₦airaland Forum

REVEALED! Yar’Adua never signed budget - Top govt officials jolted by President’s unknown whereabouts

Taiwo Adisa, Abuja - 31.12.2009

WHILE questions are still being asked about the whereabouts of President Umaru Yar’Adua, it has further been revealed that the 2009 Supplementary Budget, alleged to have been signed by the ailing president, was not physically signed by him.

It was revealed on Wednesday that the claim that President Yar’Adua signed the 2009 Supplementary Budget in Saudi Arabia might not be true as no official of the Nigerian government has seen the president in the last one week.

Sources in Abuja said that the claim that the Principal Private Secretary to the President, Mr. David Edevbie, was with the president for 90 minutes, during which he signed the budget was not correct.

The source said that the Principal Secretary needed to come clean with details of his trip to Saudi Arabia and back to the country. One of the sources said that he could authoritatively say that the budget was not assented to by the president.

Though the announcement was made that Edevbie travelled to Saudi Arabia, it was learnt that only the specimen signature of the president was imposed on the supplementary budget booklet and that the hawks believed that the National Assembly would be convinced by the deal.

Many officials of the Umaru Yar’Adua administration, who were contacted on the whereabouts of the president, remained silent on Wednesday, as concern spread as to where the president is being kept 38 days after he left the shores of Nigeria.

Some government officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that they believed the statement made by the president’s spokesman, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, late in November about the whereabouts of his boss.

A top government official said that he had no reason to doubt the president’s spokesman, though he had not been in touch with the president since he left Nigeria.

Investigations, however, revealed that the kitchen cabinet members were the most jolted about Wednesday’s revelation by the Nigerian Tribune that President Yar’Adua was not admitted to King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Jeddah or Riyadh as alleged, as they continued to put heads together on the next line of action.

It was gathered that the budget signing hoax was part of the grand plot to stop Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan from becoming acting President.

It was confirmed that immediately the decision was reached that a letter be produced in conformity with with Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution, some hawks in the system immediately generated an alternative idea to frustrate Jonathan from becoming acting President.

A source said that the hawks immediately came up with the idea that the outgoing Chief Justice of Nigeria could swear in the incoming one while the president could actually sign the budget from anywhere.

Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, then announced on Monday that the outgoing Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Idris Kutigi, would swear in his successor before the expiration of his tenure.

Once that was done, it was gathered that they had concluded that it was no longer necessary to hand over to Jonathan in acting capacity. Some kitchen cabinet members were said to have contacted the First Lady, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua, to inform her and further explain the machinations to her.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/31122009/news/news1.html

By Leke Adeseri, News Editor & Ise-Oluwa Ige
ABUJA—Political hawks have successfully convinced President Umaru Yar’Adua to endorse the Supplementary Budget to be operated till next March, and also worked on him not to sign another document to allow Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan act as President, Vanguard can authoritatively reveal.
The Supplementary Budget, according to sources, is to fast-track development in the Niger Delta, among other things.
Yar’Adua signed the document on his sick bed in the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

According to impeccable sources, the cabal that fashioned the documents eventually presented to the President by his Principal Secretary, Mr. David Edevbie, were said to be out to buy time towards the assumption that their principal will be strong enough to resume work fully in mid-January.

Another scheme seemingly on the cabals’ chess board is the arrangement that the out-going Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, swears in Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu as the new Chief Justice.

A statement by the Secretary of the National Judicial Council, Mr Danladi Halilu, confirmed that Kutigi will swear in Justice Katsina-Alu as the Chief Justice and Justice Isa Ayo-Salami as the President of the Court of Appeal on Thursday, December, 30.

The Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), had, at the weekend said President Yar’Adua needed not fly from Saudi Arabia to perform the swearing-in by himself.

He had argued that the out-going CJN was permitted under the law to perform the function.
NJC had keyed into the explanation but Aondoakaa’s colleagues argued saying that his explanation has no basis in law and logic.

According to an Ibadan-based member of the Inner Bar, Chief Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), it would be strange if such was allowed to happen because such arrangement is not supported by law and logic.

According to him: “The Attorney-General like most Nigerian public officers doesn’t have original thoughts of his own. They are not original in their thoughts. That position, with due respect, was not his own.

“The idea was sold by a lady lawyer. She sent an e-mail to Aondoakaa (SAN) to sell the idea. She forwarded the same e-mail to many of us, making that suggestion. I do not want to mention her name.


Vice-President Jonathan

“The truth of the matter is that if you carry out that suggestion, you will be creating a kind of absurdity. Look at it this way: if the outgoing Chief Justice of Nigeria will be swearing in the in-coming one, I ask: in what capacity?

‘If the incumbent swears in the in-coming one before he retires, the implication is that we will be having two CJNs at the same time.

“And, if the outgoing CJN swears in the in-coming one immediately after he retires, in what capacity will he be doing that when he is no longer CJN?

“They are confusing the American situation with ours. In the case of the Nigerian presidential system, the executive appoints the head of the court.

“It is a political appointment. And, necessarily so, CJN must be sworn in by the head of the executive. It is unlike the American situation where the entire public and members of the public are involved in who becomes CJN and even who becomes a Supreme Court justice.

‘Ours is a different scenario. Most of the times, our people swallow, hook, line and sinker the ideas of foreign governance without looking at the background and the position of the law in those areas.

“You will be creating a kind of unconscionable absurdity if you say the outgoing CJN should swear in the incoming one.
“The idea was suggested by a lady and the lady in question forwarded the e-mail she did to Aondoakaa to me.

“The lady flew a kite which was swallowed hook, line and sinker by the AGF.

“She sent it to many lawyers including Professor Sagay, Aturu, Femi Falana and the President of the NBA. He sent it to many senior lawyers.

“The Attorney-General was not original. The truth of the matter is that the country is mired in political quagmire.
“We have no head of the executive properly so-called. And, very soon, there will be no head of the judiciary. We can avoid this problem if Mr. President had done the right thing to allow Jonathan to stand in.”

Meantime, Halilu declared in the statement that the appointments were made by President Yar’Adua on the recommendation of NJC and that the swearing-in will hold at the Supreme Court complex at 11a.m.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/12/29/yaradua-refuses-jonathan-as-acting-president/

Mass sack: Banks change strategy, sack workers by e-mail - Bank workers jittery over planned strike

From Odidison Omankhanlen and Kolawole Daniel - 29.12.2009

TO avoid the wide condemnation and public outcry generated by the ongoing massive purge in banking sector, banks have devised other means of getting sack letters across to affected workers.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that a particular bank with head office in Lagos, which was declared sound by the audit report instituted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in conjunction with Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), have been using electronic means of communication (e-mail) to notify affected members of its staff.

At the last count, the bank had secretly sacked over 400 workers and more are set to follow this week. One of the affected workers who pleaded anonymity because she had not been paid her entitlements, told the Nigerian Tribune that she received a mail in her box instructing her to go to a certain location, stressing that she was surprised to meet some other colleagues there.

She said to their consternation, after short briefing by a senior officer in the bank, they were handed their sack letters. She observed that the bank had been using this method since November, stressing that it was to avoid a public outcry.

On the number of staff so far affected, she said it was difficult to know, as the bank ensured that not more than 50 workers were called at a time. Meanwhile, uneasy calm has pervaded Afribank and Union Bank branches in Abuja, following reports doing the round that the management of the two banks are set to distribute sack letters to affected members of staff this week.

Checks by the Nigerian Tribune in some of the branches of the banks in Abuja, on Monday, revealed that the staff were not happy with the development, as most of them were not enthusiastic with their job.

The atmosphere in the branches visited by the Nigerian Tribune was tense, as some of the workers were seen discussing in hush tones, while others were seen with copies of national dailies trying to get details of the planned sack.

One of the workers who spoke on condition of anonymity lamented reasons the banks had to go on with the planned sack despite pleas from the Federal Government to tread softly.

The banking crisis has, so far, sent over 5,000 bank workers to the unemployment market.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/29122009/news/news4.html

the Sky is falling.

By Babajide Komolafe
An atmosphere of fear and pity has descended on the banking industry following the retrenchment of 3500 staff by three banks within one week.

On Monday, Oceanic Bank sacked over 1000 while the previous Friday Intercontinental Bank and UBA PLC sacked 1500 and 1000 respectively.

This development has occasioned an atmosphere of fear as most bankers now approach each day with trepidation not sure if that would not be the last day at work. Also bankers who were formerly the other of professionals have become the object of pity in the eyes of the public.

“You know our industry has become an industry of pity. Banking job is no longer the dream job in town”, said a banker in reference to the recent decline in the fortunes of Nigerian banks and bankers.

In deed there is no better way to capture what has befallen the banking industry since August 14th 2009, when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sacked the chief executives and executive directors of five banks. Suddenly an industry that is famous for declaring jumbo profits and mouth watering dividend declared loses amounting to over a trillion naira.

And an industry that is noted for generating employment in thousands suddenly began to sack en mass. As at the last count five banks have sacked 5000 staff while others are preparing their sack list.

Across the industry and among bankers there is palpable fear, anxiety and apprehension. “Everybody is afraid”, said Tope, a staff of First Bank Olowu branch in Ikeja. “We hear the bank wants to sack again and it might be up to 1000 this time around”, she said adding that the problem is that we don’t even know the criteria. We have been asking what the criteria are but no answer.” “I have stopped worrying”, Chinyere said , “I won’t allow retrenchment fever kill me. I still have my certificate so I can still get job elsewhere.”

But for most bankers the challenge is more than getting another job, that is even if there is a job waiting out there. The unemployment situation is scary with millions of graduate yet to secure job years after they left school.

The challenge for most bankers is that they are used to a high standard of living courtesy of high remuneration in the industry and the easy access to cheap loans. Most of them drive posh cars, live in high brow areas where the rents are quite staggering. Many of them have taken loans to finance various forms of asset acquisition from cars to houses. It is not their fault.

Credit is the commodity of trade in the industry and hence patronising their banks also means taking loans or buying credit from the bank. The result is that every banker has one loan or the other to repay. “You know we bankers live on credit”, a manager with Oceanic bank said. On top of these are the many relatives and friends that depend on bankers for sustenance. Many of them have junior ones whom they assist to pay their school fees up to university as well as parents and elderly relatives who depend on them for economic support from time to time.

That is why unemployment to a banker is a colossal misfortune not only to him but to his family.
Kwara State_born Mustapha is a former staff of First Bank. He was employed on February 4, 2008, confirmed in March 2009 and appraised in April 2009 and to his surprise, he was one of the 485 staff retrenched by First Bank on October 16. His father, a retired UBA staff was dazed.

Mustapha’s employment has brought lots of smiles and hope to him and the family who looked up to him as the bread winner with the added responsibility to sponsor his sibling’s education.

The story of James is even more pathetic. He was one of the over 1000 staff sacked by Oceanic Bank on December 21st, two weeks after his wedding. The his new wife wept uncontrollably upon hearing the sad news lamenting that her in_laws would accuse her of bringing misfortune to their son.

Kunle was also among those sacked by Oceanic Bank. He sobbed like a baby when he got to the office that morning and like other affected staff discovered he couldn’t log in to the banks’ computer system, indicating he has been disengaged.

He is the sole provider for his family of three children and wife. His wife used to be gainfully employed. But due to the demands of taking care of their three children they both agreed she should resign and she did. Now both of them are unemployed.

One of the most frustrating thing aspect of the mass retrenchment and which made it very painful for the affected bankers is that for most of them they were not sacked because they were incompetent or did not perform. They were just sacked.

Kemi was one of the 300 sacked by Stanbic IBTC in October. In fact five of them were sacked at the Elephant House branch of the bank in Alausa in Lagos state. The five of them she said were the most hardworking of the 15 staff in the branch, a situation which devastated not only them but also the branch manager who could not understand the criteria used by the management that made the five of the most dependable staff to be included in the sack list.

This makes their sack very painful for the affected bankers. They had laboured and even slaved for the banks. Most of them especially those that live in Lagos leave for work 4.30 am in order to bit traffic and be in the office by 7.30 am, work till 7.00pm and most times don’t get home till 10.00pm.

Some even work on Saturdays and Sunday and as a result don’t have time for family and friends and even for religious programmes . Many of them have subjected themselves to humiliating experiences in order to meet the impossible deposit targets constantly given them by the banks, and they have borrowed against future income to finance high taste induced by the banking environment.

And despite all these sacrifices they found themselves rejected by the banks which they had once proudly and painfully served.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/12/28/fear-pity-as-3500-bankers-lose-jobs-in-one-week/

Oceanic, Intercontinental to sack more workers - Afribank, Union Bank to distribute sack letters this week

Odidison Omankhanlen, Lagos - 28.12.2009

THE ongoing mass purge in banks will continue this week as many of the bank workers will not resume at their respective desks after the New Year celebrations.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that despite protests by the Ministry of Labour and Productivity, labour movements and civil societies, some of the banks are set to commence the second round of lay-offs this week.

Also, some of the banks like Afribank, which had earlier decided against staff rationalisation, have suddenly changed their minds in the light of the present developments.

Investigations by the Nigerian Tribune indicated that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) eight managed banks were set to fully implemented the directive of the apex bank to reduce their workforce by 30 per cent. Though the CBN governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, had denied issuing such a directive, analysts opined that non-condemnation of the sack by the apex bank since its resurgence was a clear indication of its tacit endorsement.

Sanusi had explained that: “On reducing workers, I never did. These are privately-run organisations. What happened was that one of the banks in which we appointed a managing director wrote to the CBN supervision department and said they had a problem; that their wage was almost N5 billion a month. Meanwhile, their loans were non-accrual.

And therefore the hole was getting deeper, and the relationship officer in banking supervision then wrote to them in response and advised them to look into cost management, staff cost management with the possibility of reducing salaries or reducing headcount because they were not earning what they thought they were earning.”

In one of the meetings held by the CBN-managed banks, the Nigerian Tribune gathered that it was only Afribank and FinBank that were reticent on staff rationalisation. Specifically, the Managing Director of Afribank, Nebolisa Arah, said he would rather embark on internal rightsizing of the workforce. That is, looking at each staff capabilities and re-assigning them where their competences are most needed within the organisation.

However, this has since changed as the management of Afribank worked through the Christmas break to perfect the list of workers that would be shown the exit door this week. As a follow-up to the trend, other banks otherwise declared sound by the special audit examination are also compiling list of those to be sacked.

A competent source at Oceanic Bank, who pleaded anonymity, told the Nigerian Tribune that the management was set to release the second batch of sacked staff this week. According to him, most people penciled in for the second round include drivers, security personnel and other non-core staff.

“We are expecting more workers to go this week. Where we have 12 security men, six will have to go. Same applies to drivers and other non-essential staff. The wind of sack will touch all the units,” he said.

Also, Intercontinental Bank, which has so far sacked 2,040, is not done yet. It was gathered that it has set a target of no fewer than 3,000 in the rationalisation exercise.

According to a former deputy general manager of the bank, “What you saw last week is a partial eclipse. Expect total eclipse this week. Some of the workers that celebrated the Christmas will certainly spend the New Year as unemployed.”
http://www.tribune.com.ng/28122009/news/news2.html

Oceanic, Intercontinental to sack more workers - Afribank, Union Bank to distribute sack letters this week

Odidison Omankhanlen, Lagos - 28.12.2009

THE ongoing mass purge in banks will continue this week as many of the bank workers will not resume at their respective desks after the New Year celebrations.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that despite protests by the Ministry of Labour and Productivity, labour movements and civil societies, some of the banks are set to commence the second round of lay-offs this week.

Also, some of the banks like Afribank, which had earlier decided against staff rationalisation, have suddenly changed their minds in the light of the present developments.

Investigations by the Nigerian Tribune indicated that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) eight managed banks were set to fully implemented the directive of the apex bank to reduce their workforce by 30 per cent. Though the CBN governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, had denied issuing such a directive, analysts opined that non-condemnation of the sack by the apex bank since its resurgence was a clear indication of its tacit endorsement.

Sanusi had explained that: “On reducing workers, I never did. These are privately-run organisations. What happened was that one of the banks in which we appointed a managing director wrote to the CBN supervision department and said they had a problem; that their wage was almost N5 billion a month. Meanwhile, their loans were non-accrual.

And therefore the hole was getting deeper, and the relationship officer in banking supervision then wrote to them in response and advised them to look into cost management, staff cost management with the possibility of reducing salaries or reducing headcount because they were not earning what they thought they were earning.”

In one of the meetings held by the CBN-managed banks, the Nigerian Tribune gathered that it was only Afribank and FinBank that were reticent on staff rationalisation. Specifically, the Managing Director of Afribank, Nebolisa Arah, said he would rather embark on internal rightsizing of the workforce. That is, looking at each staff capabilities and re-assigning them where their competences are most needed within the organisation.

However, this has since changed as the management of Afribank worked through the Christmas break to perfect the list of workers that would be shown the exit door this week. As a follow-up to the trend, other banks otherwise declared sound by the special audit examination are also compiling list of those to be sacked.

A competent source at Oceanic Bank, who pleaded anonymity, told the Nigerian Tribune that the management was set to release the second batch of sacked staff this week. According to him, most people penciled in for the second round include drivers, security personnel and other non-core staff.

“We are expecting more workers to go this week. Where we have 12 security men, six will have to go. Same applies to drivers and other non-essential staff. The wind of sack will touch all the units,” he said.

Also, Intercontinental Bank, which has so far sacked 2,040, is not done yet. It was gathered that it has set a target of no fewer than 3,000 in the rationalisation exercise.

According to a former deputy general manager of the bank, “What you saw last week is a partial eclipse. Expect total eclipse this week. Some of the workers that celebrated the Christmas will certainly spend the New Year as unemployed.”

http://www.tribune.com.ng/28122009/news/news2.html

@phemmmy,
Please i would also want to ask how luctrative can it be to get motor parts in large quantity to buy and resell here in Nigeria. Expecially for toyota, honda, nissan products.

how much is it and how effective is it?

@Fhemmmy,
I fell in love with that green acord and the 1997 accord ,but am currently in the midlle of a project, once am through i will need your help in getting those cars.Hope prices will remain stable

@Fhemmmy
At the begining of your post you qouted $3000 for the 1997 honda accord now on this page the price has gone up again.why?If i may ask how much will it cost to clear the car from cotonue?

@tunji370,
To be a distributor for say dangote, you must have financial muscle to buy 100 trailers at a go.Currently now about N62million naira .you are only looking at about N2-N3 naira gain per bag.So do the math a trailer contains about 600 bags of cement.

Can Nigeria get better with all these stealing everyday?

@Kobojunkie (f)

OK!!! That's it. There is no way I can believe this is close to true. How can anyone own 28 houses in, of all places, Dubai? Na hut dem own?

Have you heard of General jeremaih Useni who serve as FCt minister during General Abacha tenure,
Properties worth more than 70billion Naira was seized from him By General Abdulsalam Abubakar.That is real and yet the man is still superly rich.Nigerian leaders are the most wicked leaders on earth.

Maduekwe spends N2.7 billion on foreign trips
Written by Abdul-Rahman Abubakar
Wednesday, 23 December 2009 00:56

Chief Ojo Maduekwe
Minister of Foreign Affairs Chief Ojo Maduekwe engaged in incessant foreign trips throughout this year which cost the public till about N2.7 billion in 2009 alone, the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs charged yesterday.

C
onfronting Maduekwe when he appeared before the committee for his ministry’s 2010 budget defence, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs Senator Jibril Aminu (PDP, Adamawa Central) said the minister’s numerous trips outside the country have become “wasteful to the economy.”

He directed the minister to cut down on his foreign trips, saying “The whole budget of the Ministry of Commerce is about N2 billion while that of the Ministry of Police Affairs is about N1 billion, but you have used N2.7 billion for international travels alone. And you are even asking for an increase in the 2010 budget. These foreign travels are wasteful; you have to cut it down. There is no way we are going to give you more money for international travels.”

Chief Ojo Maduekwe however mounted a defence, saying the international travels being undertaken by the ministry are for the sake of diplomacy. He said, “Diplomacy is all about visibility. Even technology has not helped in reducing international travels in diplomacy. There is no way that the travel commitments of the Foreign Ministry could be compared to that of the Ministry of Commerce.”

The Senate committee also charged that the Foreign Ministry failed to disburse funds to Nigeria’s diplomatic missions abroad, resulting in nonpayment of salaries and allowances of diplomats in the past three months.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Alhaji Jibril Maigari however attributed the situation to a shortfall of 21 percent in the allocated funds to the foreign missions. About N8 billion could not be disbursed, he said.

Maigari also said the exchange rate of naira to the dollar in the budget was N118 but the naira fell to N150 per dollar, causing a shortfall in the funds disbursed to the missions. The CBN has paid N4.5 billion to take care of the shortfall but the remaining could not be paid because the Supplementary Budget is not ready, he said.

The Senate committee however expressed dissatisfaction at the delays suffered by foreign missions in accessing their funds. Committee member Senator Bob Effiong (PDP, Akwa Ibom) blamed the delay in disbursement of funds to the foreign missions on dubious activities of civil servants, saying “The civil servants are the problem. You may not know, the system is being run wrongly. Do you know that some missions don’t even have enough funds to provide some necessities?”

Responding to the issue of funding of foreign missions, Chief Maduekwe said some ambassadors are in the habit of embarking on frivolous trips and they pay themselves estacodes, leaving them without funds to run the missions.
http://www.news.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11586:maduekwe-spends-n27-billion-on-foreign-trips&catid=46:lead-stories&Itemid=140

@fizofly,
thanks for the advice, i have since channel the fund into real estate business.

@Foxhunter
How are we sure you are for real?

SACK: We ’ll shut down banks - Bank workers threaten - Oceanic Bank sacks 1,500

From Adunola Fasuyi and Odidison Omankhanlen - 22.12.2009

THE ongoing mass sack in the nation’s banking sector may throw the industry into another major crisis as the organised labour on Monday threatened to shut down the affected banks this week.

Angered by the disengagement of more than 3,500 employees by two commercial banks last week and the impending sack of more workers this week, the two workers’ unions in the banking industry, the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI) and the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions’ Employees (NUBIFE), have perfected plans to fight the banks to a standstill.

He said the affected banks should prepare their mind for a shocker before the New Year.

A reliable source at the two banks told the Nigerian Tribune that the affected employees from both banks were to be paid three months basic salaries, irrespective of the number of years they had served the banks.

According to the source, the sack, which came just two days after their salaries were paid, had been hanging in the air since the beginning of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) new reform.

However, the two unions were worried that their members were being made to pay the price of the ongoing reform in the sector and, therefore, vowed to fight to the end and ensure that the welfare of their members was protected.

The General Secretary of NUBIFE, Mr. Elijah Segun, who described as unfortunate the process that led to the mass sack in banks, said the union would ensure that the welfare of its members was adequately taken care of as it could not fold its arms watching the injustice being meted out to its members.

“When the banks recapitalised, we were at the receiving end; when they re-engineered, we were at the receiving end; they are now sanitising, and we are also at the receiving end, despite the fact that we are not privy to the perpetration of the so-called atrocity in the industry. This is not fair on our members and very unfortunate that it is happening this way,” he said.

He expressed disappointment that despite the directive by the Federal Government to the CBN to stem the wave of mass sack in banks, a contrary order by the apex bank management was brewing trouble in most of the financial institutions.

Similarly, the Secretary-General of ASSBIFI, Jarvis Erhomosele, has asked the CBN governor to be cautious in his action, adding that the wave of retrenchment in the banking sector had nothing to do with reducing cost but a mere ploy by the new chief executives to eliminate by substitution a handful of staff perceived as not being loyal to them.

The union scribe said in most cases, the sacked workers were replaced with cheaper hands and cronies of the new chief executives.

Meanwhile, in reaction to the ongoing restructuring in the banking system, the new management in Oceanic Bank International Plc has retrenched over 1,500 of its workforce.

According to sources within the bank, the retrenchment exercise, which led to the winding down of a department in the bank, cut across all cadres.

Though most of the people affected have been given their entitlements, they were said to be affected by the strategic planning put in place by the John Aboh-led management team.

The sack might be in connection with the recent directive of the CBN to the eight troubled banks to submit their strategy to cut down their operational costs.

The directive specifically asked the appointed management teams of the banks to reduce their management staff as part of the cost cutting strategy by 30 per cent.
During a recent media briefing by the management of the bank, Aboh had assured them of security of their jobs.

He, however, said there would be reduction in their non-functional operational aspects.

He argued that there was no way there would be a restructuring, especially with the kind of crisis in the sector, without retrenchment, but assured that the bank would be fair, if it would eventually embark on such exercise.

Though the apex bank had denied issuing such order, the troubled banks had been engaged in scaling down their workforce.

Since the order was given by the CBN, Intercontinental Bank Plc and Union Bank Plc had sacked some of their workers.

The banks claimed that the retrenchment was a voluntary one by the workers, but most workers complained that the managements of the banks just give them the letters to the effect
http://www.tribune.com.ng/22122009/news/news1.html

what exactly is wrong with these banks?

Banks to sack 5,000 this week - As W/Bank endorses CBN’s bank reform

From Odidison Omankhanlen and Clement Idoko - 21.12.2009

THERE are strong indications that the on-going wind of massive job cuts in banks will blow unabated before the end of the year.

Investigations by the Nigerian Tribune indicated that apart from the two banks that sacked over 4,000 workers at the weekend, four banks have also concluded plans to distribute sack letters today.

Nigerian Tribune learnt that two of the four banks fall in the category of those declared safe and sound by the recent special audit instituted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).

A source close to one of the banks that has its head office in Marina, Lagos, who pleaded anonymity, told the Nigerian Tribune that the sack letters had already been signed and would be distributed to the affected members of staff from today.

According to him, about 2,000 workers had been earmarked for sack, adding that the management kept the list as top secret, as no one could readily say who would be affected.

The source said no known criteria were employed for the exercise, stressing that it was part of cost-cutting measures.

When contacted, the national president, National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees, (NUBIFIE), Mr. Hassan Adeleke, confirmed that only two banks had contacted the union since the mass sack began, stating that since the banks said it was inevitable, what the union wanted was that there were good severance packages for those affected.

He warned that though the union was abreast of the prevailing circumstance in the banks, this should not be used as an excuse to trim the workforce.

Speaking on the development, the Chief Operating Officer, Landmark Investments, Mr. Okechukwu Amadi, said what was happening in the banking sector was highly regrettable.

Meanwhile, the World Bank has described the recent shake-up in Nigeria’s banking sector by the CBN governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, as a proactive step to save the economy from collapse.

The Managing Director, World Bank Group, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, speaking with newsmen at the inaugural graduation ceremony of the African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja, at the weekend, said Sanusi was doing a good job to restore sanity to the sector.

Okonjo-Iweala, who is also the chairperson of the board of Nelson Mandela Institute, the parent body of AUST, Abuja, added that in view of the current global financial crisis, there was the need for strong supervision and risk management of the banking sector, which she said Sanusi was doing.

The World Bank chief and Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance said “it is a good thing that we are transparent and open about our banking sector. The CBN governor is doing a good job.”

She added that the consolidation was a good thing, “but now, it is time to have strong supervision and risk management and Sanusi is doing it.”

The Minister of Science and Technology, Rwanda, Professor Romain Murenzi, in his keynote address on the occasion, urged African countries to begin to invest in science and technology as a sure way to move the continent forward.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/21122009/news/news3.html

Circumstances are the rulers of the weak,but they are instruments of the wise.
You have lost your job right?wake up the inner man in you and with God on your side success is yours in Jesus name

any new info on the glo broad access stuff?

A’Ibom Speaker jettisons plan to use juju over missing $15000
National News
Dec 19, 2009

By Tony NYONG
The Speaker of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Engr. Ignatius Kevin Edet, may have jettisoned plans to resort to the services of uncanny powers to reveal the pilferer of $15000 out of the about $50,000 that got missing in his room.

The amount, according to an impeccable source, was part of the money from the executive arm as allowance to members of the State House of Assembly.

Saturday Vanguard also gathered that while the speaker had $50,000, principal officers of the house collected $40,000, while other members got $30,000 each.

But Edet, in a quick reaction, denied knowledge of receiving such money from the executive, let alone keeping it at home for it to be pilfered.

The speaker, who had initially taken his share of the allowance home for keeps, went to the bank to lodge the cash but was miffed to discover in the bank at the point of depositing the cash with his account officer at one of the recently rescued new generation banks that about $15000 had been pilfered from the total sum.

The infuriated speaker, who this correspondent learnt had counted the money severally for confirmation, left the remaining cash with his account officer and moved straight to where he had planned to consult the native doctor who would use his powers to kill whoever stole the money.

Edet, it was however revealed, had a rethink en route the place and remembered that the only person who saw and knew where the money was kept was a principal member of the family, and having a feeling that doing anything untoward over the missing money could cause the family a more serious damage, jettisoned the plans and went back to the bank to collect the money he had earlier left with his account officer.

It is alleged that he used the money to buy a property in a choice area in Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers State.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/12/19/a’ibom-speaker-may-use-juju-over-missing-15000/

@roforofo I know the interest offered on fixed deposit is "chicken change" for some people on Nairaland but for me it is ok. I have 10 million fixed with GTB at 14% and I get paid about 343,000 Naira every 90 days. I know some will say with "e-book, forex trading, malu trading, diesel trading and haulage business" I will get much higher returns. However I am not interested in high returns. I live in the UK and I just wanted to keep money safely in my country so that I can earn reasonable returns and use the interest whenever I am visiting Nigeria without needing to ever carry forex from here when I am visiting Naija. It is also easy with GTB to manage your accounts online from abroad and make payments to family members in Nigeria in Naira without ever needing "Moneygram or Western Union".

i will go with you 100% on this.let the money earn residual income for you and be at peace .the bank does all the work while you are getting paid for that.Nice idea

@Kobojunkie,
Remember what i said ealier in this post "that is very true my brother.All power generated goes to the National grid, But i think all this stuff are real high wire politics which to me goes beyond being discuss on the pages of newspapers.Nigeria as a country am very sure has no real statiscal data on what it generates in terms of power, all we see is light from nepa.
I remember reading in the daily some few weeks ago that nnpc has no record of all the crude oil it has sold in the last 13 years, just remit what they feel like to the govt."

This has been re echoe again by Fhemmmy
when he said this: My guy the problem with power generation in Nigeria is more of a political issue than anything else.
In this year of technology, we dont have to invent a new way ot generating power, we only have to invest into it and make sure we maintain it well.



From those who reside in that state you can see conflicting views about steady electricity in that area.
Nigerian journalist are not helping matter, they report lies most of the time.
It just a shame .How can we develop with these type of people in our country.I remember an incident in my state where the state governor gives out brand new laptops to journalist who covers all thier lies and those that where label bad guys journalist where excempted from the sharing.They dont even see eye i mean some of these journalist.Governance in nigeria is synmous with deception and they are real corrupt to thier soul.
In my state the Nigeria union of journalist (NUJ) has a bar where the state govt provides the beers and suya these journalist consume everyday free of charge .How will such journalist not be corrupt and report conflicting views about event in the country.
God help this country call Nigeria

An argument has been put forth by some that it is a WASTE for states to even embark on Power generation projects of this sort because, according to them, ALL power generated goes into the National grid and likely not to the people in the states where the power was generated.

that is very true my brother.All power generated goes to the National grid, But i think all this stuff are real high wire politics which to me goes beyond being discuss on the pages of newspapers.Nigeria as a country am very sure has no real statiscal data on what it generates in terms of power, all we see is light from nepa.
I remember reading in the daily some few weeks ago that nnpc has no record of all the crude oil it has sold in the last 13 years, just remit what they feel like to the govt.

@Kobojunkie
I think the federal govt as a way of encouraging state govt. to get into the business of power generation, each state will keep a sizable part of what they generate for their own consumption which i think is good.

Pls give this award to the of my state ,governor of Kogi state .He smokes indian hemp most of the times and appointed idiots and mediocares to sensitive govt positions.The man is confused i dont just know how he is getting away with all this rot in the state .Efcc where are you?

Akwa Ibom Enjoys Uninterrupted Power
From Okon Bassey in Uyo, 12.16.2009
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Akwa Ibom has in the last four months enjoyed uninterrupted power supply given the successful completion of its Independent Power Plant (IPP) at Ikot-Abasi Local Government Area.

All the communities within 10 kilometres from the plant have experienced smooth supply of electricity. The IPP is expected to provide uninterrupted power to all parts of the state in a gradual process. From yesterday, 11 megawatts was released to the people in Eket and environs. According to the authorities, in the next two weeks, Uyo, the state capital, and other parts of the state are expected to be energized by power from the IPP.

The first phase of the 685 megawatts Ibom Power Plant has the capacity to generate 191 megawatts into the national grid. The Minister of Power, Dr. Lanre Babalola, who authorized the exercise after visiting the plant in Ikot Abasi, commended Governor Godswill Akpabio for his commitment to completing the project which he inherited at about 40 per cent completion stage from the administration of Obong Victor Attah.

Babalola said by completing and switching on the power, Akpabio was fulfilling his electoral promises and contributing to the Federal Government’s quest to provide 6,000 megawatts of power by the end of December 2009. The minister had in an interview with journalists at Akwa Ibom International Airport before his departure to Abuja, lauded Governor Akpabio for his courage in undertaking the project.

Babalola observed that since the Eket line had been energized, the second turbine would also be energized to enable other people enjoy stable power supply in the state and beyond. He disclosed that work was on-going in Delta and Afam Power Plants and hoped that challenges to successful completion would be resolved.

The minister acknowledged that the project would raise the standard of living while the airport would open up the state to the international community. Akpabio, who commended his predecessor, Attah, for initiating the project, said he completed it in fulfillment of one his campaign promises to improve the lives of citizens in the state. He recalled that during the elections, the people massively voted for him hence the need to do more for them to reciprocate their kind gesture.

The governor said other local government areas would soon be linked to the Ibom Power Plant. Akpabio called on the Federal Government to deregulate the gas sector to enable interested companies harness abundant gas reserve for stable electricity supply in the country. Akpabio argued that inadequate gas supply to IPPs could stifle Federal Government’s effort to meet the power supply needs of Nigerians.

According to him, “We recognize the inadequacy of Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) to supply gas to all companies in the country. We were proactive by entering into an agreement with Seventh Energy which is a guarantee form to harness the abundant gas reserves in the state and deposited $33 million with the company”.

The governor appealed to the ministry of power to include Ibom Power Plant in the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) of the Federal Government. He added: “Let Ibom Power Plant be the first to sign agreement with PPA. Now that we have energized our IPP line starting from Eket, I want you to use us as a nucleus in signing PPA. We are ready to offload our remaining megawatts to your power line to boost the National grid.”

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=162069

@zebra,
He was a university graduate and even studied with govt. schorlaship in America up to MSc level.

when you fail to plan, you already plan to fail.That would have been a long term goal (a year ahead of time)
Dont you work? how are you going to survive in school?