I want to use this medium to ask good people on Naijabook who truly believe in Rebranding to please ask the government of President Yaradua what has suddenly halt the Barracks Renovation Project,which has been halted since Dec, 2008.The commision was given the mandate to renovate all the Barracks in the Nation. This project kicked off last year , so far the first phase was just a flash in a pan, The second phase kicked off around August last year.I am using the NAF BASE Kaduna as my reference point. The jobs are almost 70% completed , while the contractors were commited to finishing the job and getting their Balance.The job came to an halt by December 2008 following the end of financial year. while the finishing was slated for this tear January, after sighning of budget.Up till now,August nothing is heard from PCBR again, while the contractors were being stranded as many of them went for Bank Facility. Their money is hooked up, while the job is incomplete.The question is. How many years is PCBR going to spend on a phase ,and when is Yaradua going to comlete the renovation project.Si it going to be 2020? or is he going to be till thy kingdom come?Abeg make una help me ask dem ooo.
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Posted by 9jabook.com on August 25, 2009 at 9:11pm
I recieved this today in my email box maybe it was in error or a brand spanking new type of f.ra.ud. by the ever versatile youths in Naija's ASUU Strike Summer School.
After reading, either the banks policy on initial funding varies as i know from the details in the mastecard i have from GTBank that a minimum of $200 USD is required to fund your Master Card at inception.In this email it says $100Or is this some way to kidnap or lure (you never know ) Adesuyi Folashade whoever she is ?
As far as i am concerned GTbank is perhaps the most efficient Bank I have had dealings with during my stay in Naija.It is almost impossible to use a foreign credit Card to make online payments from naija.Beleive me I have tried And the Folks at the GTbank Master Card/ATM Department have shown tremendous professionalism in making my Card go live in less than 10days ! A record even according to UK standards ! .
Although Bank policy says I have to go to the mallams at eko hotel to purchase dollars to fund my account !
Dear ADESUYI FOLASHADE
We wish to inform you that your GTBank MasterCard is ready for collection at our Ikoyi branch.
The GTBank Master Card "The Preferred"
- Is acceptable worldwide as a means of payment for goods and services at over 26
- Million Master Card location and over 1 million ATMs in more than 210 countries.
- It can be used on POS terminals, ATMs, Mail order, Telephone Order, Internet, etc.
- It is convenient and safe and eliminates risk of carrying cash.
- Access to online statement to monitor your spending.
Once you receive your card please ensure that you do the following before first use:
1. Your Personal Identification Number (PIN) should be delivered in sealed pin mailer, if tampered with, please do not collect and notify us immediately
2. Sign the back of your card immediately on the multicolored panel with an ink pen
3. Fund your MasterCard Dollar domiciliary account with a minimum of $100 before activation
4. Call GTBANK Cardholder Services on 234-1-4618714-5, 234-1-2713193 234-1-4612901,234-1-4610906, 234-1-4610907,234-1-7404210, 234-1-7404211,234-1-7404212,234-1-4480027, 234-1-4480028 or 234-1-2714218 to activate your card before the first use (please have your GT Bank account details ready before you call)
For further enquires, please call the undersigned or GTConnect: 234-1-4480000; 0803-9003900; 0802-9002900
PS: Kindly ignore this mail if you have picked up your card already.
Thank you for your continued patronage.
Best regards.
Chidi Nnadi
cardservices@gtbank.com
www.gtbplc.com
E-Business & Card Services | Guaranty Trust Bank plc | Tiamiyu Savage
Tiamiyu Savage, V.I | Lagos, Nigeria. | Tel: +234-01-4480028, 7404210| Fax: +234-01-4480026
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American singer Chris Brown has been sentenced to five years probation and six months hard labour.Reading the verdict in Los Angeles , Judge Patricia Schnegg said Brown is to perform the hard labour at the Commonwealth Catholic Charities in Richmond, Virginia where he must also take a 52-week domestic violence course.Brown who pleaded guilty to the charge of assault must stay 100 yards away from Rihanna, except under an entertainment plat form.The protective order is expected to last five years.
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LAGOS— For two weeks running, the dust raised in the nation’s banking sector refused to settle with events happening in quick succession.Only yesterday, the former Managing Directors of Afribank Plc and Fin Bank Plc, Mr Sebastian Adigwe and Mr Okey Nwosu, respectively, also removed two weeks ago by the CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, were yesterday ordered to be released on bail by the EFCC by the same court, eight days after their arrest.
Mrs Farida Waziri, Chairman, EFCC, right, during a press conference on banks' debtors in Lagos, yesterday. Photo by Kehinde GbadamosiThis is coming as the former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Oceanic Bank Plc, Mrs Cecilia Ibru, who was last Sunday, declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, was granted leave by a Lagos State High Court, to enforce her fundamental human rights against the commission.Meanwhile, the EFCC boss, Mrs Farida Waziri, in what she termed “an update on the agency’s investigations in the banking sector” said that bank loan defaulters would be arraigned in court as conspirators along with the bank chiefs.Speaking in Lagos, Waziri said, “we have compiled a comprehensive list of all the defaulters.In fact, the reason we have not arraigned some of the bank executives in our custody is because we wanted to be sure about the defaulters so that we can arraign them as conspirators alongside the bank chiefs. Our operatives are fully mobilised to ensure that the exercise is successful.”In another reaction, the organised labour, through the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, also warned Mallam Sanusi, yesterday that if the current house cleaning in the banking sector must be taken very seriously by all, it must not in any way be turned into an instrument for reigning in opponents of the government at the centre.The NLC’s General Secretary, John Odah in Abuja, said the apex bank must note that no modern economy can survive without industrialists and other sectors of the economy having an unfettered access to loans and credits, adding that it has become imperative for CBN to amplify caution in the wake of the politics of who is and who is not on the bankers’ debtor’s list.Ibru gets court leaveIbru’s counsel, Mr Niyi Akintola (SAN), in the suit against the EFCC, the Attorney General of the Federation, Inspector General of Police, Director General of the State Security Service, Governor of CBN and the CBN, is sought to enforce her fundamental human rights.He had contented that the threat to her client’s right to movement was a violation of the constitution and that Mrs Ibru was denied the right to fair hearing before the August 14 directive of the CBN Governor, relieving her of her position.Akintola, argued the two applications filed in court, but the trial judge, Justice Bukola Adebiyi, granted some of the prayers, directing that Ibru should serve the AGF, IG, DG SSS through the AGF while EFCC should be served directly with the court processes.According to the court, “leave of the court is granted for the accelerated hearing of the applications. Leave is also granted to the applicant (Ibru) to enforce her fundamental human rights against the respondents.”The court further directed that the applicant should not be harassed, intimidated or embarrassed by the respondents, adding that the applicant should not be subjected to any inhuman or degrading treatment that is inconsistent with Section 34 of the 1999 constitution, pointing out, however, it (court) could not restrain or prevent the EFCC from performing its statutory functions.According to the court, if the commission wants to investigate or arrest the applicant, it should do so within the confine of section 35 of the constitution. as further hearing in the matter was adjourned till September 7, 2009.Adiwe, Nwosu get bailFor Adigwe and Nwosu, the court ordered their release on bail, following an application by their counsel. The court also restrained the EFCC from engaging in any act that could undermine or jeopardize the rights of the applicants to their freedom as enshrined in the constitution.The trial judge, Justice Bukola Adebiyi, further directed the processes filed in the matter, to be served on the respondent at its Lagos office not later than seven days.Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), counsel to the Nwosu and Adigwe, had argued that the detention of the two former bank Managing Directors beyond the stipulated period was a violation of their fundamental human rights.He had further contended that despite the fact that his clients met the conditions of the administrative bail granted them by the EFCC, the commission refused to release them.Nwosu and Adigwe are meanwhile seeking N50 million damages each against the EFCC and a public apology for the violation of their fundamental human rights.They are praying the court to declare their arrest and detention as unlawful and a violation of Sections 34 and 35 of the constitution and Article four and five of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act.They also want the court to declare that “the acts of the respondent founded on the highly publicized and injuring purported order of removal issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria on the basis of the conclusions/recommendations of a purported Special Examination report of the apex bank which the applicants were never availed the opportunity to rebut and particularly the arrest and detention were unlawful, unconstitutional and a gross breach of the doctrine of fair hearing as enshrined in the constitution.EFCC to charge bank debtors as conspiratorsMeanwhile, following the expiration of the seven-day ultimate given to individuals and corporate bodies that are indebted to the five banks to liquidate their debts yesterday, Mrs Waziri yesterday said those who failed to do so should be prepared to face the consequences.She added that information available to the commission indicated that some of the debtors were holding secret meetings and strategising to escape arrest and prosecution while others were preparing to go to court to seek protection against arrest and prosecution.Warizi argued that while it was within the right of every Nigerian to seek redress against perceived wrong, the judiciary should guide against frivolous interlocutory application from bank debtors at this time.Insisting that the country was going through a critical time in the banking sector, the EFCC chair said what some of the individuals and organisations have done was economic sabotage, which any reasonable person should not support and let them get away with, even as she appealed to all stakeholders to co-operate with the commission in the effort to recover the loans, beginning from today.She disclosed that her commission had compiled a comprehensive list of all the defaulters, noting that the reason the commission had not arraigned some of the bank executives in its custody was because it wanted to be sure about the defaulters, so that it can arraign them as conspirators along with the bank chiefs.“We have compiled a comprehensive list of all the defaulters. In fact the reason we have not arraigned some of the bank executives in our custody is because we wanted to be sure about the defaulters so that we can arraign them as conspirators alongside the bank chiefs. Our operatives are fully mobilised to ensure that the exercise is successful”, she added.NLC warnsNLC meanwhile in a statement in Abuja, said “it is our hope and prayer that the CBN Governor and his team will resist the pressure, to turn an otherwise patriotic and professional. Act into a horse Whip, for whipping political dissent into line, as was perceived to be the case of the EFCC in the dying days of the Obasanjo Administration.“The present contestations whether some loans were performing or not would have been avoided if more measured processes were adopted. Such obvious openings are the ways in which the hawks in our politics would want to begin horse trading and we must not allow this. Any attempt to use this exercise to exert undue pressure on legitimate bank creditors, in order to leverage any political divide, will be most dishonourable and costly to our democracy.“In our last press statement on the ‘The Shake-up in the Banking Sector” in the country issued on the 17th August 2009, we expressed our support for the bold move of the CBN governor to sanitize and stabilize the banking sector.This in effect meant that the culprits indicted have to be identified and made to face the sanctions prescribed by law. We also in that statement pointed out that the sanitization and sanctioning of individuals, groups and corporate organizations must be done within the circumference of the law of the land.”“We noted that “the so-called bad loans in the books of the banks need to be recovered. Too often, well connected and highly placed individuals deliberately seek to rip off the system. All legal means must be employed to recover all loans.While noting Mr. President’s order to the nation’s security agencies to help the banks in recovering the loans, we wish to caution that this must be done within the orbit of existing laws. This was our position and it has not changed.“As the Managers of our apex bank are fully aware, no modern economy can survive without industrialists and other sectors of the economy having an unfettered access to loans’ and credits. The CBN and its leadership must ensure that its otherwise laudable patriotic and professional initiative does not get enmeshed in unwholesome political intrigues.The current house cleaning in the banking sector must not be allowed to be turned into an instrument for reigning in opponents of the government at the centre. We will watch this process closely to ensure that this process does not degenerate.”
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She is the voice we once heard on radio. Then she hit the music scene in the all girl group Emete. The group split in 2005 with the three members going their separate ways. She thereafter cut out to do her thing. With her new album, Michelle Ugbo Christened herself Ashionye.She has been a brand in the Nigerian music scene since then. In 2007, she gave birth to the Girlpower concert. An initiative aimed at empowering female musicians. Yesterday, at Onikan Stadium, the second edition of Girl Power kicked off with two more shows to follow in Ibadan and Benin. In this interview, Ashionye opened up to Sunday Entertainment on why an all female concert became necessary. Enjoy it.WHY are you doing an all girl thing? Won’t it be better to compete with the men?If you look around very closely, you’d see that the male musicians have dominated the music scene. I’ve taken proposals to a lot of people and companies concerning female shows and no one wants to sponsor.What I hear is, “it’s a female thing, will people come and watch? I don’t want my product to be associated with women only.” It’s funny because it’s the woman who says, “my husband lets go and see this show or there is this product in the market lets buy it”. Women are the ones who sell ideas to their partners.But female musicians are not really getting the needed support to grow. Girl power is my idea. I call it a movement. I’m passionate about women empowerment and I want to do it through the kind of work that I do-music. That is the way I feel I can reach people.We hope we can keep this going. because it is an amazing concept and we also hope that after Nigeria, we would take over Africa and then the world.Don’t musicians already have the female wing where some of your thoughts can be articulated?I’m looking at starting up a forum. I’ve discussed with some other female musicians in the industry and women outside the music industry but who are interested in music and entertainment.I’m looking at starting a forum in September when we have a break in between. I want to get women to talk about the issues that we have, how to move ourselves forward, the problems that we have amongst ourselves, how to support one another, get every one to come and air their views. I’m working on that and I have people who are already interested.Are there fundamental issues that hinder women in the entertainment industry?Its that same thing. They say she’s a woman now. Let’s push a man. We don’t want our product to be associated with women only. Things like that. Honestly, if you sit down and listen to songs done by musicians both men and women, you’d find that women sing better than men world over.But I guess it’s a typical Nigerian or African thing that women come after the men even if she is better. I’ve been in the industry nine years and counting and it’s been like that all the way. Whether I do something good or not.It’s nice that you are trying to get the female musicians together but it isn’t it ironic that your all girl group, Emete couldn’t stay together? What is your relationship with other members of the group now?We are still trying to work on that, meanwhile, everyone is doing different things at the moment. I would say Emete had issues because we were young and naive and everything was given to us on a platter of gold.We didn’t have to pay for everything because we were signed to a record label that took care of all the expenses. We were not like some others who struggled, spending their own money to get things done. We had everything given to us so we took that for granted.But over the years, I have learnt from that experience and we are still working on getting back to being friends. I won’t say it’s a shame but it’s a gradual process. We each had issues with each other that we are coming to terms with now and we are understanding that we did a lot of childish stuff. Now we are older, now we are women, let’s get back to being friends. So we are working on that.Nigerians like to see known faces when they go to shows. Some of the artists for this year are relatively unknown why is that so?I got the honour of picking the girls on this tour as well as the previous one. These girls are hot at the moment and they are strong women and its our own way of saying lets empower the Nigerian female musician.What message exactly do you want to pass on to these women, something that would probably inform a theme for the concert?Last year after every artist had performed, we came together and we did the theme song, “I’m a woman”. This time around, we are doing “what a feeling”. It was originally done by Irene Cara. It’s a Tetmosol theme song. We are going to be performing that together. And we want to empower women again with that song.What’s the response like with the first edition of the Girl Power?It was amazing. If you remember, women paid N1,500 and men came in free as long as they came with a woman. We did a role switch in 2007. We had female body guards and male ushers. Funmi Iyanda was the compere. It was a role switch.It was our night kind of thing. We had the former first lady, Mrs Remi Tinubu attend and after the show, she went with us to the Remand Home in Idi Araba to make donations from ticket sales. There we had a little concert for the girls. We spent about three hours there We also donated part of the money to Little Saints Orphanage.Yes, we are women but we don’t want people to push us to the back. We are not saying we don’t respect our men, we love and respect our men but appreciate us not for the fact that we are women and we are made to remain in the house or kitchen as mothers. Of course, those are roles but we are multi task.What about some of those who turned you back two years ago?Some of the people who turned me back actually bit their fingers because what we had was actually overwhelming. I had a lot of people coming up to me, a lot of upcoming musicians and even established ones asking me when the next one is coming. Some told me I inspired them and they would like to be part of the next one.Even people who were not in entertainment came up to me and started humming the ‘girl power’ theme song. Depending on Tetmosol, we are hoping that the concert will be sustained. Already, this year, it has expanded to three cities.What has life been like?Life has been amazing. I’ve been busy. My second album is about ready. I have two singles playing on the radio. The second album will feature MI, Nomolose, Banky W, Mo Cheddah, Pipe and BB. I must not fail to mention too that I’ve done two movies. One is titled Jungle Ride and the other one is a comedy, “Mumu” which I did with Kofi.Image is something that is very difficult for a lot of celebrities to manage. How have you coped?Well, this is me. What you see on stage or red carpet is actually who I am. I’m not forcing it contrary to what a lot of people say or what has been written by the press. I’ve always been the kind of person who wants to go on an adventure with image. I want to experience things.I want to do things that people are afraid of taking a step forward to do. The whole entertainment thing, the whole music thing, I didn’t grow up in the face of a camera, I didn’t have a famous dad who was always in the limelight and dragging me along. It was different but I had people from the record label and my management who were able to bring me back to earth.I’ve learnt from these experienced hands that you still have to remain the same person to make it. Don’t let the fame or the name or the money change you and that’s who I am right now.
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The leggy queen of beauty who is one of the relevant faces in Nollywood today has perfected all plans to have the Nigeria's premier of her award-winning movie, Through the Glass.The multi-million naira movie where she's the only African featured in is slated to be premiered on 13th of September at the Silverbird Galleria, Lagos.After the premier, the movie will now be released for public consumption from the 16th of September, 2009. While a lot of Lagosians eagerly await the coming of the movie, the Port-Harcourt based movie lovers have bombarded the ticketing section of the galleria to purchase their tickets.Meanwhile, Steph who has also dabbled into fashion is happy about people's anxiousness for her exciting movie. “It makes me feel real cool' she said.
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It has come to this.In the free-for-all that was our banking system, even a nanny could obtain a N13 billion loan from one of our top banks. Especially if she is the owner's nanny.Such was the good fortune of Nanashetu Abdulai, who served Cecilia Ibru as nanny to her eldest son, Oboden.Billion naira Nanny "Mcphee" Nanashetu Bedell her Husband and the Loan Giver CeCeIBRUIn our banking system, this was enough collateral to persuade Oceanic Bank, which is now on life support and has been taken over by the Central Bank, to extend billions to Nanashetu. At least officially.Ms. Abdulai, 51, also known as Nanashetu P. Bedell, received what is now being called the "nanny loan" based solely on her relationship with Mrs. Ibru, who is now a fugitive from the law and is wanted on fraud, money laundering, and stock manipulation charges by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. As at May 31, the loan was non-performing, according to a list released by the Central Bank.Attempts to reach Ms. Abdulai at both her office and by telephone were unsuccessful.Ms. Abdulai secured the loan as the sole director of Circular Global International Ltd. The company turned up as debtor number 13 on the CBN list of debtors to Oceanic Bank, is also the chief executive of the upscale corporate and household gift items suppliers called Nanshet Limited. Its head office is on Akin Olugbade high street of Victoria Island in Lagos.Nanshet Ltd trades in corporate and household gift items and supplies majority, if not all, of Oceanic Bank's corporate souvenirs and staff insignias. Mrs. Ibru's signature neckties are samples of Nanshet's supplies.Nanshet Limited started business in 1990 selling only Christian Books and Gifts. It now specialises in the procurement and distribution of electronics, household items and corporate gifts on a wholesale and retail level. It opened an American office in 2002Ms. Abdulai was the nanny to the former Managing Director of Oceanic Bank and the first son of Mrs. Ibru, Oboden Ibru, but has become a close member of the family."She is generally called Sister Nana within Oceanic Bank," said one source. Another source referred to her as "Cecilia Ibru's twin sister," establishing the close relationship which Ms. Abdulai shares with the Ibru family and also alluding to the influence that Ms. Abdulai wields away from the domestic domain of the Ibru family to the corporate quarters where public funds are held."It is conventional wisdom in Oceanic that the fear of Sister Nana is the beginning of wisdom," said an insider who pleaded anonymity at Oceanic Bank Headquarters on Ozumba Mbadiwe Street on Victoria Island, Lagos.No. 4 Akin Olugbade Street is just a white, plain looking one-storey building that is unremarkable in every aspect apart from sharing a fence with an Oceanic Bank branch. It looks more like a residential building than an office space. In a section of the compound, heaps of ceramic tiles are packed amid large wooden boxes.Nanshet Mega Stores sell luxury gift items, including flower vases, ceramic plates, steel trolleys and large aluminium and enamel pots and dishes. It is located at the ground floor of City Mall directly opposite the entrance of the mall.
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Recently, the Director of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), Tim Daniel, revealed that Nigeria loses $110 billion annually to treasury looting. According to him, the country cannot boast of tremendous development because of the large amount of money being siphoned out of government and taken outside the country.Saturday Sun’s findings reveal that Daniel hit the bull in the eye. Every ministry, government’s agency and parastatal corporation have been discovered to be involved in the looting spree. Indeed, during her first anniversary as Chairman of Economic Finance and Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri noted that former governors, ministers and members of parliament alone have stolen N285billion in this political dispensation.With this and other reported cases of corruption Transparency International cannot therefore be faulted in its position that corruption is high in Nigeria.It would be recalled that one of the reasons the military sacked the civilian government of Shehu Shagari on December 31, 1983 was corruption. Corruption still continues. When what happened then is compared to the looting in the last 10 years, the former pales into insignificance. When the country started another journey in democracy, led by Olusegun Obasanjo, a probe was instituted against the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, which led to the discovery that the former military junta sole $3billion from the country’s treasurer.The uproar this generated and the recrimination it attracted to the Abacha family did not deter others from helping themselves from the treasury, whether it is national, state or local government levels.Saturday Sun gathered that on daily basis political office holders’ siphoned money, through various means, from the treasury. Recently, the National Coordinator, Nigeria Network on Stolen Assets, Rev. David Ugolor, revealed that the N65billion looted by Abacha, which had been returned, had been mismanaged. According to him, from evidence the Federal Government, under Obasanjo, disbursed the funds and could not provide evidence of transparent disbursement. The same fate greeted the N16billion recovered from Tafa Balogun, which was said to be missing and no record to trace it.When Obasanjo assumed office in 1999, he adorned the messiah toga. In fighting corruption, he set up the EFCC, with Nuhu Ribadu as its chairman. The anti-graft agency started blowing hot until it turned out to be a tool for hounding perceived or real enemies of the president. Ribadu, while appearing before the Senate in 2007, told the bewildered nation that the agency had investigated then serving governors and that 31 out of the 36 of them had been found to have allegedly looted the treasury of their respected states and would be prosecuted as soon as their immunity expired.Curiously, when the tenure of these governors ended, only six of them who were said not to be in the good books of Obasanjo were taken to court by the agency. Not much was known about the extent of looting of the national treasury until the National Assembly started probing various agencies, ministries and parastatals. The figures coming out from some of the probes that represent what have been looted are frightening. It was from the probes that Nigerian realised why the problem of the energy sector had defied solution and why the country has been in perpetual darkness. Over $16 billion, said to have spent by Obasanjo’s government to find solution to the perennial darkness, went into private pockets.The usual Nigeria’s conundrum was introduced in the probe, which made the report to be confined to the trash bin. The hunter later turned the hunted. Ndudi Elumelu, the head of the probe committee, is now facing trial with four others for alleged perpetration of monumental fraud of N5.2b.Those involved are Chairman, Senate Committee on Power; Senator Nicholas Ugbare, his House of Representatives counterpart, Ndudi Elumelu; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power, Dr. Abdulahi Aliyu and Managing Director of Rural Electrification Agency, Samuel Gekpe.Another sleaze at Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) involved N3billion alleged stolen by the suspended Chairman of the agency, Dr. Ransome Owan and six commissioners. They are currently facing trial on 197-count at an Abuja High Court. Of this amount, N77million was said to have been spent on overseas frolicking and cost of living allowances.Yet another case of looting is in educational sector, while the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) is lamenting the high level of adult illiteracy in Nigeria, the literacy commission boss was involved in N271m fraud, which is part of the amount meant to reduce the illiteracy rate in the country. According to latest report of UNESCO, Nigeria is classified as one of the countries at a serious risk of not attaining the Education for All (EFA) goal by 2015. The report claimed that there are about 60 million adult illiterates and 11 million out-of-school children in Nigeria. It rated Nigeria as one of the most illiterate in the world. In the face of this negative index, the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Adult Education, Mass Literacy and Non-Formal Education, Dr. Dayo Olagunju and 19 officers of the commission are being prosecuted for the alleged fraud.The Director of the Universal Basic Education Commission, Prof. Bridget Sokan and three top officers are also facing trial over N78million loot. Also, while the universities are crying of under-funding and lecturers on strike, the Vice Chancellor of Imo State University, Prof. I. C. Okonkwo, has been arrested in connection with N70million fraud. When his house was searched, the sum of N4.5million cash, $11, 200 and 700 Euros were found in his apartment in Owerri.Former Minister of Aviation, Prof. Babalola Borishade, NAMA’s former Managing Director, Roland Iyayi and two others were fingered in N19billion loot. They are facing criminal charges in court.The football house is not left out. It was recently reported that $236, 000 was stolen from coffers of Nigerian Football Federation. Funny enough, the National Sports Commission, the supervising agency inaugurated committee to trace the money. The committee, after collecting sitting allowance, did not come up with any finding.The National Film Corporation has its pie in the shame, as its Managing Director, Afolabi Adesanya and four directors were recently arrested for allegedly sharing of N11.8m belonging to the agency.The Trans National Corporation (TRANCOP) is also in the news as it relates to corruption. Its Group Managing Director, Thomas Isegoli, is in the net of EFCC for fraud. The amount involved is more than N15billion. He is being held with the company’s Secretary, Mohammed Buba and another official, Mike Okoli.The GMD is said to have, in connivance with other staff, severally abused the N100million approval limit given to him by the Board of TRANSCORP. He allegedly used organisations owned by his friends and associates to siphon money through bogus and overlapping consultancy projects, contracts and services.The Chairman, Federal Character Commission, Prof. Oba Shuaibu Abdulraheem, was last September accused of involvement in N262million scam. A petition on this issue was sent to President Umar Yar’Adua and Code of Conduct Bureau. Chief Bode George and others are also facing charges over scam in the Nigeria Ports authority. Former Senate President, Adolphs Nwagbara with Prof. Ebere Osuji, former education minister and others are also facing corruption charges, likewise serving Senator Iyabo Obasanjo and Prof Adenike Grange, who are alleged to have corruptly enriched themselves to the tune of N300million.At the peak of the Obasanjo campaign for the cancellation of Nigeria’s foreign debt, United Kingdom Minister for Africa, Mr. Chris Mullin disclosed, on February 2005, that about N315.5billion of Nigeria’s looted funds were frozen in various British banks. He had said that Nigeria’s quest for debt cancellation would be a mirage if corruption and looting of the treasure persisted in the country. From reports, Nigeria’s stolen money kept in foreign accounts in 1999 increased from $50billion to $170billion in 2003. This was buttressed in the June 2006 edition of The Africa Report by the former Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mr. Raymond Baker, who had estimated stolen money from Nigeria and stashed away in foreign banks to be about $100b.Baker, who put the total value of “dirty money” laundered globally at $500million per annum, also noted that about 50 percent of these funds, which come from developing economies end up in US dollar dominated accounts.Saturday Sun gathered that the sum of N53.3billion owed failed banks in the country and now considered bad debts came about as a result of insider abuse or outright stealing by officials of those banks. Before the collapsed of these banks, some of them went to the Nigerian Stock Exchange to raise funds to assist them come out of the woods. This ended with much of the funds being diverted to other uses by the unscrupulous officials of the banks.Of all these funds stashed away in foreign banks, in 2006, the then Attorney General of the Federation declared that the Federal Government could only recover $1billion.By VINCENT UKONG KALU(vin@sunnwsonline.com) Culled from The Sun
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Pop star Michael Jackson died from a lethal dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol given in a cocktail of drugs, leading authorities to suspect his doctor of manslaughter, court documents showed on Monday.The "Thriller" singer suffered cardiac arrest and died on June 25 at age 50. Since then, an investigation by state and federal agencies have focused on Conrad Murray, Jackson's personal doctor who was at his bedside the day he died.The findings, contained in a warrant to search Murray's home and offices, paint a picture of an insomniac pop star who could not sleep without heavy medication. Jackson sought out propofol -- routinely used to sedate patients and anesthetize them before surgeries such as a colonoscopy -- and called it his "milk.""The Los Angeles Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner, Dr. (Lakshmanan) Sathyavagiswaran, indicated that he had reviewed the preliminary toxicology results and his preliminary assessment of Jackson's cause of death was due to lethal levels of propofol (diprivan)," according to a warrant to search Murray's offices issued by California.The document was unsealed and released by the Harris County District Clerk in Houston, where Murray has an office. U.S. agents raided the office on July 22.In an affidavit seeking the warrant, Houston police officer E.G. Chance said U.S. agents had gathered "items constituting evidence of the offense of manslaughter that tend to show that Dr. Conrad Murray committed the said criminal offense."Murray's attorney, Ed Chernoff, was not available to comment.In a statement, a representative said Jackson's family has "full confidence in the legal process, and commends the ongoing efforts of the L.A. County Coroner, the L.A. District Attorney and the L.A. Police Department."Murray, who was with Jackson on June 25 administering drugs to ease the pop star to sleep, gave him a range of medication including a 25-milligram dose of propofol via an intravenous drip at 10:40 a.m. PDT, the state search warrant said.Jackson was "very familiar" with propofol and referred to it as his "milk" because of its milky appearance, the warrant said. Murray, who had been treating Jackson for about six weeks leading up to his death, was worried that Jackson was addicted to propofol. Murray was trying to wean him off the drug by giving him smaller doses, it said.OVATION Cella Miss 9jabookOVATION Cella Miss 9jabookJason Hymes, an assistant clinical professor at the University of Southern California who is not associated with the case, said the drug was a true anesthetic. "You administer it to somebody and then operate on them ... This concept of giving somebody a general anesthetic for sleep disturbance strikes me as just bizarre and astoundingly inappropriate."In the early hours of June 25, Murray also gave Jackson doses of anti-anxiety medications Valium and Ativan and sedative Versed, the filing said.Jackson went to sleep after Murray gave him the propofol, and Murray stayed by his side for about 10 minutes, then left "to go to the restroom and relieve himself," the search warrant said.Murray was out of Jackson's room for about 2 minutes and when he returned, Jackson was no longer breathing, the warrant said. (Reuters)
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We all are called to do the work of charity. In this case, there is no barrier and by that I mean how much you have. Sometimes we think it’s meant for those who have enough but let it be clear that human wants are insatiable for even the rich are still wanting for more wealth like the famous Oliva Twist. Charity as the Holy bible says covers a multitude of sin. This implies that God Almighty has every authority to forgive our iniquities just because we partake in the work of helping humanity (i.e. charity). Again, it does not mean we frequently sin and then take the antidote ‘charity work’ to cancel our debt. Not at all, we are made special by the creator of all things to control the environment we live in. You are never on your own as you cannot do without the other, so no man is an island. Something came to mind when I am concluding this writing about the parable of the rich fool in the bible who parked his rich harvests in the stores and was throwing party. He never woke up the next day as God demanded his soul. If one keeps wanting and remained insatiable in life, he may get full satisfaction in the grave and who knows what next?Today we have charity organizations, philanthropists and international bodies doing the work of charity. The common truth here is that they are not paid back reason because the clients are not poised to pay, instead they reap and that’s practical love. The work of charity does far more than donation. Charity in our various homes gives rise to a better society because the home is the fundamental part of the society where various characters abound. Contributing partially or immensely in moral upbringing of people around you is charity as well. This time around is it more than making donations as money could not buy you life; life eternal. Let’s build our homes with charity and love so that the society will improve. Helping others morally is very important while giving alms is nice as well but let’s merge the two (i.e. helping morality and doing almsgiving). If I keep giving to someone without giving morals or exhibiting true love through character, the beneficiaries see it as ordinary thing. Please note that the author is writing with experience using the teachings of Christ Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. Here he refers to the feeding of the 5000 men by Christ Jesus. At first they love listening to his sermons, secondly he performed miracles but Christ himself feeling for them demanded that a miracle be made and that was the multiplication of few loafs of bread. Remark that he (Jesus Christ) fed the moral food first before the perishable bread.Like the author stated initially, we are all stakeholders in the work of charity. There should not be excuses here because you are given all it takes to exercise your right as real humans. Your conscience tells you better when you are doing anything to salvage the world. No matter how little you have, ensure you share with others. See that the candle does not lose any light igniting the other candle as so is charity. Give and you receive.
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Posted by Politics X on August 23, 2009 at 10:34pm
Is Lamido Sanusi the new Nuhu Ribadu? ByAustyn OganahA couple of months ago during a chat with with an attorney friend of mine, I expressed my reservations over the cozy and unhealthy relationship between the then Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Professor Charles Soludo and some commercial bank Chief Executives. I saw the relationship as unethical and capable of compromising the regulatory duties of the apex bank. During his tenure at the helm of the regulator bank, there were several speculations about the frail state of the banking sector in the country, but the goverrnor at several instances debunked the claims, and instead was full of praises for the banks and their superfly CEOs. Today we know the true state of ten local banks, five of them are at this time under intensive care on life support. What I find most intriguing is that nobody from the apex bank came out to warn investors or depositors secretly or otherwise, that there were serious problems in the banking sector. Where were the so-called financial analysts and the business desk reporters when things were falling apart? When did journalism become only reproducing press releases and statements? Whatever happened to investigative journalism? Sad to note that during Prof. Soludo's reign, the Chief Executives were king. They got away with a lot of unethical practices. I recall that in 2007, Zenith Bank reneged on paying dividends to common stock holders and no regulator sanctioned the bank for it.The new CBN Chief, Mr. Sanusi Lamido Aminu Sanusi, until his appointment last month was himself a Chief Executive of one of Nigeria's oldest banks, First Bank. Those who know him, say he is a no- nonsense professional to the core. I gather his peers and a couple of interests lobbied against his appointment, because he was seen as someone who could upset the status quo, instead they pushed for Prof. Soludo's tenure extension. Looks like the new Czar is actually what they say he is. In an interview he granted the FT of London just after his appointment, he hinted on the audit report, that has today gunned down five bank Chief Executives so far. Will there be more casualties when the special examination is concluded in September? Which CEO's will be the last men standing? How did these banks get into trouble anyway?The boom in the country's Capital Market and the successful public offers during the last consolidation exercise, left the banks with loads of cash in their vaults. This unfortunately became the waterloo of these affected banks. Their Chief Executives obviously got carried away making out loans recklessly without proper risk assessment, management and corporate governance. Most of the loans made to their cronies were either invested in the Capital Markets, Oil and Gas or channelled towards funding extravagantly expensive lifestyles. Hence when the global recession came knocking, the value of the investments in stocks and energy nose dived and the banks were left with a huge hole in their vaults, as borrowers were neither able to finance their loans nor payback the principal loans. These loans have since been declared as non performing or bad loans.There has been frustration and outrage from the investing public because the executives ran these banks as if they were their private companies. They have been reckless in their management style and see themselves as unaccountable to shareholders. Their "I am above the law" attitude is a replica and reflection of the madness and shame of todays political class. Most have been so unethical to even lie in their financials to hide the true state of their balance sheets.Mr. Sanusi like Nuhu Ribadu is coming at a time when there is clamour for sanity and orderliness in the system. Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, from the time of his appointment to when he was frustrated out of office, put fear in the minds of corrupt officials and fraudsters. He prosecuted and ensured the convictions of quite a number of cheats during his reign. The governor has started well with the current audit of the 21 banks to ascertain their true state. He has so far fired five erring Chief Executives and their Executive Directors and sent them to the relevant agency for possible criminal investigations and prosecution. There is a wake up call in the entire banking sector and it seems like it's not going to be business as usual anymore.Cleansing the entire banking system is not going to be easy. Mr. Sanusi will no doubt meet stiff opposition from powerful people who have benefitted from the flaws of the past. They will use the media to discredit his work (haven't they started already?), they will do many more to tarnish his image, he will make new friends and no doubt also lots of enemies, but he must remain committed like Ribadu did to the end.
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Posted by Politics X on August 23, 2009 at 10:27pm
Most wanted dodgy duo, Erastus Akingbola & Cecilia IbruHe already fled the country and it was unlikely he would return. But Sunday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) gave Intercontinental Bank's Erastus Akingbola a.k.a. the Madoff of Nigerian banking, yet another reason – if any were indeed needed – not to return to Nigeria. The EFCC declared Akingbola and his Oceanic bank counterpart, Cecilia Ibru, as fugitives, wanted by the law.The anti-graft agency said in a press release that the two are “wanted in connection with fraudulent abuse of credit process, insider trading, capital market manipulation and money laundering running into billions of Naira” and will be arrested on sight for failing to honor the EFCC’s invitation.The release signed by Femi Babafemi; Head, Media & Publicity noted that: “Apart from failing to honour the Commission’s invitation, intensive search for the two executives in the last one week has not been successful. They obviously went into hiding to evade arrest. This development has made it imperative for the Commission to solicit for useful information from Nigerians who know their whereabouts.” (Read full statement at) http://www.efccnigeria.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=699&Itemid=34Huhuonline.com has learnt from EFCC sources that as the noose tightened around Ibru’s neck, the quite respectable General Overseer and elders of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) where Ibru worships were trying to persuade her to come out of hiding and surrender and save herself and the church the embarrassment of being declared wanted.But the abrasive Ibru remained obstinate and vowed to fight CBN Governor Lamido Sanusi to the finish. Ibru, in a terse statement two days after the CBN hammer fell, said that the action was questionable and did not meet the rule of law. In another letter to the CBN Governor and his management, Ibru asked the apex bank to 'reconsider and reverse' the steps taken on August 14, 2009 pursuant to sections 33 and 35 of the Banking and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) in view of the “grave injustice” done to the bank, its shareholders and management.Through her lawyers, TRLPLAW, Ceciia Ibru in the letter signed by the firm's Managing Partner, Mr. Ajibola Oluyede, said she was raising these issues because of the serious accusations before and since the event, adding that Sanusi came into office with an "agenda to change the ownership structure of the banking industry".Covered by the blood of Jesus, InterContinental’s Dr. Erastus Akingbola sneaked out of the country to London, ostensibly for medical reasons in a private jet owned by Jimoh Ibrahim, himself named in the list of debtors. Akingbola had gone to the Federal High Court in Lagos to challenge every action and statement of Sanusi and the CBN on the matter of his purported removal, the legality of the audit carried out from which the apex bank made its decisions and why he should be labeled at all as incompetent by the CBN.He told the Court which has since granted his preliminary reliefs that he was not given fair hearing, a proper audit of a mega-organization such as his bank did not follow the Act of the CBN saddled with supervisory role of banks, and that all his actions were guided by the best of intentions for a bank he has been superintending for many years.The actions of the CBN Governor have opened an avalanche of complaints and a plethora of protests by some of the stakeholders. Besides threatening to sue the apex bank for libel of his character and lowering the reputation of his business empire, Jimoh Ibrahim, (who provided his private jet to fly Akingbola to London) argued that he has "performing loans" in the two banks in which his business name appeared. In that of Oceanic Bank where his company, Global Fleet Group, was alleged to owe N14 billion, he said that it was not true. He threatened to sue the CBN for "lying about the amount" involved.Other high net-worth individuals also listed by the CBN have either challenged their indebtedness or that their companies, not they as individuals, were in debt. They include: Prof. Ndi Okereke-Onyuike, Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE); Chairman of Obat Oil and Petroleum Company, Fredrick Akinruntan; President of Zenon Oil and chairman of African Petroleum (AP) Plc, Femi Otedola; the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Rockson Engineering Company; amongst others.Mrs. Okereke-Onyuike had to speak up after her employer, SEC, queried her role in the debt saga of Transnational Corporation (Transcorp) Plc of which she is the chairman. She explained that she is not owing any bank in her personal capacity, saying the figure owed the bank was "relatively high" as a result of "compound interest." Transcorp, according to the CBN, owes Union Bank N30.86 billion as at May. She said the debts arose when Transcorp wanted to acquire 51 per cent stake in Nigerian Telecommunications (NITEL), adding that the firm had raised N22 billion through its Initial Public Offering (IPO) from which it paid N19 billion from the debt.Obat Oil's Akinruntan described the inclusion of his name in the debtors' list as embarrassing, claiming that the report did not reflect the reality on ground as he has been servicing his loan of N2.5 billion. He was listed as owing Oceanic Bank N4.47 billion.Similarly, Chairman of Rockson, Senator Aniete Okon refuted the charge of mega-debtor to Intercontinental. He explained that the loans in question were obtained by his company for implementation of the Independent Power Projects (IPP) it was handling for the Federal Government.The IPPs are the Alaoji (1,072 mega watts, mw), Gbarain (225mw), Egbema (338mw) and Omoku (230mw) and the debt was not N36.9 billion as claimed by CBN but N14.4 billion. He described the publication of the list without adequate verification on the part of the CBN as unfair and unnecessary. The firm's Managing Director, J I A Arumemi-Ikhide, noted that the loan was secured with due regards to the standard procedures. He disagreed that the loan was "non-performing," and cautioned against actions that could erode confidence in the Nigerian economy.In a similar tone and texture, the President of Dongote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote said that the published list was a gross misrepresentation of the facts. In a statement by Dangote Industries' management, it refuted the listing of Alhaji Dangote as a director and shareholder of Dansa Oil and Gas Limited, said to be indebted to Intercontinental Bank. It argued that Alhaji Ali Dangote listed as a director of Dansa is the son of Alhaji Sani Dangote and he is quite different in all materials particular from Alhaji Aliko Dangote. The management however said that debt of Dangote Industries Limited with Oceanic Bank valued at N2.526billion was still a subject of dispute that would be resolved very soon.The hunt for Ibru and Akingbola came after the EFCC Saturday, arrested two more bank directors in Lagos - John Maha, Managing Director, Afribank Securities Limited, a subsidiary of Afribank, and Niyi Opeodu, Managing Director, Union Capital Market Limited, a subsidiary of Union Bank. Both men have since been detained at the anti-graft commission office in Ikoyi. The arrest of Maha and Opeodu however makes it 15 bank chiefs that have been picked up by the EFCC since the CBN commenced the onslaught in the banking sector. The EFCC had earlier frozen the bank accounts of all the sacked bank CEOs.No one could have correctly predicted the direction, speed and destination of the bank debts battles, which the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) unleashed on the nation penultimate Friday. But what is beyond dispute now is that the unfolding saga has moved at dizzying speed from the banking halls to the courtroom and then the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)cells.
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Posted by Politics X on August 23, 2009 at 10:09pm
By Reuben Abati"If I have my way, I'd have all Nigerian journalists shot." "Excuse me?" "Yes. Including the ones that I know personally.""Hello o""Hi - i""Well, you won't be the first man to think journalists are pests; it is always easy to kill the messenger, but facts are facts.""The way the media is sensationalising the story of the five banks that are having problems with the Central Bank of Nigeria, I am concerned that not enough questions are being asked. Yes, Sanusi is showing great courage, and don't misunderstand me, I don't care whether anybody goes to jail or not. I don't bloody care. In fact, I believe that many bankers are crooks. Nobody can impress me with lapel pins, pin stripe skirts, yatchs or private jets. But I am concerned that the CBN is also over-exposing itself.""I guess all of that is part of the story. And you can't blame the media. If you ask me, it is a small part of the story though.""I am talking about the sloppiness that has been reported in the naming and shaming of debtors. The CBN should have been sure of all its facts before going public. Coming back later to correct typographical errors is a way of saying that the CBN itself needs supervision.""Come on, you are referring to all that hair-splitting over the difference between Okeke and Okereke. That's nothing.""This is a sensitive matter that is open to different interpretations. The CBN should have anticipated the responses. Now, the debtors are all over the newspapers challenging the figures and CBN procedures. If they end up creating doubt, then Sanusi and the CBN will become part of the story in a way that they may not like.""Let the debtors go and pay what they are owing. Simple. Are you not aware that Afribank has already received about N3 billion? Look the end justifies the means. The Sanusi formula is working. That is what matters. All these big men living on borrowed funds, we now know what it means to be rich in Nigeria. Just borrow money and advertise yourself as a big man. You can't take money belonging to pepper sellers, mechanics, civil servants and begin to talk about your right to borrow money. I am not interested in theory. Let them just return the money and stop turning an innocent man like me into an Ovie-Whiskey.""What has Ovie-Whiskey got to do with this? You always like to ridicule yourself and triviliase serious discussions""…vie-Whiskey was Chairman of the Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO) in the Second Republic. INEC used to be known as FEDECO. Ovie-Whiskey used to say at the time that if he saw a million naira he would faint. But have you seen the kind of big figures that the papers have been quoting? One man will just borrow N30 billion, N10 billion...""You are a very ignorant man. All that money was borrowed not to finance the taking of a second wife, but to finance activities within the economy. You borrow as much as you need for business. It is the duty of banks to lend money; businesses cannot really function without seeking loan advances. Some of the affected companies borrowed money to finance oil importation, power projects, and so on and many of those projects are Federal Government projects, also guaranteed by the same government.""But if you take loans there must be a collateral and the loans must be serviced.""That is between the debtor and the bank. There is no law in Nigeria that says a man should not borrow money.""But the loan must perform and the CBN has made it clear that it is only the regulator that can define performance because it is a technical term.""I don't agree. What are the details of each loan? What are the terms of repayment? ""I need you to make a confession. please. Because I don't understand you again. When this whole thing started, you were one of the most vocal defenders of Sanusi and the CBN. Tell me, are you owing any bank some money? If you are, I advise you to go and pay back before the EFCC deadline expires. I don't want to be subjected to the ordeal of coming to visit you at EFCC detention camp or having to explain to people why you had to run away from the country""It is small money. But this is not about me. I insist that you can't achieve the objective of economic growth if businesses are demonised because they have borrowed money. Look at what is happening now. Rockson Engineering says the country's power project may be jeopardised if it is forced to pay back all the money it borrowed and if the CBN compromises its own letters of credit. Foreign banks have also cancelled credit lines to Nigerian banks. Rating agencies have downgraded the country. And what is worse is that the CBN stands the risk of losing the support of people like me.""The CBN is not looking for the support of debtors in this matter. It wants to recover all borrowed funds. But tell me, how small is your own exposure? In confidence, tell me. I won't tell anybody. ""ì took twelve million to start a fish farm. But I have already paid more than twelve million and the bank is saying I am still owing 4 million and they are holding on to my land papers as collateral. Before this whole thing started the bank was even threatening to seize the collateral. What am I saying? I am saying that part of the responsibility of the CBN should be to look into the management of loans by the banks, investigate the abuses, and protect even the debtors as you try to sanitise the banks. People who take loans from Nigerian banks are also victims of the failure of corporate governance. Can we focus on that?""Well, what do I expect you to say, being a member of the Other People's Money Association of Nigeria (OPMAN). The rich also cry. But have you heard what the EFCC madam said? You are required to obey first and then complain. Going to court, throwing tantrums, does not remove the fact that people are owing. Simple.""Are we now in a miltary regime? In fact, if care is not taken, I will start believing some of the things that are now coming out. For example, someone sent me a story published in the Monday, March 23, 2009 edition of The Vanguard newspaper titled "Group plots takeover of five top banks." The story blew the whistle on everything that is now happening. And now it is precisely five banks that are being targeted. Even the CBN Governor gives the impression that the audit of the remaining 14 banks would be a mere formality. If there is no conspiracy, why target only five banks, why not complete the audit exercise before identifying all the erring banks and then you deal with all the issues at once?""ì think we should await the outcome of the second round of audit.""And we will go through this same process all over again? Or is it not likely that the other banks have been given enough time to clean up their books, enough time also for some people to escape?""I refuse to be drawn into such conspiracy theory in this matter. We all know that the banking sector is in need of environmental sanitation.""Yes, but the regulator in doing that must also realise that it is being watched. And I hope government has enough will-power to see this to its logical conclusion, and respond to all the legal actions that are coming its way. The EFCC is heaving and hemming; it has suddenly come alive, but we will wait and see.""For your information, the EFCC has relocated to Lagos. EFCC officials have taken over the banks.""And you think that is good for banking?""Yes. Yes. And yes.""Well, I don't think so. I think the CBN can manage the situation better.""You want the CBN to sanction the bank CEOs and managers, but you don't want debtors to be disturbed because neither the CBN nor the EFCC is a debt-collection agency? Do I understand that this is your position?""ìs that what I am saying?""Looks like. And if I really understand the way your mind is working, you are asking for amnesty for all bank debtors. You don't want a Boko Haram treatment in the banking sector""You are a confused man. And you are confused because you don't know banking, you don't know business, you are just interested in sensation and you think seeing big men in society rubbished offers you a sense of self-worth.""Go and pay your debt, my friend. Or I will be the one to tell the EFCC where you are hiding...You are lucky you are not a member of the private jet set, I would have asked you to go and sell your jet and pay back our money.""This being the month of Ramadan, I can only ask that Allah forgive all of you who think it is a sin to owe a bank money.""€re you fasting?""I don't wear my faith on my sleeves""Just don't behave like our good friend, Alhaji Gulder. Every Ramadan season, he breaks his fast in the evening religiously with a bottle of Gulder. And he says God is all-knowing. So we nicknamed him Alhaji Gulder. ""The Almighty knows those who are serving him. On the day of Judgement, every man shall answer for his deeds.""You are beginning to sound like Pete Edochie, the actor who was kidnapped in Anambra state on Sunday, August 16.""How?""Do you know that since the man was released by his abductors, he has been sounding as if he just returned from a five-star hotel and not the kidnappers'den. He says the boys treated him like a father. They offered him alcohol, they even allowed him to pray with his chaplets and they told him about the circumstances that led them to a life of crime. And he insists that no ransom was paid. He added that people are trying to sensationalise the incident. They loved me a lot, he said.""Since he enjoyed the experience so much, so why have I been losing sleep worrying so much about him? If he thinks this is another movie in which he is the main actor, so let it be.""Don't be nasty. My suspicion is that the experience of kidnapping affects people differently.""Have you been kidnapped before?""I have been following the reports. One missing link in this country is that there is no trauma care, no counselling for victims of kidnapping. Government often helps to pay the ransom, the kidnappers move on, and the victim is caught in a psychological trap, between condemning the abductors or ending up identifying with them. You can't expect the man to come out and condemn his abductors. Do you know what they told him? Has anybody bothered to find out what exactly he went through? At the end of the day, the experience is personal and there is so much that is buried in matters of this nature in unspoken silences.""Well, he is a lucky man. It could have been worse. But I don't think this is a rebranding of Nigeria. You know the man is Chairman of the Nigeria Rebranding Committee. What his abduction has shown is how vulnerable we all are. Nobody is safe anymore. Now anybody who has ever appeared on television or in a movie has to go about with bodyguards. It is an unsafe country.""ì picked something from Mr Edochie's statements which is that his abductors sounded very intelligent. They could rationalise their action. I won't be surprised if they are univesrity undergraduates. In the past month, I have been reading too many stories about undergraduates who are involved in kidnapping, armed robbery and all kinds of felony.""What do you expect? The Federal Government says it is not ready to negotitate with university teachers who have been on strike for three months. ASUU says it is ready to die on its feet fighting. The abandoned students are bound to find something to do.""In fact, I read one shocking story in The Vanguard of August 21. It is titled "Strike: Female students appeal to FG, ASUU...says strike turning some of them into prostitution (sic)" In the story, a group called the National Association of Nigerian Female Students (NANFS) is said to have issued a statement calling for an early resolution of the dispute between the Federal Government and university teachers because according to the ladies, many of their members not being in school, are already engaged in all kinds of vices including prostitution. They want schools re-opened because delay could be dangerous.""Delay could be dangerous. Very dangerous, I agree. But who is complaining, female students or the men who are patronising them?""èverywhere you turn in this country, there is a sad story waiting to be told. We can't even do well in Athletics. In Berlin, the Nigerian contingent at the 2009 IAAF World Championships is having to deal with allegations of drug use by some of its athletes. The country is being disgraced. Jamaica, a country that cannot boast of half the toilet water that is used in Mushin is being celebrated. ""Not quite. Some Nigerians are doing well too. Philip Idowu won the gold medal in triple jump.""For Great Britain.""ìt doesn't matter. The Idowu family house is in Nigeria. And don't mind the British. They are claiming Marilyn Okoro and Christine Ohurogu. Norway is parading Ezinne Okparaebo and Germany, Sorina Nwachukwu. These are Nigerians. In fact, there should be DNA tests in international sports.""I think you just like to talk. You know the truth. You want DNA test. Nigerian players for the Under-17 World Cup cannot even pass the age verification test. Have you not heard that 16 of them failed the MRI test? Now the Nigerian Football Federation is confused. We face the risk of not making it to the tournament because the country now has to start looking for young men who are actually under 17 not 30-year olds.""My brother, that story is emba-rra-ssi-ng. The number of players who failed the test is actually 22! And are we not supposed to be hosting the tournament in October? As we speak the Golden Eaglets camp in Bauchi has been disbanded.""Jesus is Lord."
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Posted by Politics X on August 23, 2009 at 10:00pm
You Can’t De-brand Dora by Sunday DareIt was with great effort that I concluded reading your last weekend’s disquisition on the Rebranding of Dora Akunyili our Honourable Minister for Information and Communication, and principal exponent of the Rebranding Nigeria project. Your title reads “Rebranding Akunyili and Ohakim”, but I will concentrate on the innuendoes and factual errors that impinge on Prof Dora because I know that Ikedi Ohakim has enough oomph to respond to the overtones fired at him.Firstly, you got your facts wrong on several of the issues you raised. Let me start with the N8.2 billion naira NTA upgrade contract. Prof Dora’s life does not depend on it as you claimed. Let me state clearly that Prof. Akunyili only presented only presented the memo on NTA upgrade project to Federal Executive council, FEC, just as she will present for any of the 14 parastatals under her supervision. NTA initiated this project about two years ago when Prof. Akunyili was nowhere close to Radio House Abuja. NTA went through selective tendering and recommended the following three contractors to Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) for the project: Thomson Grass Valley of France, WTS/Sunny Nigeria and VISAT USA .Interestingly, BPP reviewed submissions and called for fresh tenders from the companies to clear some technical details. Fresh tenders were submitted directly to BPP by all interested parties after which BPP selected WTS/SONY to handle the entire project. After BPP issued a certificate of “NO OBJECTION” for the project to be awarded to WTS/SONY, that the Minister the presented the memo for approval to FEC.It is therefore clear that the Minister was not evolved in evaluating the contract and selecting the contractors. It is clear to any discerning mind that Prof. Dora is a stickler for due process and walks the fine line.Your claim that the “the re-branding which was ill-conceived was brought down by the Federal Executive Council…” is false. There was never a time that the Minister presented a budget of N1.2 billion to the FEC or anyone for that matter. It was a section of the media that bandied this sum around based on rumour. For the avoidance of doubt, the money being used for the Rebranding Nigeria project is the leftover of the money budgeted for the Heart of Africa for the year 2009.The sum is N150 million, out of which an inherited debt of about N19.9 million was paid. The balance for the Re-branding project was N130 million.So much has been said and written on the NCC saga. At this point it suffices to state clearly that for her, this is an issue based on principles. Simplicita. If there is an established process by law, then it must be followed without short cuts. The facts are out there and you can verify. Well, after about 12 weeks of NCC controversy and representations, Prof.Dora has been vindicated. Her principled position and courage under assault won the day when on Tuesday, August 11, 2009 President Yar’adua ordered the cancellation of the 2.3GHz sale conducted by Ndukwe and directed that a new transparent process be conducted. So you see, like the NCC saga, most of these allegations and insinuations against Prof. Dora cannot stick because they are not factual. Lastly, the daggers drawn inference about her relationship with the Minister of State needs to be further investigated. We do not see any daggers yet. What she has tried to do is to make sure that the best working relationship is evolved and that issues are dealt with according to the rule of law. Period.To many, Prof. Dora Akunyili’s journey to the ministry of information is an odyssey. It is something that people only dream about but hardly witness in Nigeria . The ideological and physical journey by millions of people who always wanted to make Nigeria great have been traumatic experiences characterized by countless trials and tribulations, most of them harrowing and dreadful. This is what Dora’s odyssey has come to change. But it is most irksome when disinformation is coming from the enlightened class, who would do well to join hands in nation-building and not this objectionable frenzy that unkind opposition perpetuates.We all would want our nation to be great but great nations do not happen devoid of the contributions of great minds. Prof. Dora has surmounted some of the most outrageous obstacles in Nigerian life through hard work and perseverance. Her attitude since, has been, “if I can do it, many Nigerians can do it too”. That is why she is pursuing the Rebranding Nigeria project to veer Nigeria away from the course of misrepresentations that have turned the country into a war front and its future generation of citizens a war chest.Sobowale should know that the minister has no reason to indulge in propaganda, or use any concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the behavioral patterns of enemies, as most propaganda would do. There is no enemy here and she chooses her subjects very carefully, for the benefit of compatriots. The Rebranding project is a result of deep introspection and the conclusion that an ingredient that could make Nigeria better is lacking. By staking her hard-earned credibility in the project the minister is saying she could give anything to salvage Nigeria . It is therefore inconceivable that such a well-articulated dream would now be turned into a monster by people who should be part of it, wishing that it consumes its protagonist. So who is trying to Rebrand Dora?Her message is as simple as it has always been, even before her time at NAFDAC. She is a hard working ordinary woman who is out to change the world and willing to take all agents of change along with her in any crusade, be it at NAFDAC or elsewhere. There is the potent danger of people who supported her while at NAFDAC now abandoning her because she is in a terrain that they feel belongs only to them. But Dora refuses to be pigeonholed. She is a one-size-fits-all and would perform as creditably wherever she finds herself, in or out of government. But she also says one more thing; that she cannot accomplish anything without the support of people like Dele Sobowale who once believed and trusted her. They form her village of crusaders and jumping ship midstream is not a good idea. Not this time, at least.
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By Emmanuel OnwubikoMr. Pete Edochie is one of Nigeria's best known and respected movie actors in the contemporary Nigerian movie industry called Nollywood in local parlance. Among the more than one hundred films in which he played significant leading roles, Pete Edochie shone like the morning star in the popular film called Things Fall Apart, an adaptation from the internationally acclaimed novel Things Fall Apart by the award-winning writer and deep thinker, Professor Chinua Achebe.But for more than twenty four hours from Sunday August 16, 2009, Pete Edochie saw hell in the den of a dare-devil armed gang that abducted him on his way back from an official engagement in Asaba, the Delta state capital. He was kidnapped in the commercial city of Onitsha even as three persons who tried to foil the abduction were violently killed by the gang of kidnappers who were armed reportedly with the latest state of the art sophisticated arms and ammunitions far and above what the publicly-funded Nigeria police operatives are provided with by the Nigerian state.The kidnappers of Mr. Edochie were benevolent enough not to have harmed him physically just as they reportedly established contact with the family of the popular but not too materially endowed creative movie actor and made outrageous demand of N60 million ransom. The kidnappers upon intense persuasion by Edochie's family members, reduced the ransom money to N10 million, an amount that the family spokesperson said they could not raise. Before he was eventually freed, an unspecified amount of ransom was paid.The Anambra state Government under Peter Obi which is assailed by a monumental down pour of organized social crime in the last few months claimed credit for the eventual release of Pete Edochie but in obedience to the practice of official secrecy and lack of freedom of information, the state administration did not tell the good people of Anambra state exactly how much of their money was used to bribe the armed group of kidnappers before they freed Edochie. Anambra state is one place among the many places in the country where the people are daily facing the threats of armed kidnappers and armed robbers.Edochie has offered his candid impressions of what may be responsible for the rise in organised crimes like kidnapping and blamed poverty among the nation's youth as the underlying reason. I think he is correct. But again the question that naturally comes to mind is whether we are not all kidnapped? So I ask, are we not all kidnapped right now?The next question is who is the kidnapper that has made majority of Nigerians victims of kidnapping? To clearly understand the identity of the current armed kidnappers of a majority of the Nigerian population we need to examine the ways and manners that the so-called political office holders have piloted the affairs of state since the nation gained political Independence almost five decades ago with specific reference to how the current democratic dispensation has fared.The political story of how Nigeria was thoroughly messed up by both the civilian and military dictators is so well-known by even the most silly kindergarten pupil so much so that poverty caused by prolonged regime of political and economic crime of corruption has become the inevitable misfortune afflicting clearly a majority of Nigerians put at over seventy five percent of the more than one hundred and forty million population. Lack of transparency and accountability is primarily responsible for the near-collapse of socio-economic infrastructures in Nigeria because almost all previous and to a large extent the current administrations could not account for how the massive amount of over four hundred Billion United States dollars generated from Nigeria's rapidly vanishing crude oil mineral resources were spent. If this huge fund stolen by government officials in the last four decades was used to finance the introduction of infrastructures like energy power, rail transportation and road infrastructure, then the high level of poverty among Nigerians would have been minimised.Antonio Maria Costa, the Executive Director of the United Nations office on Drugs and crime UNODC in a lecture delivered at the sixth national seminar on Economic crime on November 13, 2007 titled "Anti-Corruption climate change: It started in Nigeria" told Nigerians the hard truth that: "Your country...lost billions of dollars - the livelihoods of millions of people - to foreign havens, stolen and expatriated by corrupt leaders. By some estimates, close to 400 Billion United States dollars was stolen between 1960 and 1999. Sani Abacha alone is said to have stolen the equivalent of 2 to 3 percent of Nigeria's Gross Domestic product for every year that he was president." It is safe to say then that ordinary Nigerians have all along been kidnapped by the political rogues for over four decades.Renowned Nigerian economist who speaks truth to power Professor Sam Aluko rightly captured the debilitating effects of corruption on Nigeria and ordinary Nigerians in his lecture at the 1999 annual conference of the Nigerian Economic society thus: "Income distribution has been skewed, and is still skewed, in favor of the rich and the powerful who gain by illegitimate means and who also contribute to capital flight and gross misappropriation of public funds in the absence of adequate systemic checks and balances."It is the considered view of some analysts that the ongoing widespread kidnapping of some Nigerians by armed gangs is a manifestation of their will to overpower their perceived political oppressors by taking their pounds of flesh through a coordinated regime of collection of monetary ransoms to leverage or rather be at par with their counterparts in the political seat of power who are the real kidnappers of millions of impoverished citizens in Nigeria.What these dangerously armed gangs of kidnappers are doing through their criminal activities could be interpreted as the practical manifestation of what Fredrich Wilhelm Nietzsche wrote that; "...there is however one thing that does characterise all human beings, and that is the drive to dominate the environment. This drive so central to human nature, is the will to power...the strongest and highest will to live does not find expression in a miserable struggle for existence, but in a will to war: a will to power, a will to overpower."But the truth is that if ordinary Nigerians who in the true sense of it are economically impoverished and have therefore become kidnapped victims because of political corruption of the elite who have captured the seat of power through an electoral process that is deemed internationally and locally as flawed, are also buffeted and bombarded by these armed gangs of kidnappers who have engaged in a regime of indiscriminate abductions, then things have truly fallen apart in Nigeria and only a popular revolution by the populace can salvage the situation.Professor Yemi Osinbajo, a senior Advocate of Nigeria in a paper titled "Rule of law or Rule by law: what are the real issues in bringing perpetrators of serious crimes," clearly painted a graphic picture of how ordinary Nigerians can safely be categorized as kidnapped victims. Professor Osinbajo stated that: "Today the nation is also faced with the challenge of fighting corruption. There are cases of individuals who are said to have stolen billions of naira and acquired assets locally and abroad. The mind-boggling figures have riveted everyone's attention. Many calculations are done daily on how many social services could be rendered to millions of citizens with money cornered by so few (elite)."The irony in the kidnapping episodes playing out all across Nigeria is that only the poor are actually physically kidnapped by these armed gangs who in any case are also victims of the larger kidnapping scheme coordinated by those in government who did not only corner public funds to themselves but have used their influence in government to reserve all the publicly funded security services to themselves and their family members for maximum protection without giving a thought to the fact that 'if the poor cannot sleep because they are hungry, the rich can not also sleep because the poor people are awake and a hungry man is an angry man'.The ball is therefore in the court of ordinary Nigerians who are victims of kidnappers in government to free themselves by voting out all corrupt politicians and working with organised civil society to ensure that the votes of Nigerians in the 2011 elections count. I agree with Professor Anya O. Anya that; "it is the case that respect for democratic principles, by reducing the political and social costs of governance, by promoting social harmony through the enhancement of the democratic legitimacy of the rulers, by fostering the political participation of the citizens, determines the effective and efficient implementation of development policies and strategies".Nigerians must exorcise themselves of the evil spirit of docility that has beclouded our collective sense of reasoning so much so that we tolerate these thieves in government and share from the crumbs that fall from their tables each time they come home with their well-armed security operatives at citizens' expense.
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Posted by 9jabook.com on August 23, 2009 at 6:35am
I am determined to change my slippers after 49 years, in the meantime , I will continue to wear it in hope not in fear. no matter how bad the heat is , no matter how hard you try and suppress me. Yes my legs are weak, I am not sure how far my slippers would carry me. I walk almost everyday because I cant find the energy i need to fill my tank.
Gradually my slippers shows wear and tear
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11 My slippers are still young
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18 Some have been in so much of a hurry that they have changed their slippers too soon much sooner than it was ordained
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21 We start to grow impatient the glue refuses to patch my slippers
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23 even when i fall there is hope I can lean on you come ooo there is a reason for keeping this slippers for so long
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25 I realise that the gum will not work, perhaps stapling the slippers wil patch it up, oh dear i have had an accident my hands are bleeding. 26 Yes there is hope
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28293031323334........it has to fly I have no choice..............3536............37382940414243444546474849
but I see my neighbours slippers and I see there is hope. I live in hope and not in fear that I will change my slippers but for now I thank BABA GOD for giving me the energy to note there is light at the end of the tunnel.
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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Saturday hauled in two more big fishes from the troubled waters of the five dirty banks. John Maha, the Managing Director of Afribank Securities was lured out of hiding while Niyi Opeodu, Managing Director of Union Capital Markets was arrested from his Lekki residence, in Lagos.This is just as one of the flamboyant billionaires in the country (names withheld) has sold his hotel at a give-away price to ensure that he was not caught napping at the end of the day.Our source disclosed that the billionaire owes one of the banks over N14 billion, but did not say how much the hotel was sold.Recalcitrant debtor, James Ibori & his partner in crime Dodgy Cecilia Ibru"This hotel is not your run-of-the-mill hotels. It is a very big one largely used by expatriates and oil industry employees. Because of the huge embarrassment an EFCC arrest could cause his reputation, the man has decided to let the hotel go, believing that he who fights and runs away would live to fight another day. I am not sure how much he sold it, but the buyer could not have paid the actual worth of the property", the source told our reporter.Also, one of the debtors of Oceanic Bank and chairman of the Dangote Group of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, paid a whopping sum of N3.1 billion to the bank on Thursday.Confirming the payment on Friday, acting Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank Plc, Mr Joseph Ajewole, said the bank has recorded giant strides in debt recovery.He said: "A lot of the delinquent debtors have reached us. Many have paid substantial amounts while others have come forward to discuss with us about their plans to repay."As the seven-day ultimatum given to the debtors of the five troubled banks draws near, some of them have started selling their assets to recover the money to pay up before the ultimatum expires. It was not clear on Friday how the debtors raised the funds to offset the debts, but Sunday Sun learnt that most of them are selling their choice property in choice locations in Abuja and Lagos to enable them beat the Wednesday deadline by the EFCC for them to pay up.So far, about N18 billion has been recovered from debtors of the five distressed banks, whose management and managing directors were sacked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, penultimate Friday.Sunday Sun gathered at the weekend that Intercontinental Bank Plc has so far recovered N4.8 billion while Afribank Plc has recovered N3 billion. Others are Oceanic Bank Plc N4.5 billion and Union Bank about N6 billion.Meanwhile, Mr. Femi Babafemi, the anti-corruption agency’s spokesman, told Sunday Sun that John Maha had been playing hide-and-seek with the agency for six days before the long arms of EFCC reeled him in at the weekend."The EFCC had been on his trail since Monday, but each time we got closer he changed location. We decided to use other operational tactics to lure him out of his nest to a place where our operatives were waiting for him."Babafemi also disclosed that both Maha and Opeodu had been fingered in further allegations of book cooking, setting up fake companies to process out loans that are not repaid.With few days to the EFCC deadline for bank debtors to pay what they owed the banks or go to jail, highly placed sources at the Commission told Sunday Sun that at the expiration of the deadline, every defaulter would become the guest of EFCC."We are prepared for the task ahead and nobody should delude himself that he or she is too big to be arrested by the EFCC. The Chairman has given express instruction that all and anybody who does not do the honourable thing by Tuesday should be brought in. We have enough space for all of them."Some of those already arrested will be arraigned and taken to prison to make room for new ‘intakes’, the source assured.Sunday Sun also learnt that bank CEOs that have so far refused to show up at EFCC risked being declared wanted. "It is a shame really that these people Nigeria once trusted with their hard-earned money are unwilling to submit themselves to the law. After receiving awards from everywhere, they are now on the run. We know what to do and it is in their interest to submit to EFCC instead of waiting until after they are become fugitives from the law. We are closing in on them and whether they stay in Nigeria or escape abroad, we believe it would really be a shame if a former bank chief executive’s face and photo is displayed as one of the ‘wanted men’ in the same newspapers and television screens that once carried their awards", our source said.The EFCC source went on to say that one of the CEOs on the run would most likely surrender as her pastor and church are seriously persuading her to save herself and the church the embarrassment of being declared wanted."The CEO in question is a member of a big Pentecostal church and her quite respectable General Overseer and elders are persuading her to come out of hiding.The anti-graft agency decided to take the tough stance because, according to it, there is urgency in salvaging the banking industry from economic strangulation orchestrated by the heavy debt burdens on the banks.The debtors, who include the who-is-who in business and political circles in Nigeria, are together owing the five distressed banks about N747 billion.The EFCC, according to its chairman, Mrs Farida Waziri, will enforce Section 42 of the Establishment Act 2004, which states that "any offence committed or proceedings instituted before the commencement of this Act under the provisions of the(a) miscellaneous Offences Act (b) the Banks and Other Financial institutions Act 1991 as amended; (c) Failed Banks ( Recovery of Debts) and Financial Malpractices in Banks Act, as amended (d) the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act (e), the Money Laundry Act or any other law or regulation relating to Economic and Financial Crimes, shall as the case may be, required to be enforced or continued to be enforced by the commission."The CBN had, on Thursday, published the list of debtors (both institutions and individuals) who secured the loans worth over N747 billion from the five banks. It included names such as Alhaji Musa Bashir, Bashir Adamu, Abba Dasuki, Mr Jimoh Ibrahim, Chudi Ajaegbu and Chiamaka Ajaegbu; Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola and a host of others.( Culled from the sun)
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THE popular actor, Chief Pete Edochie who was, Sunday, kidnapped at Nkpor near Onitsha, Anambra State was released Monday night.It was not clear as press time if the family paid any ransom, but a member of the family told Vanguard that Pete and his younger brother, Tony, were still believed to be somewhere at Awka.Though their mission to the Anambra State capital was not immediately known, there were indications that he was in the custody of the state police command.However, in an interview with Vanguard, moments after the regained his freedomHow do you feel being taken into captive?I never thought my life was on the line for a split second. It was not a very pleasant experience in the sense that we were under siege, but again like I said I have lived my life in such a way that I don't imagine for a split second that God would want my life terminated through violence.I was not shaken one bit. All the young men know who I am and they cannot count me among those exploiting them, or milking this country, so I was not thinking about family or any other thing and that is the truth.How did your abduction happen?I was coming from Onitsha –Ukwu where we had gone to a church to sell a film on Father Iwene Tansi, which is my primary assignment now and we passed through the old road. I don't know the geography very well, but I think may be after Nkpor [Onitsha] and suddenly this vehicle came and double-crossed us and it is a vehicle that belongs to Anambra State Integrated Development Services [ANDIS] and then there was another vehicle, they over took us and shot their gun into the air and asked all of us to come out of the car and we came out of the vehicle and we were all headed into the van they came with, and they asked my other colleagues to leave and I guess that was where my ordeal started.Were you maltreated?Take a good look at me, I wasn't, like I said, they re garded me as their father and told me out rightly that I would not be hurt. I was not blind folded, I was not hurt, I was not tied. While we were conversing, they sustained my alcoholic passion by giving me some kind of stout. I enjoyed it thoroughly and I was discussing with them like young men of Igbo origin.There was this report that they demanded for N10 million?I don't know who gave you that report because you were not there with us. Who gave you that report because you were not there with us? Sometimes, you people speculate dangerously and sometimes stupidly, and when you do most of these things you endanger the lives of people who are either in jeopardy.How could you have known without being there that they demanded N10 million? Nobody demanded N10 million ransoms for my release and nobody paid a kobo and that is final. It is blatant lies by the some sections of the media and it is very unfortunate.You said you interacted with them. Would you let us into some of the interactions you held?They told me that politicians in the country were ripping this country off and that their ostentatious display of ill-gotten wealth was annoying them a lot and so they decided that they too were entitled to some portions of that national cake.That may be their method and may not be endorsed by us. It took my mind back to the Niger Delta and to incessant recurrent disturbances in the north, which for want of better expression we have described as religious disturbances.Those incidents that keep recurring in the north are not religious disturbances, they manifest themselves as violent civil disobedience but actually, those insurrections are inspired by hapless circumstances.What presents itself as irredeemable poverty and people who are victims of this poverty are the people who are easy to manipulate; so politicians use them to wreak havoc on the people and because the Christians are given to erecting buildings, establishing industries and whatever, they are the people who suffer a lot as a result of these disturbances. It is not as though they are the prime targets, but when people are condemned to irretrievable poverty, the person becomes desperate and resorts to violence as a result of desperation.And when these children do these things, capture any of them and ask them why they are doing this? They will tell you that that they were given some money to go and do this; because on their own, they don't benefit from going to burn houses and churches.These young men who took me captive a couple of hours, told me that the government doesn't take their plight into consideration, that the only way people seem to make money in this country is by getting into politics and once you get into politics, you don't give a damn about any other person; that politicians spend all the money, buy all the cars, go overseas anytime they like; then they on their own decided it is high time they stopped this. They said they are not interested in killing anybody unless you constitute a violent impediment.So what was your advice to them?I did not advise them in the circumstance. I did not think I was in the position to advise them. I allowed them to have free reign. We interacted, shared a few jokes and it seems as if they were too happy doing that but from all indications, they don't have a choice.How were you able to get here, did they on their own bring you here?They took me somewhere and left me in the night and I took a cab down here, that's all.Did they collect anything from you personally?No they did not. My phone is there, I decided to put it off, and people have been calling and calling. My bag is there and everything is in the bag.When I woke up in the morning, I said, go to my bag and get me my chaplet let me pray and they went to my bag and got me the chaplet and my drugs. when I finished, they took it back. They treated me with respect, they showed me benevolence.They respected my presence a lot, they believed that I am a very influential person in the country and that if I speak the government will listen. (Culled from Vanguard)
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Baba 2face now has new managemnt .Now music has decided that to cast all doubts into the ocean about the Rkelly fiasco .A Duet with Super R N B Diva Mary J Blige is in the studio and about to be hatched .
Tuface’s new management - Now Muzik are going the extra mile to make sure all doubt of Tuface reported collaboration with Mary J Blige for his next album is not marred by bad press.They got proof! His management went the extra mile - making his picture with Mary J Blige come out as crisp as possible unlike the picture with R Kelly that fuelled the controversy to lofty heights.I 'm sorry to say that If you go to the rkelly official website there
is no mention of a collabo with tuface also on Maty J Bliges site there is no mention of tuface or 2face but these are the pictures of them together in the studio ENOUGH PROOF TO HATERS !
ENJOY
Noelene J
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2 hours 58 mins ago
So-called professional beggars are earning up to £200 a night on the streets, it has ben revealed. Skip related content
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Street beggars earning £200 a night
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* Public spied on 1,500 times a day in UK
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And police in Leicestershire added that numbers were growing and officers had cautioned 20 people for begging in the city centre in the first two weeks of a scheme to tackle the problem.
Officers discovered none of them were homeless.
Toni Soni, head of hostel services at Leicester City Council, said previous joint operations operations by them and police found no beggars to be homeless.
He said: "There are people who are actually professional beggars who are doing it to make a living. If we did find that they were rough sleepers we would obviously attempt to engage them in our support services."
It emerged one woman begged at night after her day job to fund a new kitchen in her flat.
Sergeant Adrian Underwood, of Leicestershire police, said some people could earn up to £200 begging on a Friday or Saturday night.
He told the Leicester Mercury: "We have intelligence that there is a woman who is begging because she wants a new kitchen for her flat. A lot of well-intentioned people see someone begging and think they are deserving causes. Would they give them money if they knew that person had just come out of a flat, was receiving benefits and had food in the larder?"
Previously Leicester Police announced a "three strikes and you're out" approach to begging after it emerged as a major concern for people living, working and shopping in the city.
As part of the drive, people seen begging are given a formal warning and their details taken by officers. If they are seen again then a second warning is issued by police and on a third occasion they can be arrested and prosecuted.
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