₦airaland Forum

SANDF THE BEST AND NO DOUBT

@AUGUSTUS WHATS YOUR TAKE ON THIS ONE

Despite the successes recorded by the Nigerian troops in recent times, a crop of black sheep -two soldiers of the Explosive Ordinance Device personnel attached to 143 Battalion, identified as Eric Nwokorie and Macauley Fortune were arrested last Sunday 7th February 2016, at Yola park with some unauthorized military items.

The items are; 1 Smoke grenade, 2,136 live rounds of 7.62 (Special) ammunition, 50 live rounds of 7.6mm (NATO) ammunition, 5 magazines of AK 47 rifles, 2 Browning Machine Gun live rounds of ammunitions. Others include, 1 Axe, 1 Cutlass, 1 Jack knife, 9 Jungle hats, 11 pairs of Camouflage (9 Desert and 3 woodland green), 4 Military Pullovers, 1 Black beret, 1 Green beret, 1 Pair of number 7 dress, 2 General Duty belt, 12 Army T-shirts, 2 Rain Coats, 2 Water bottles, 1 Pairs of Rain boot and 5 Pairs of Desert boots.

Source; http://www.nationalhelm.com/2016/02/see-soldiers-who-were-arrested-at-yola.html

@AUGUSTUS....COORRUPTION RUNS IN YOUR BLOOD

Former aide-de-camp to former president Goodluck Jonathan, Col. Ojogbane Adegbe has said another Dasukigate may be imminent if he reveals what transpired in that administration.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) picked up Adegbe on Wednesday in Lagos where he was interrogated before he was flown to Abuja yesterday.

It was gathered that ongoing interrogation of the former ADC by operatives of the EFCC could open up a new can of worms, which “could surpass what is now called Dasukigate.”

In December 2015, the Department of State Security (DSS) arrested Jonathan’s National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki and turned him over to the EFCC over his role in the $2.1 billion arms purchase scandal.

The money, meant to purchase arms for the military fighting insurgency in the North-East, was allegedly diverted by the office of the NSA as 2015 campaign funds for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which was the ruling party then.

EFCC sources said the former ADC may soon give details of all he knows with regards to financial transactions and the dramatic personae involved in the last administration.

Preliminary findings, including recovered documents, were said to have hinted of large-scale questionable expenditure with funds sourced from and outside the arms purchase deals.

Another source said “most of the funds were reportedly diverted soon after the election was postponed from the originally scheduled date of February 14, 2015 to March 28, 2015…”

Among the active participants in the alleged sleaze, was a top official of an agency set up to discourage militancy in the South-South, who is currently outside the country.

At the centre of the interrogation of the former ADC, who has been moved to Abuja, Daily Sun gathered, was the “mind-boggling spending” during the two weeks’ extension of the general election, “which runs into several trillions of naira, when converted from foreign currency.”

Sources said many top Nigerians, “including some very close persons” to the former president, may likely be called to explain and defend their roles in the handling of the funds, a chunk of which was sourced from the agency.

Spokesman for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren could not be reached for comments on the arrest before press time

Col. Adegbe, who was arrested in Lagos a few days ago, was said to be attending a senior officers course outside the former capital city, but on a visit, when he was picked up for interrogation.

Before him, many serving and retired military officers had been interrogated in connection with the arms purchase deal during the Jonathan administration.

They include former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh (retd) and the former Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Amosu (retd) as well as some top politicians.

After arresting Dasuki, the EFCC arrested former chairman of Africa Independent Television (AIT), Chief Raymond Dokpesi, former Sokoto State governor, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh and former national chairman of the party, Alhaji Haliru Bello Mohammed and his son, Abbah.

The anti-graft agency also arrested former governor of Kaduna State, Brigadier General Isa Jafaru, former minister of State for Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, and the director of Finance and Administration in the Office of the NSA, Mr. Shauibu Salisu



http://sunnewsonline.com/new/if-i-open-up-nigeriall-burn-jonathans-ex-adc/

@AUGUSTUS....IS THIS ONE NOT YOU

The outcry over the menace of ghost worker fraud reverberated in the Senate yesterday when the finance minister, Kemi Adeosun, threw a bombshell by revealing that, with the help of the Biometric Verification Number (BVN) policy, it has been discovered that one civil servant alone collected 20 salaries every month.

She also told the Senate Committee on Finance that the 23,000 ghost workers discovered in the Federal Civil Service would be handed over to EFCC for prosecution.

The adoption of BVN in processing salary payments by the federal government had stunningly thrown up no fewer than 23,000 ghost names on its payroll, a development that raised concerns about the huge amount of monies that may have been stolen from the nation’s coffers through such leakages in the federal civil service.

“What the IPPIS-BVN registration has shown us has been a real revelation. We have identified that there are people who appear on our payroll multiple times. BVN links all the accounts of that person, so we are seeing in our payroll 20 names to one BVN number,” Adeosun said during a budget defence session by the Federal Ministry of Finance before the committee.

The awestruck Senate committee agreed with the minister and directed that the attorney-general of the federation, Abubakar Malami, begin the prosecution and sanctioning of all individuals, firms and banks that aided the inclusion of the 23,000 ghost workers on federal government’s payroll.

LEADERSHIP FRIDAY had also reported exclusively that with the help of the ongoing verification of the Niger State workforce, a messenger at the state’s ministry of finance earned N265,000 monthly and a cleaner at General Hospital, Minna, earned N375,000 monthly, while no fewer than three permanent secretaries in the state’s civil service earned over N1.3 million monthly.

The ghost worker syndrome had been a trend which has sapped public funds since the regime of former President Olusegun Obasanjo up to the immediate past administration when former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala held sway in the ministry.

In October 2014, the federal government uncovered a total of 60,000 ghost workers in federal establishments across the country, following the staff audit of the federal government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) on the implementation of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

Yesterday, Senate’s directive that the AGF, Malami, and the finance minister fastback action in prosecuting firms, banks and individuals linked to the 23,000 ghost worker scam was issued by the chairman, Committee on Finance, Senator John Enoh.

Enoh asked Mrs Adeosun to make sure that her ministry recovers all funds fraudulently received through the ghost workers’ accounts.

During her presentation, the minister lamented that the ghost worker scam had exposed the nation’s revenue system to very serious financial leakages.

She assured the Senate committee that the 23,000 ghost workers discovered in the Federal Civil Service would be handed over to Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), even as she added that banks and firms that connived with civil servants to pad the federal government payroll would also be prosecuted.

Adeosun said, “We have had a meeting on how we are going to clean them off. The process will be that we will suspend that person from the payroll pending the end of the investigation. As we speak now, we have about 23,000 that we need to investigate: those whom either the BVN is linked to multiple payments or the name on the BVN account is not consistent with the name on our own payroll.

“If we are able to get everybody onto the BVN platform, we will be able to save a considerable amount of personnel cost. Not only will we remove those people from our payroll, but we will also be going after the banks involved to collect our money.

“So, some of the information that we are getting is how long has this person been on the pay roll, how much has he been getting.

In some getting the accounts are held by the same bank and in some cases all were opened on the same day. If we are able to prove that banks have colluded with people to pad our payroll, we are not only going to stop those payments but we are also going to try and recover our money”.

On what becomes the fate of defaulting MDAs, the minister said, “My job is to get them off our payroll; what happens from there on goes to the investigative

agencies. We will pass our files onto them and they will take a decision as to what sanctions they will take.

“Mine is that I do not want to pay them anymore, and whatever they have taken must come back; so we are going to hand our files on to EFCC and the relevant agencies.”

She explained to the committee how the use of the BVN policy helped the IPPIS in tracking down the ghost worker scam.

Adeosun said, “The IPPIS programme, funded by World Bank, started about five years ago and what it required was for every officer to come physically for biometric data capture. Over the five years, unfortunately, we have only been able to capture about 295,000 federal civil servants, which represent less than 20 per cent of the total personnel on the federal par roll.

“We realized that if we can get more people on IPPIS, our salary costs will come down and so we needed to get more people on IPPIS. So I looked critically at it with the director of IPPIS, and we decided to change the strategy; rather than getting the person to come physically – which has always been the problem, we will take the payroll that we have and the bank account of everybody who is being paid.

“So, from that bank account we will get the BVN; from the BVN we can get the biometric data, so that considerably accelerated the process of getting people onto IPPIS. I can tell you that within the last two months we have been on this programme, we have been able to enrol 320,000 onto IPPIS using BVN; that is, compared to 295,000 in five years.

“We are very confident with our programme, that we will now be able to get every federally paid civil servant onto IPPIS by June. We are aggressively chasing after June.”

When asked by the committee about the controversy that trailed the Treasury Single Account (TSA), the minister stated that it was not proper for the company managing the transfer to the TSA to have charged MDAs.

Noting that the firm should have been paid a reasonable amount by a central agency of government, she said, “The N25 billion that was allegedly paid out was actually incorrect; it was about N8 billion that was paid and it has been refunded because there was no basis for the deduction.


http://leadership.ng/news/500341/23000-ghost-workers-one-civil-servant-found-collecting-20-salaries

@AUGUSTUS THIEVING SENIOR OFFICERS OF THE NIGERIAN ARMED FORCES

The Acting Director, Nigerian Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman has said the Nigerian Army has sent a 12-man list of very senior officers to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) for investigation. Though silent on the names of the officers, Usman in an e-mail said, “The Nigerian Army wishes to inform the public that 12 Army officers have been sent to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), for investigation.This comprised of 3 serving Major Generals, and one retired, 3 Brigadier Generals, 4 Colonels and 1 Lieutenant Colonel. However, it should be noted that at the end of the Commission’s investigations those found culpable will be tried by a military Court Martial.”


http://dawntodusknews.com/3-serving-maj-gens-3-brig-gens-4-cols-others-in-efcc-net/

@AUGUSTUS POVERTY ON THE INCREASE IN NIGERIA

Seriake Dickson, governor of Bayelsa state, has asked civil servants in the state to brace up for tough times, saying the practice of augmenting monthly salaries with bank loans is no longer sustainable.
Addressing journalists on Thursday in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state capital, Dickson said that with a monthly wage bill of N4 billion for workers, coupled with the shortfall in the monthly allocation from the federation account, it would be difficult for government to meet its financial obligation.
He said he would soon meet with stakeholders to devise a policy aimed at solving the problem of salary payment.
“There have to be some discussions with workers and stakeholders. We cannot be borrowing to pay salaries as we have been doing,” he said.
“Our workforce minus political appointees, we need about N4 billion to pay salaries; the situation is not sustainable and realistic because of our development agenda.”
While allaying fears of workers, Dickson said rather than embark on retrenchment of the workforce and the minimum wage, greater emphasis will be placed on professionalism in the civil service in his second term.
“A lot of states are going to have crisis this year, even the federation itself will face crisis and it’s not peculiar to Bayelsa state,” he said.
“It is important that the workforce in Bayelsa state should learn to appreciate these things before they jump here and there, instigated by failed politicians who couldn’t win election but know how to sponsor demonstrations of old pensioners that they couldn’t pay when they were in office.”
While admonishing civil servants in the state against unwholesome practices such as involvement in partisan politics, payroll fraud and multiple employments, he urged them to be dedicated to their duties and loyal to the government of the day.
“There are a lot of things going on; people have their names in several vouchers, earning salaries above their grade level and all of those things are going to be corrected,” he said.
“I don’t also believe that we should reduce the minimum wage but if our government is getting N3 or N4 billion and our wage bill is N4 billion, then there should be a discussion. I don’t believe that we need to retrench workers because of the economic downturn.”

https://www.thecable.ng/dickson-i-can-no-longer-borrow-to-pay-salaries

Tragedy occurred on Obalende Bridge on Saturday at about 4pm when a fast moving Kia saloon car with plate number JJJ 537 DP crushed a mechanic, identified simply as Waidi to death and threw him off the bridge.

The victim’s body, it was learnt, landed in a residential area under the bridge with broken head and legs.

When P.M.NEWS correspondent arrived the scene at about 4.25pm huge crowd had gathered on the Obalende bridge trying to catch a glimse of the scene, while the police from the Lion Building Division and the officials of the ambulance section of the Lagos Island General Hospital were also seen evacuating the corpse of the victim into a van with registration number SMK 302 BK to the mortuary.

Officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, were around to control the heavy traffic that had built up on the bridge.

An eyewitness informed our correspondent that the accident occurred when the victim, a resident of Bariga area of Lagos drop off a bus atop the Obalende bridge and dashed across the road to the other side to continue his journey, unknown to him that a fast moving car was approaching.

According to a motorist, Solomon Ikhide, “dropping picking up of passengers by bus drivers has been causing fatal accidents on the bridge daily.

“Though the police at the Lion Building Division led by the DPO in charge, CSP Antonia Tanaruno and the LASTMAastma officials at Olowu have been doing their best to dislodge the drivers, I am now appealing to the Chairman of the Lagos State Task Force on Environmental Sanitation, SP Olubukola Abe to please deploy his men atop the Obalende bride to assist the police stop illegal loading of passengers to prevent accidents and the untimely deaths on the bridge.”

Another eyewitness, Mr Jude Eshiet, said accidents have claimed the lives of more than ten passengers on the bridge this year alone.

“Security officials should henceforth not allow the death toll to continue and any driver arrested there loading or dropping passengers should be charged to court to serve as a deterrent to others,” Eshiet said.

Efforts made to contact the Task Force Chairman for comment was frustrated by the Unit’s PRO.


www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2016/02/13/car-kills-mechanic-throws-him-off-obalende-bridge/

@ AUGUSTUS CRIME IS NOT ONLY AFFECTING SOUTH AFRICA BUT NIGERIA AS WELL

At a press conference in Osogbo, the police commissioner said four members of the robbery gang, Aderibigbe Oluwaseun, Ndubisi David, Ayuba Abubaka Saliu and Nuhu Jimoh, were arrested and three AK47 rifles with one hundred and twenty four rounds of live ammunition were recovered from them.

According to him, the police responded promptly to distress calls from the banks and exhibited gallantry and professional expertise in combating the armed robbers who were armed with sophisticated weapons and improvised explosive devices.

The police boss also disclosed that seven million, four hundred and eighty-six thousand, three hundred naira (N7,486,300) and a Nissan Sunny car that the robbers used for the operation were recovered from the suspects after their arrest.

He said that the Armoured Personnel Carrier provided for the police in Osun helped the policemen to overpower the armed robbers. He said full scale investigation into the incident has commenced and that the fleeing members of the robbery gang would be apprehended



Two policemen, two bank officials and six passers-by reportedly died in a gun duel between the bandits and the police.

It was gathered that the robbers suspected to be indigenes of Kogi and Benue States had been in Osun State through their informants before eventually launching the attack around 4.00 pm on Friday on the two banks along Ekoeinde road in Ikirun, the headquarters of Ifelodun local government area.

It was further gathered that the bandits successfully overpowered the police in Ikirun and blocked the team from gaining access to the robbery area to dislodge them.

But the DPO from Iragbiji was said to have sprung a surprise when he led a team of police with an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) to engage the armed bandits in a gun exchange for about thirty minutes before reinforcements came from Osogbo.

A source said the DPO operated the APC and used it to demobilise the operational vehicle of the armed robbers.

He reportedly killed three of them and foiled the operation.

Police Commissioner, Kola Sodipo, said that two members of the gang were arrested.

Police Public Relations Officer in Osun State, Mrs. Folashade Odoro, explained that the robbers attacked the banks with dynamites and placed explosives in strategic locations in the area where the banks are located.

She, however, said the police anti-bomb squad was able to identify the explosives and successfully diffuse them.


http://thenationonlineng.net/osun-robbery-police-arrest-four-suspects/

Abuja One of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) chiefs implicated in the $2.1 billion arms deal and put under house arrest at Niger Barracks, Abuja has returned N66 million of the N90 million, allegedly traced to him, to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Consequently, the officer, a Principal Staff Officer at NAF Headquarters, was released from detention and asked to go and look for the balance of the money. An EFCC source, however, said this did not mean he is completely exonerated.


Sunday Vanguard gathered that the other officers being detained by the NAF High Command, on behalf of the EFCC, were not allowed the privileged because they had refused to cooperate fully with the EFCC interrogation team even though some had returned exotic cars and other valuables.

It was also gathered that an Air Commodore, said to have benefitted from the arms deal and has properties in Dubai, Kaduna and Abuja, has been arrested and is in detention. One of the detained Air Vice Marshals (AVMs) is said to be the leader of the team that went to buy aircraft with incomplete parts and also inflated the price from $6million to over $30million. NAF High Command had, on Thursday, stepped up its anti-corruption war with the removal of some officers including Air Officers Commanding and Principal Staff officers manipulated in the arms deal and appointed new Air Officers Commanding.

Meanwhile, the wife of a former Chief of the Air Staff, Mrs. Lara Amosu, detained overnight by the EFCC, has been freed. Sunday Vanguard gathered that the wife was detained following certain accounts related to her husband, being investigated in connection with the $2.1 billion arms cash, allegedly traced to her. Although the exact figure and details of the accounts were not made public, EFCC was said to have interrogated her for hours last week in Lagos. But a source close to the investigation confirmed the woman had been released on bail.

“She is not in our custody having been granted administrative bail. She will be asked to report back whenever we need her for further investigation,” the source said. The source said the money allegedly recovered from the former air chief’s house in Lagos had been kept as exhibit to be used when the trial of suspects in the arms deal begins. The source further alleged that some properties belonging to the former CAS were also held in trust for him by Lara and her children. There were earlier reports that the anti-graft agency had uncovererd N17.5 billion in the accounts of wives of three airforce chiefs.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/2-1bn-arms-deal-ex-airforce-chief-returns-n66-million/

@AUGUSTUS WHAT BRINGS NIGERIANS TO SOUTH AFRICA.....AND YOU CAN RAMBLE TO JUSTIFY IT

@AUGUSTUS A HELPLESS MIND DRIFTING SOLO IN THE FACTUAL WORLD.....SOUTH AFRICA HAS BOTH 3RD AND FIRST WORLD CONDITIONS....IF YOU DISAGREE, THEN WHY NIGERIANS ARE FLOCKING TO SOUTH AFRICA.

SOUTH AFRICANS ARE PROUD ABOUT THEIR PRODUCTS UNLIKE NIGERIANS WHO KILL THEMSELVES TO ESCAPE FROM POVERTY IN NIGERIA.

@AUGUSTUS ATTACHED ARE PIC OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SPECIAL TASK FORCE

SANDF PRODUCT CHEETAH SOLD TO ECUADOR

SANDF BETTER AND BEST

AUGUSTUS NO AMOUNT OF NEGATIVE PROPAGANDA AND ENVY WOULD WISH SOUTH AFRICA AWAY. NIGERIA IS THIRD WORLD COUNTRY WITH ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO OFFER AFRICA.

@AUGUSTUS HERE IS THE PROOF:

Like wildfire tearing through dry forest, South Africa is rapidly entrenching itself into every facet of
the Nigerian economy: From construction, energy, aviation, entertainment to revenue collection, South African companies loom large and are still growing. And like a tiger caged for a long time waiting to get loose, it has today taken over the West African region, investing where the local companies are afraid to Before the end of apartheid era, Nigeria was seen as playing the leading role in economic and political fronts in the continent particularly its stance on the total emancipation of Africa. However, as if South Africa was waiting for the apartheid era, it has today spread its economic might and domination across the entire continent. South Africa even though has been an economic giant for long but was never allowed under the long period of sanctions to operate a free open market, hence it was like a sleeping giant until the beginning of the 90s when through the consistent efforts of Nigeria and some selected few African countries freedom finally came its way and since then it has never failed to prove its presence and gradual dominance of other sister nations’ economies.

http://www.sarpn.org/documents/d0000554/P516_Nigeria_130903.pdf

@AUGUSTUS WHAT NIGERIANS ARE SAYING INCLUDING YOU

Oluwasegun Ayo, the chief executive officer at Aluwaeve Resource Limited said: “Story! Story!! Story!!! Enough of the lies and deceptions, Nigerian Government and political office holders are the reasons why indigenous manufacturers don’t excel. They prefer to buy foreign goods instead using local goods. It is an easy thing, you as leaders, wear locally made clothes and your followers will follow suit. Stop unnecessary foreign Medical trips, and Nigerian will patronize our hospitals. It baffles me to say that Nigeria as a nation is blessed with an indigenous car manufacturer in the person of Innoson Motors, and yet they buy foreign Cars. Federal government should as a matter of urgency direct all federal agencies, MDGs, ministries and missions to by their utility vehicles from Innoson and they should give specification if need be and trust that as a creative man he would deliver. This would greatly help the foreign exchange.”

https://www.naij.com/724446-charity-begins-home-nigerians-attack-saraki-give-reasons-cant-buy-made-nigeria-goods.html

@AUGUSTUS ALL OUR SUPERMARKET ARE STUFFED WITH SOUTH AFRICAN PRODUCTS...EVEN SHOPRITE AND CHECKERS IN NIGERIA IS STUFFED AS SUCH.

EVERYONE KNOWS THAT NIGERIA PREFERS FOREIGN PRODUCTS THAN LOCAL AND THAT INCLUDES YOU @AUGUSTUS....MAYBE IF YOU PREFER NIGERIAN PRODUCTS IS AS A RESULTS OF POVERTY AND CANNOT AFFORD.

In 1990, there were 175 textile factories operating in Nigeria but today we have 42 epileptic operators. Only 12 of these can boast with operating at 30% capacity. Among these, 4 textile factories produce embroidery lace materials as part of their product brands. This further establishes the inadequacy of the local supply of textile products in Nigeria. The preference among Nigerians for foreign made goods is both alarming and disturbing especially when considered in the light of its effect on local industries. The general notion among some Nigerians is that locally made goods are inferior to imported and foreign made goods in terms of quality and performance to the extent that some local manufacturers have resorted, in a bid to remain relevant, to claiming a foreign origin for their products

http://www.upg-bulletin-se.ro/archive/2010-1/4.%20Ogunnaike.pdf


Against the backdrop of federal authorities appealing to Nigerians to patronise made in Nigeria goods, a cross section of people spoken to by our correspondent over the weekend has given reasons for the development.
According to Comrade Okukwudi Worlu, “the simple reason is that Nigerians go crazy about foreign goods.”
Comrade Chukwudi, a fashion designer said that even those in power, when they are sick instead of going to our own hospitals and clinics around, love fravelling abroad, while we have qualified medical practitioners that can as well treat us.

http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/2013/06/24/why-nigerians-prefer-foreign-goods/

The military has denied the claim by Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed that troops combating Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East were doing so with substandard weapons purchased by the Jonathan administration.

This is even as the authorities said hopes of rescuing the Chibok schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram about two years ago in Borno State have not dimmed. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said last weekend that anyone still assuring the nation that the girls would be rescued was a liar.

Speaking on Africa Independent Television (AIT), Director of Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Rabe Abubakar, dismissed reports that soldiers fighting Boko Haram were poorly equipped. “What I know is that we are using equipment which is okay for us. We have been achieving results. What I know is that we have equipment that can take us to where we are going…However, you cannot say you have everything you need for your operations. Even the developed nations’ Armed Forces lack one thing or the other,” Abubakar said.

http://watchdognews.net/nigerian-military-replies-lai-mohammeds-claims-on-substandard-arms/

SANDF...NO WONDER OUR HIV/AIDS RIDDLED SOLDIERS LIVE FAR MUCH LONGER....SECRET EXCELLENT MEDICAL FACILITIES AND LEVEL OF PROFESSIONALISM

SANDF....IF YOU CANT OFFER ANYTHING TANGABLE JUST ACCEPT AND MOVE FORWARD....DUAL GUN MADE AND DESIGNED BY SOUTH AFRICA NOT BOUGHT FROM CHINA

@AUGUSTUS UNDISPUTABLE FATCS

Nigeria has drafted hundreds of mercenaries from South Africa” in its fight against Boko Haram writes Caroline Varin, a lecturer in international relations at Regent’s University in London on The Conversation.

South Africans have a long-standing reputation as being among the best mercenaries in the world, and have been present in one form or another in most African conflicts for the past two decades.

Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan and his army are under pressure to curtail the Islamist militant group’s activities before the presidential elections on March 28. But the Nigerian security and military forces have been embroiled in scandal after scandal ranging from corruption and desertion to human rights abuses. All this has effectively restricted their ability to act decisively against the designated terrorist organisation, which has thrived in the north east of the country over the past three years.

http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=38543:why-nigeria-is-turning-to-south-african-mercenaries-to-help-fight-boko-haram&catid=49:National%20Security&Itemid=115

FORMER SOUTH AFRICAN SPECIAL FORCES IN SIERRA LEONE

In May 1995 the first 50 mercenaries arrived in Freetown (followed six months later by another 130) and began forming the first units. They were under intense time pressure, as the RUF had already brought the fighting as close as the suburbs. Shortly after when the battle for Freetown flared up, the mercenaries proved to be a critical part of the action, bringing two BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles and an Mi-24 (Hind) helicopter gunship along with the hastily trained troops. The RUF suffered its first major defeat; about 200 of its fighters were killed and about 1,000 of them deserted.

Executive Outcomes used this much-needed respite for the formation of new fighting units. Instead of using unreliable government troops, they enlisted the so-called Kamajors, local hunters mostly from the Mende people. Excellent trackers, they had already formed self-defense militias against the attacks of the RUF in some parts of the country. Now they were supplied with modern weapons and trained for guerrilla warfare in collaboration with other units. The Kamajors became the eyes and ears of Executive Outcomes, while also making up a large part of the combat troops used in the following phase.

http://www.soldiers-of-misfortune.com/history/eo-sierra-leone.htm

@AUGUSTUS OLIFANT TANK UPGRADED WITH SOUTH AFRICAN ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY.....SHOW US ANY OF THE UPGRADES EVER DONE BY NIGERIA ON MILITARY HARDWARE.....SHOW NIGERIAN MAIN BATTLE TANK TECHNOLOGY

COMBAT CHARACTERISTIC:

The Olifant mk1B main battle tank was developed and produced by the Olifant Manufacturing Company, OMC Engineering pty Ltd, based in South Africa. Development of the Olifant started in 1976 and first entered service with the South African Armoured Corps in the late 1970s. OMC Engineering later became Reumech OMC, then Vickers OMC and, in September 2002 was renamed Alvis OMC, following the acquisition of Vickers Defence by Alvis plc. In September 2004, Alvis OMC became part of BAE Systems Land Systems.

Olifant main battle tank development
The layout of the Olifant mk1 was very similar to that of the South African Semel tank which was based on an upgraded conversion of the British Centurion tanks. The Olifant has been continually upgraded. The mk1A entered full-scale production in 1983 and the first were in service by 1985. In the same year that the mk1A entered the production phase, development work was started on the mk1B, and these tanks were in production during the 1990s and are operational in the South African Armed Forces.

The South African Army has 172 Olifant mk1A/B main battle tanks in operation. The Olifant 1B entered service in 1991. The upgrades included the installation of a more powerful 105mm L7 cannon, a hand-held laser rangefinder and a first generation image intensifier. The range of the tank was increased by the installation of a diesel engine and additional fuel tanks.

In September 2003, BAE Systems Land Systems OMC was awarded a contract by Armscor (the South African Department of Defence procurement agency) to upgrade 13 Olifant mk1B tanks. The upgrade programme included a new powerpack from Delkon which increases power by 15%, upgrade of gun and turret drives by Reutech Defence Logistics, new fire control system and target detection and engagement system with thermal imaging capability, both supplied by IST Dynamics. A follow-on contract for a further 13 tanks upgraded to Olifant mk2 standard was awarded in September 2005. The Olifant mk2 entered service in 2007.

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See all suppliers Olifant weapons
The Olifant mk1B main battle tank is armed with the 105mm L7 rifled cannon main gun. The gun on the mk1B is fitted with a thermal sleeve for sustained accuracy in firing. The mk1B carries 68 rounds of 105mm ammunition.

The tank is also fitted with a 7.62mm general purpose co-axial machine gun and a 7.62mm anti-aircraft machine gun.

Fire control
The driver's station is equipped with a day and night sight and the gunner's station is fitted with day and night sights and an integrated laser rangefinder.

Self-protection
The glacis plate and nose of the hull have been upgraded with the addition of passive armour and the turret has been fitted with stand-off armour. The installation of a double-armour floor gives the crew additional protection against mines. The running gear is protected against HEAT missiles by new sideskirts.

A smoke screen can be laid by a fuel injection system in the engine's exhaust. A fire detection and suppression system improves the level of survivability.

Engine
"The mk1B Olifant is armed with the 105mm L7 rifled cannon main gun."The V-12 air-cooled turbo diesel engine provides 900hp. The tank has been equipped with torsion bar running gear and hydraulic dampers have been fitted to the first and last pair of wheels.

Mobility
The tank achieves a maximum road speed of 58km/h and the maximum range on internal fuel is 350km. The tank can ford water to a depth of 1.5m, negotiate gradients and slopes of 60% and 30% and vertical obstacles up to 1m in height.

Olifant 2 main battle tank turret upgrade
LIW, a division of Denel, has developed the Olifant 2 main battle tank turret, which can be fitted on an upgraded Olifant mk1B chassis, providing the tank with hunter killer modes of operation, fire on the move and day and night time engagement. The turret can be armed with either LIW's GT8 105mm or an LIW 120mm smoothbore gun and features periscopic stabilised day / thermal gunner's sight with laser rangefinder, panoramic commander's sight, full solution fire control system and modular armour package

@AUGUSTUS PROUDLY SOUTH AFRICAN AND WHERE IS THE NIGERIAN INVENTION

The Rooikat 76 armoured fighting vehicle, with a 76mm gun, was developed by Reemit for the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and has been in operational use with the SANDF since 1980. 240 vehicles were built and about 30 vehicles are in service with the SANDF. In 1990 an upgrade and redesign programme was started by Reumech OMC to customise the Rooikat for the international market, and by 1994 the development of the Rooikat 105 variant with a 105mm rifled gun was completed.

Reumech later became Vickers OMC and in September 2002 was renamed Alvis OMC, following the acquisition of Vickers Defence by Alvis. Alvis OMC is now part of BAE Systems Land Systems.

Rooikat 105 armoured fighting vehicle mission roles
The Rooikat 105 is designed for high mobility day and night combat operations. Passive image intensifiers and thermal imaging equipment for night driving, navigation and weapon deployment permit round-the-clock combat operations. The vehicle has a combat mass of 28t.

The main role of the Rooikat 105 is combat reconnaissance with seek and destroy missions. The Rooikat has the fire power and survivability to engage in battle against selected targets. The secondary role of the Rooikat 105 is in combat support operations. In anti-armour operations the Rooikat performs a valuable role in protection against enemy armoured threats.

The Rooikat carries a crew of four: commander, gunner, ammunition loader and driver.

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See all suppliers Rooikat 105 armament
The Rooikat 105 is equipped with a GT7 105mm anti-tank gun. The gun fires the full range of Nato full-pressure 105mm ammunition including generation I, II and III rounds. The gun, fitted with a 51-calibre thermal sleeve encased barrel, fires six rounds a minute.

There are two 7.62mm machine guns, one co-axial to the main armament and one at the commander's position, for general purpose ground and air defence.

Self-protection
The vehicle is equipped with two banks of 81mm smoke grenade launchers, mounted in a forward firing position on each side of the turret. The system is electrically operated. The smoke grenades form a dense protective smoke screen, which can be sustained using an exhaust smoke generator. The Rooikat 105 can also carry other turret and weapon systems.

The Rooikat can withstand the blast of a TM46 anti-tank mine and provide full protection to the four-man crew. Ballistic protection against 24mm ammunition is provided over the frontal arc. The Rooikat eight wheel configuration allows the vehicle to maintain mobility even after the loss of any wheel caused for example by a land mine detonation. Also the vehicle is equipped with run-flat inserts which allow mobility after the loss of pressure in all eight wheels. Collective overpressure and air filter systems protect the crew against chemical and biological attack. An automatic fire explosion suppression system is available.

Fire control and surveillance
The digital fire control system takes data from a suite of sensors and provides an automatic fire control solution. Automatic data input includes target range from a laser rangefinder, target speed and direction derived from tracking the target, crosswind speed, weapon tilt and the characteristics of the weapon. Manual data input includes ammunition type and environmental data.

"The Rooikat 105 is designed for high-mobility day and night combat operations."The fire control system allows the Rooikat to engage enemy targets while on the move across rough terrain. The time between laser ranging the target and firing is approximately two seconds.

Three variations of fire directing systems are offered. The most complex system incorporates a primary stabilised gunner's sight, automatic computation and implementation of ballistic offset of the weapon, electro-mechanical gun control, stabilised main weapon, gunner's sight with day / night channel slaved to the main weapon and an independent panoramic commander's sight.

Propulsion
The Rooikat 105 is designed for high-mobility combat operations. It can travel 1,000km under its own power and be battle-ready within 24 hours of departure from the home base. The maximum road speed is 120km/h and the average cross country speed is 50km/h. The Rooikat accelerates from 0km/h to 30km/h in less than eight seconds.

The suspension system on the Rooikat includes internally driven trailing arms, coil springs and shock absorbers.

@AUGUSTUS THESE ARE FACTS NOT OPINIONS.....SHOW A NIGERIAN PRODUCED HELICOPTER

@AUGUSTUS WHERE IS THE NIGERIAN INVENTED ATTACK HELICOPTER.....ROOIVALK USELESS TO SOUTH AFRICA TRUE....ROOIVALK A LIABILITY TO SOUTH AFRICA TRUE....NO COUNTRY IS INTERESTED IN ROOIVALK FALSE....BUT AT THE END WHERE IS NIGERIAN DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED HELICOPTER......THAT SHOULD BE THE QUESTION!!!!!

SANDF

SANDF....SMALL THINGS AMUSES SMALL MINDS

@AUGUSTUS YOUR ENVY STEMS FROM YOUR COUNTRY'S FAILURE TO BACK UP ANY OF ITS CLAIM TO BE AN AFRICAN GIANT. YOU FAILED TO CONVINCE ABOUT ANY OF INVENTIONS IN TERMS OF ECONOMIC OR MILITARY TERMS. YOUR ARGUMENTS ARE JUST NOTHING BUT HOGWASH BASED ON ENVY AGAINST SOUTH AFRICA.

YOU CAN TRY SO MUCH TO DISTORT BE LITTLE AND SACARSTIC BUT WONT CHANGE SOUTH AFRICA'S ACHIEVEMENTS.....TRUE THE PROVERT: SMALL THINGS AMUSES SMALL MINDS

ON A SERIOUS NOTE: Some 25 years ago, South Africa was one of the leaders in the global UAV sector.

@AUGUSTUS YOU ARE A BITTER MAN TO HAVE BEEN BORN IN A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY BESIEGED BY FAILURES OF THE SOCIETY. NO AMOUNT ENVY CAN SWAY SOUTH AFRICANS FROM EXPOSING YOUR RAG TAG ARMY THAT IS STRUGGLING TO SUBDUE A POORLY ARMED BUT WITH BETTER MORAL AND SPIRIT.

YOU ARE AN INDICATIVE OF DEVIOUS CHARACTER THAT TRIES TO BE RECOGNISED AS A GIANT AMONGST THE BEST FORMATIONS IN THE WORLD. YOU HAVE PRAISED EGYPT AND ALGERIA TO SPITE SOUTH AFRICA WHENEVER FOUND WANTING. ATLEAST I DONT HAVE TO PICK A MASTER TO MAKE MY POINT.

SOUTH AFRICA WOULD ONLY SHOW WHAT WE HAVE AND WHAT WE HAVE DEVELOPED NOT PRODUCTS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES AND CLAIM THEM. ON A SERIOUS NOTE: NOT SMALL MIND AMUSED BY SMALL THING

SANDF AND WHO ELSE

SANDF TRIED AND TESTED IN CONVENTIAL AND IRREGULAR WARFARE