The more the beneficiaries of this colonial fraud called Nigeria make believe that all is well with Nigeria, the more they attract doom, odium, and opprobrium to that name Nigeria. Please tell me what makes us one Nigeria if not for the colonial interest that the slave masters amalgamated all the countries they invaded within “Oduduwa Republic”, “Republic of Biafra” and also “Arewa Muslim Nation” and called them Nigeria. Our cultures are irreconcilable, our religions and mode of worships are poles apart, our mentalities are so different and even our languages are absolutely strange to each other. In 1947 Chief Obafemi Awolowo said “Nigeria is not a nation. It is a mere geographical expression. There are no Nigerians in the same sense as there are English, Welsh, or French. The word Nigerian is merely a distinctive appellation to distinguish those who live within the boundaries of Nigeria and those who do not.” Nobody has got that audacity in Nigeria now to say contrarily to the above declaration. In 1948 Mallam Abubakar Tafawa Balewa said “Since 1914 the British Government has been trying to make Nigeria into one country, but the Nigerian people themselves are historically different in their backgrounds, in their religious beliefs and customs and do not show themselves any sign of willingness to unite. Nigerian unity is only a British intention for the country.” This testimony came from the first Prime Minister of the fraud called Nigeria. Can you be more catholic than the Pope? We are just incompatible – no love, no tolerance and no similarity by all ramifications. One of the creators of this fraud and harm called Nigeria Sir Peters Smithers who was a cabinet minister during the colonial regime admitted the wickedness of the British colonists when he said in 1998 “The creation of Nigeria involved forcing several different ethnic, cultural and religious groups into one political structure. In retrospect of forty years, it is clear that this was a grave mistake which has cost many lives and will probably continue to do so.” Yes, it has cost more the lives of the Igbos and their properties than any other nation in the fraud called Nigeria. Ndi Igbo are made scapegoats at any crisis in the north; call it politics or religion they have always been provocatively at the centre of massacre and their properties looted and destroyed without anybody held responsible.

We have not forgotten what led to the Nigerian Biafran war and how Chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the great “Ikemba” of Nnewi, the “Eze” Igbo “gburugburu”, and the man who saw tomorrow had tried to save the future of his people from the agony that awaited them in this forceful marriage, but was betrayed by some people who had not kept to their promise out of ignorance of what the future was holding and out of selfishness. We have equally not forgotten how the Igbo pregnant women cried and died in pains when their wombs had been wickedly opened with cutlasses and their children had been brought out cruelly during the war. It is equally painful to remember the deaths of our children as a result of malnutrition.

We have not forgotten that at the end of the Nigerian civil war, it was declared “no victor, no vanquish” by the then head of state, General Yakubu Gowon. But what followed after the declaration was a systematic disenfranchisement of Ndi Igbo. Every Igbo man was inconsiderably given only twenty pounds to start life, while their properties were jealously and wickedly confiscated and declared as abandoned properties.

In retrospect, immediately the British colonialism ended, the Igbos dominated Nigeria’s economy. Irrespective of the callousness of the federal government of Nigeria to them, they were the true patriotic symbol of one Nigeria because there was no city you would go to that you did not see the presence of an Igbo man through his business or landed properties. They were the mechanism in which development had stood in almost all the cities of the federation called Nigeria. Any city you go to in Nigeria now without seeing big presence of an Igbo man run for your dear life as that city is doomed.

The first ceremonial president of Nigeria, the “Owelle” of Onitsha, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe said in 1964 “I have one advice to give to our politicians. If they have decided to destroy our national unity, then they should summon a round table conference to decide how our national assets should be divided before they seal their doom by satisfying their lust for office. I make this suggestion because it is better for us and many admirers abroad that we should disintegrate in peace and not in pieces. Should the politicians fail to heed this warning, then I will venture the prediction that the experience of the Democratic Republic of Congo will be a child’s play if ever it comes to our turn to play such a tragic role.” This was a man that was respected for his stand in one Nigeria, a true son of Igbo land and an emblem of Nigerian unity, but one Nigeria failed him even in death.

The Nigerian people seem to have been subdued to stoicism otherwise the injustice in Nigeria is stinky that no free mind can stomach. Go to Ogoni Land in Rivers State you will pity the people: No road, no good school from the federal government, no good water to drink, no hospital, no jobs, no future and yet Ogoni people are very rich in oil. Ken Saro Wiwa alongside nine other Ogoni indigenes were unjustly roped in a kangaroo court and cruelly hanged by the then federal government of Nigeria for crying out against injustice to their people. The situation is not different in other parts of Niger Delta. Most people from Rivers and Bayelsa states are fishermen but because of the pollution of the water with oil they cannot fish again but the federal government does not seem to care. Some Igbo states are part of the oil producing states in Nigeria but were excluded as such by the federal government of Nigeria until they had to fight for their inclusion. The Igbo speaking states have the worst federal road network in comparison to other geo-political zones in Nigeria.

The political imbalance in Nigeria is too big even for the blind to see. Why must everything about the Igbos be unjustly politicized? Igbo speaking areas have the least number of states in Nigeria even though they are the most populated tribe, but more states were created in the less populated north. Why is it that the northerners are favoured in everything in this country? The allocation money meant for the then newly created local governments in Lagos state under Governor Bola Tinubu was withheld by the then federal government of Nigeria under President Olusegun Obasanjo. It is very disappointing to note that Olusegun Obasanjo is a Yoruba man yet he tried to use his power to hinder the progress that was coming to Yoruba land because of dirty politics just to satisfy the northerners which he was still not able to do. But go to the north, they created more local governments for themselves and legalised them without anybody raising eyebrows, they manipulated even the national census by counting cows, fowls and their brothers/sisters from Niger Republic as Nigerians just to maintain the political suppression. As a result of this dishonesty they are more in number in the National Assembly and the House of Representatives. Tell me how you can pass a successful bill if that bill is meant to correct the injustice which they see as normal and birthright. They hide under the shadow of religion to cause us pains and because they derive joy from our sorrow that is why they always kill us at every little provocation. They are trying to make us hewers of wood and drawers of water in the midst of plenty and because they are not president Nigeria must be on fire. In this glaring cruel injustice, this misguided chorus of one Nigeria cannot stand. Therefore, divide this country now in peace and let “Boko Haram”, “Oduduwa Republic”, “Republic of Biafra”, “Arewa Muslim Nation” or more to go, if we are not ready to face the reality that we all must make a compromise.

It does not matter who is at the helm of affairs in the hoax called Nigeria, the situation of the Niger Delta people or the Igbos will never change because that Aso Rock is like a secret cult, when you are there your hands are tied and therefore obliged to join the overwhelming erroneous chorus of one Nigeria to the detriment of the Niger Delta people. President Goodluck Jonathan is a core Niger Delta man from Ijaw, watch out if there will be much difference in the state of infrastructural development in the Niger Delta regions after his term.

The whole idea about Nigeria was based on lies and deceit by the British people and I consider it evil until the so-called leaders decide to pick up political courage to address the injustice, the Niger Delta or Igbo people will continue to pay the price for one Nigeria.

Sunny Okosun of a blessed memory sang in one of his songs “Which way Nigeria? Since many years of our independence we are still finding it hard to stand. How long shall we be independent before we reach the promised land?” We can never get there my departed brother, under this shamble and fraud arrangement. The Igbo people have demonstrated enough willingness to be together with other tribes than other tribes of Nigeria. Therefore, shedding of the Igbo’s blood, looting and destruction of their properties for one Nigeria is no longer acceptable.

Margaret Thatcher said in 1998 that “It is difficult to govern a country like Nigeria. It is artificially created, divided into Moslem north, Christian and pagan south.” Yes, she was right, but who created this artificial country? She forgot that she was part of the evil that brought the different nations together as one Nigeria and benefited from the fraud more than any other individual. Though I acknowledge the truth but we don’t need her sympathy.

I was angry and disappointed to read in one of the Nigerian national newspapers where the IG of police tagged the Boko Haram members as cowards. Please, Boko Haram members are surely not cowards. Macmillan English Dictionary describes coward as “someone who is not brave enough to fight or do something difficult or dangerous that they should do,” the real cowards are the Nigerian police force and Nigerian leaders who know the people behind the killing of innocent citizens in the north but they are afraid to touch them.

The federal government is not sincere with the handling of the Boko Haram issue because most of the military or police men/women they are using against Boko Haram from the north are members themselves who give them tip off on how to escape which the federal government knows. How can Boko Haram find its way deep into the overall head office of the Nigerian police force without an insider? This is incredible! Nigerians are no fools and I will not be too surprised if they find their way into the Presidential Villa Abuja. Therefore, the committee the federal government formed now because of Boko Haram is not necessary and as such ill conceived just to deceive you and me. It is also a shame that after the Boko Haram group turned down the offer from the Aso Rock for negotiation that the federal government turned round again on 04.08.2011 through the Secretary of State Pius Anyim who said that they are not ready to negotiate with a faceless group like Boko Haram which is contradictory to what the IG of police had earlier told us, then I ask, who is deceiving who? If they are sincere let them send military men from the east, west or south to the north and see within two weeks if Boko Haram would not be a story of “once upon a time”. But some northern military men who do not understand good English are always selected by the federal government and brought to the old eastern part of the country to waste the lives of the citizens of that part with impunity whenever there is an uproar, probably because of the harsh government policy towards their plight. The massacre of Odi people from Ijaw in Delta state is still very fresh in our memories.

It is also agonizing to hear that the federal government of Nigeria was pleading with Boka Haram for dialogue. On 05.07.2011 the IG of Police told us that some of the arrested members of Boko Haram will not be charged to court because the federal government has decided to handle the issue politically. What an unfortunate statement! Contradictorily non-violent MASSOB members are brutalized, killed and imprisoned for just exercising their civil rights through peaceful demonstrations and there is nothing wrong in such callousness. This jailing and killing of armless and defenseless MASSOB members is an annual event. The harassments and arrests of Raphael Uwazuruike continue at will by the so-called federal government of Nigeria at any statement he makes and this can no longer be tolerated. Therefore, we the unrecognized voices of concerned Ndi Igbo all over the world demand with immediate effect the unconditional release of all MASSOB members detained or imprisoned since our Igbo elites have refused to speak.

From every signal, the northerners want one Nigeria not because of their love for us but because of the oil money. If peradventure oil or gold is discovered in any part of the northern state today, which I pray for, the Emirs, the Babangidas, the Buharis, and the Atikus will gather to pronounce “To your tents, O Israel.”

Nigeria stands to gain a lot in unity, but every day indicates in the direction that it is not workable because of selfishness, dishonesty and greed. There is a lot of nepotism, tribalism and hatred in this fraud called Nigeria as a result of so many evident factors like cultural different backgrounds, religious beliefs, incompatibility and intolerance.

My dream Nigeria is a Nigeria that may never be. My dream Nigeria is a Nigeria where there will be tolerance, honesty, peace, unity and love; a Nigeria where you can live in any state or town without fear of your life because of your religion or ethnicity; a Nigeria where we will do away with the stereotypes that an Igbo man is too cunning, a Yoruba man is a betrayer or a Hausa man did not go to school etc.; a Nigeria where we will honestly tell ourselves the truth that we were forced by the British people to come together but also recognize the fact that since faith has brought us all together that we could as well live in harmony and peace if we all sincerely agree to make sacrifices and sit down to fashion out the mode that will make our aspirations fairly attainable; a Nigeria where you can gain employment anywhere as long as you are qualified for it without regard to “godfather”, ethnicity, religion, gender or disability etc. This is my dream Nigeria. This is the ideal Nigeria we all should strive to achieve, a Nigeria I would staunchly believe in.

Nigeria as it is presently constituted is a fraud built on falsehood and it cannot stand under the present arrangement, until our leaders pick the political courage and convene a national conference where we will decide on how to make the centre (federal government) not so attractive like it is now by allowing each federating state to develop according to its pace and to have greater percentage of its natural resources, but also making the centre very strong enough to hold the federating states together as one Nigeria. Until this is done, all the federating units of Nigeria will continue to be threatened. Under this threat Nigeria is staggering, under this threat I see danger and under this threat with the unfolding events I am forced to say that Nigeria as an entity may not survive for too long and even if it does, it looks like the bomb will explode during or after the 2019 election. But before it gets to this point please let us separate in peace and not in pieces.

Do not forget that no matter how long it takes a stammerer he must surely pronounce his name. We are waiting for maturity to eat the bearded fruit as Chinua Achebe would put it for the triumph of might over right is only temporal.

Divide Nigeria now in peace or address the injustice and balance the equilibrium for tranquility to reign!

I join millions of people all over the world to congratulate South Sudan people on their independence.

Uzoma Ahamefule writes from Vienna, Austria.

E: mail; uzomaah@yahoo.com

Phone: +436604659620 please sms only.

Indictment Alleges Sexual Exploitation of Five Child Victims, Some on Church Property

KANSAS CITY, MO—Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Roman Catholic priest was indicted by a federal grand jury today for producing and possessing child pornography.

“When a person who has been placed in a position of trust exploits and victimizes children, he victimizes the entire community,” Phillips said. “Today’s indictment sends a strong message that we will not tolerate this criminal behavior.”

Shawn Ratigan, 45, of Independence, Mo., a diocesan priest and former pastor or assistant pastor in several area parishes, was charged in a 13-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. Ratigan was the parish pastor at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Kansas City, Mo., and more recently served as chaplain to the Franciscan Sisters of the Holy Eucharist in Independence.

Today’s indictment charges Ratigan with 11 counts of producing or attempting to produce child pornography. The indictment alleges that Ratigan exploited five minor victims to produce sexually explicit pictures of them. The victims ranged in age from 2 years old to 12 years old. The exploitation allegedly occurred at several locations—including a church choir loft—over a six-year period of time. Ratigan is also charged with two counts of possessing child pornography.

Victim Jane Doe #1

According to the indictment, Ratigan exploited a 6-year-old minor, identified as Jane Doe #1, to produce an image of child pornography between June 11 and 12, 2005.

On Dec. 14, 2010, while Ratigan resided in St. Patrick’s Parish in Kansas City, Mo., he allegedly possessed a laptop computer containing this same pornographic image of victim Jane Doe #1 that had been taken when she was 6 years old. Two days later, the computer was turned over to agents for the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

On Easter Sunday approximately six years after the initial exploitation, the indictment says, when Jane Doe #1 was 12 years old, Ratigan surreptitiously took close-up shots of her crotch area while she was wearing shorts. The pictures were allegedly taken from an angle shooting up between her legs as she was standing. According to the indictment, the pictures were taken on the grounds of the Vincentian Mission House in Independence, Ratigan’s most recent residence, on April 24, 2011.

Victim Jane Doe #2

Ratigan allegedly took pictures as he exploited a 2-year-old minor, identified as Jane Doe #2, to produce child pornography on May 17, 2006, in the buildings of St. Joseph’s Church in Easton, Mo. Between May 22 and May 31, 2006, Ratigan allegedly abused Jane Doe #2 again by taking pornographic pictures of her in the choir loft of St. Joseph’s Church.

When Jane Doe #2 was 5 years old, Ratigan allegedly took close-up shots underneath her skirt on June 3, 2009. Ratigan also allegedly took at least 40 close-up shots underneath her skirt on the steps in front of St. Joseph’s Church between June 12 and 15, 2009.

Victim Jane Doe #3

Ratigan allegedly took pornographic pictures of his exploitation of a 5-year-old minor, identified as Jane Doe #3, between Sept. 1 and Nov. 1, 2007. Ratigan also allegedly took close-up shots of her pubic area while trying to pull down her pants while she was sleeping between March 1 and 31, 2008.

When Jane Doe #3 was 6 or 7 years old, Ratigan allegedly took pornographic pictures of her between April 9, 2008, and April 5, 2010.

Victim Jane Doe #4

Ratigan allegedly took close-up shots of the crotch area of the bathing suit of a 7-year-old victim, identified as Jane Doe #4, without her knowledge on July 6, 2009.

Victim Jane Doe #5

Ratigan allegedly pulled down the pants of a minor victim, identified as Jane Doe #5, while she was sleeping and took pornographic pictures. According to the indictment, this occurred between Aug. 1, 2008, and Sept. 1, 2009, while the victim was 8 and 9 years old.

The indictment also alleges that Ratigan was in possession of an external hard drive between Jan. 1 and 15, 2011, that contained pornographic images of minor victims.

Penalties

Under federal statutes, each count of producing child pornography carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in federal prison without parole, up to 30 years in federal prison without parole. The penalty for possessing child pornography is up to 10 years in federal prison.

Phillips cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katharine Fincham. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the FBI CyberCrimes Task Force

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(AP) — A helicopter crash in Afghanistan\’s eastern Wardak province killed 31 U.S. special operation troops and seven Afghan soldiers, the country\’s president said Saturday. It was the highest number of American casualties recorded in a single incident in the decade-long war.

President Hamid Karzai sent his condolences to President Barack Obama, according to a statement issued by his office.

\”A NATO helicopter crashed last night in Wardak province,\” Karzai said in the statement, adding that 31 American special operations troops were killed. \”President Karzai expressed his deep condolences because of this incident and expressed his sympathy to Barack Obama.\”

The Taliban claimed to have brought the helicopter down with a rocket attack, but they have been known to make exaggerated claims in the past.

NATO confirmed the overnight crash and said there \”was enemy activity in the area.\” But it said it was still investigating the cause. The alliance was conducting a recovery operation at the site, it said, without releasing details or a casualty figure.

\”We are aware of an incident involving a helicopter in eastern Afghanistan,\” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Justin Brockhoff, a NATO spokesman. \”We are in the process of accessing the facts.\” The helicopter was a twin-rotor Chinook, which are used for transport, said an official at NATO headquarters in Brussels, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

The helicopter crashed in the Sayd Abad district of Wardak province, said a provincial government spokesman, Shahidullah Shahid. The volatile region borders the province of Kabul where the Afghan capital is located and is known for its strong Taliban presence.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement that NATO had attacked a house in Sayd Abad where insurgents were gathering Friday night, killing eight fighters. The Taliban then downed the helicopter. he said.

In June 2005, 16 American troops were killed when a U.S. helicopter crashed in eastern Kunar province after apparently being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Aircraft crashes are relatively frequent in Afghanistan, where insecurity and difficult terrain make air travel essential for coalition forces transporting troops and equipment.

There have been at least 17 coalition and Afghan aircraft crashes in Afghanistan this year. Most of the crashes are attributed to pilot errors, weather conditions or mechanical failures. However, the coalition has confirmed that at least one CH-47F Chinook helicopter was hit by a rocket propelled grenade on July 25, injuring two crewmembers.

Meanwhile, NATO troops attacked a house and inadvertently killed eight members of a family, including women and children, in the southern Helmand province, an Afghan government official said Saturday.

NATO said Taliban fighters fired rocket propelled grenades and small arms at coalition troops during a patrol Friday in the Nad Ali district. The troops fired back, and as the fight escalated an aistrike was called in against the Taliban position, said Brockhoff, the NATO spokesman. He said NATO sent a delegation to meet with local leaders and investigate the incident.

Nad Ali district police chief Shadi Khan said civilians died in the bombardment but that it was unknown how many insurgents were killed.

Helmand, a Taliban stronghold, is the deadliest province in Afghanistan for international troops.

NATO has come under harsh criticism in the past for accidentally killing civilians during operations against suspected insurgents. However, civilian death tallies by the United Nations show the insurgency is responsible for most war casualties involving non-combatants.

Also in the south, NATO said two coalition service member were killed, one on Friday and another on Saturday. The international alliance did not release further details.

The deaths bring to 334 the number of coalition troops killed this year in Afghanistan, and 11 this month.

The time is now or never, for justice delayed is justice denied. The evil perpetrated by former Nigerian president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo during his eight years reign as Nigerian president is now catching up with him.

The clarion call by Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, during his 70th birthday anniversary and the press release issued by IBB’s allies represented by Barrister Salisu Mohammed of Civil Society Movement for Justice and Freedom; Comrade Chukwu Nwabueze of Movement for Freedom and Equal Rights and Barrister Abiodun Akanbi of Human Rights Action Network.

Other groups include: Social Rights Advancement Projects led by Comrade Nasiru Dalti; Transparency Network of Nigeria led by Alhaji Saleh Mamman and Good Governance Coalition under Engr. Umar Farouk Al Hassan. All the leaders of the six groups signed the press statement.

published by pmnews for the immediate arrest and prosecution of OBJ is timely owing to the fact that the immunity clause which shielded him from prosecution by the anti-graft agencies is no longer in place, it now behoove on president Jonathan and EFCC-chairperson Farida Waziri to wade in to this grand allegations by revisiting the power probe chaired by Hon Ndudi Elumelu to unravel those culprit who drained our treasury for their personal use.

It is high time the president direct through his AG and Minister of Justice Adoke that the S16-billion dollars power-scam which involved Obasanjo,Agagu and Imoke be re-open and suspects prosecuted including their God-father Chief O Obasanjo. $16 b is a big drain out of Nigerian treasury. With the loot of S16 b Obasanjo, Imoke, Agagu and their co-criminals are living big and jetting round the globe with their wives and children along with cronies. They must be arrested now and be prosecuted.No sacred cows.

According to the report the committee recommended the interrogation of some former and serving public officials by the country’s anti graft agencies for their roles in the power project contracts. Standing out among them are former president Olusegun Obasanjo; the then Governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Agagu; Governor of Cross River state, Mr. Liyel Imoke; Central Bank Governor, Professor Charles Soludo; the Accountant General of the Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo, among others.

The committee in the report expressed the belief that the intervention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in the matter would compel the indicted officials and institutions to account for their roles in the award and execution of the multi-billion naira contracts for the Independent Power Projects [NIPPs.]

The panel also indicted the former boss of Power Holding Company of Nigeria [PHCN] a cousin and Special Adviser to President Obasanjo, Mr. Joseph Makoju; proposed a mass purge in PHCN to enhance its performance; and submitted that all the power projects should be reviewed.

Agagu and Imoke, both former ministers in the Ministry of Power and Steel, according to the committee’s findings, awarded contracts to non-existing firms, and must be made to account for their actions.

The panel rejected their explanations on the role they played in the scandal as“unsatisfactory”. It recommended that the indicted persons, if found guilty in the trial the committee recommended, should be barred from holding any public office in future.

In the case of the possible culpability of Obasanjo and the former Minister of State for Energy, Alhaji Abdulhamid Ahmed, the committee was unsparing in its condemnation of the contentious practice of approvingwaivers for some contractors and, in a damning indictment, observed that in view of their alleged roles in the entire projects, Obasanjo and Ahmed should be cited for economic sabotage.

“The committee identified the brains behind waivers of due process on NIPP disbursements. The Justification at that time was to fast-track the completion of the projects. But rather than fact-track or facilitate the completion of the projects as envisaged, waivers of due process became the major plank that facilitated payments to contractors and consultants that have failed to perform, at the expense of the nation and the power industry. These officers need to be thoroughly investigated by the appropriate agencies for economic sabotage to the country,” according to the report.

Referring to Obasanjo, the report said: “In view of the enormity of issues entailed in the findings, it is recommended that former President Olusegun Obasanjo should be called to account for the recklessness in the power sector during his time. The committee recommends that EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences [ICPC] should investigate him.”

On Ahmed, the committee said: “For his patently willful manipulation of Due Process, flagrant abuse of Due Process, gross abuse of financial procedures in the award of contracts and payments, especially during the last few weeks of the Obasanjo administration, exemplified by initiation of requests to the president and procurement of presidential approvals for huge and questionable payments in respect of Papalanto Phase II, Mambila Plateau I, Zungeru Hydro, Omoku expansion, Gabarain Ubie expansion and Egbema expansion [nine additional GE Frame turbines to Rockson International] without due process compliance for contract award and certification for payment.”

“The committee found out that during the tenure of Dr Olusegun Agagu as Minister of Power and Steel, numerous contracts were awarded relying on a letter from the Corporate Affairs Commission [CAC]. at the time of Agagu’s tenure as minister in 2002, the committee found out that some unregistered companies were awarded huge contracts. ..Consequently, there was a prima facie evidence that Agagu awarded contracts without due process. Up till the time of this report, all efforts to the owners of the companies to appear in person before the committee proved abortive. Rather, the committee received some documents containing reports that the companies were registered. The true identities of the owners remained unresolved”.

“In view of the huge amounts involved, the committee recommends that EFCC and ICPC should investigate the allegations with a view to prosecuting anyone found culpable,” the report said on Agagu.

The report equally hit hard on the CBN and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation. On the CBN, the report said: “The committee is perturbed by the failure of the CBN Governor to provide information in respect of Letters of Credit opened and where the money involving over one billion dollars had been kept all these years.”

It therefore recommended that “in view of the apparent unwillingness of the CBN to cooperate with the committee in this matter or provide the committee with a proper account of withdrawals from the excess crude account, the balance on the account, where the money in respect of unutilized letters of credit are kept and interest that have accrued thereto, we recommend that the EFCC be invited to investigate the office of Accountant –General of the Federation and the CBN in respect of the above issues relating to Letters of Credit opened.”

Calling for a mass purge at the PHCN, the committee said: “The crass incompetence entrenched at the top echelon of management of the PHCN and NDPHC/NIPP must be addressed decisively and with utmost dispatch. In this respect, it would be absolutely necessary to cleanse the Aegean Stable immediately. The committee recommends intensive and extensive purge at all levels of PHCN and associated agencies.

Charles Audu, A public affairs analyst writes from Lagos

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by Ochanya Samuels

The coming of the Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi in June 3, 2009 as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN] was turbulent – following the completion of tenure by the previous Governor of the CBN in the person of Prof Charles Chukwuma Soludo. It brought shockwaves to the many regions of Nigeria and to the financial world as the new incoming Governor sought sweeping reforms to the Nigerian Banking system to bail out Nigerian Banks operating at the verge of near collapse.

Just two months following his arrival, the new Governor led the CBN into bailing out of Afribank, Intercontinental Bank, Union Bank, Oceanic Bank and Finbank with 400 billion naira of public money, while dismissing their chief executives. \”We had to move in to send a strong signal that such recklessness on the part of bank executives will no longer be tolerated.\” – stated Sanusi. Sixteen senior bank officials faced charges that included fraud, lending to fake companies, giving loans to companies they had a personal interest in and conspiring with stockbrokers to boost share price.

Sanusi’s immediate jolt was felt instantly which generated a reactionary clatter in high decibels that quickly took a political dimension threatening the near distortion of the new CBN and its initiatives.

Economic development was top on the new CBN’s initiatives and it draws from the CBN Act of 2007 which explicitly provided and mandated for the CBN to play the developmental roles in the economy. Like other Central Banks in a developing economy, the development and sustenance of a vibrant real sector is germane to the efficacy of monetary policy tools.

Among the policy tools the new CBN has turned to stimulate needed economic activity in the real sector is the ground breaking initiative it recently launched on agriculture. Through a revolutionary approach designed by the new CBN, it boosts agricultural activity through softened lending programs.

According to official labor statistics, localized agricultural activity has been the largest employer in Nigeria. Specifically, 70% of available labor in Nigeria is employed in the local agricultural industry equivalent to 40.05million people out of the 57.21million total labor force. Interestingly, the large chunk of the labor market impacts the Gross Domestic Product [GDP] a messily 26.8% – indicating a wide untapped potential – to help boost the GDP per capital beyond the current $3640, and possibly an opportunity to decrease the segment of the population living below the poverty line from to the current 67.5million Nigerians [45% of Nigerian population] to below 34million.

Through this realization, the CBN sought to utilize its mandate in the CBN Act of 2007 to engineer the local agricultural sector into a vibrant sector to possibly affect the Nation’s GDP. It launched the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending [NIRSAL]. The NIRSAL, according to the CBN, is geared to make the risk of lending to local farmers who typically have little or no real collateral to present to lending Banks. The NIRSAL posits to provide shared risk to the lending Banks and to increase agricultural lending by $3billion over 10years equivalent to an increase from 1.4% to 7% of Nigeria’s total bank lending.

Historically the agricultural sector had not faired well due largely to limited available credit. This is because lending banks associate agricultural sector with high lending risk – the banks lack the skills to properly evaluate/ rank associated risks. Some lending banks did not trust the farmer would make enough profit to repay the loan. In affect, the lending banks did not want to carry the risk alone. For this reason, the monies previously made available by the past administration at the CBN failed to reach the intended final users – the local farmers.

Implementation of NIRSAL points to directly to sealing the gaps in the earlier interventions by designing into the program five solution components for the lending bank. The solution components are basically to provide incentives for the Banks to lend to local farmers at lowered risks and interest rates – they comprise of; Risk Sharing Facility, Insurance Component, Technical Assistance Facility, Bank Incentive Mechanism, and Agricultural Bank Rating System.

The NIRSAL as designed will not only cater to the farmer alone. The new CBN discovered that the local farmer depends on other factors to enable his crop reach the appropriate market in a timely manner. This requires the constructing, linking and servicing the commodity and financial value chains for all players to optimize their businesses by ensuring that operator, from the farm to the market, is properly funded, assisted and given adequate incentives to play their different roles appropriately. It requires ensuring that needed infrastructure, roads, irrigation, processing facilities, extension service, marketing support, insurance, improved seeds variety, fertilizer, and technical assistance are provided – so that every part of the chain functions unhindered.

Through the CBN’s Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme [CACS] in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, established in 2009, the scheme sought implementation of the NIRSAL program of providing financing of agricultural value chain from input supply to commodity marketing. And the results, judging by data obtained from the field, indicate the new CBN’s scheme as having succeeded in its objectives.

Since the implementation of the scheme, under the new CBN, 20,826 new jobs have been created, 185 skilled, 231 semi-skilled and 20,412 unskilled. A reported increased in production output of 3.5metric tones per hectare of maize was recorded. Yoghurt and fruit juice increased to 3,000liters per hour and 1,200 tonnes respectively; fingerlings production increased to 260,000 per day; poultry increased to 1,800,000 birds manufacture of layers raised to 963,100; pigs increased to 20,500; nestle milk increased to 11,376metric tonnes; etc. In addition, 13 grounded large scale agricultural projects have been revived.

The success is credited directly to the NIRSAL program which enable for loan disbursement to the four main value segments of food processing [N46.14billion]; food production [N25.34billion]; food marketing N6.26billion]; and food storage [N1.08billion]. A remaining sum of N103.19billion awaits disbursement as at December 31, 2010.

Perhaps, as the NIRSAL comes into full gear, and the credit facilities continue to reach the sector previously ignored by the previous failed interventions, the near 41million labor force employed in the agricultural sector would find their activities generate appreciable income to positively affect the National GDP and considerably decrease the percentage living below the poverty line in Nigeria. Just Perhaps.