₦airaland Forum

[quote author=Mr. Globe]^
You are unbelievable. You bring two different things and try to point it like its the same. ambition, selfishness, ignorance and foolishness are all different things. There is what is known as principle.If you don't have it you wont go far. If Rochas thinks aligning with a party without any foundation will make him become president then he is even a bigger clown than I thought. He is being too selfish and thus will lose all support in the SE. We have seen how awolowo's uncommon desperation made him president.[/quote]What is selfishness in a man wanting to be greater? What is ignorance in a man wanting to be grander? what is foolishness in a man wanting to aspire to the zenith of his political career? What principle is against the right of a man to desire the president of Nigeria - his right as a Nigerian? you are just incoherent with modern realities. let me ask you want is selfish in Rochas wanting to be President? Is GEJ selfish to jettison the zoning arrangement which he is a signatory to - to contest for the president? What did you mean by foundation and above all which part of this thread did Rochas tells you he wants to be president by all means? where did he say he is in the party so he can be president? And you are just a negligible fraction of the SE you can speak for everybody - you only own a vote. Awolowo has surpassed in visible achievements than anybody in the SE - having said that i will want to encourage you to DREAM BIG even if you did not achieve being a star you will be up there in the cloud; he wanted to be president and he ended up as vice - Am sure if you at least achieve that feat you THANK GOD

[quote author=Mr. Globe]I mean we all know how Yoruba elders we to aso rock to collect money on Abiolas head whom they claim to love so much, choped and cleaned mouth. Again the same man who caused the killing of your ables sons and daughters are who you want to vote. Let me hope you voted Buhari and CPC in the last election or else I no not what to say..[/quote]and who told you that lie - Mustafah - a drowning man who was ready to pull anyone down. Well lets even accept your untrue assertion to be true was it Buhari that paid them? or was it Buhari that was paid the money? You are seriously unhinging from the post.If you are insinuating i shouldnt trust my Yoruba leaders because some set were alleged to have collected money - abeg you want me to trust your Ohaneze - the exporter and importer of "presidential slot" to the highest bidder? Or you want me to adopt Edwin Clark who only speaks when his bank account is depleted and need corrupt reimbursement? And to the killing of corper - its the right of Buhari to contest and equally is right to tell his followers to defend their votes; if the speech is inciting the president should have either call Buhari to order or declare flash point in designated areas - that is for a functional president not this toy in power. GEJ killed those Corpers and history will not forgive him - he is suppose to provide them security which is clearly his role as a president. He should have seek to halt the occurence of such act by charging 'Buhari" to court. But because he knows its all his game plan - riot, kill, blame Buhari. Its Jonah that should show he loves the Yorubas by arresting and persecuting the killers of those corpers because thats suppose to be presidential. Please, you dont have to state it here - what if GEJ lost the last election what insecurity state did you think Niger Delta will be in presently? Can you imagine?

[quote author=Mr. Globe]whatever rocks your boat man but we will still be here. Am not asking you to vote anybody. All am saying is that history must not repeat itself and you should develop a culture of honoring your dead in that SW.[/quote]you definately can't compel me to vote somebody - me am minus one vote for PDP anyday. I would ve loved to ask you to clarify "history must not reply itself" but I want to know if you are willing to derail the thread a lil - something is wrong with this assertion "develop a culture of honouring your dead" or what did you think?

@Mr Globe
You are political clown - your stance amazes me; you lost respect for a man because he aspire to be greater? You lost respect for a man because he dares to be ambitious? Do you have a dream? The kind that is so tall you almost tag impossible? Okay if yes - how will you feel if I "lost respect for you" because you aspire to be great and you are ready to "be desperate" to achieve that dream? Okay on the flipside - let's assume u don't have a dream; can you just let pple that has be? Its same you that thinks Yoruba will not vote Buhari in one post - here again alaigbo you profess will not vote Rochas; what's your problem gan sef? And to Awolowo - his desperation makes him a blazing star in the country - try tell ur dad to be desperate; its not too late

[quote author=Mr. Globe]I only mean that those accidents are natural causes while the deaths of the nysc members are man-made which could have been avoided.
Am not pleading with anybody, am just looking at history and hoping it doesn't repeat it. A word is all that is needed for the wise.[/quote]me am Yoruba from osun state and I will vote for Buhari. I think that answers your question. But seriously ur resentful comments about my people of the south west is famous on nairaland like corruption and misrule under GEJ - when did we and our choice of candidate become ur cup of tea? You shld let us choose because if pple like u are to choose for us-your hatred will make you choose the devil for us. Thank God you knw we are wise; kip your "a word" to your bigot sef - its a wise man's counsel

These are interesting times indeed for Nigeria: a couple of days ago, former World Bank Vice President for the African Region, and Due Process Pioneer in the Obasanjo Administration, Obiageli Ezekwesili, in a thought provoking keynote address entitled, "The Wealth and Poverty of a Nation: Who will restore the dignity of

Nigeria?" delivered at the 42nd Convocation Ceremony of her alma mater, the University of Nigeria, Nsuka (UNN); allegedly accused the Yar Adua Administration and the Jonathan Administration of squandering the $67billion in Reserves left by the Obasanjo Administration in May 2007.

We perused her keynote address, and here is what she actually said in respect of this issue:



"…Furthermore, it is happening back to back with the squandering of the significant sum of $45 Billion in foreign reserve account and another $22Billion in the Excess Crude Account being direct savings from increased earnings from oil that the Obasanjo administration handed over to the successor government in 2007. Six years after the administration I served handed over such humongous national wealth to another one; most Nigerians but especially the poor continue to suffer the effects of failing public health and education systems as well as decrepit infrastructure and battered institutions. One cannot but ask; what exactly does Nigeria seek to symbolise and convey with this level of brazen misappropriation of public resources? Where did all that money go? Where is the accountability for the use of both these resources plus the additional several billions of dollars realized from oil sale by the two administrations that have governed our nation in the last six years? How were these resources applied or more appropriately, misapplied? Tragic choices! Yes. Our national dignity continues to be degraded by cycles of stagnation because of the terrible choices my generation and those before repeatedly make as a result of free oil money..."


Expectedly, the Jonathan Administration took her on. The Administration through its Information Minister, Labaran Maku; the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe and other critical handlers of the president propaganda machine, in an apparent damage control efforts went for the kill. They insulted her person and called her all manner of names the human mind can conjure. And they also accused her of wasting the N352.3billion she supposedly collected as direct budgetary releases, the N65.8billion she purportedly received under the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Fund, and the over N40billion she allegedly collected under the Education Trust Fund (ETF). The President and his men also rebuffed Ezekwesili's call for a national debate on this accusations and counter accusations, and as is usually the case, Nigerians in support of either side has joined issues based on sentiments, without an iota of attention to the true nature of events; on most counts, they chose to substitute facts for fiction and pursue fleeting shadows in place of substance. But alas, the so-called damage control crusade by the administration has only resulted to uncontrolled damage.

We at Conscience Reports has largely refrained from commenting or joining the fray; as a Whistle-blowing Organisation our priority is to always get our facts rights before taking a position on any issue. And so, we embarked on a facts-check on this issue. With respect to Ezekwesili's statement, we laid hold of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Annual Reports, Half-Year Reports and Five-Year Financial Statements between 2006 and mid 2012; the full CBN Annual Report for 2012 is yet to be released, but the Half-Year Report is available, and we got that as well. With respect to the Jonathan Administration counter accusations; we got hold of the Appropriation Acts for 2006 to 2007 as passed by the Fifth National Assembly and as assented to by then President Olusegun Obasanjo. Our findings from these records are quite revealing, but before we go into that, here are a few things to note:

The External Reserve, also known as the Official Reserve is the CBN's foreign exchange holdings. According to the CBN, Nigeria's External Reserve comprises of three components, namely, the federation, the federal government and the Central Bank of Nigeria portions. The Federation component consists of sterilised funds (unmonetised) held in the Excess Crude and PPT/Royalty accounts at the CBN belonging to the three tiers of government.

This portion has not yet been monetised for sharing by the federating units. It is sometimes ignorantly referred to as the Reserves of the country. The Federal Government component consists of funds belonging to some government agencies such as the NNPC; for financing its Joint Venture expenses, PHCN and Ministry of Defence; for Letters of Credit opened on their behalf, etc. The CBN portion consists of funds that have been monetised and shared. This arises as the Bank receives foreign exchange inflows from crude oil sales and other oil revenues on behalf of the government. Such proceeds are purchased by the Bank and the Naira equivalent credited to the Federation account and shared, each month, in accordance with the constitution and the existing revenue sharing formula. The monetised foreign exchange thus belongs to the CBN. It is from this portion of the Reserves that the Bank conducts its monetary policy and defends the value of the Naira.

The Excess Crude Account was created illegally against stiff resistance by the thirty-six State governors, without recourse to the National Assembly in 2004 by the Obasanjo Administration on the advice of then Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala and her economic management team; and she also happens, by the way, to be the Finance Minister and a dubious co-ordinating Minister of the economy in the present Jonathan Administration. The Excess Crude Account was meant to save excess revenues from crude oil sales above a defined or pegged benchmark price as stated in the Appropriation Act or yearly fiscal budget, and its primary purpose was to protect the budget against shortfalls and insulate the economy from shocks resulting from volatility in crude oil prices. It was also meant to fund critical infrastructure investments such as the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP), and to serve as emergency funds. But overall, government at all levels, notably the presidency has used the account as a conduit pipe for corruption, looting the funds at any slightest opportunity. After Obasanjo's exit, the more amiable Yar Adua conceded to the governors, and the sharing spree started, hence a supposedly rainy day account became a dried account. In 2010 however, the National Economic Council, seeking to remedy the illegality, approved a plan to replace the Excess Crude Account with a National Sovereign Wealth Fund. The National Sovereign Wealth Fund itself was to have three Sovereign Wealth Funds, namely: Future Generation Fund, Nigerian Infrastructure Fund, and Stabilisation Fund.

These Sovereign Wealth Funds were to manage excess earnings from crude oil, and it is all embedded in the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) which is supposed to be receiving monthly funding of revenue from oil and gas above the budget figures. Going forward, the Nigerian Senate in May 2011 approved the NSIA Bill 2010, which sought to establish a Sovereign Wealth Fund to manage excess funds from crude oil sales. And the NSIA Bill was subsequently passed by the House and assented to by President Jonathan, but it yet to be functional after its initial $1billion funding. But curiously, the illegal Excess Crude Account is still operational even when there is now a substantive legally passed NSIA Act that has replaced it.

The Appropriation Act is the yearly legally approved fiscal budget for the nation.

Now to our facts-check: according to the CBN Annual Reports and Half-Year Reports for 2006 and 2007, Nigeria's External Reserves at May 2006 and May 2007 were $34.10billion and $43.20billion respectively; and at June 2006 and June 2007, the External Reserves were $36.50billion and $42.63billion respectively, while the Excess Crude Account hovered around $9.2billion and $9.8billion in May and June 2007. If you add the $9.78billion brought forward from 2006 that will be almost $20billion.

The Reports also showed that the Excess Crude Account at end December 2007 stood at $22.18billion being the sum of $9.78billion brought forward from 2006 and $12.40billion accumulated in 2007. But by end December 2008 and 2009, the Excess Crude Account had been depleted to $20.34billion and $6.54billion as unveiled by the CBN Annual Reports for 2008 and 2009; the Reports also stated further that the drawn down in the Excess Crude Account for the period was due to the need to stimulate the economy. In our own judgement, that so-called stimulation only advanced the demoralisation of the economy. And by end December 2010, the Excess Crude Account has only $2.20billion left, but it increased to $5.20billion by end December 2011 as contained in the CBN Annual Reports for 2010 and 2011 respectively. In short, a detailed study of the CBN Annual Reports from 2007 to 2011 revealed that Nigeria's External Reserves at year end 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 stood at $51.33billion, $53.00billion, $42.38billion, $32.34billion and $32.64billion respectively; while the CBN Half-Year Reports at June 2008 to June 2012 showed that the External Reserves stood at $59.81billion, $43.46billion, $37.42billion, $31.89billion and $35.41billion respectively.

A painstaking review of the above CBN records, especially that of 2007, and then on towards 2011, revealed that although Ezekwesili may not be exactly right in her $67billion figures, she is nonetheless very close in her assessment.

However, let us leave that aside for now and move on to the Jonathan Administration accusation of her stewardship as Education Minister in the Obasanjo government. For the records, Ezekwesili was Federal Minister of Education for ten months from June 2006 to April 2007. She was before then the trailblazing head of the Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit, popularly known as the Due Process Unit; from where she became Federal Minister of Solid Minerals, between June 2005 and June 2006, all under the Obasanjo Administration. As Minister of Education, she got funds for her Ministry through the Appropriation Acts.

Now, the Appropriation Act for 2006 passed by the Fifth National Assembly and assented to by then President Olusegun Obasanjo was One Trillion, Eight Hundred and Ninety-Nine Billion, Nine Hundred and Eighty Seven Million, Nine Hundred and Twenty-Two Thousand, Four Hundred and Sixty Seven Naira only (N1,899,987,922,467). Of this amount, the Education Ministry was allocated N30,480,000,000 as Statutory transfers for the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), N129,232,212,676 for Recurrent Expenditure and N37,389,441,082 for Capital Expenditure. There is no record showing that any money was allocated or released for the Education Trust Fund (ETF). And the highest allocation was for Recurrent Expenditure which covers overheads. In 2007, the Appropriation Act as passed by the Fifth National Assembly and assented to by then President Obasanjo was Two Trillion, Three Hundred and Nine Billion, Two Hundred and Twenty-Three Million, Nine Hundred and Forty-Nine Thousand, Nine Hundred and Eighty-Three Naira only (N2,309,223,949,983). Of this amount, the Education Ministry was allocated N35,300,000,000 as Statutory transfers for UBEC, N142,095,995,408 for Recurrent Expenditure and N47,103,779,521 for Capital Expenditure.

Again, there is no record showing that monies were allocated or released to the ETF, and much of the money allocated to the Ministry was for Recurrent Expenditure or overheads. There was also a Supplementary Appropriation Act for 2007 passed by the National Assembly, and assented to by the President but it was essentially for so-called Power Projects across the country, and none of the other Ministries, including the Education Ministry got anything out of it. Moreover, all of the monies allocated in budgets sometimes may not be all that is released, and since Ezekwesili came in as Education Minister in June 2006 and left for the World Bank in April 2007, she cannot be totally held responsible for what happened in that Ministry or for the funds released to the Ministry more so when the Appropriation Act for 2007 was barely passed before she left Office as Education Minister. And so, our facts-check revealed that the Jonathan Administration is wrong in its accusations; the Administration is very economical with the truth both in its defence and in its accusations, and it has gone about this whole issue in a manner that seems to suggest it has every right to loot the nation's commonwealth because other Administrations, especially that of Obasanjo had done so. President Jonathan and his boys need to restraint and caution, and be more tolerant towards dissenting views. Notwithstanding, the wastage of the Excess Crude funds is not entirely the making of the Jonathan led federal government or even that of the late Umaru Yar' Adua; it is more of the thirty-six State governors who insist on the sharing of the Excess Crude funds, and there is no clear oversight for holding them accountable for their mismanagement of those funds.

But beyond the accusations, counter-accusations and rigmarole, is the serious issue of unrestrained corruption, and no doubt, all of the Administrations in question, including the Jonathan Administration, Yar' Adua and that of Obasanjo which wasted over $16billion on the power sector without results are all culpable. They are all responsible for the blind looting of the treasury and the squandering of the nation's patrimony under their watch since the nation's return to democratic rule. Or how best can we put this when those who stole billions are allowed to go with a kiss on the cheek while petty thieves are sent to the hangman's noose or committed to long years in prison.

A vivid example is the recent sentencing of the former Director of Police Pensions Board to only two years in prison by Justice Abubakar Talba of the Federal High Court in Abuja for stealing N2billion with an option of N250,000 fine for each of the three count charges preferred against him, while in the same week of his sentencing, Obinna John was sentenced to death by hanging without an option of fine by Justice Yargatta Nimpa of the Federal High Court in Jos, Plateau State for robbing Ms. Dorothy Olaniyi of N1,705 and two rolls of Sachet Milk worth N400. By the same token, twenty-three year old Adepoju Jamiu was sentenced to three years imprisonment without an option of fine by Chief Magistrate Sunday Adeniran of the Ikare Magistrate Court in Ondo State for stealing a Mobile Phone worth N17,000. These preferential treatments and inequalities before the law by the unhealthy and sharp manipulation of the Justice System by the powers that be only serves to encourage reckless looting of public funds and abuse of trust in a nation of absurdities where anything goes.
This defiance and reckless squandering of public funds must end now, and it is the Jonathan Administration's responsibility to stop it; if it fails to do that, it will be held accountable.

  Eneruvie Enakoko
    Editor in Chief & Chief Executive
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         eenakoko(at)consciencereports.org
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Meaning of Key Acronyms
CBN         -               Central Bank of Nigeria
UBEC       -               Universal Basic Education Commission
ETF          -               Education Trust Fund
PPT          -               Petroleum Profit Tax
PHCN       -               Power Holding Company of Nigeria
Sources: 
·         CBN Half-Year Report

·         CBN Half Year Economic Report for 2006

·         CBN Annual Report 2006

·         CBN Half-Year Economic Report for 2007

·         CBN Annual Report for the Year Ended December 31st 2007

·         CBN Annual Report 2008

·         CBN Interactive Annual Report for the Year Ended December 2009

·         CBN Annual Report 2010

·         CBN Annual Report 2011

·         CBN 2012 Half Year Report

·         CBN Five Year Financial Statement (Five Year Balance Sheet) for 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2007

·         CBN Five Year Financial Statement (Five Year Balance Sheet) for 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 and 2003

·         CBN Reserve Management

·         Appropriation Act 2006

·         Appropriation Act 2007

·         Supplementary Appropriation Act 2007

The content of this Release, are strictly of Conscience Reports and must not be misconstrued or attributed otherwise.
Conscience Reports is an Online Information Network and Whistle-blowing Portal dedicated to the advancement of freedom everywhere…promoting strong democratic institutions, corporate and government accountability, protecting whistleblowers and activists as well as advocating and advancing free-speech, free-thought, free-will, free-association and free-press everywhere…

Imo State Governor, Okorocha debunked allegations that his party, APGA, was not involved in the merger process, saying that he and his party were very much committed to the progress and development of Nigeria.

“This is not the first time I am appearing, perhaps you have not seen me before, but listen, the merger has become very necessary in order to save our democracy and the likelihood of turning Nigeria into a one-party state does not augur well for democracy. Therefore, I personally and fully endorse this movement and this new merger at least to rescue the nation, and we say we are on a rescue mission and to make sure Nigeria gets better, the essence of this whole merger is to make Nigeria a better nation.

Roseart: Only in Nigeria is a military ruler a top candidate and the people saying it claim they have sense.

By voting Buhari in effect you show the world that Nigerians are so rutterless that the leader of a military junta is a top pick.

Brilliant.

abeg go back to skool - I wuld ve recommended u go study ur "govt" but ur illiteracy can only be cured with "social studies". #primary 4 onibonje for social studies

Lets appraise this administration of GEJ by the aspirations of 2011. Lets flash back to the campaign era that precedes this administration - can you candidly say this is the man you voted for? By saying "the man" in this context I mean is this what you expect of him? I expected a lot from him but I must admit this is not the man without shoes - this is not our friend on facebook - this is not that man that destiny carve a path for - for our collective survival. This is not that GEJ that will break from the corrupt norm - this is not that chance and man to prove that the south is better in good governance - is this the GEJ the save Nigeria group protested for? What happen to the blazing promises of change? This is just a political heartbreak -Where in God's name is the GEJ people voted for?

Joeadamu86: Its not abt her loosing her job,the problem of power has been there a long time ago a bane that past administrations neglected for long,comparing the embarrassment of the super bowl and Nigeria's improving power status is wrong,i see it as a slap on our faces.Nobody is saying that all is well but the truth of the matter is that power has improved.

whose fault? Its the fault of GEJ who in defending or responding to Amanpour refer her to go to street of Lagos and Abuja to ask - he went further to say civil societies applauds his govt achievement in the power sector in the stead of furnishing confident indices and veritable fraction. Instead of GEJ quoting a report from a reputable civil society. So Amanpour did has directed by GEJ and you are here blaming her for doing her job. The myriad tweets that sprout the documentary was not from her - so also is the wild jubilation of the unvieling the "truth" not her doing. GEJ has betrayed good governance. He has sinned against God and his people who voted in hope for a change - he needs to politically "born again" and change his ways. I sincerely wish he was that GEJ the people voted - so bad he is not the one

tomakint: For the records, I am not a fan of any party be it PDP, ACN, APGA, CPC and all that! But this Jonathan, he will always have my support, I see Jonathan as that man who will eventually break the monopolization of Nigerian party politics into shreds, not even the merger of the other parties can fix this country's problem. In the area of basic amenities; potable water, power supply, working private sectors, good roads, etc previous governments have failed us but would rather leave Nigeria worse than the way they met it! Now Jonathan has began to work on those ailing basic amenities destroyed by previous governments, but goons in the house will not let him rest!

if you sent this say sometime before the 2011 elections it will make the collection of Nigerians aspiration at that time. But this is Feb 2013 - present reality; GEJ is not that man people voted for. He has exhausted the sincere support of the people. Corruption is the fad of this present adminstration - he is doing his best no doubt but that best is not fair.

Your brain @insincere Nigeria has gone to the highest bidder. Yesterday when you posted a seemingly innocent piece on Fashola not in support of autonomy for local councils - something tells me its a mere calculated mischief. Your definition progressive and futhermore - real progressive as exemplified by Dickson shows how ur salary makes you think like a reta.rd. I dnt have any problem with governors expressing variant opinions but the sinful use of "progressive" is a literary sin

This piece captures in its totality my response to the tasteless piece of Abati whose pen is filled of sordid ink. This piece is a precious literary potrait that will be majestically place in the wall of history. Some day very soon we will all be judged by our silence and our words.

A man can fail many times, but he isn’t a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.

~John Burroughs

Ordinarily we have been led to believe that a democratic government is essentially a participatory one and as such citizens have inalienable rights to ask questions of their representatives while expecting sensible, reasonable and civil answers, backed with facts. It is universally held that people who get “voted” into political offices are answerable to those who voted them in. But it appears we are practicing something else in Nigeria where it has become a crime for freeborn citizens to ask questions of their so called government.

It is a known fact that in most third world countries, the mass media is controlled by government or business men who are mostly stooges and yes men of those in government. Therefore, the government usually controls what streams out from these media channels. Since the media generally shapes debates and discourse, opposition voices are usually muted. But with the advent of social media, online blogging, twitter, Facebook etc, the various governments in third world countries have been running helter skelter; having lost the monopoly of information. Nigeria as a third world nation is no exception. We have been denied information over the years but suddenly, it does appear, the people have found a voice in social media and are judiciously using it to call their government to order.

One thing is clear though: despite the rants and dissenting voices online, the Nigerian government scoffs at the voices of the people so much so that a presidential adviser once branded some citizens as ” collective children of anger”. But there seems to be an exception to this rule. The moment certain personalities use the social media to make their voices heard, a horde of presidential minions are unleashed, from the attack dog, to crawling roaches. Like a cackle of hyenas, they are usually out in full force. They do not have to give any intelligible answer or clear grey areas as raised. Their singular aim is to muddle up the puddle, in their usually rambunctious manner. They raise unsubstantiated allegations and mudslinging is their watchword.

The presidential minions have no restraints nor decorum. They don’t care about the sacredness of facts or the sanctity of proof. NO, that ain’t their turf. All they want is to divert attention and turn the gaze of the masses away from salient issues raised by anyone they perceive as influential. When all that fails, the government, through any of their numerous agencies, may start to pursue spurious court cases against these so called opponents.

Recently, Obiageli Ezekwesili, former World Bank Vice President, was University of Nigeria Nsukka’s 42nd Convocation lecturer. There she observed that the two administrations that succeeded Olusegun Obasanjo’s had squandered $67bn – a combined sum from our foreign reserve and Excess Crude Account. Deeply troubled, she complained that six years after the administration she “served handed over such humongous national wealth to another one, most Nigerians (especially the poor) continue to suffer the effects of failing public health and education systems, as well as decrepit infrastructure and battered institutions.”

The government got jolted by that revelation. They were more troubled by the image of the messenger and the damaging impact it will have on their already grossly despised administration.

After such revelation, one expects a sensible government to either explain what happened or contradict such claims. Not this government. In came the rambunctious and loquacious Labaran Maku, the misinformation( sorry, information) minister. He didn’t bother to explain or contradict Mrs, Ezekwesili, but rather in his usually unintelligent fashion, cast aspersions on her person. It was almost a contest of ‘yes, our government is bad, but was yours better?’ Nigerians were treated to more macabre dance steps when a member of the presidential media gang, a supposed intelligentsia and a former chairman of the editorial board of a national newspaper, jumped into the fray.
Reuben Abati took infamy to a new low, going on an expletive laden spree. Not once did he he even pretend to address Ezekwesili’s allegation. No, that wasn’t necessary in Abati’s book. He chose to give her and her supposed co-travelers a serious tongue lash. The only sad part was that Reuben was not man enough to mention their names. All he could do was make allusions that keen watchers of events could piece together to know who particular invectives were meant for .

Let us stop for a moment and examine what the bone of contention has been about. Ezekwesili alleged that the government under which she served, left behind a humongous amount of $45billion in Nigeria’s foreign reserve and $22billion in the excess crude account (ECA) totaling $67 billion as sum left behind by the Obasanjo led government. But the government that succeeded theirs, while the incumbent president was a vice President, had frittered some of that sum. Let us also recall that the same Obasanjo led government paid off the entirety of Nigeria’s foreign debt which was around $30billion at the time.

Today, Nigeria owes about $10billion in foreign debt and $50billion in local debt. Bear in mind that crude oil which forms between 70-80% of our national income has never sold for less than $90 per barrel in the last 6 years. Nigeria’s current OPEC quota is 2million BPD. You can do the maths. Recall also that the British Prime Minister, in Davos, recently asked the Nigerian government to account for the over $100billion which accrued to Nigeria last year. He made the call while belaboring the point that Nigeria does not deserve more foreign aid.

What is lost to most Nigerians in this government orchestrated “roforofo” public mudslinging, is that instead of asking the hard questions, the masses are being treated to a Nigerian brand of the Roman Coliseum. During the zenith of the Roman empire, when the citizens are disillusioned and therefore become restless, especially when the government’s performance is abysmal, the rulers will stage a big gathering to entertain them by throwing a Christian into the arena to battle bare knuckled with either a lion or a tiger. These regular “shows” were usually staged as a form of diversion to turn the attention of the populace from the ineptitude of the government of the day. Today in the Jonathanian era, we have our modern day coliseum. It is an arena that reads like: “yes I am very inept and corrupt but others are corrupt too”. The gullible amongst us lap it up and say “yes those people are not saints”. They (the gullible ones) usually miss it. The question we all ought to be asking is: “when did governance become a contest of the worse among the worst”? Is governance meant to improve our welfare or seek to prove that preceding administrations didn’t fare any better? The joke is on us.

Nigerians have lost sight of the real deal. 0basanjo was not a saint, neither were his subordinates. But what you can’t take away from his government was the fact that he placed Nigeria on the path to meeting the millennium development goals. I will seek to clarify a few points in the paragraphs that follow. I believe that all sensible Nigerians should join Mrs. Ezekwesili in this crusade. Follow me patiently, as I enumerate a couple of issues quickly.

What is the use of having a large reserve? International(foreign) reserves are a country’s “external assets”—including foreign currency deposits and bonds held by central banks and monetary authorities, gold and SDRs. Nigeria under Obasanjo, saved the excess money which was not in the budget, due to sudden increase in global oil price. Note that in reserves, you merely hold the funds as savings but it doesn’t yield any interest. To answer the question of why a country needs its FR, in global trade, countries show up at the negotiation table with what they have in store as a way of gaining an upper hand and tilting the bargain their way. Nigeria as an import based economy needs to maintain a low and stable exchange rate. The healthy state of our external reserve is a means to achieving that lofty goal.

Any business man can bear witness to the catastrophic happenings of December 2008 when the exchange rate crashed from 118 naira to a USD to about 200 naira to a USD. What created such a terrible and unstable situation was the depletion of the external reserves by the federal government of Nigeria led by Yar’adua and Goodluck Jonathan. Herein lies the crux of the matter. What became of the $67 billion? Having a healthy foreign reserve is a precursor to being able to dictate the play in global finance and foreign trade. It enables a country to play and bargain from a position of strength. A healthy foreign reserve also helps to defend the local currency from unnecessary fluctuations and sharp drop in value.
Let me quickly explain that countries are moving away from just having foreign reserves to creating Sovereign Wealth Fund SWF. What is SWF? A sovereign wealth fund (SWF) is a state-owned investment fund composed of financial assets such as stocks, bonds, property, precious metals, or other financial instruments. Sovereign wealth funds are global investments. Most SWFs are funded by foreign exchange assets. Since the SWF is usually funded by foreign exchange assets, we could have easily funded ours from the ECA. Some sovereign wealth funds may be held by a central bank, which accumulates the funds in the course of its management of a nation’s banking system. This type of fund is usually of major economic and fiscal importance. Other sovereign wealth funds are simply the state savings that are invested by various entities for the purposes of investment returns, and that may not have a significant role in fiscal management.

The aftermath of the depletion of our foreign reserves was what led to many Nigerian banks losing their foreign credit lines, thereby emasculating those banks from being able to fund importation requests by Nigerian businesses.

From the foregoing, it is crystal clear that the government of Yar’Adua and Jonathan have a lot of questions to answer, but they would rather be clever by half. While Angola, a former war enclave, has launched the SWF in October 2012, our presidential rabble rousers and attack maggots are busy making a fool of themselves. The question of the $67billion is no longer a question of yesterday’s men against today’s men. It is a case of the crimes of this GOVERNMENT against our collective sensibilities. Enough of these roman coliseums. We are no longer interested in who is a saint or the sinner. We need answers to the question posed by Dr. Mrs obiageli Ezekwesili: where is NIGERIA’S 67 billion USD?

Like I earlier averred, Obasanjo or his team were no saints; but he clearly had a team of forward looking technocrats, proven men and women who were forward looking and who made provisions for a better future for Nigeria, unlike the present administration that does nothing but borrow while plunging Nigeria into a deeper hole. Nigeria’s debt; both local and foreign, is almost $60billion (that is over N7 trillion). I weep for the future. Indeed Obasanjo did make a lot of mistakes, but what you cannot accuse him of is not planning for the future.

Rather than Reuben Abati engaging the citizens in a civil manner, like the proverbial elder, he chose to walk into the village square with corn cobs tied to his waste and inadvertently has made himself a playmate of fowls and chickens. Let them continue their macabre dance in the market square. That is their palaver. What we demand is an explanation by their financial managers about what became of the $67billion.

Of the many mistakes Obasanjo made, herein lies his greatest mistake– that he bequeathed to Nigeria two of the worst kinds of successors: an invalid and a nincompoop, because success without a successor is invariably a big failure.

I am of the believe that this assertion by the NUJ boss is fair assessment of the team. It is a knwn fact that Igbos wuld have cry foul if the team comprises of mainly players frm a section of this country other than the south east. You are all welcomed to call me a bigot but the truth is why is no one from the south west good enough for a place in this present Enyimba super eagles? Why is at least Obafemi not listed for this nations cup? Why in the name of free hand shld one jettison federal character? The strongest Nigerian team of 94 is a compilation of Nigerians frm all ethnic groups why is this different? First its Ihejika now its Keshi - I am not comfortable with this trend and it indeed calls for concern.

by Isi Esene

Pastor Tunbe Bakare has reacted to statements describing former FCT Minister, Nasir el-Rufai as a religious bigot saying this is not so.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had warned the former minister to be watchful of his comments as regards the Christian faith.

It accused el-Rufai of trying to whip-up sentiments around religion for a selfish agenda.

Bakare, the pastor of the Latter Rain Assembly and Convener of the Save Nigeria Group reportedly responded to these statements in his church today while preaching the sermon titled, ”The head that refuses a life-giving rebuke will be thrown down the cliff of perdition.”

According to the fiery pastor, El Rufai cannot be classified as a religious bigot by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) since the former minister has worshiped many times at his church.

The pastor went on to speak about the rot in the Nigerian justice system saying the country is “hellish to poor thieves but magnanimous to rich ones.

“The Nigerian judiciary is fast moving from being the last hope of the common man to becoming the last refugee of crooks,” he added.

Nasir el-Rufai was recently at the receiving end of attack by several public commentators including the CAN who saw his comment on a joke by one Bukola Ogunyemi on Twitter referencing Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene as being disrespectful to the Christian faith.

The former FCT minister, however, tendered an unreserved apology to those who genuinely expressed reservations over the said tweet.

“I hope those in this class will see my point of view and accept my apologies for any offense or disappointment caused,” he stated.

I have read with utter dismay and high irritation the article published in Vanguard on “THE HPOCRISY OF YESTERDAY’S MEN” and I can say that the article portrays sheer desperation on your path to save your job and stay in competition with Okupe who is notorious for writing such dirty articles. Sir, of recent you are a perfect example of the scripture that says “Your glory, O Israel (Abati), lies slain on your heights; How the mighty have fallen!!!”  You have indeed fallen from grace to grass just for filthy lucre and to be amongst TODAY’S men…

Sir your piece was bereft of common sense as it is a calculated attack on the person of El-rufai and Ezekwesili who are both people of integrity even though I would agree with you that there are some people who are frustrated just because they are no longer in power but definitely not these two whom your article is aimed at attacking.

Now Sir let’s get down to the topic, I think you don’t really know how to spot hypocritical people but now I have volunteered to give you 11 minor tips on how to know them.

Hypocrisy is when,

Today’s men ignore a whopping $67b question and debate to take on a full page advertorial on newspapers just to convince us that the question is from yesterday’s men and as such should not be taken seriously.
Today’s men write a book “MY FRIENDS AND I” before elections based on feedback from social media and barely a year after instead of writing part 2 of that book based on the latest reactions and feedback from those friends turn back to pages of newspaper to describe those friends as collective children of anger.
Today’s men go on CNN live to lie about the power and security situation in Nigeria even when the interviewer and the whole world is aware of the true situation of things.
Today’s men illegally remove a sitting president of the court of appeal even when there is a case in court over the weekend and refuse to return him to office just for the basic fact that the disgruntled men of their party have a case against the honest man for upturning their fraudulent elections but kudos to you guys, you succeeded in killing the judiciary.
Today’s men lie on the pages of newspaper like you did about airports and aviation sector that we all use and see. Today’s men even restored license of Dana air when the families of the victims are still in tears over the carelessness of the airline.
Today’s men legalize corruption in full scale by throwing the Ribadu report in the dustbin and then send Okupe to describe it as a lazy job.
Today’s men wine and dine with militants and give them huge contracts just because they are from the same region and in the same vein pass a life sentence on another man who is not even a militant but is alleged to be aware of militant activities.
Today’s men eat 3million naira in a day when the average Nigerian “LIVES” on less than a dollar per day. How cruel can Today’s men be
Today’s men want an average Nigerian to pay N150/litre for PMS in the name of subsidy removal when we are one of the largest producers of oil in the world.
Today’s men who claim to be leaders on the giant of Africa cannot even show the AFCON to citizens on National TV and thus allowing a parody account of a footballer in CIV describe us as the Soil of Africa that they walk on. Today’s men have embarrassed us soo bad.
Today’s men who yesterday criticized all negative policies from government have a chance of joining government, sell their conscience and  come to the social media, newspaper pages, and TV stations to defend clueless ideas, wicked policies and non-existent project of their principal in the villa.
Sir I’m sure you now have a clearer idea of what hypocrisy is. Please Sir, ignore my criticism and unfair choice of words and take on the points in this letter and advice your boss accordingly that like Obasanjo worked with smart minds except that he was a stubborn man and ignored some of their intelligent counsels he should also work with such smart minds and throw away his current cabinet filled with gluttony minds who think of only their bellies.

Thank you for your time sir… Tell the President that I said he should make haste as the clock is ticking fast…There is vacancy in Aso rock even before 2015…. I hear drums of revolution and I don’t know if Today’s men hear same…

Sincerely,

An Extremely Angry Nigerian Youth

I am @naijarevolts on twitter

Bokoharam: Jonathan appears worse than the previous presidents/Heads of states because, today, we have the Freedom of Information in action. When the others were in power, worse things happened that we never got to hear about.

That is Nigeria for you. And I still insist that the problem of Nigeria is not Jonathan, OBJ, IBB, not PDP (is ACN the better?) are we the better?

After all, your Senates representatives, who are beneficiaries of these scandalous and bogus budgetary items, passed the budget through a 2nd reading. What stopped them from refusing to pass it? Leave Jonathan alone!

am sure you are one of the Boko haram Jona-ode said is in his government. The problem of Nigeria atm is Jonah-ode if he leaves the problem will be the next president - you knw y because all wat is cursing d present problems are solely his initiatives; monstrous corruption and celebrated impunity.

What is 4billion naira to a man that can squander 67 billion dollars - its a groundnut fraction. I pity the choice of Nigerians who trusted their votes with this man in 2011; its a sin that must be repented come 2015. If after all these misruling GEJ still remain our president beyond 2015 then God is obviously angry with Nigeria - Jonah is our nemesis but the question is for how long?

I know Tribune newspaper has a grudge with Tinubu I never knew their grudge with the truth has climbed this devastating height. This is one legacy of Awo - that is not in tandem with the vision of Awo. Since the Nation "Awo family without an Awo" by Sam Omatseye - Tribune in it course for vendetta has further proven the article factual - word for word. I sincerely don't believe anything coming from Tribune cause the want for revenge has clouded fairness, truth and justice which is a testament of journalism.

Coming from a man who trade in lies...Okupe doesn't talk, he lies. Its not the old thief's fault that is the core of his job outline. So if its Okupe be sure its a lie...madam Oby hw body? Lol

Omexonomy: is lagos the only state in nigeria? The last time i check we have 36 states and the fct must the all the fed allocation be spent in lagos alone? Is that how other state are crying for attention like lagos? Lagos alone generate over 50billion IGR monthly and their state that generate lesser.

you are so not serious. Tell me what the FG did recently in Lagos - should a responsible govt wait to dish out 400million to victim of water disaster or should it prevent it from happening? If the Apapa is pivotal to economic growth should a responsible govt only promise and not follow up with action? If u say the FG is doing dis maybe cos Lagos is in d opposition it will make a faint sense but this ur comment stinks of hatred. If Lagos generate that much don't you think its responsiblity will be in tandem to d same fraction. Well its not topic GEJ is a failure...

thelastPope: I will repeat it again. You are not a Christian. By the definition of the bible, you are not a Christian. No Christian will ever condone and I repeat condone the desecration of Christ. If you cannot understand the basic difference between forgiving one's sins and supporting what someone does, then you are not a Christian, simples. That you forgive El rufai doesnt mean you have to follow him. That you even look up to the likes of El Rufai for leadership shows you are not a Christian. Jesus forgave the thief on the cross and mary magdalene doesnt mean he agreed to what they did or condoned it. El Rufai can seek atonement but that doesnt change the fact that he has an opinion of Christ and Christians. You are not a christian.

I have said it before your response that i am very ready to be cataloged as not a "christian. In your own brand of Christianity where did Christ say you as a Christians should fight on his behalf? You are a Christian but i guess your bible is unalike mine so i will relay an account of what happened at Garden of Gethsemane when Judas Iscariot, the betrayer, arrived with a “multitude” of soldiers, high priests, Pharisees, and servants to arrest Jesus - (Matthew 26:36-56, Mark 14:32-52, Luke 22:40-53 and John 18:1-11).Trying to protect Jesus, Peter took a sword and attacked a man named Malchus, the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Jesus rebuked Peter and miraculously healed the man’s ear - John 18:5-6. so what kind of Christian is yours when even Jesus rebuked his disciple who try to defend him. I know you are intelligent enough to discern that my explanation is veritable but the salary you and the rest goons are paid will make rightful thinking possible but not asserted. El-Rufai did nothing compare to the people that spat on the Savior, Jesus Christ and still Jesus asked God to forgive them. This is a failed political smear campaign - But please is GEJ your paid master a Christian? Am sure your answer should be yes cos your kind of Christianity akin his own.

The word deprive is misused in this statement as it is clear that no one is depriving the Igbos a chance to lead the country - except that they themselves has distanced themselves from contention. no thanks to the fake leaders who sell Igbo chance for corrupt nairas. Another question which is begging for answer is who is that Igboman that Nigeria can trust and who can gather votes from south and North? i think the problem is the candidate - who?

Omexonomy: BIG FAT LIE FROM ACN MINIONS. The fact that you can provide security for ur self does not mean that every body can. Having said that, truth is always bitter. But why is it tha t whenever such issue comes up peole like you will want to shot it down.

I am no ACN minion which even if i am i don't think should bother you. This is certainly not an issue of me being able to provide security for myself its is the truth which you quoted as "bitter". I said comparing security in Lagos to the days before this AD, ACN administration - you will behold staggering improvement. Its not shutting anyone down; the body of the thread is opinionative in nature so you should not blame me if i chasten the cynical writing approach. if the body bears the fair attitude of the topic i would have just commented without recourse to "sly detection"

This would have been an occasion where Lagosian can candidly appraise the security situation of the state except that - aside from the Topic the body of this thread is a sly attempt at ridicule. Having said that i will want to say this and people who live in Lagos before the present era of AD, ACN democracy should bear me witness - the security of Lagos has tremendously improved. There is certainly to crime free city, state or country in the world so one should not but expect unfortunate incidents like the one the op said befell him. But in all i think Lagos is safer than most states in Country.

[quote author=One_Naira]Hell yeah I believe him to be a sponsor or have a small hand in it. You can pity as much as you want, telling me you pity isn't going to change my mind. Abeg commot for road. Let look at this logically: After he lost the election, they went wild and killed of innocent people for no damn reason because of him. Did the man come out and condemn them? Nope. Did he speak on the behalf of the victims? Nope. A sensible politician would have done that. Wetin him do? he used that incident to preach about how Nigeria made a mistake. Ever since GEJ won, they've gone haywire, he seems to be loved by the group therefore he has a great strength to stop their activity or reduce it since they admire him so much. FG has failed granted but he has influence to them. Has he done it? Nope. What has he done? threaten the nigerian population anytime he speaks. Not only that he was once labeled by them as someone to use to dialogue a treaty between them and FG. He is known to make threat of killing innocent people if he does not get his way. The nigg@ has some hand with BH one way or another. I no sabi how but he definitely has one. Either sponsoring them or sponsoring someone that is sponsoring them. Ya'll can preach on NL as much as you people want on this forum but Buhari activity in the past shown the truth.[/quote]so far the only and official list of convicted terrorists are your brothers from the Delta. Your baseless assertion about Buhari and BH is just mere word of mouth - oh lest I forget did you knw Abati and the FG had to apologise when Buhari sue them for the same libel ur fishbrain is exhibiting here. Niger Delta is the region with the first region with the first convicted terrorist and the first to involve in act of terrorism live with that truth

thelastPope: Simple, we tell him to his face by words and actions that he cannot be our leader. Now or in the future and that is exactly what we will do! He is not fit to lead in any capacity in a multi cultural and multi religious society such as this. And he will be told in plain English! We will also sensitize the people to this and match our words with actions where necessary. People like him are the real enemies of Nigeria. This same kind of script has been played over and over since 1960. Many have died because men like him have continued to push both an ethnic and religious gospel. People have been beheaded in the north because of men like him. The civil war was fought because of men like him. I am glad he has actually exposed himself.

Christianity in the dictionary of bigots is a tool for disunity but Christianity as preached by Christ is not a religion rather its a two faced law - love for man and love for God. I will accept you cataloging me as "not a christian" because its obvious from your post your definition of Christianity is self styled. U are Firstly a man who claims to be fighting the injustice done to the name of Christ but couldn't quote a single verse of the bible. You are the Christian who abhors atonement as publicly offered through the apology tweets of El-Rufai. You are the follower of Christ who culdnt turn the other cheek. Pls mr defender of christ did you remember even at golgotha that Jesus prayed for his persecutors saying "father forgive..." I know as a sound Christian u shld be able to complete the verse. Since you are casting stones did you remember wht Jesus said is a perfect candidate for stone casting? - a sinless soul. I know you are defending christ as a christian that you profess u are but don't you think Christ is made powerless by your action?...I knw you are a political christian and you have the liberty to disagree. If after defending Christ and your solution is not for the man @el rufai to seek atonement but rather that he should not be voted for then its obvious you are paid to hide under the name of Christ to assasinate a man's character which makes u eligible for everlasting doom. You are your own christian in the rank of oritejafor and the rest of the political Christians

To the present government criticism is an enemy that must be destroy. The truth is a foe that must be defeated - and the critic and the truth-bearer must be tainted with vigour of government. What is Oby's sin? - she dares to speak the truth and criticised a government whose intelligence is castrated. I wonder why governance under GEJ is hostile to criticism and am equally amazed at the level of sound stupidity that make Maku,Okupe and Abati think
Slurring the image of this garbage government decriers will change the truth. Oby already dares your drivel administration to an open debate - accept the debate to prove your innocence...Reno and his gang of paid patriots can not change the truth - it is just a political alchemy

By  Ishola Balogun & Ebun Sessou
Prince Wale Oyekoya, the President of Farmers Association of Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, opines that buying cellphones  for Nigerian farmers is a not only a misplaced priority but another huge waste of  resources.Oyekoya while speaking with Saturday Vanguard in his office on the issue stated that although cellphone was important to farmers, it is  not to the level the federal government had taken it, adding that it could be another way of siphoning money.

He stated that the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry, LCCI had indicated interest  to partner with the federal government on its policies mainly because the farmers had since found out that most of government’s policies are inconsistent with the needs of the farmers and are directed to the ‘portfolio farmers.  “LCCI intends to partner with the government in order to be able  identify the real farmers. Government has been dealing with portfolio and political farmers in the past.” he said.

“The Minister claimed that  70 percent of rural farmers are without phones, I don’t know how he got  this figure. There are about one hundred million phones in circulation as we speak. Nigerian farmers are all rural farmers which means, cellphone is not their priority because they can afford it.

“Therefore, there is need for federal government to partner with the private sectors and non-government organisations including the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry, LCCI who know the real farmers. When I contacted some of the farmers in Lagos, Ogun, Osun States, they don’t seem to know what the government is doing.”

He added that government policies like the fertilizers and intervention fund have not gotten to the real farmers but have been hijacked by cronies and politicians.


Prince Wale Oyekoya,
“Most of the funds allocated to farmers have been going to the wrong hands and that is why agriculture sector is suffering  in this country.  A nation that cannot feed itself  is doomed.”

He suggested that instead of cellphones, the N60billion should be diverted to bank of agriculture.  “Government should revive Agriculture  bank and work out modalities where evidence of owning farmlands will be the basis for accessing the funds. Just like the N200 billion intervention fund which was called Commercial Agricultural Credit scheme, CAT, of  the government which we  have requested of them to give a  record of those who benefited from the policy.”

He stated that recently some farmers had to close shops for lack of enabling environment to produce food for the nation.  “Presently, half of the farmers in the country are already folding up. There are about 24 farmers in my region that are no more in operation. Their complaints were that there are no adequate funding.  An individual  cannot  access agriculture loan from the bank.” He  added  that most farm-lands in the State do not have good road networks, electricity supply to work while others complained of lack of loan assistance.

He advised that instead of buying cellphones, government should concentrate on procuring equipment and make available funds as working capital.

Oyekoya disclosed that about 10,000 farmers are registered in Lagos under the Ministry of Agriculture.   “they gave us a data showing about 10,000 farmers but I don’t believe it. They are only interested in data that does not exist in order to siphon money from the Ministry, Federal government and World Bank.

“The state government has its own scheme which is called land Agric settlement. They planted their cronies there. The lands are allocated to political leaders whereas a plot of land is sold at the sum of N1.8million to real farmers at Ikorodu. The State does not believe in helping the real farmers. So, these are creating unfriendly environment for the farmers.

“There are about 25 farmers at Epe axis and the State government is planning to displace them. They are suddenly planning to use the place for airport.   You see, that is why the  country is in trouble because so many things are going wrong,” he stressed.

“I recall  that some officials of federal government visited my farmland sometime ago and dug 25 waterholes for irrigation but up till moment, they failed to provide pumping machines, and I know some  persons would have pocketed the money meant for it.”

On what the farmers in Lagos state are contributing in feeding the nation, Oyekoya said: “We are not producing much in crops. The State government is producing about 50 tonnes of rice,” disclosing that the federal government was planning to import about 100 milling machines for rice for farmers which also will not encourage local production.


Abiodun Oladapo
Lookman Ismail of Frank Farms, Papalanto, Ogun state said: “What is the definition of rural farmer, is there anybody that is an urban farmer? I have a farm in Papalanto, Ogun state, that is a rural area. I don’t see any sincerity in this move. It is a question of who is fooling who. Is it telephone we need right now? The farmers cannot get their produce to the city because of bad roads, we can’t get electricity, we can’t get water from government. I had to spend as much as N2million to bring electricity to my farm. And about  the same amount for boreholes. These are things that  are important to farmers. There is no enabling environment that will make people go into agriculture.

How much is a Nokia phone that the government feels it is the  need of farmers. As we speak, if you go into any village, not less than 60 per cent of the villagers have phones. So, what are we buying for N60billion.

He cited the government agric intervention loan as a failed policy which he said could not get to the real farmers. “I have not seen one real farmer who was able to access that loan. As a farmer who also works in a bank, I could not get access to that loan. You will have to have a collateral in a choicest area, they will tell you my farm is not good as a collateral because it is in a rural area. So, the loans probably went to the wrong hands and the government is  not bothered about who gets the loan.

“They should make tractors available and supply electricity to the villages where most of these farms are located, they should also concentrate on building roads that will make farm produce get to the cities quickly,” he added.

He added that he could not access  the loan as the banks were demanding property in a choicest place as collateral.  “They only gave the loans to portfolios farmers who only have to present a certificate of incorporation to get the loan.

“The initiative is a sham, if they want to keep money for the boys, they should find other ways of doing that and not in the name of agriculture.”


Segun Collins
Abiodun Oladapo, owner of Ope-Olu farms in Oshogbo, Osun State opined that government should look mor into financing agriculture.  All over the world, there is nowhere agriculture survive without government playing a major role. For example, in US, the level of intervention is high in the form of subsidy.  They spend a huge amount of money to support the move towards food security.

“What farmers need most is a  working capital at low interest rate.   Subsidizing only oil does not totally impact on the common man.  I don’t see any farmer who will get a loan at 25 -28 percent interest rate and be able to repay under this condition we operate.  That is why the cost of foods are on the increase and except something is done for the farmers in this regard, the disaster of food insecurity  is not too far.”

Even as government recently said no going back on the policy, Oladapo said government did not consider the poor network facilities of telecoms provider in the rural areas which will impede the optimum utility of this cell phone idea. “how effective is the network of these telecoms provider in the rural areas.  Have they carried out the survey as well or they will leave them with the syndrome of ‘No Network’? Are they going to provide the air time as well? So, the challenges are far more than what they think it will solve.”

In the same vein, Segun Collins, who just began cultivating a 60 hectares of land in Ofada, Ogun state, corroborated his colleague saying provision of cellphones falls short of the needs of the farmers in the country.   “In whatever guise government is pushing this idea, what the farmers need now is funding and not cellphones.  Government should ensure that farmer have funds to run their farmer effectively to have food sufficiency. Farm implements should be heavily subsidized and that will help farmers a lot than the cell phones to farmers.  The system government is running is like what is obtained in Mambilla Plateau where few people run the show and benefit from the largesse.  So, I don’t see any sincerity in this N60billion provision of cellphones.”

On the argument that government needs to know even those who will benefit from the fund, he stated that the  environment have been politicized.  “Government does not even know the real practicing farmers because of politics.  I know some of my friends who were affected by the flood in Kogi, yet, they could not get the flood disaster relief fund.  Three of them are presently seeking refuge in Lagos. They don’t have anything again.  So what is the hue and cry about all these when these money ends in the pocket of their cronies. Government should allow the commercial banks to give loans to the farmers on a very low interest rate.

Symphony007: your insensitivity is stunning and your denial just plain foolish!! You call nigeria becoming thae second largest economy in africa crumbs? You want to compare an almost 7% growth rate to "war against indiscipline"? In the last few years nigeria has produced the richest black man and women and some of the richest individuals on the continet because of how dynamic and freew our economy is now. You want to compare that with the communist state buhari dreamth for nigeria. It's either you're ignorant to what you said or you're just plain dumb. One is offended.

oya were mon ti le ni? Abi o fe sho fo ni? What concerns reality with 7%? How does producing richest man or woman beneficial to d price of garrri? How objectively is 7% increase felt by the masses? Lemme give u a break with the question and lecture ur "cobwebbed" brain. What buhari achieved in less than 2 yrs PDP cannot achieve in 14yrs of their misrule. If don't knw impunity and it twin brother, corruption is the basic problem of the country anybody that can rid the country of that devil is a hero -Buhari. We don't need ratings or percentage or fractions; all we need is Buhari!!! And lest I forget, are u a learner?

all4naija: Seriously, you have an issue! Calling on international community to help with terrorism doesn't change the ideology behind Boko Haram is local, while referring to their operation motto of 'Western Education is forbidden'. Terrorism by definition is not a responsibility of a single nation.

There are lots of work to be done and they don't rest on the president shoulders alone. You perpetrating spam mails all over the world need to change your habitual criminal attitude and find a way of moving the country forward. Stop making noise and act now. There is nothing impact coming from the president without the citizens willing to change or do their parts. That doesn't mean Mr. president is perfect but the elements of disturbance are weighing him down and slowing progress of democracy.

I see good in him, just that people fail to see his side and how much he is trying his best. At this point in time the president needs your support than ever before to move the country forward. Please, stop whining like a hungry baby!

Nigerian leaders, are too corrupt and the citizens must take action or stop lamenting about the conditions of things.

its vain replying you but I will for d fun of it. You seriously can't tell me GEJ will invite me to play my part wen he allocate 1billion for feeding or when he alongside his croonies share our collective wealth. He won't nid our help wen he dishes contract to his guys. Am sure he won't nid me if he wants to allocate millions for newspaper of dash private jet to CAN president. GEJ will not nid me when money is being shared. He only nids me to be Nigeria and play my part by caring for an economy he bled. He will nid me to show am patriotic when he claims he knows BH but culdnt tell the world. GEJ expects me to contribute my quota when his cluelessness has sapped d afore contributed quota.