The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Tuesday, January 24, 2012 arraigned four persons – Saturday Ovie, (aka David Makos, Olu Shola, Dr. Segun Obasanjo), Udugba Benson, Boyo Oritsetimiyn Bobby and Ovisco-Link Nigeria Limited before a Federal High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos for allegedly obtaining various sum of money ($67,740 Dollar and N104, 366.69) under false pretence from one Filip Disanza, a German national.
The accused persons were arraigned on a 7 count charge before Justice Stephen Adah.When the charges were read, the accused persons pleaded not guilty. Counsel to EFCC, Cosmos Ugwu then asked the court to remand the accused persons in prison custody and fix a date for the commencement of trial. However, counsel to the 3rd accused person, Ali Abah said he had filed a bail application on behalf of his client. The same argument was canvassed by counsel to the 1st and 2ndaccused person. However, Justice Adah refused to hear the bail application. He ordered that the accused persons be remanded in Kirikiri prison and adjourned the case to January 30 when the bail application is expected to be heard.The journey to prison began for the trio in March 19, 2010 when Filip Disanza sent a petition to the Commission.
The petitioner alleged that he had been defrauded of some amount of money by some Nigerian fraudsters who deceptively represented themselves as Barristers David Makos and Olu Shola and also pretended to be gold merchants. He said at different times he was made to travel to Ghana where he met with the fraudsters and paid over $500,000 US Dollars into their nominated accounts in Nigeria and Ghana .Saturday Ovie, the first accused person who lives in Sapele dropped out of Okotie-Eboh Secondary School in Senior Secondary 3 due to financial problems to take up brick layering as a vocation. He later went to Ghana where he perfected his criminal habit before returning to Nigeria .
Udugba Benson was born in 1971 at Ughelli. He attended Ogbe Primary School Benin City, Edo State ; he dropped out in primary five to learn furniture making. For Richard Boyo, 36 years old, he was born in Warri, Delta State and attended Orphpele Primary School , Sapele, Government Secondary School , Wuse, Abuja and Edo State University , Ekpoma.Part of what Saturday Ovie did to convince the unsuspecting German was to forge Ghana Bar Association Certificate of practice with serial No. GBA369329 purportedly signed by the Ghana Bar Association Chairman, with an identity card photographed in the name of David Makos (Esq.).
Part of the charge against the accused persons read:
Count 1That you Saturday Ovie (aka David Makos, Olu Shola, Dr. Segun Obasanjo) Udugba Benson, Boyo Oritsetimiyn and Ovisco Link Nigeria Limited on or about the 19th of Nov. 2011 at Lagos within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court conspired to commit an offence to wit, obtaining money under false pretences from one Filip Disanza a German national and thereby committed an offence punishable under sections 1(3) and 8 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act. 2006
Count 2That you Saturday Ovie (aka David Makos, Olu Shola, Dr. Segun Obasanjo) and Ovisco-Link Nig Ltd between 2nd Oct 2009 and 9th Dec. 2009 at Ogharefe within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court fraudulently obtained the sum of $59,660 (Fifty nine thousand six hundred and sixty USD) from one Filip Disanza, a German national under the false pretence that the amount was payment for gold which pretence you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence punishable under Sections 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offence Act, 2006.
The Traditional Prime Minister of Awka Kingdom, Chief Austin Ndigwe, one of the principal characters named in a spurious publication that has been making the rounds in Anambra state and on the internet in the last few days concerning an attempt to blackmail the governor of Anambra state, Mr Peter Obi, Gov Rochas Okorocha of Imo and an oil magnate, Chief Ifeanyi Ubah, has reacted, describing it as the work of idle minds.
Ndigwe, an aide to both governors who spoke to journalists on the telephone from his business trip in London yesterday dismissed and denied the publication which gave an indication that Chief Ifeanyi Ubah has put machinery in motion including a video tape containing unpalatable information against Gov Obi, as not coming from him or any of his representatives.
Describing the scathing publication as a heartless, inhuman and wicked machination of some faceless and demented political jobbers and enemies of progress who could be envious of the blossoming rapport among them, Chief Ndigwe urged the public to ignore and disregard the publication.
Also from the camp of Ubah came a brief statement which described the publication as “phantom act of some apparently deranged political merchants seeking to knock the heads of very close friends together for their own selfish benefit”. The spokesman said that anyone who believed or take any information contained in the offensive publication should have his head examined.
Chief Ndigwe said he was so shocked at the extent people can go to come in between friends and associates. He admitted actually being very close to Gov Obi, Ubah and Gov Rochas Okorocha of Imo state. He saw the publication as a tactless scam; a failed bare-faced political gambit, stressing that anyone who has issues with Obi, Ubah or Okorocha to hide behind his name to unleash such venom on them.
Hear him, “His Excellency Gov Peter Obi is my governor and I have high regards for him. Chief Ifeanyi Ubah is my friend and brother who has lifted me up to immeasurable heights in the Oil and Gas industry today beyond words. I respect him highly and therefore would never get involved in anything that would cast him in bad light. And that if the Almighty God says he would be Governor of Anambra state and he accepts to run, I will give him my full and unqualified support. I therefore wonder how anyone in his right mind say he’s placed me and some other well-placed and respected public figures on a monthly salary, for what purpose?
“His large heart, unrivalled philanthropy and meekness are widely acknowledged by all and count positively for him in whatever he sets to do. Everyone knows he achieved success by a dint of hard work, industry and resilience. He’s never involved in any form of short-cut, half measure, name-calling or character assassination whatsoever!
“Therefore let no one be left in doubt that the spurious publication which perhaps targeted at me and these highly placed public officers who are all friends/friends of mine cannot achieve the inordinate aims of its authors and sponsors. The publication is nothing but a calculated falsehood based on the imaginations of its sponsors clearly aimed at tarnishing the image/pollute our cordial relationship, friendship and association with each other….”
Ndigwe pointed out that he had never spoken to anyone directly or through a proxy on such serious and damaging issues in the manner so reported. He therefore vehemently denounce the publication in its entirety.
He said that he suspects that his fast rising social, economic and political profile must have made him a target of some people who are now green with envy and thereby throwing him open to spurious attacks. On the said video tape containing unsavoury details about Gov Obi, Chief Ndigwe said he has no idea of such material or the custodians. He also dismissed the linking of Gov Okorocha to the entire saga as unimaginable, stressing that the governor would never be part of such unfathomable scandal.
According to him, “I have not seen or heard about such tape, nor discussed same with anyone living or dead and never intend to do so now or in the future. He even wondered if any such tape existed anywhere, hence could not have been in the possession of any of the listed officers. He said he has no idea that Obi visited Ubah for that purpose. That he has no reason to follow Obi or Ubah’s daily programme to be able to know all those who visited them or those they visited too. He described them as highly industrious, determined and principled men who love the nation and her citizens so much. “We are all very busy people with daily tight work schedules hence have little or no time for frivolities meant for pepper soup joint patrons.”
While urging Obi, Uba and Okorocha to ignore the distractions but to remain focused on their widely-acknowledged life-transforming projects and programmes, Ndigwe appealed to those he called idle minds to try and engage themselves in some serious issues to move the nation forward, for them to leave him and his friends alone. He pointed out that the N250m issue concerning Obi in May/June 2009 was an openly reported and was consequently stoically addressed by the governor then and closed forthwith. So why reopening it, he asked rhetorically.
The two-time chairman of Awka South Local Government challenged anyone who has any scores to settle with anybody to be bold enough to come open rather than hiding behind his name or image for an unsolicited unnecessary smear campaign. He reiterated that if God needs Ubah to become the governor of Anambra state, it shall come to pass; and that the much anyone can do will be to pray for and support him!
He said he had no intention of joining issues with anyone let alone some faceless paper tigers, but for the numerous calls from his concerned friends who had inundated him with calls and enquiries on the said publication he had to come out to set the records straight. He said he would not like well-meaning citizens to be misled into believing the concocted work of bad political jobbers
He said he has already passed over the publication to his legal advisers to study with a view to possible legal action.
A week after controversial Nigerian Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke assured that the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim has been mandated to investigate his bank accounts and make his findings public, mum seems to be the outcome of the police probe.Even as they have failed to make public their findings, further investigations by ireports-ng.com have revealed that the embattled minister is not only tucking some stupendous wealth in Nigerian bank accounts and bluechip companies, he has locked up mansions wasting away in highbrow areas of London, United Kingdom and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Not pleased with our initial reports on his hidden wealth, Mr Adoke has also sent security agents after our correspondents in the nation’s capital, Abuja. In the last one week, state agents have moved round hotels and media gatherings in Abuja trying to source for information about journalists working for ireports-ng.com. They have also continued to harass our office in the United States with threat messages and calls.
Undeterred, our team was able to dig out more information about the unbelievable wealth of a serving Nigerian public official. Our findings have revealed that Mr Adoke has a locked up luxury apartment worth over 2 million Great Britain Pounds at Pinnacle House, in highbrow Colindale area of London(NW9 5FY). He owns Apartment number 42 in the luxury mansion which picture is shown above.
To satisfy his insatiable thirst for luxury, Mr Adoke also moved over to the United Arab Emirates where he bought yet another luxury apartment worth over $5 million USD in the prestigious Princess Tower, located in Dubai Marina along Al Sufoul Road, Dubai. This like the one in London, he also locked up.
iReports-ng.com is also on the trail of another mansion in London which was said to have been bought by Adoke for the just retired former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu. In fact, information has it that the former CJN presently lives in the house in London. Kaksina-Alu was the one who nominated Adoke as President Goodluck Jonathan’s Justice Minister.
A source close to security agents in UK and US also told ireports-ng.com recently that law enforcement agencies in the two jurisdictions are also on the trail of Mr Adoke’s assets scattered across the world.
In our earlier postings, we had reported that “Weeks of underground investigations by ireports-ng.com have however revealed more shocking details about Adoke’s secret bank accounts in the nation’s federal capital territory, Abuja. One of such is an account number 002228052782 at a branch of First City Monument Bank located at Plot 252 Herbert Macaulay Way, Central Area Abuja. In the account is a stunning sum of $16 million US dollars.
Further investigations revealed that Adoke is keeping yet another $24 million US dollars in account number 041152000428 with Diamond Bank located at Plot 117 Adetokunbo Ademola Street, Wuse 2 while another 5.3 million Great Britain Pounds is also kept in the same account with Diamond Bank.
As if that was not enough, ireports-ng.com also revealed that Nigeria’s Justice Minister operates another secret account with the Ahmadu Bello Way branch of Zenith Bank, Abuja where a whooping sum of N6.2 billion is being kept.”
We had also reported that “A rundown of the documents made available to ireports-ng.com indicate that Adoke is a major investor in Oando Oil which has taken over N228 billion out of the N1.4trillion shared by about 100 oil marketers between January and August, 2011. The Minister has about N1.5 billion investment tucked in Oando Oil PLC. Apart from Oando, available documents also show that Adoke is equally a major investor in Eterna Oil which has within the same period benefitted about N5.57 billion from the fuel subsidy cake. He is said to have about N1 billion investment in the company, with another N2 billion tucked in a company called Novasys Ltd.
It has also been discovered that the Minister has his hands and hidden investments in major banks in the country. Some of them include about N400 million in Oceanic Bank; aboutN200 million in UAC properties; about N20 million in Guaranty Trust Bank; about N360 million in Access Bank; about $400,000 US dollars in MTN; about N1 billion in Japaul Oil& Maritime; about N15 million in Bank PHB; about N100million in First Bank; about N20 million in FCMB and aboutN6 million in Unity Bank PLC among others.”
In recent years and if truth is to be told the fire currently burning in the belly of the Nigerian police structure could be located directly within the ethno-religious make-up of the entire country.
In other words, police problems are continuously being fed by ethnic, tribal, religious and personal issues especially as they relate the adequate practice of police work across and within the country.
Globally, it is a fact that when Nigerian Police men and women serve as a contingent for foreign duties they exert professional and corporate image in their various tasks.
As police officers that are operating in foreign lands they are reputed for their show of motivation and corporation but within Nigeria their reality like most public sector workers of Nigeria, they seem to be driven by religious indoctrinations, ethnic loyalty, personal gains and societal ills.
Therefore the vision to enhance good police work in Nigeria isstill very , very far away. The current trends of problems facing the Nigerian police have no bearing on who is managing the police as in the case of Inspector General of Police (IGP), Hafiz Ringim.
In recent years and even in the past, one Inspector-General of Police after the other,cannot deny the unusualimportance and the strange relevance of obvious ethnic and subtle religious markers and their effects on stability of the police and national security.
It is a naked fact that in recent years the Nigeria Police and other security agencies now have so much money expended to it for securityoperation. Yet problems continue to swell.
The deep roots of ethnicity and the subtle effects of religion appear to be closely linked to intelligence gathering and dissemination.
In this regard, some in the policemay not be able to establish and maintain a credible intelligence as their loyalty first goes to persons/organizations of ethnic affiliation or religious composition and not to the presidency, the police management or national security partners.
So, no matter how effective or ineffective is the police chief as long as the weight of religion and load of ethnicity remain heavy on an average police man or woman the intelligence operation that is critical to handle criminal or security challenges is likely to be contaminated.
The police and other security agencies remain erected andline as religious and ethnically based governmental functions which make loyalty to the Constitution or to the nation problematic.
Ethnic politics in the police, homage along tribal lines and the uneven distribution of rewards of positions further contribute to the present-day police dilemma in terms of having neutrally-minded personnel to adequately combat terrorism, violence, and other criminality.
The existing and current ethnic and religious map of Nigeria which is no fault of any police chief is reflected in the internal corners of domestic quarters of the people.
In a society where thousands of employees of the Nigerian Police are attached as security officers to civilian Nigerians, it could be very difficult that from time to time intelligence information is not leaked to one’s master or madam especially those of the same ethnic and religious background as the officer.
One overriding feature of the country’s national security operationis that of intra/inter-security rivalry by officers, in terms of ethnic and religioussentiments. And in the interest of viablepolice functions, national security operations, national justice rolesand a healthy democratic system, we must no longer remain silent on these issues.
In our culture, religion and ethnicity havethe multiple functions of legitimating our daily lives socially and spiritually. And this is a good thing.
But for our national interest to be first in regards to our protection it is our responsibilityto put a check on the bitter aspects of ethno-religious consciousness.
To reduce the toxic aspects of ethnicity and religion the police management, and the entire national security apparatus need to establish a number of clinical training centers and develop neutralization strategies in the areas of religious and ethnic mentality in regards to security/law enforcement. This could be done without losing a way of life, culturally.
Meanwhile, if the entire air of national security continues to becontaminated and compressed due to ethno-religious toxicity and helplessness, we must find other radical ways for the people to have confidence in the securityin regards to their properties and lives.
One immediate suggestion may be to importsecurityagents knowing fully well they will naturally function outside Nigerian-lased religious and ethnic networks, unlike our indigenous security agents.
At least there will be less worry whether intelligence will be soiled by extreme religious and ethnic sentiments.
One thing for sure is that Nigerians must do something now, and not allow the nation to further fall into the ditch of total breakdown of law and order.
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John Egbeazien Oshodi, Ph.D, is the Secretary-General of the Nigeria Psychological Association (NPA) , and an expert in Forensic/Clinical Psychology at the Department of Psychology, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nasarawa. Jos5930458@aol.com. 08126909839
South Sudan said on Sunday that it is taking the government of neighboring north Sudan to court over what Juba describes as the “stealing” of its oil.
Stephen Dhieu Dau, the country’s oil minister said in an interview with Sudan Tribune that his ministry has filed a lawsuit against Khartoum in “specialised international tribunals.”
“We are not leaving it just like that. The Sudanese government must return all they have stolen otherwise we are taking them to court”, minister Dau said without elaborate on which tribunals.
Minister Dau said that in December Khartoum started diverting more than 120,000 barrels per day of oil pumped from the new nation, which took with it 75% of Sudan’s oil reserves when it became independent in July 2011.
The two sides have failed to reach a new deal over transit fees, with north Sudan demanding $36 for every barrel that passes through northern infrastructure as well as $1 billion in unpaid fees. Sudan also wants South Sudan to share part of its international debt.
Sudan’s government has said it is keeping the oil in lieu of pipeline transit fees it says are owed by landlocked South Sudan.
Juba on Friday announced it was stopping all oil production until its oil was returned and a “fair” fee was agreed.
Oil constitutes 98% of revenues in South Sudan, but officials say it is better keep it under the ground and sell it in the future, instead of allowing Khartoum to steal it from them.
The new nation accused Khartoum of preventing ships from entering to load entitlements belonging to South Sudan and confiscating what has been loaded onto ships.
Juba claims that Khartoum has stolen $350 million worth of its oil and prevented over $400 million of it from leaving Port Sudan.
“We have starting looking for alternative route for exporting the oil after we have reached a deadlock with Sudan, which is exaggerating in the oil transit fees,” South Sudan’s oil minister Dau said on Sunday.
“We have already started discussions about construction of a pipeline through eastern Africa, via Kenya. We expect the pipeline to be completed in 10 months. We will also begin immediately the construction of a refinery in South Sudan,” he added.
He further disclosed that the international oil companies operating and producing oil in South Sudan are the ones that would construct the pipeline and the refinery, noting that “we do not have any problem with the companies currently operating in the south.”
Sudan and South Sudan are negotiating in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, under the mediation of the African Union, to reach an agreement over oil and other issues.
But the talks have floundered as South Sudan insists that Khartoum returns the confiscated oil and the latter said it won’t stop taking its “right.”
South Sudan’s government says Sudan has embarked on shipping amounts of South Sudan’s oil and selling it for its own profit, while Sudan says it was deducting the transit fees in form of material oil.
Two weeks ago, the Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Abubakar Baraje expressed fury over the removal of the name of his party’s candidate Henry Dickson from the list of candidates for the governorship elections scheduled for next month in Bayelsa State by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). A week later, Dickson, the man in the political quagmire threw another verbal bomb at INEC with special reference to Kogi State’s recently held gubernatorial election in which the PDP won but with many unresolved issues relating to PDP’s rightful candidate still pending in the courts of law.
According to Dickson, “In the case of Kogi where the winner of the first PDP primaries lost in the repeat primaries, didn’t they (INEC) recognise Capt. Wada? This is utter nonsense and I am so surprised over the illegal action taken by INEC.”
The telling points in such a complex relationship are the simple facts that INEC excluded PDP’s Dickson from Bayelsa gubernatorial election list for the reason: ‘subject to litigation’ whereas in Kogi State, actions of the court against Capt Wada of PDP were demonstratively ignored’. In the absence of a clear and intelligent explanation, what the leadership of the PDP wants the public to believe is that the actions of INEC in Kogi State are justified, but the actions in Bayelsa are blamed and considered inadmissible. In simple terms, it is obvious that there is no logical consistency on the part of INEC and its recent action in resting on the terminology: ‘subject to litigation’ to exclude the Bayelsa PDP candidate. As it has introduced a narrowing gap between Bayelsa and Kogi states’ political outlooks but the rules applied by INEC are different.
INEC’s growing silence on Bayelsa primaries may suggest that the PDP’s claims are not credible but this is least surprising especially given that the PDP is a political party famous for discriminatory or selective approach to issues. Realistically, the PDP may be known for a lot of things, but a firm and abiding commitment to rationality is not one of them. When faced with a choice between legality and party leadership impunity, it tends to go for leadership impunity. It is not surprising because my father said many years ago that, “dispensers of lawlessness are usually quick to engage in needless caterwauls and diversionary non sequiturs whenever their true record is exposed to public scrutiny” Instances abound but that is a story for another day.
On the part of INEC, one may ask where’s the difference in the Kogi and Bayelsa issue? The Kogi and Bayelsa issues are similar as they bother on restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission from receiving a new list of nominees since the names of Jibrin Isah Echocho and Sylva had been submitted by the party in an earlier conducted primaries and they are “not dead” as stipulated in section 33 of the Electoral Act. However, both INEC and PDP have made the issues complex, tense and historically loaded with political contradictions.
In Kogi, Alhaji Jibrin Isah Echocho did not contest the kangaroo primaries as alleged by Dickson even though he was allotted one vote. Echocho was in court for the same reason that Sylva went to court. Contrastingly, on Bayelsa primaries, INEC did not recognize Dickson because of the pending court case but did on Kogi, INEC vacillated on Echocho. To send a clear message, this is double standard and INEC has evidently shown in its conduct the application of different sets of principles for similar situations.
Ordinarily, if it is abuse when a man hits a woman, it should also be an abuse when a woman is doing the hitting, but it is usually not so. Indeed, in politics and business, nothing is impossible to explain, after all the 18th century industrialist, Sam Gregg attempted with success to explain how Plato and Aristotle justified slavery.
These recent events and conflicts on PDP gubernatorial primaries not only highlight the need for re-examination of Kogi and Bayelsa election primaries but have brought up a fair amount of questions for both PDP and INEC. The most prominent fact about the Bayelsa and Kogi State PDP primaries is INEC’s vacillation as the issue of bias and absence of level playing field are obvious. The decision by INEC on Bayelsa gives us reasons to pause, especially given the suspicion that the reverse decision on Kogi may not be caused by reasons far removed from undue influence.
It would be nice to be able to agree with INEC on Bayelsa given the legal connotation but INEC’s failure to take a similar action in Kogi is a further limitation of democracy in Nigeria. Certainly, with the recent development in Bayelsa, the observers of Kogi politics mostly supporters of Echocho will feel ill treated and may even conclude that INEC’s role in Kogi election was a clear attempt to stifle their rights. Without a doubt, INEC vacillation on Echocho is not only politically detrimental to Nigeria’s democracy but makes a mockery of our judicial system. Such an action if not corrected in the Kogi elections may breed grounds for chronic conflict and misinterpretation of the leadership quality of the Electoral Commission. However, with the contradictory position of INEC, the likely revisit of the Kogi election by the Judicial may not be an impossible hope.
In politics it is said that there are many things you cannot complain about. You just have to accept them and be smart enough to navigate them. However, the popular assumption is that what happened in Kogi and the protests by PDP leadership on INEC’s decision on Bayelsa were endorsed by President Goodluck Jonathan, who as the National Party Leader of PDP has introduced another complex dimension to the issues on ground. Luckily, these are mere conjectures but to suggest that a contestant is openly disliked by the establishment or is seen favourably by the President undermines the basic foundations of any genuine democracy.
While the INEC should keep in mind its constitutional power and limitations, the PDP should not be allowed to rewrite the constitution by stealth. Both INEC and PDP need to stop playing political theater. They should do what is right instead of taking the electorate for fools. It may be an uphill battle but it is good that the right things are done for the preservation and growth of Nigeria’s democracy. Any half baked solution like holding a closed door meeting on the Bayelsa issue between the PDP leadership and INEC Chairman as proffered by the PDP acting Chairman cannot advance our democracy. The Bayelsa and Kogi issues are closely related especially in this twisty political episode of Echocho and Governor Sylva. How they are resolved will determine the nature of democracy we practice under the leadership of President Goodkuck Jonathan.
* Phrank Shaibu, A Public Communications Consultant wrote from Abuja
During her earlier stint as the Nigerian Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala earned the respect and admiration of many Nigerians. They considered her the most honorable and incorruptible minister in the Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration. Finally, she resigned from the Obasanjo government.
This time around, as she was slated to be part of the Goodluck Jonathan administration, many Nigerians were elated, believing that she was bringing expertise, international credibility, honor, principles and incorruptibility to her job. While she may have brought all these wonderful attributes to her ministerial position, she also brought a baggage, a very heavy baggage. She is an international bureaucrat and international bureaucrats have a penchant for causing confusion.
They normally reside in the most exclusive neighborhoods of the world’s most livable cities, and their offices are situated in the most prestigious areas of these cities’ Central Business Districts. They shop at the trendiest boutiques, and wine and dine at the ritziest restaurants, in town. Generally, their lifestyles are so elitist and their social and professional circles so selective that they cannot relate to the middle class, thoughtless of the poor, of these Western cities they reside in.
Paradoxically, these bureaucrats that are totally disconnected from the middle class of Western countries are empowered to take economic decisions on behalf of the poor in Third World counties and coerce their governments to accept them. They pretend to know the economic problems and needs of developing nations. Supposedly, they understand the cultures, values and susceptibilities of these societies that are separated from them by attitude, tradition, customs and thousands of miles.
From the comfort of their swanky offices, poring through statistics, sometimes, muddled up statistics, and relying on universal theories that pay no respect to local peculiarities, they pontificate on the economic problems of developing countries, and condescendingly, proffer their solutions. They seem oblivious to the fact that statistics, at the best of times, “are like bikinis, what they reveal is important but what they hide is essential”, and that universal economic theories demand critical reviews to make them adaptable to local realities.
Not surprisingly, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund [IMF] officials ruined the economies of many Third World countries with their then economic fad: currency devaluation. Not too long ago, the international bureaucrats at the Hague (World Court) gave Nigeria a test of their harum-scarum justice. Disregarding the Bakassi people’s historical ties and cultural and ethnic bonds with Nigeria, they snatched the Bakassi peninsula from Nigeria and handed it over to Cameroons.
Again an international bureaucrat is at work. With that World Bank and IMF studied indifferent to the economic perils of the masses, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala masterminded the removal of fuel subsidy in Nigeria. The removal of the fuel subsidy and its attendant increase in the price of petrol, transportation and almost every consumer good is visiting enormous hardship on Nigerians.
Sadly, the government’s rational for the removal of the subsidy makes no economic sense. The government’s logic can be likened to that of a man who has been employed for 13 years and earns 100,000 naira a month. This man has been unable to furnish his house, adequately feed his children and pay their medical bills. But he wants the world to believe that with a 10 percent increase in his monthly salary, he will not only furnish his home, feed his children, pay their medical fees but also move them from the squalid neighborhood they presently inhabit to an upscale apartment in an exclusive neighborhood. What staggering nonsense? What brazen, barefaced falsehood?
Since the inception of democracy 13 years ago in Nigeria, the Nigerian government has committed trillions of naira, annually, to the same programs it is promising to direct the saving from the removal of subsidy to: construction and rehabilitation of roads, rails, and other infrastructures, job creation, skill acquisition programs, poverty alleviation, upgrading the health services, etc.
However, in these 13 years, the incidence of poverty in Nigeria increased from 45 percent to 70 percent; the unemployment rate spiraled out of control; national institutions and public facilities atrophied and decayed; roads network [both state and federal] and bridges dilapidated further and further to death traps; more people, especially, in urban areas, became homeless: living in open air and under the bridges; and urban neighborhoods relapsed more to festering squalors: dusty, filthy and trash-strewn with open drainage systems clogged with filth and debris.
In the same period, the average live expectancy in Nigeria decreased from 51 for men and 52 for women to 44 for men and 45 for women. And Nigeria continues to have the infamous distinction of having the highest pregnancy-related deaths in the world. With 2% of the world’s population, it accounts for 11% of the world’s maternal mortality and 12% of the world’s under-five mortality.
The Nigerian government is pretending that with an additional 428 billion naira, which will be the federal governments share from the saving from the removal of the subsidy, the Jonathan administration will unrecognizable transform Nigeria. It wants Nigerians to believe that, thus far, the trillions of naira budgeted and spent annually by the government brought decline and decay in every aspect of our national life. But with an increase of less than 10 percent in the government’s annual revenue, it will not only arrest the decline, but will, in addition, dramatically enhance the quality of life for all Nigerians, upgrade the country’s infrastructure and revamp the national institutions.
I am not an economist and therefore cannot pretend to have any inkling of the arcane of economics. However, commonsense tells me that the government’s argument makes no conventional economic sense. Therefore, it must be voodoo economics.
According to some sources, Okonjo-Iweala aggressively promoted her voodoo economics, and threatened to resign her ministerial post, if the president succumbs to pressure from the Nigerian Labor Congress and the Civil Society Organizations and reinstate the fuel subsidy.
In the interest of the country, Mr. President should have completely restored the fuel subsidy and returned the price of fuel to 65 naira per liter, and then, accepted her resignation. And with these, he would have done Nigeria a lot of good. For one, the international bureaucrat with her excess luggage of fiendish and inhumane economic policies would have been freed to return to that bastion of international bureaucracy, the World Bank.
Secondly, the added economic burden occasioned by the increase in fuel price would have been lifted off Nigerians, thus reducing the people’s anger and resentment towards his government. In addition, the legitimate aspirations – the will – of the people would have been respected. For if Nigeria is a democracy and not a whitewashed dictatorship, the will of the people should dictate the decisions and actions of every elected and public official and the operations of every institution of government.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on January 23rd, 2012, told an FCT High Court, sitting in Abuja , that a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole and his Deputy, Usman Nafada, have a case to answer in the on-going case of N38 billion fraud and criminal breach of trust instituted against them. This submission was made in response to an application for a no-case submission filed by Bankole and Nafada’s counsel on the ground that the EFCC has no sufficient evidence to prosecute their clients.
The duo of Bankole and Nafada were arraigned on Monday, June 13th, 2011, on a 17- count charge of criminal breach of trust, misappropriation and theft.The EFCC, in a counter application, filed through its counsel, Festus Keyamo, dismissed the former legislators’ application as yet another ploy to stall the on-going trial. He further argued that the accused persons are not charged for “over-spending but misappropriation of funds.” Keyamo pointed out that, as far as the law was concerned, there was a resolution to commit an illegal act in a meeting which the accused persons attended and chaired.
Presiding Justice Suleiman Belgore adjourned ruling on arguments on the case to January 31st, 2012.It would be recalled that the, EFCC, on Wednesday December 14th, 2011, similarly accused the former Speaker and his deputy of delaying trial. This was sequel to an application for a no-case submission the two former leaders of the House of Representatives brought before the court. The insistence of the EFCC that they have a case to answer is hinged on the 17 count charges preferred against them.
Count one of the charges against Bankole and Nafada reads, “That you Dimeji Sabur Bankole and Usman Bayero Nafada, being Principal Officers of the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, on or about the 12th day of May, 2010, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, did agree amongst yourselves to commit a felony, to wit: criminal breach of trust by agreeing to approve the allowances and/or “running costs” of Members of the House of Representatives in violation of the approved Remuneration Package for Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders by the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission and the extant Revised Financial Regulations of the Federal Government of Nigeria, 2009 and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 97(1) of the Penal Code Act, Cap 532, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (Abuja) 1990 and punishable under Section 315 of the same Penal Code Act”.
By Dr. Aliyu U. TildeKabiru Sokoto, who some people suspect is the second in command of Boko Haram, would hardly be in police custody again. The probability that he is dead already outweighs the lesser possibility that he has crossed to neighbouring countries.
By the time he was arrested, Kabiru was planning to leave Nigeria, according to reports. That means he has gauged that the country entirely was not safe enough for his abode.
His arrest has deprived him of all his travel documents. If they are not found with the police during the ongoing investigations, then it is a proof that his escape was organized from within the force headquarters. This is a veritable litmus test.
Without the passport in his hand, a neighbouring country would come to mind first. But there too the safety would only be temporary. The authorities there are also vigilant on Nigerian migrants. They were quickly alerted, so they will be on the watch under their strong francophone surveillance network.
How small could the world be sometimes!
I strongly feel that given the uncertainty of his safety even outside Nigerian borders, the best strategy to prevent Kabiru is to kill him immediately after his escape. The arrest of Kabiru must sent some hearts outside Boko Haram racing. His escape would not bring any solace to them unless he is totally put out of circulation.
This has happened to others before him in police custody. I doubt if the Boko Haram leader, Muhammad Yusuf, was killed out of vengeance by the police. Yusuf was killed in police cell shortly after he was visited by the then Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff. Except for the recorded interview that was on Youtube which mainly focused on the ideology of Boko Haram, there is no other record of his interrogation.
In the same manner, the greatest link between the group and the Borno State Governor was brutally severed. Papers reported that Mohammad Foi was arrested on his farm, bundled on a police patrol pick-up van, and taken to the government house in Maiduguri. He begged, in vain, to see the governor. He was immediately driven away to the Police Headquarters where he was gunned down as he was made to walk on the road before a cheering public.
Stories of such executions of senior Boko Haram members in custody are common. Why would Kabiru be an exception? The same brains that hatched the idea of his escape might not lose sight of the danger his life would pose. After all, in the hierarchy of lives in the group, it is difficult to see how those forces that did not spare Muhammad Yusuf would spare the life of Kabiru. It is safer to conclude that Kabiru is most likely lying in a grave somewhere in the Federal Capital Territory.
Moreover, Kabiru has shown discomforting indiscretion in his movements. If, as reports indicate, he knew he was pursued by security agents, how came he did not severe his SIM card from his phone or get rid of both such that he can disappear from the GPRS radar?
Many are suspicious of Zakari Biu, the Commissioner of Police in whose custody Kabiru disappeared. However, Ringim, who is set to be latest Inspector General of Police to be consumed by Boko Haram on that seat, seems to be innocent. If he were an accomplice, he would not have been a target that narrowly escaped death when his headquarters was bombed. He would not have arrested Kabiru in the first place and delightfully broke the news to the President.
I am not surprised that he has stayed put. After all, others caught in similar mess ought to have resigned before him. The Minister of Petroleum, Diezani, would have preceded him. Under her, a colossal N800billion in fuel subsidy alone was stolen last year. The President himself would have also resigned along with the National Security Adviser for showing the most dismal performance among those that occupied their positions in our history.
Asking Ringim (or is it Ring him?) to produce Kabiru within 24 hrs was a project not intended to succeed. And if Kabiru is dead, as he is most probably, Ringim can be assured that his days on that seat are numbered. Azazi may soon ring him to say your time is up.
Writing to you is the only way I can assuage the feelings of anger I have had to put up with since receiving news of the death of Enenche Akogwu of Channels TV, who sadly has become a statistic in the head count of victims of the Boko Haram insurgency. Much as I commiserate with you and all other Nigerians on the unfortunate incident that occured in Kano yesterday, I would also like to state unequivocally, that I will not attempt to absolve you of “blame” in the seeming reluctance on your part to thoroughly deal with ENEMIES OF STATE and especially the PERCIEVED ENEMIES WITHIN. Sir, you have a responsibility to the Nigerian people in the wake of the state of insecurity in the Country. You are our Chief Security Officer and for good or bad, the buck ends with you. I want to remind you of the oath you took back in May, to amongst other things protect us from every conceivable threat to our Nation’s security albeit external or internal. Sir, excuses or defence even by someone like me that supports you, will no longer be acceptable. Excuses would not bring closure to the grief of the many families whose loved ones were victims of these beasts in the past few months.
I recall shortly after you became President in 2010 following the demise of your predecessor, you requested that you should not be addressed by the C-in-C tag but rather just simple Mr President would suffice. Today I urge you to don the toga of the COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF and assume the stance that comes with it. By reason of that title and position, the Service Chiefs are in the spirit of espirit de corp under obligation to be at your flank and I refuse to believe that the BH can muster the Manpower or Arsenal to match that of the combined Nigerian Armed Forces and Intelligence Services if it comes to that. However it seems that what they may be lacking in hardware and personnel they have a quantum of in “WILL”. And sadly it’s a WILL that unites them to follow through on an agenda of the annihilation of the Nigerian State under your watch.
Sir, I wouldn’t want to believe that you haven’t noticed what seems to have become a worrisome trend, or perhaps for lack of a better term, an emerging pattern in the “ways and means” these acts of terror occur. I can’t help but wonder if it isn’t an “Insider” collaborating with an “outsider”. No longer can I vouch for the integrity of our intelligence service- yes, call me a conspiracy theorist- but I am quite sure their ranks have been compromised and there are “MOLES” in the crevices of the ROCK. With the benefit of hindsight, I now wonder why the first major BH suspect who would have proven a useful asset in nipping this “Wahala” in the bud was so hurriedly executed and extra judiciously for that matter?; Imagine, the ‘’Madalla Bomb Mastermind” was supposedly arrested in the company of no less a government official in a State government owned guest house for that matter (what effrontery), did it come as any surprise then when he “escaped?; How and from where did the news that he had been rearrested emanate from?, and how come barely 18 hours after, the police was offering a 50 Million Naira bounty for information leading to his arrest?; how come the blasts of yesterday occurred within the timeline window when you were on the verge of chopping some ‘BIG’ heads if the ‘Abaji Escapee’ wasn’t apprehended?, most importantly, have you wondered why there were no bomb blasts during the fuel subsidy removal face off? Is it that the master minds felt that the unfolding events back then where themselves capable of leading to an IMPLOSION and the end of your administration? The questions in my mind are endless.
The issues are all so muddled up that with hindsight, I have now concluded that your victory at the Polls last May is akin to what Dr Adebimpe Onifade referred to as an “invitation to anarchy” in his article (see the link below); that was published on May 27 2003, just two days shy of the beginning of OBJ’s second term. Reading it kind of put things in perspective for me and I think you should find time to read it too http://nigeriaworld.com/feature/publication/onifade/052703.html I mean, considering the various threats and counter threats of how the Country will become ungovernable if you succeed; I would have thought that you would have embarked on a thorough house cleaning once things began to mount up at the beginning. I want to remind you of a Yoruba adage that says “the witch cries at night and the child dies in the morning”. Like many other Nigerians, I am growing weary and troubled.
Suffice it to say Sir; much as I am sure you are on top of the situation, we would be better served if the majority don’t see you as playing “Possum” any longer. I therefore urge you to confront this issue with the expediency and thoroughness it deserves that we , the people will see the results we so desperately need. At this point it doesn’t matter whose ox is gored, all I know is that this is the time for you like I earlier mentioned to don the toga of the COMMANDER –IN- CHIEF, this is the time for you to step up to the plate. When it comes to the safety and peace of mind of all Nigerians, no act against this people in my opinion will be “illegal” as far as it guarantees our safety; we have the US situation Room incident as an antecedent. It’s time to pull out all the stops.
This is a defining moment that will determine the content of the chronicles of your administration for posterity. Whatever steps you take from hereon will determine whether Nigeria as we know it SINKs or FLOATs under your watch.
Remain assured of the sincerity of my highest regards.
