disapponted in him, I expected him to know Nigeria better than this!

NDDC budgets N1.3bn for fumigation

Written by Turaki A. Hassan Friday, 03 February 2012 05:02

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The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) budgeted a whopping sum of N1.3 billion on fumigation of its premises and another N2.2bn to organise seminars in the 2011 fiscal year, according to details of the commission’s budget approved by the National Assembly.


President Goodluck Jonathan presented the commission’s N250 billion budget for 2011 fiscal year to the legislature late in December, blaming the delay on leadership tussle in the NDDC.


The National Assembly speedily passed the budget after increasing it to N261 billion.

Details of the budget obtained by Daily Trust in Abuja showed that N1.3 billion was provided for the fumigation of offices in the commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt and other offices elsewhere.

The NDDC headquarters is a nine-floor storey building, but Daily Trust could not confirm the number of offices in the structure.

Also, the budget provided N1.2 billion for “presidential project monitoring,” which an insider said is meant to be spent on hosting government officials who come visiting the NDDC offices and project sites.

The commission also got N1.8 billion to spend on traveling; N603 million for staff training; N550 million for international conferences; and N759 million for project consultancy.

Vehicle running cost got N794 million and N174 million was provided for vehicle maintenance.

Payment of insurance by the commission gulped N550 million; N550 million is for donations; N638 million for security; and N682 million for hotel bills.

Other expenditure are N308 million for publicity, N160 million for legal expenses, N44 million for entertainment and N394 million for community relations.

Telephone bills got N402 million, N70 million voted for project monitoring and N361 million for corporate affairs.

Also, N2.865 billion is set aside for the headquarters of the agency without specifying the expenditure items.

NDDC was set up in 2001 as an interventionist agency to help address the alleged underdeveloped of the oil rich Niger Delta region.

But it has not met up expectations of people in the region despite receiving hundreds of billions of naira annually.

The agency has also been dogged by in-fighting, boardroom squabble and unproven allegations of corruption.

NDDC was under the Presidency until the creation of the Ministry of Niger Delta in 2009, when the commission was transferred to the ministry.


http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=153907:nddc-budgets-n13bn-for-fumigation&catid=2:lead-stories&Itemid=8