₦airaland Forum

An Economy is 'not growing' cos it 'grew at 6.48%' in the 3rd quarter of this year!

What wondrous Logic and show of sublime intelligence....but wait, it is the Nigerian Journalists again!

seanet01: Are you not ashamed? The same BPE that was pushing for the cancellation of the contract due to some irregularities is now forced by the Presidency to issue Certification to the same company the President accepted did not follow due process just because some foreign countries pressurized our President.
1. BPE declared that due process was not followed.
2. Mr. President accepted BPE's assertion and order his Media Assistant to issue a Press Release announcing the Cancellation of the Contract,
3. Mr. President said it live within the last 48 hours that the contract did not follow due process. Media chat.
4. Canada pressurized our President not to cancel the Contract.
5. Our President issues a directive to BPE to re-certify the company he has declared as having won a contract through the back door just within 48 hours after scolding them on National Television.
Fact is Our President is clueless. Simple.

Just SHUT your mouth if you do not know what the hell you are talking about. Quite commenting on things way over your head aka Privatizaion/Power Reform program.

#honestAdvice

Forget the House of Reps (what exactly did you guys expect from them ?); I believe the institution that should have done something in this case is the Executive (through the Anti-corruption Agencies) by taking Farouk to court, and it has failed so far to do so. Farouk should have been taken to court before now, period; the President ought to rectify this ASAP.

And it is about time, we began to push for the severance of the Anti-corruption Agencies from the Executive and importantly, the Separation of the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation from the Justice minister (maybe through the on-going Constitutional Amendment process). It is not only in the interest of the nation but also in the interest of the sitting President.

This comment is made regardless of the authenticity of the 'source' of the @OP by the way.

Jarus: Ok, let me confess, as mod, I'm not meant to engage in what appears to be frivolities like this, but hey, let's catch some fun jare.

Over the years, especially when Nairalanders of different political leanings clash, the free-for-all that usually ensue have given rise to a number of names for some Nigerian political personalities. Oya, let's create a dictionary of Nairaland-given names here.

@Jarus. You hv to be kidding yrself if you think many of us STILL see you or most of d Mods here on NL as 'non-frivolious'..... Opening a frivolous, silly thread that wud obviously attract the small minds we now have in abundance here on NL, a thread that wud descend to the Ridiculous (a 'normality' here these days) isnt in d less surprising. That you are a Mod only means that it wud surely mk it to d frontpage... WELL DONE! You guys are doing a swell job

take dat: It was culled from Premium Times and not PM News! Read carefully before commenting my friend

You are right..i see the mistake now, I goofed.

However, the main stance of that comment stands though. Apart from the issue of the 'illness' of the 1st lady (which the Presidency honestly mishandled), there wasnt really any 'LIE' or real contradictions involved here: the President's Spokesman said 'the govt was negotiating with BH tru backdoor channels' (ie informal channels) while the President said there was 'no (real)negotiations going-on..cos BH was faceless', which is to be expected cos one does not expect the President of any country to confirm Negotiations with a faceless group that is going-on thru backdoor channels. The Manitoba case was just a clarification of the 'current' state of the contract- i use the word 'current' cos one isnt really sure what went on behind the scene on this issue ie whether the contract was actually meant to be cancelled but the decision subtly reversed (hence the 1st statement by the Govt's spokesman) Or whether there was really a genuine communication flaw BUT the situation had the clarified by the same Spokesman before this Media Chat- so no GEJ trying to 'put his officials under the bus' here as someone here have so succinctly put it. Like I said previously, the issue of the 1st lady was the one issue the Presidency bungled (and I honestly dont understand why they chose to do so; completely unnecessary in my view).

Having said all that, I maintain that this particular 'story' is just that: a cooked-up 'story' to hoodwink gullible peeps and/or give propagandist 'ammo' to those whose minds are already made up, period. There is even really nothing much in these so-called 'lies' of the Presidency cos all govts in the world do it; as a matter of fact, these are just Child's play compared to others. Obama and his White House are still trying to deal with the 'lie' they told about Libyan Embassy Terrorist attacks recently. Go figure.

But some ppl can go on with the noise making sha if it somehow gives them some level of 'satisfaction'; WHO CARES?

Is this not the kind of EXTREMELY important info about how the notorious 'dark' oil sector can be completely Reformed, that the honestly dense Mods we have on dis forums lately, should take to the frontpage? We hv had a lot of distractions and distortions on dis very important issue cos sm persons chose to play politics with it including here on NL; isnt it time we tried to steer the discuss to actuali trying to solvinp d Problem instead of playing games? ... Just imagine if d discuss was as much about the Implementatn of d extremely far-reaching Recommendations of d report as the talk of fighting past corrupt operators in d sector? Imagine if sm of d energy in d media and diff fora had also been to put pressure on d govt and NA to pass d PIB bill as quickly as possible (which already containd MOST of the Recommendatns anyways).. *smh* for the bunch of whinning, hypocritical noise making people we hv in dis country; who do not know what they want, what is important or how to get what they think they want. Real Pity...

MUMU-ish peeps! PM dat recently said d Scotland Yard 'confirmd' the arrest of d wife of Oyo State governor and wrote a 'beautiful' story about she was caught and arraignd (which all turnd-out to be completely false) is now telling u dat 2 'anonymous' Presidency 'sources' said d President is a 'liar' and that they dont like working with him, and sm of u are running with dis story and even debating it!..... Anyways, not surprisd- this is NL, a forum increasely known for discussing Rumours passionately and with a group of sm Mods who are themselves FOOL-ish who put such sillly Rumours on d frontpage..... Keep wasting time though

A Nice summary on the Questions and Answers on the Media chat (for those who didnt watch it live Or who wont mind a Reference):

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday replied former President Olusegun Obasanjo who criticised his handling of the Boko Haram crisis as “slow”.
Obasanjo said Boko Haram would have been nipped in the bud, if the government had been fast as, according to him, he did about Odi in 1999 when he deployed troops in the Bayelsa community.
But, to Jonathan, the deployment of troops did not solve any problem.
Speaking last night during the Presidential Media Chat, the President said innocent people, including women and children, were killed.
Jonathan said: “It was old men and women and children that were killed. None of the militants was killed.
“Bombarding Odi was meant to solve a problem but it never solved any. The attack on Odi never solved the militancy problem.”
The President said there was no negotiation going on with the Boko Haram sect because it remains a faceless group.
“There is no dialogue that is going on anywhere,” he said.
“Presently, government is not dialoguing with Boko Haram.There is no dialoguing between Boko Haram and government. Though there was a news item talking about dialogue, but Boko Haram is still operating under cover; they wear masks; there is no face. So, we do not have anybody to discuss with.”
Jonathan said he was misunderstood in his statement on the total removal of petroleum subsidy.
According to him, he was trying to explain that Canada has up to 15 refineries because they are privately-owned and state-regulated.
“I did not say we’re going to remove subsidy. I said if we want to get to the level of Canada, then we have to deregulate. We have to revisit the issue of subsidy,” he said.
The President added that provision was made for fuel subsidy in the 2013 budget estimate sent to the National Assembly.
Jonathan said the problem of fuel scarcity would be solved with the sanitisation of the oil sector.
According to him, his administration began the cleansing of the oil industry even before the House of Representatives set up the Farouk Lawan-led Committee on Subsidy Regime.
“By the time we’re done with sanitising the oil sector, the issue of fuel scarcity will be a thing of the past,” he said.
On First Lady Patience Jonathan’s long absence in public, he said: “She is fine. In fact, she was at the church service with us today. What happened is that Nigerians are always looking for negative things. Noting bad that she was ill . She received treatment and immediately she came back, she is still recuperating; she couldn’t get very active role. She is okay.”
The President denied that the government had revoked the N3.6billion three-year contract with Manitoba Hydro International of Canada for the management of the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
He, however, said that there were issues which needed to be clarified following the new procurement law.
“Manitoba contract has not been revoked. There were some issues raised. There were some confusion on the status of Manitoba because of the new procurement law. We saw some loopholes that were not properly done.
“I have given the relevant agencies until Tuesday to get things done.”
Dr. Jonathan assured Nigerians that the nation would never experience a food crisis as being speculated in some quarters.
He, however, maintained that the country would record a bumper harvest through massive dry season farming.
Asked to comment on low level of conviction for corruption, and why nobody has been jailed in some instances, such as in the Halliburton case, the President said the fight against corruption is still ongoing.
He said it was sometimes better to move slowly and do the right thing than move too fast and do the wrong thing.
“This government is tackling corruption frontally. The biggest form of corruption is political corruption. What we did, first and foremost, was to sanitise the electoral process. We had free and fair elections because we dealt with corruption in that area. We have done well in various forms in terms of tackling corruption,” he said.
The president said his administration has also solved the corruption problem that bedevilled fertiliser subsidy, and now focuses on the oil sector.
“The future of this country is quite bright. The outlook is positive and we’re committed. By the time we get to May 29, 2015, Nigerians will know that Jonathan and his team meant well for the country,” he said.
On the ongoing Constitution amendment and call for a referendum, Jonathan said the process had to align with the provisions of the Constitution.
“The issue of Sovereign National Conference – when you mention the word ‘sovereign’, people get frightened – but people need to know that the President swore to an oath to defend the Constitution. Whatever we do should be in line with the Constitution.
“If today you jettison the provision of the Constitution, you will run into anarchy, and the best option is to stick with the Constitution.”
On the call for a referendum, he said the National Assembly’s constituency hearings are also aimed at getting the people’s input.
“Whether it is done in form of referendum or not, it is the exclusive right of the National Assembly to amend the Constitution and I wouldn’t want to impose my own ideas on them. That is a different arm of government, and they are competent to handle the subject-matter.”
On the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Jonathan said the concessionaire, Bi-Courtney, lacks the capacity to carry out the job.
“The country is held to ransom. We cannot continue that way. We’ll intervene on that road,” the President said, adding that the government would also fix the Benin-Ore road.
On reducing the cost of governance, Jonathan noted that some parastatals were no longer relevant, which was why the Orasanya Panel was set up to review and recommend which should be scrapped or merged with others.
He said work would be concluded on the White Paper before the end of this year.
“At best wd can reduce the votes we give them. We can’t scrap any of them, until the National Assembly amends the relevant law,” he said.
The President said had directed the relevant agencies to resolve the oil well disputes between Rivers and Bayelsa on one hand, and Kogi, Anambra and Enugu states on the other.
Regarding the Rivers-Bayelsa dispute, Jonathan said: “The President will not influence anything.”
He said when the agencies finish the assignment, they would submit their report to the Vice-President. “We’ll demarcate it professionally,” he added.
He defended former heads-of-state whose firms bid for stakes in the privatisation of the power sector, saying it is their right to do so.
“It will not affect the process,” he said, adding that the important thing is for the companies to be qualified technically and financially.
The president said there have been “positive trends” in job creation, adding that the textile and footwear industries are “coming up” as power stabilises.
Asked whether he was worried that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is losing some states, the president said it is good for democracy.
“PDP is doing wonderfully well. It is even dangerous for this country for PDP to control all the states,” he said.
Jonathan said it was to early to be asked whether or not he would run for a second term, saying: “Give me sometime to make sure that I and my cabinet work.”
On the falling standard of education, Jonathan said every effort would be made to return it to what it used to be.
He described United States President Barrack Obama’s victory as “the best thing that has happened to a black man. “If he did not secure a second term the conclusion would have been that nothing good can come out of the black man.”
On Odi: Luckily, you talked about Odi. Because when the Odi matter came up, I was the deputy governor of Bayelsa State and I can give you the narratives of what led to the Odi crisis. The peak of the activities of the militancy in Niger Delta was when 12 police officers were killed in a cold blooded murder. That made the federal government to invade Odi. And after that invasion, the governor and I visited Odi. Ordinarily, the governor and the deputy governor were not supposed to move together under such a situation. And we saw some dead people mainly old men and women and also children. None of those militants was killed. None was killed. So, bombarding Odi was to solve the problem but it never solved it.
“Of course, if the attack of Odi had solved the issue of militancy in the Niger Delta, the Yar’Adua Government which I had the privilege of being the Vice President, wouldn’t have come up with the amnesty programme. So, that should tell you that the attack on Odi never solved the militancy problems. People will even tell you that rather it escalated it . It attracted international sympathy and we had lots of challenges after that attack on Odi. “
Benin-Ore road: Jonathan will be the best president. Because I will fix the Benin-Ore road, my government will fix that road and of course for power, it is one area that I know that Nigerians appreciate that we are moving. We are yet to get to power all our cities, but you will agree with me that the difference is clear. There has been improvement, significantly. And we will continue to improve. The only problem we have is that our transmission lines are weak. We have a lot of infrastructure project that are going on and we believe that before the end of the first quarter of next year, we would have completed a number of infrastructure. We moved from approximately below 2000 megawatts to above 5000 megawatts but because of weakness of infrastructure we cannot evacuate and we have seen a reasonable stability. So, before the middle of next year when most of the transmission infrastructure might have been completed, power will stabilize tremendously.
And this dry season we are going to intervene on that road from Lagos down.
Lagos-Ibadan and Bi-Courtney: That is the problem and that is the issue. That road has been with Bi-Courtney since we came on board in 2007 and I think we are going to take the final decision on the matter because it is like the company is not in position to do it and I don’t think as a responsible government, we can allow Nigerians to continue to suffer. It is the biggest road in this country and it is beyond the Southwest. Because that is the busiest road in this country and all of us in government, we feel pained that the country is held to ransom because of a transaction that probably was not consummated properly because of some kind of issues. But we cannot continue like this, we will intervene on that road.
Aviation : “The aviation industry is an industry that has been dominated by private sector all over the world. The most successful airline is the British Airways, globally. I believe so because everybody know about BA and almost every international airport you go you see BA.
“We had the Nigeria Airways that crashed like the shipping lines and others. But it is an industry that is dominated by the private sector. The government provides the facilities, the infrastructure, which you will agree with me that we are trying. Maybe before the end of next year, most of our airports will wear new look and the security infrastructure will be there.
“So, anybody can do business in Nigeria. So, the question you ask is why is it that we had so many private people coming up with airlines in Nigeria but after sometime, they collapse. We are giving incentives now. We don’t take value added tax from the aviation industry, whether you are a commercial aircraft or bringing spare parts for repairs. We have given all incentives but we still have issues. So, I think it is an area we will have to have a retreat next year. We want to bring the experts within and outside the country to sit down and analyse what are the fundamental problems in the aviation sector and what must we do to make sure that we don’t get to where we are again.
This is quite challenging in terms of movement but we will resolve it. If there is anything government will do, we will do it. The Central Bank of Nigeria made a lot of provision for soft loans for the sector but it never worked. So, using money has never worked. So, what is the factor; what is responsible? Is it management issue. We will have a retreat in January. We actually have some challenges.
“These are things that did not come up now and so if you look at what is being done even in the case, because they are not new thing it is easier for a sitting government to deal with.
“But when an issue has been dealt with by the previous administration and you want to deal with it, you must also follow a particular procedure. It may be slow, but it is better to be slow and do the right thing than to move too fast and do the wrong thing. And, of course, you know the laws we operate are based on the British pattern. It is better for 99 to escape than for one innocent person to be punished. It makes the process to be slow and that is why sometimes, we take different options.”

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/news/jonathan-replies-obasanjo-odi-invasion-was-a-failure/#comment-73051

A Nice summary on the Questions and Answers on the Media chat (for those who didnt watch it live Or who wont mind a Reference):

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday replied former President Olusegun Obasanjo who criticised his handling of the Boko Haram crisis as “slow”.
Obasanjo said Boko Haram would have been nipped in the bud, if the government had been fast as, according to him, he did about Odi in 1999 when he deployed troops in the Bayelsa community.
But, to Jonathan, the deployment of troops did not solve any problem.
Speaking last night during the Presidential Media Chat, the President said innocent people, including women and children, were killed.
Jonathan said: “It was old men and women and children that were killed. None of the militants was killed.
“Bombarding Odi was meant to solve a problem but it never solved any. The attack on Odi never solved the militancy problem.”
The President said there was no negotiation going on with the Boko Haram sect because it remains a faceless group.
“There is no dialogue that is going on anywhere,” he said.
“Presently, government is not dialoguing with Boko Haram.There is no dialoguing between Boko Haram and government. Though there was a news item talking about dialogue, but Boko Haram is still operating under cover; they wear masks; there is no face. So, we do not have anybody to discuss with.”
Jonathan said he was misunderstood in his statement on the total removal of petroleum subsidy.
According to him, he was trying to explain that Canada has up to 15 refineries because they are privately-owned and state-regulated.
“I did not say we’re going to remove subsidy. I said if we want to get to the level of Canada, then we have to deregulate. We have to revisit the issue of subsidy,” he said.
The President added that provision was made for fuel subsidy in the 2013 budget estimate sent to the National Assembly.
Jonathan said the problem of fuel scarcity would be solved with the sanitisation of the oil sector.
According to him, his administration began the cleansing of the oil industry even before the House of Representatives set up the Farouk Lawan-led Committee on Subsidy Regime.
“By the time we’re done with sanitising the oil sector, the issue of fuel scarcity will be a thing of the past,” he said.
On First Lady Patience Jonathan’s long absence in public, he said: “She is fine. In fact, she was at the church service with us today. What happened is that Nigerians are always looking for negative things. Noting bad that she was ill . She received treatment and immediately she came back, she is still recuperating; she couldn’t get very active role. She is okay.”
The President denied that the government had revoked the N3.6billion three-year contract with Manitoba Hydro International of Canada for the management of the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
He, however, said that there were issues which needed to be clarified following the new procurement law.
“Manitoba contract has not been revoked. There were some issues raised. There were some confusion on the status of Manitoba because of the new procurement law. We saw some loopholes that were not properly done.
“I have given the relevant agencies until Tuesday to get things done.”
Dr. Jonathan assured Nigerians that the nation would never experience a food crisis as being speculated in some quarters.
He, however, maintained that the country would record a bumper harvest through massive dry season farming.
Asked to comment on low level of conviction for corruption, and why nobody has been jailed in some instances, such as in the Halliburton case, the President said the fight against corruption is still ongoing.
He said it was sometimes better to move slowly and do the right thing than move too fast and do the wrong thing.
“This government is tackling corruption frontally. The biggest form of corruption is political corruption. What we did, first and foremost, was to sanitise the electoral process. We had free and fair elections because we dealt with corruption in that area. We have done well in various forms in terms of tackling corruption,” he said.
The president said his administration has also solved the corruption problem that bedevilled fertiliser subsidy, and now focuses on the oil sector.
“The future of this country is quite bright. The outlook is positive and we’re committed. By the time we get to May 29, 2015, Nigerians will know that Jonathan and his team meant well for the country,” he said.
On the ongoing Constitution amendment and call for a referendum, Jonathan said the process had to align with the provisions of the Constitution.
“The issue of Sovereign National Conference – when you mention the word ‘sovereign’, people get frightened – but people need to know that the President swore to an oath to defend the Constitution. Whatever we do should be in line with the Constitution.
“If today you jettison the provision of the Constitution, you will run into anarchy, and the best option is to stick with the Constitution.”
On the call for a referendum, he said the National Assembly’s constituency hearings are also aimed at getting the people’s input.
“Whether it is done in form of referendum or not, it is the exclusive right of the National Assembly to amend the Constitution and I wouldn’t want to impose my own ideas on them. That is a different arm of government, and they are competent to handle the subject-matter.”
On the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Jonathan said the concessionaire, Bi-Courtney, lacks the capacity to carry out the job.
“The country is held to ransom. We cannot continue that way. We’ll intervene on that road,” the President said, adding that the government would also fix the Benin-Ore road.
On reducing the cost of governance, Jonathan noted that some parastatals were no longer relevant, which was why the Orasanya Panel was set up to review and recommend which should be scrapped or merged with others.
He said work would be concluded on the White Paper before the end of this year.
“At best wd can reduce the votes we give them. We can’t scrap any of them, until the National Assembly amends the relevant law,” he said.
The President said had directed the relevant agencies to resolve the oil well disputes between Rivers and Bayelsa on one hand, and Kogi, Anambra and Enugu states on the other.
Regarding the Rivers-Bayelsa dispute, Jonathan said: “The President will not influence anything.”
He said when the agencies finish the assignment, they would submit their report to the Vice-President. “We’ll demarcate it professionally,” he added.
He defended former heads-of-state whose firms bid for stakes in the privatisation of the power sector, saying it is their right to do so.
“It will not affect the process,” he said, adding that the important thing is for the companies to be qualified technically and financially.
The president said there have been “positive trends” in job creation, adding that the textile and footwear industries are “coming up” as power stabilises.
Asked whether he was worried that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is losing some states, the president said it is good for democracy.
“PDP is doing wonderfully well. It is even dangerous for this country for PDP to control all the states,” he said.
Jonathan said it was to early to be asked whether or not he would run for a second term, saying: “Give me sometime to make sure that I and my cabinet work.”
On the falling standard of education, Jonathan said every effort would be made to return it to what it used to be.
He described United States President Barrack Obama’s victory as “the best thing that has happened to a black man. “If he did not secure a second term the conclusion would have been that nothing good can come out of the black man.”
On Odi: Luckily, you talked about Odi. Because when the Odi matter came up, I was the deputy governor of Bayelsa State and I can give you the narratives of what led to the Odi crisis. The peak of the activities of the militancy in Niger Delta was when 12 police officers were killed in a cold blooded murder. That made the federal government to invade Odi. And after that invasion, the governor and I visited Odi. Ordinarily, the governor and the deputy governor were not supposed to move together under such a situation. And we saw some dead people mainly old men and women and also children. None of those militants was killed. None was killed. So, bombarding Odi was to solve the problem but it never solved it.
“Of course, if the attack of Odi had solved the issue of militancy in the Niger Delta, the Yar’Adua Government which I had the privilege of being the Vice President, wouldn’t have come up with the amnesty programme. So, that should tell you that the attack on Odi never solved the militancy problems. People will even tell you that rather it escalated it . It attracted international sympathy and we had lots of challenges after that attack on Odi. “
Benin-Ore road: Jonathan will be the best president. Because I will fix the Benin-Ore road, my government will fix that road and of course for power, it is one area that I know that Nigerians appreciate that we are moving. We are yet to get to power all our cities, but you will agree with me that the difference is clear. There has been improvement, significantly. And we will continue to improve. The only problem we have is that our transmission lines are weak. We have a lot of infrastructure project that are going on and we believe that before the end of the first quarter of next year, we would have completed a number of infrastructure. We moved from approximately below 2000 megawatts to above 5000 megawatts but because of weakness of infrastructure we cannot evacuate and we have seen a reasonable stability. So, before the middle of next year when most of the transmission infrastructure might have been completed, power will stabilize tremendously.
And this dry season we are going to intervene on that road from Lagos down.
Lagos-Ibadan and Bi-Courtney: That is the problem and that is the issue. That road has been with Bi-Courtney since we came on board in 2007 and I think we are going to take the final decision on the matter because it is like the company is not in position to do it and I don’t think as a responsible government, we can allow Nigerians to continue to suffer. It is the biggest road in this country and it is beyond the Southwest. Because that is the busiest road in this country and all of us in government, we feel pained that the country is held to ransom because of a transaction that probably was not consummated properly because of some kind of issues. But we cannot continue like this, we will intervene on that road.
Aviation : “The aviation industry is an industry that has been dominated by private sector all over the world. The most successful airline is the British Airways, globally. I believe so because everybody know about BA and almost every international airport you go you see BA.
“We had the Nigeria Airways that crashed like the shipping lines and others. But it is an industry that is dominated by the private sector. The government provides the facilities, the infrastructure, which you will agree with me that we are trying. Maybe before the end of next year, most of our airports will wear new look and the security infrastructure will be there.
“So, anybody can do business in Nigeria. So, the question you ask is why is it that we had so many private people coming up with airlines in Nigeria but after sometime, they collapse. We are giving incentives now. We don’t take value added tax from the aviation industry, whether you are a commercial aircraft or bringing spare parts for repairs. We have given all incentives but we still have issues. So, I think it is an area we will have to have a retreat next year. We want to bring the experts within and outside the country to sit down and analyse what are the fundamental problems in the aviation sector and what must we do to make sure that we don’t get to where we are again.
This is quite challenging in terms of movement but we will resolve it. If there is anything government will do, we will do it. The Central Bank of Nigeria made a lot of provision for soft loans for the sector but it never worked. So, using money has never worked. So, what is the factor; what is responsible? Is it management issue. We will have a retreat in January. We actually have some challenges.
“These are things that did not come up now and so if you look at what is being done even in the case, because they are not new thing it is easier for a sitting government to deal with.
“But when an issue has been dealt with by the previous administration and you want to deal with it, you must also follow a particular procedure. It may be slow, but it is better to be slow and do the right thing than to move too fast and do the wrong thing. And, of course, you know the laws we operate are based on the British pattern. It is better for 99 to escape than for one innocent person to be punished. It makes the process to be slow and that is why sometimes, we take different options.”

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/news/jonathan-replies-obasanjo-odi-invasion-was-a-failure/#comment-73051

Human rights activist and maritime lawyer, Dr Olisa Agbakoba, was a member of the Nuhu Ribadu Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force (PRSTF). In this interview, he revealed what transpired among members during their sittings and how the team uncovered monumental mess in the nation’s oil and gas sector. Excerpts:

What are the difficulties faced in collating and reconciling the data?


There was no difficulty faced in collating and reconciling the data of the report. I think the media just focused on the wrong aspect of the report. We were, at least, a 20-member committee. We were given six terms of reference. Also, when you have committee of diverse backgrounds, the approach would be a little bit different. Our task was not to probe figures of who is stealing what, as wrongly speculated in the media. Our broad task was to understand the oil and gas industry and discover whether there were better ways to manage Nigeria’s hydrocarbon, and to what extent we could we enhance the revenue by blocking the leakages.

In doing that, we understood that there are lot of inefficiency and lack of capacity in the way government manages the oil and gas industry. So our broad recommendation was to shake up the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation; free it from government’s control, privatize it, put it on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, like the Petrobas and Petronas, and make it a really viable private sector-driven industry. Once we do this, all the issue of corruption in the sector would go.

Our broad strategy was to ask what caused the inefficiency of the industry. Why don’t we have the local refineries working? Who is causing this? Is government control necessary? We said whoever is the Petroleum Minister should have nothing to do with the operational control of our oil and gas industry and that we needed to have a strong regulator, not what we have at present in the Department of Petroleum Resources.

We recommended three key things: Minister should focus on policy; private sector should drive the oil and gas and that we should have a strong regulator. For instance, in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, you will be surprised that in our filling stations we still use deep stick (ruler) to check volume output, whereas it should be metre. In this age, it is terribly shocking!

We also found that the DPR did not have the capacity to check the multinational oil companies because the oil companies have advanced and well-trained people, as against the basic level of the officials of DPR. There is no way the officials of the DPR can monitor them. When they tell oil multinational what we are producing, we felt that there is a lot of loss and we didn’t believe them because we rely on the Shell of this world to tell us what we are producing. We noted that at the end of the day, the oil multinational will tell us here is your change. That was terrible. You can see that the reconciliation of figures was the final output.

It is unfortunate that this small problem would overshadow the report. There were two camps. Nuhu Ribadu on one hand, a substantial number of the committee members on the other hand. We all agreed that there was a lot of money owed to the government. Nuhu’s approach was immediate action because he is an investigator. We can see that these people have stolen. But I am a lawyer; I believe in Rule of Law. I say, look why don’t we finish our report and then we can say these are the people we have found liable. Nuhu’s response was, ‘who have we ever caught?! We keep doing Rule of Law and people who stole keep walking free.’ He is right. Our position is also right. And it didn’t cause quarrel, although there was disagreement. We agreed that when Ribadu goes to present the report he will refer to those issues, but he didn’t. Steve Oronsanye now brought them up. But I had wished that didn’t play out because that aspect coloured what very good findings.

I’m not happy that Doyin Okupe tends to politicize the issue. The correct approach to the issue is very easy. Whatever the approach the two have should be presented to the Presidency. That is mature enough so that we can reconcile everybody. Steve and Nuhu are not saying that the report is not authentic. It is just a slight disagreement.


How cordial did the task force function?

We all worked in harmony. I was there all through.


How true is it that many members didn’t participate?

It was well attended. Oronsanye attended about four times because of other national assignments. Except for the little disagreement among the members over differences in approach, I didn’t stop interacting with members. I played jokes.


What is the cause of the disagreement?

The disagreement was as a result of different private approach. We all agreed that there was a lot of outstanding revenue and that many people were not paying what they ought to be paying. We discovered that many oil traders were duping NNPC because they were getting direct allocation to sell our crude oil. But they do not have the qualification because they were middlemen and there is no way they should sell our crude because we needed to sell direct to the refineries. The issue was, how do we deal with them? Nuhu Ribadu’s approach was that we should deal with them immediately. My approach was let’s make our findings and that these are the people owing the government and then go against them. It wasn’t a personal disagreement but a positive one.


How did the task force resolve it?

We all agreed that we have done good work and that we needed to harmonize our positions. After about five hours, we agreed that we were not probing. We needed to tone down the language of our report. We all accepted. We shifted the language of the report so as to make it more readable, but still convey the essence of the report that we are very concerned that Nigeria’s hydrocarbon assets was not thoroughly managed. We also agreed, as a result of the concern from some members, that it was safe to say some of the figures had not been verified because some of the operators invited didn’t come.


Did the task force seek clarifications from NNPC?

In fairness to NNPC, they gave us lots of information. We found that NNPC was badly run, not because they didn’t know what to do, but because the NNPC is the ‘Central Bank’ of the government. For instance, NNPC under the direction of former President Olusegun Obasanjo invested in Swaziland Sugar Company. The King of Swaziland then approached Obasanjo that he needed support.

You see, NNPC gets to fulfil any government extra-budgetary requirements. Therefore, NNPC has no resources because it is always being drained of cash.

The same NNPC that is cash cow is not enjoying the funding of the federal government. NNPC is always drawing up huge budget so it cannot fund its operation. NNPC, as we know, does not have any direct crude oil operation. It has a number of arrangements with multinational oil companies.

The most usual is called the Joint Venture Agreement (NNPC has 60 percent; the multinational oil companies have 40 percent). Because NNPC has no skill and does not know what the companies are producing, they just tell NNPC take your own. NNPC couldn’t pay the cash call to fund the Joint Venture, so the multinational oil companies say since the NNPC couldn’t pay, let us have the Modified Carry Arrangement. The oil company would fund the project 100percent.The NNPC was being short-changed because it does own the oil wells; it only manages them. The arrangement between the federal government and NNPC is terrible. Government has absolutely no skill. It is like a man who has houses and does not realize it.

So Nigerians oil revenue base is in tatters. We made all the findings and recommendations on how to review it and make NNPC be a real in cash cow as you have in Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. That is why I am not happy that this report is not getting the correct attention. If NNPC is allowed to truly manage our oil, we will be making about N20 trillion a year. We are making about N5 trillion yearly now. For us to make money from the oil and gas industry, Nigerians must control it. We recommended that we should have a National Oil Company that understands how to manage oil.


How did you collate the report? Did you have any expert guide?

Yes, we had a consultant. The consultant worked to assist in highly technical areas. We broke into various sub-committees. The various backgrounds we have helped us to play our roles very well. For instance, I was the Chairman of Legal Sub-Committee because Oil and Gas Maritime is my field. Together with my members, I was able to understand what plays out in the sector in terms of law and order.

We recommended what I will call an EFCC for the oil industry because the graft therein was so huge that we are losing between 25 and 30 percent of our oil to theft, which cost us between $7 billion and $10 billion yearly. That is more than the national budget. In order to reduce the level of the theft, we said it was necessary to have a special agency that focus on the oil and gas industry. We had the Managing Director of Galaxy Backbone. His work was to look at the efficiency and coordination in the NNPC.

Do you know that the NNPC has no IT backbone? They don’t know how much they generate because all the platforms are different. So, we recommended a uniform platform. The work was done by Gerald Ndukwe.

Revenue issue was done by the former Director of KPMG. Her work was ploughing the loopholes. NNPC brought all that we requested for and she had a full examination of their books and records. They went to DPR. We had people who understood the industry in the committee. We had an Accountant, like Pastor Ituah Ighodalo. We had CBN and Ministry of Finance directors; we had a director of MRS Oil and Gas among us. So all these findings were supported by government agencies.


How would you react to the allegations that your committee’s work was shoddy?

Those saying that are talking rubbish. The fact that there was a disagreement between Nuhu Ribadu and Oronsaye does not mean that we didn’t do our work well. The economy can grow from $5 trillion to over N20 trillion a year as a result of our report, and this shows that it was not shoddy. Let me underscore the fact that corruption is just one component of revenue loss. The first reason for loss is that we have illiterates in our oil and gas industry - people who have no capacity and ought not to be there, in the first place. Second is that we do not control our international oil and gas companies. Third is the inefficiency that lead to revenue loss. Fourth is corruption.


How do you want the report to be handled?

Implement it, that’s all! Implement it!

http://sundaytrust.com.ng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12071%3Adisagreement-ribadu-wanted-oil-thieves-prosecuted-says-task-force-member-agbakoba&catid=54%3Alead-stories&Itemid=127

ACN...Democracy for Action

.... Alright, Boys keep doing the 'good' job on NL

ebere1712: From 1960 to now, all your successive government have been screaming foreign investment. And they could only attract 9billion. Talk about text book example of failure. Learn to respect yourselves, you prodigal sons of metu.

How is an FDI of $8.92 billion small for a $250 billion Economy? What ratio are other countries, even developed ones?

Amazing..

Just as a side note and in relation to this, see this thread on the two most important Ratings Agencies in the world (S&P and Moody) [/b]that have reduced the ratings of many European and even American Economies in the world, recently increasing our Credit Ratings for the 2nd time (and [b]highlighting our strengths but also the significant challenges we face if we were to further improve on the Ratings as we ordinarily should):

https://www.nairaland.com/1096649/p-moody-upgrades-nigerias-credit

These were some of the reasons for the improved Ratings; anchored by the team in the Finance Ministry led Dr Okonjo Iweala's of course:

* Reduction of Budget deficit from 3.35% of GDP in 2010 to 2.96% in 2011 to 2.85% in 2012 to projected 2.17% in 2013(next year).

* Reduction of domestic borrowing from N1.1 trillion in 2010 to N852 billion in 2011 to N744 billion in 2012 budget and projected N727 billion in 2013(next year).

* Provision of 'Sink-in Fund' of about N25billion yearly from next budget year to service domestic debt in order to try to retire it over time.
* Reduction of Overhead votes from N526billion in 2010 to N266billion in 2012 to projected N230billion in 2013(next year).
* Reduction of Recurrent Component of the budget from 77.43% in 2010 to 74.43% in 2011 to 71.47% in 2012 to around 68.7% in 2013(next year).

PS: And in a move that is personally more exciting, the promise by the President to quickly treat the extremely important Oronsaye Committee Report which would drastically rationalise the large number of agencies in government, reduce waste and even further reduce the high cost of governance as reflected in the Recurrent budget(Mr President should plz fulfill this promise of his (with the required Wisdom cos of the sensitivity but also with Courage cos of the necessity ), release the Oronsaye Committee White Paper and start implementation asap)

* Growth of the Foreign Reserves from about $32Billion early tis year to more than 2 year ig of almost $44billion this month. Also important is the settig up of the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF).

* The Stabilization of the Baking sectors which has gone to profitability again, and the recovery of the Stock Exchage whose Capitalization has increased by about 34% this year alone.

* A Appreciation of the Naira this year above 3% (as at October, the best performing in Africa), and of course better Foreign inflows including this $8.9billion FDI


http://www.punchng.com/news/fec-approves-draft-budget-of-n5trn-for-2013/

http://www.channelstv.com/home/2012/09/19/jonathan-submits-2013-2015-expenditure-frameworks-to-senate/

http://bux-toweb..com/2012/09/nigerian-naira-best-performing-currency.html

Ganys: Bro...You Cant eat your cake & still have it...
in NIGERIA,
HAUSE/FULANI= POLITICS
YORUBA= EDUCATION
IGBO= BUSINESS
By the way, the last time i checked, Chief Aig, Cosmos maduka & Chike obi are tick Igbo men...Abi na Nupe dem be

Just imagine this thrash....

Vincent 4: No matter wetin dem do,even if na to Turn All North to london,Aboki na Aboki............De best Tin to Do for Hausas is to Build A Modernised Mechine for Frying Suya

Plz keep your mouth SHUT...Enough of these silly pettiness

1. Mr President, what is keeping YOU from formulating and implementing a White Paper on the Oronsaye's Report on the Rationalisation of Agencies in Govt?

2. Mr President Sir, can you not use the majority of your political party in the NA to ensure that the PIB bill presently before NA is passed as soon as possible? In fact Sir, can you still assure us that you will do every thing within your powers to get the NA to pass the bill before the end of this year?

3. Mr President, is it impossible on your part to do something to ensure that the CJN appoints the Special Judges on Corruption which she promised when she was taking her Oath of Office before you? I know that you have severally openly urged her to do so, but Sir is there not other ways you can impress upon her the seriously and urgency of fulfilling her promise? The Anti-Corruption War is dependent on it.

4. Mr President, this isnt a question per se but a Reminder: why I appreciate the meticulously work you and your team have put-in in the Power Sector (both to Privatize/liberalize and also to revamp it), can you ASSURE us again that the ongoing reforms especially the Privatization/Liberalization Programme , which seem to be going according to plan/timeline so far, will be seen through? Sir, there is so much at stake here and the nation hopes are essentially resting on the conclusion of these Reforms, are there any reasons for some of us to be apprehensive of the outcomes (or rather 'non-outcomes') of the Process?

GOD's SPEED MR PRESIDENT.

COOLDUN: Then we can be compared to Canada right? By the way if there was no Oil in Nigeria, what would have been used as an excuse for the dying economy? If you like, you can continue to defend your government, who cares but the fact remains that the already deregulated products like Diesel is still a mirage. Millions of your type can occupy this nairaland forum for your duties but logically you won't succeed to fool everyone with these theorical economic policies. If Nigeria was not populated you would have used it as an excuse of not having a functioning economy.

Now Nigeria is over populated and that is why the masses should be wiped out with economical hardship. 1982 it was Austerity measure, I989 it was SAP, 1999 till 2010 it was Privatization, now it is Deregulation, still nothing is working. Europeans are rejecting what we accepted whole heartedly that has been sucking Nigerians to death,since 1982.Bad workman always quarrels with his tools. if your salary can't sustain you, then over time will never sustain you too.

Many countries that have no single drop of oil are fast developing and growing economically, while Nigeria government is always giving unnecessary excuses. With the level of CORRUPTION in this country, mostly in this present regime, no amount of fund can do anything if it is not adequately addressed. Next we will be hearing CABALS, TERRORIST, ELITES, BUNKERERS, NLC, ASUU, and OPPOSITION PARTIES that are responsible for the economical stagnancy in Nigeria.

Just read tru this comment and honestly dont get what model its actually espousing. I see lots of complains bout what have happend or is still happening, but no alternative plan suggestd. It seems you are generally adversd to Deregulatn and Privatisatn? If so, i respect that but they questn is what is d suggestd model going further? What is the working models in those countries you mentiond? Are they working well, and is there any moves by these countries to change their current models? How is the state of d oda aspects of dier Downstream sector apart from Refineries and PMS? I personally am cautious bout full Deregulatn and Privatisatn except if it is necessary (like in d Power sector which i fully support), so wud want to know of a workable model that wud bring efficiency and competition to the Downstream sector of d oil industry?

take dat: @Taharqa, full deregulation is the best option provided government is able to provide immediate palliatives. It will turn Nigeria to the Rotterdam of West Africa and provide employment opportunities.
Its good that the PIB is being considered, my fear is the politicisation of the bill and the influence the IOC's will want to exert to frustrate its passage.
the 445000bpd is an agreement between OPEC and Nigeria so it has nothing to do with the IOC's. Its our quota for local consumption, government only decided to be selling it through traders due to the poor state of our refineries but with full deregulation a reduced price from the international market price will be an incentive to refiners and it will reduce cost of petroleum products. The 445000bpd is not from the 2.5mbpd for exportation

We are in agreement then: it is the best option but the best way to go about it so that the transistion would not be that difficult is what is required. That is why a Sincere series of talks must start NOW (we may end up doing the Deregulatin in 2014 but the talk and process should start NOW).

Am going to do some research on this 445,000mbd. I think it is the IOCs that produce most of it since NPDC does not have the capacity to produce such quantity per day, but I may be wrong is my assumptions that the oil needs to be sold at Internatinal prize cos d IOCs produce most of it; as you rightly said, it is our OPEC 'cut'- so its prize may just be a little above Production cost, not d International prize. Maybe each IOC have a quota they 'give' to us every day for local consumption at an amount below the international prize; if so that may be the key to Deregulatin, yet with a lower than the current Landing (international) cost for PMS. So if our Refineries can be running at say 70% (which would still nt be sufficient) and there is a direct arrangement in the mean time (before private refineries come on stream) bw d NNPC and some refiners abroad, we could actually importing refind crude at a cost lower than d international prize. Problem here though is that d NNPC recently startd selling part of this 445,000mbd at international prizes, and crucially i dont even know if the 445,000mbd crude wud be sufficient for the nation if fully refind cos if not, anoda dummy variable may be introducd complicating the already complex equatn and needs to be solvd

ldpele: young man! is it by dis way d presid is gng by it,constitutn panel upon panel,comittee upon comittee. we r @nov n ua telln me d govt had made progress in d fight for d oil cabals wen d struggl startd @jan

Young man! what do you want him to do or to have done? Lie any Suspect and order a Firing Squad? If not, it takes time to build cases and prosecution in courts, you know..any ways, i like to hear what you would have done if you were the one ie SOLUTIONS plz

Hope you understood my response well o :

Why I agree that the real issue to the opposition is the Trust thing between Nigerian Govts and the people, you are wrong @emboldened.

More than 45 individuals and companies are been prosecuted in batches in courts (anther 7 were arraigned just 2 days ago) and their monies have been withheld and so they cant service their debts in the banks talk less of getting new Bank facilities, that's why many of them are closing shops and not able to import fuel. Keep your views fact-based plz

,

taharqa: Great observation except @emboldened (dont think any one would set up a Refinery cs of Diesel, PMS is the economic cash-cow for Refiner).

But like a said though: great observation. Its about time those groups against the Deregulation policy sat down with Govt and set some conditions necessary for the full Deregulation of the sector and Timelines for this (esp as most of them do not oppose the eventual Deregulation per se). Some of the conditions can include:

- the removal of Demorrages and Transit-time in the ports (since last year this has reduced to a week, but the group can ask that it be further reduced to say 3 days).

- resuscitation of Rail services across the nation (both Lagos-Kano, PH-Maidguri and their various Branches).

- Conviction of Subsidy 'thieves' (at least some of them).

- Provision of at least 15hrs electricity in most parts of Nigeria, conclusion of Privatization programme and maybe even a commitment to a particular MW of electricity.

- Further reduction in the cost of governance across the board, including especially the implementation of the Oronsaye's Report.

- Any other condition that may serve as 'palliatives' for the temporary pains that Nigerians would have to bear immediately the policy sets in.

...Again, I wish to emphasize that most of the groups/persons that lead the protest and opposition to the Subsidy removal already agree that we would need to eventually Deregulate. Maybe it is now time to Engage the govt, give our conditions, set timelines and then if substantially met by the govt, Deregulation can commence by middle or the end of next year.

-I think e should add the passage of the PIB bill that would completely reorganise the Oil industry and make the players and the Regulatory body (National Inspectorate) much stronger, efficient and transparency.

- We can also demand that Govt can keep the PSF for say 6 months after the Deregulation so that those people that live far from the existing Refineries or from the ports, would not have to pay too much prize difference from others. After this short time, the PSF can then be completely scrapped.
In fact, we can discuss any condition with the govt as long as it would make the transition easier for Nigerians, and that it would help Nigeria at the long run.

Let me reemphasize that most of the peple and bodies that led us in the protest and opposition t the last attempt to Deregulate the sector actually support Deregulation but after some conditions have been met. The President should provide leadership and call them in order to enter into discussion about how best and what time we can Deregulate the industry without bringing too much pain to ordinary Nigerians and moving the critical sector forward; these Groups should oblige.

By the way, one of the main architects of January's opposition is El Rufai (someone who was former chairman of BPE and a believer himself in the 'merits' of Dregulation, who pushed for Deregulation of the oil industry during the Obasanjo era when he served in govt) said this in one of his articles this year:

The government needs to apologize to Nigerians and go back to the drawing board. Nigerians, including this writer, are not against deregulation per se and if any example of shoddy government is needed, it is to be found in this current impasse of subsidy removal. Deregulation is a package of transition from public monopoly to competitive market. Necessary ingredients for this transition include at the barest minimum; (1) Well articulated policy review (2) Enabling legislation to de-monopolize the sector (3) A regulatory agency that will supervise the sector and implement the program (4) Attracting and licensing of private sector providers in the sector. That is what we did in the BPE with the telecommunications sector, and now the electricity industry

We should amongst ourselves and with the Govt; some level of Consensus is not impossible.

Afolabs101: In order to import any "deregulated product, you must have a license from DPR. To import PMS that is regulated, you must have an import license from DPR and an allocation from PPPRA. DPR, PPPRA and NNPC are all controlled by the Minister of Petroleum. So she "overseas who is able to import or not".

Deregulation means the scrapping of PPPRA allocations for import of PMS, however an import license will still have to be obtained from DPR.

DPR is not a branch of the NNPC, it is the Regulatory Agency for the entire oil industry. Plz just take that correction and lets stop wasting time

nagoma: The lame excuse to justify extrajudicial killing. Typical of a tyrannical regime.

I wish that this 'tyrannical regime' continue more of these kinds of 'extrajudicial killings'. They certainly wouldnt need to justify anything of it to me

Smooyis: If the govt has recorded visible growth in many sectors it would have earned enough respect and trust from nigerians. But here is a government dat is not even bold enough to prosecute those that have been indicted for d petol subsidy fraud. I think we should stop taking d people for a ride!

Why I agree that the real issue to the opposition is the Trust thing between Nigerian Govts and the people, you are wrong @emboldened.

More than 45 individuals and companies are been prosecuted in batches in courts (anther 7 were arraigned just 2 days ago) and their monies have been withheld and so they cant service their debts in the banks talk less of getting new Bank facilities, that's why many of them are closing shops and not able to import fuel. Keep your views fact-based plz,

take dat: Beautiful, those are well thought out plans but it will take some time to get them in place. [b]Additionally, the government can sell its 445000bpd at a cheaper rate to genuine importers [/b]to bring the price down cos the biggest fear of full deregulation is the changes in price of crude oil. The gradual phasing out of subsidies is the best for now until those frameworks are put in place.

Yes, it would take some time as well as trust (a commodity that understandably isnt very 'current' between the Govt and the people these days), that is why the Engagement needs to start now and clear Timelines set- maybe if agreement can be reached and a very clear timeline set, the investors would not even need t wait for te actual Deregulation to start the process of building Refineries, Depots, pipelines etc. And this should be treated with the utmost seriously and urgency by the Govt and these Groups cos as you know, the Deregulation of the Downstream sector isnt just about the supposed increase in the prize of PMS but about the competitiveness of the entire sector; it is now even more critical we did something about the sector now that the USA is very serious and on the verge of been Energy Independent.

The passage of the PIB that would reorganise the Upstream and Midstream sectors is also very important (by the way, just heard that the House of Reps has passed the bill through 2nd reading- more pressure needed still so the bill can be passed b4 the end of the year).

@emboldened, this 445,000mbd of crude that NNPC gets, is it from NPDC operations (I doubt they produce more than 100,000mbd) or is it mostly from the IOCs; if it is from the IOCs, can it be sold at a prize other than the International Prize?

take dat: Yea I agree on the diesel part. I doubt if anyone would be against deregulation of the downstream but the institutional framework and palliatives to make it a success are not yet on ground.

apologies @take dat, the comment was not complete; it is now

blink182: Selective deregulation you mean. Jonathan is mad! It should be called total subsidy removal and not deregulation.

After deregulating, nnpc will still oversee who is able to import or not and make sure the price remains high to justify stealing of years past.

I am really getting fed up, can't I listen to news from abuja and smile?

What are you talking about? Even today NNPC does not 'oversee who is able t import or not' as you put it, PPPRA does; and that body would scrapped if Full Deregulation sets in

take dat: No one is against full deregulation but where are the palliatives to ease the initial discomfort of deregulation. Is Canada the same as Nigeria? Is the standard of living in Canada same as Nigeria?Why is it that diesel has been deregulated for sometime now and no importer of diesel is yet to build a refinery and its price is still high? May God save Nigeria from clueless and inhumane leaders.

Great observation except @emboldened (dont think any one would set up a Refinery cs of Diesel, PMS is the economic cash-cow for Refiner).

But like a said though: great observation. Its about time those groups against the Deregulation policy sat down with Govt and set some conditions necessary for the full Deregulation of the sector and Timelines for this (esp as most of them do not oppose the eventual Deregulation per se). Some of the conditions can include:

- the removal of Demorrages and Transit-time in the ports (since last year this has reduced to a week, but the group can ask that it be further reduced to say 3 days).

- resuscitation of Rail services across the nation (both Lagos-Kano, PH-Maidguri and their various Branches).

- Conviction of Subsidy 'thieves' (at least some of them).

- Provision of at least 15hrs electricity in most parts of Nigeria, conclusion of Privatization programme and maybe even a commitment to a particular MW of electricity.

- Further reduction in the cost of governance across the board, including especially the implementation of the Oronsaye's Report.

- Any other condition that may serve as 'palliatives' for the temporary pains that Nigerians would have to bear immediately the policy sets in.

...Again, I wish to emphasize that most of the groups/persons that lead the protest and opposition to the Subsidy removal already agree that we would need to eventually Deregulate. Maybe it is now time to Engage the govt, give our conditions, set timelines and then if substantially met by the govt, Deregulation can commence by middle or the end of next year.

October1st: DECEMBER 17th to 22nd IS ‘bad NIGERIAN road week’

December 17th to 22nd has been declared ‘bad Nigerian road week’.

We implore you to observe this day by posting online pictures of bad roads you have contended with this year in your neighbourhood and on your journeys. Kindly post a picture on facebook and twitter on this week.

Nigeria is not in a state of war, and yet we have roads that are so bad that you would be forgiven for thinking that we are just emerging from a civil war. How can we explain craters on our highways-craters that are so wide that vehicles have to pass through a bush path in order to continue their journey? How can we explain pot holes that straddle our local streets and states when our local authorities collect taxes as well as government allocations?

Is it possible to embarrass our leaders to action over the poor state of roads in the country? The answer to that question is a resounding ‘No!’ They know the state of the roads in the nation and they do not care. We the youth of Nigeria can however make our leaders uncomfortable using the power of social media.

The traditional media has been compromised by publishers who wine and dine with the people in power. Social media however is your voice, and you can use this medium to voice your displeasure. The power of social media is one that the president himself is aware of, hence his decision to announce his presidential candidacy via Facebook. Social media has brought down African dictators in recent years- dictators that were more prudent with their nation’s resources than our kleptomaniac rulers.

We are slowly arriving at a dangerous point where sane people begin to accept the abnormal with a shrug. Governors and the President buy private jets to fly across the country while the roads they are entrusted to maintain are death traps for the rest of us. Politicians are flown abroad for treatment while the majority of the population dies of treatable diseases every year. Public education is destroyed from primary to university levels and government officials send their children abroad to be educated. It is not normal, and we (the sane Nigerians) should stop accepting these things as normal lest we lose our sanity.

The work is plenty, but we shall start by bringing international attention to the state of roads in our country. Let us all mark this week, as a day to register our displeasure. Post a picture of a bad road, state the date it was taken, and location of the road that you feature.

Please send sms and BB messages to inform friends of this campaign. Also, rebroadcast this message to your e-mail contacts, and also post on Facebook and other social media sites. Let us unify and pressure our government to work.

We urge civil society groups to set up awareness programmes to coincide with the week, in order to publicize this campaign. Blog owners and young artistes are encouraged to use their popularity to promote this week of dissent and public awareness.

We talk too much without action in Nigeria, and you can be the one to change this attitude. Or are you not tired yet?

Remember that without activity from you, this message will not be successful. You can be part of a movement that seeks to ensure your comfort on Nigerian roads.

Invest as little as ten minutes of your time to this online activism. Send this message to as many people as possible.

Good idea... But we really shld not wait till December to do this. People shld use their camera phones to monitor projects (ongoing or abandond) of various govts in ORDER TO KEEP THEM ON THEIR TOES, and do it consistently- instead of Ranting. This is one of d ways of been Engaged..... Again, good idea; but lets start it NOW- not only for roads but railways, airports, dams, river ports etc

LocalChamp: ‘Fuel scarcity to last till next year’
Posted by: Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja Posted date: November 15, 2012 In: Business, Featured | comment : 6
The lingering fuel scarcity in the country is expected to last till next year, a report of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), has indicated.

The report listed outstanding debts of over N141billion owed oil marketings as one of the reason for fuel scarcity in the country.

The report, which blamed the Mnister of Finance, Dr Okonjo Ngozi-Iweala and the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) for the scarcity, said the debts have discouraged petroleum marketers from further importion, given that banks are no more willing to extend further credit to them.

These disclosures are contained in the report of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) on the re-occurrence of long queues in filling stations across the country.

It said Nigerians should be prepared for an extended scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) as commercial banks are no longer willing to give credit facilities to petroleum products’ marketers.

In addition, the Committee said System 2B, which distributes about 70 per cent of petroleum products from Lagos, Mosimi, Ejigbo, Ibadan, Ore and Ilorin has collapsed, and has affected the petroleum product distribution system.

The report was presented to the House yesterday by the Chairman of the Committee, Dakuku Peterside.

In the executive summary of the report obtained by The Nation, the Committee expressed fears that due to a number of factors, “the current scarcity will last for a fairly long time beyond the first quarter of next year.”

The committee said apart from the the Ministry of Finance withholding payments of marketers under investigation, there was inadequate provision in the 2012 budget for payment of subsidy. It said only N306billion was allocated to PMS in the N888billion set aside for payment of subsidy.

It said: “The delay in payment to petroleum marketers traceable to the Ministry of Finance is adversely affecting the availability of reduced and credit worthiness of marketers. At a point, it took not less than six months to process payment due importers.

“The collapse of Syatem 2B which distribute about 70 per cent of petroleum products starting from Lagos, Mosimi, Ejigbo, Ibadan, Ore and Ilorin severely affected the distribution system.

“Too many inconclusive investigations are affecting the willingness of banks to give credit, and thus importers given allocations by PPPRA cannot perform. For instance, out of 37 companies that were given fourth quarter allocation, only 19 performed by bringing the product into the country.

“There is a marked decline in investment in the downstream sector due to very low profit margin that has been gradually building up due to lack of storage facilities as has been observed over time.”

The Committee recommended that the Ministry of Finance should as a matter of urgency, pay every marketer being owed and whose claims have been verified by all relevant authorities, adding that all necessary measures should be taken by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to immediately fix fix the collapsed System.

“That in 2013 budget, the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) should be skewed in favour in PMS by the Ministry of Petroleum.

“That all investigations carried our by the Prsodency in the oil and gas industry should be concluded within a time limit.

“That PPPRA should give allocation to only marketers that had performed

“All necessary steps should be taken to determine the actual quantity of daily consumption of PMS that will enable the country plan ahead”.

It would be recalled that the Committee was mandated to carry out the investigation following the adoption of action by Bashir Baballe (PDP, Kano) on 7th November, 2012.

According to Pererside, the purpose of the report was to find out from relevant authorities why the country is experiencing fuel scarcity and profer ways of resolving the issues.

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/business/fuel-scarcity-to-last-till-next-year/

So the National Assembly that made a lot of noise that d govt shld not under any circumstances pay the Oil marketers under investigation, now want the govt to 'quickly verify and pay dem'? Shee d FG were using kid-gloves on d marketers? When real scarcity nova even come, *I laugh*...plz GEJ continue to DEAL with d Oil marketers, that is what Nigerians want

I thought Isreal was helping us wit 2 spy satellites and Ballons to track d BH eediots and eliminate them. Abeg mk them fast o.. i wan hear say na like dis Shakau and co take dey die..hohoho

You guys shld relax. It is undastadable dat many ppl are jittery about hw dis wud affect d Privatisatn process; I was shockd myself when i 1st heard dis. However, if there is any process d President has kept his word, it is this Privatisatn process- all the rules and dates hv been followd EXACTLY as what was spent out in what hv been a transparent process. The TCN was not concessiond nor sold to Manitoba, it was just contractd for Management for an initial period of 3yrs while ownership remains with d Nigerian nation; so this 'set back' wud not affect d TIMELINE of d 'Real' privatisatn process (which has been so meticulously kept so far), infact d GENCOs and DISCOs are already paying 25% of their bid fees and according to d timeline hv 6 months to complete d payments and then take over dier companies. The Nigerian govt therefore hv the time to conduct anoda process to select a Management Comp for TCN. Am sure GEJ undastads that this Power reform will seal his legacy and wud determine d kind of support he wud continue to get from sm Nigerians, including myself.....now this comment is not directd at sm posters here, esp a particular one, who said early dis yr that GEJ wud not be able to privatise d Power sector (it has been privatisd) and who wud hv open a thread spitting his usual bias nonsense and conspiracy theories, had it been later known dat Manitoba Contract didnt follow due process; this comment is not directd to these paid critics cos they dont count

Yea, Great work Cross River and d extremely focusd Min for Agric. Imo is on the verge of doing similar stuff...