UNILAG; The shame in the name change BY Olakunle Soriyan

The University of Lagos, popularly known as UNILAG, is a Federal Government university founded in 1962. In the eyes of its students, it's Alumni's and Nigerians as a whole, the university has become a reputable, desirable, enviable, respectable, highly regarded, well thought-of and decent colossal institution; and justifiably so. Academic and Non-academic staff members, Students and Ex-students of the university talk about "their UNILAG" with great pride, delight, enthusiasm, zest and gusto, almost in the same way those from the Harvard University do.  It was therefore a terribly shocking news when on the 29th May 2012, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, renamed the University of Lagos to Moshood Abiola University in honor of Moshood Kashimawo Abiola who died in jail as a political prisoner in 1998. Abiola was the great Nigerian entrepreneur and philanthropist widely believed to be the winner of the 1993 presidential poll annulled by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida; and whom Babangida's military successor, Gen. Sani Abacha, jailed until he, Abiola, died in detention in 1998. Amongst socio-political knowledge experts and commentators all over the world, Moshood Kashimawo Abiola (popularly known as MKO) is celebrated and believed to be a major catalyst to the establishment of the democracy Nigeria has enjoyed for 13years. He was and is still a National Hero, even in death. The name change therefore is meant to honor Abiola's "martyrdom," Jonathan said, on a public holiday marking Nigeria's 13th year of uninterrupted democracy.

 

Now, my take is Two-phased. For one, the Federal Government seems to have mastered the art of shocking announcements; and is passionately committed to initiating changes without due process. I would have expected the Federal Government to have learnt necessary lessons from the unguarded announcement of the fuel subsidy removal. Like many other Nigerians, I supported the removal. But I am yet to meet one Nigerian who supported the subsidy removal and did not criticize the wrong timing and poor execution that characterized the announcement. The PR advisers and the Ministry of Information as well as Internal Affairs are obviously comatose. The protest that followed the announcement may have been unavoidable but the kind of execution that carries everyone along would have created a better situation. This "unguarded-announcement-model" of the Federal Government has reared its ugly head again with the shocking way the UNILAG name change was announced. Yes, the Federal Executive Council must have been carried along, but unfortunately they do not represent the total yearnings and aspirations of the Nigerians people. Yes, the owner of an institution can decide to change the name as it pleases, but with the due process that the owner had laid down.

 

While no proactive measure can eliminate variations and reservations about the name change, effective and proper execution that embraces due process and best practice can calm the situation, eliminate street protests and convert anger and reservation to the kind that can be civil enough for peaceful and meaningful exchange. In executing change, thorough analysis of the pros and cons should have been thoroughly previewed. People should have been duly informed, educated and prepared for such change. Due process should be followed. The University Governing Council, the Management, the University Senate, the Staff, the Students and even Alumni should have been consulted and thoroughly carried along. Arbitrary decision-making, if it continues, possess terrible implications for our socio-economic and socio-political landscape. The Federal Executive Council has acted most inappropriately. It is a pure disrespect and disregard to the institution, the Alumni, the students and all stakeholders within the institution. As a matter of truth, it is a terrible disrespect to all Nigerians; and it will not be a lesser error if the name of any other institution or organization was changed in this manner.  If the government of the day is proactive enough, it will likely have prepared the people ahead of time, at least for a few months, declaring and publicizing its plans, communicating the reason and allowing people to understand the purpose for taking such steps. A stakeholders/media parley, symposium or conference held about a month to execution would have been perfect. This will communicate respect for all stakeholders within the institution and the nation at large.

 

My second take is this: MKO deserves such recognition. All over the world, the names of Species of animals, plants, libraries, institutions and organizations have been changed to human names for reasons not even as weighty as the one in question. Entities are re-named after famous people either based on their humanitarian, social, economic or political contributions or for contemporary royalty in honor of historical people, at times connected to the entity experiencing the name change, and at other times, totally unconnected to it. This practice has been upheld all over the world. Such changes have never resulted into non-functionality, reduction in performance, or loss of its prestige or popularity on the international scene. After a name-change, necessary clarifications needed to determine legitimacy, authenticity and credibility of claims are sorted through fax, e-mails, telephone, correspondence in writing or whatever means of communication acceptable for such. Also, those who argue for the financial implication (changing names on documents, office tags, labels and other important material) of the name-change should simply understand that necessary change at any level will always come at a cost. As long as it is necessary, the meaning must outweigh the cost, and that makes it worthy. Change may consume resources and time, it may require some sacrifice and adaptation, but change is inevitable, constant and universal. Necessary change must of course be adopted, adapted to and adequately managed. This is not the first name-change event, and trust me, it will not be the last.

 

The great Yale University, rated as the fourth best university in the world, was founded in 1701 with Collegiate School as its name. In 1716, the school moved to New Haven and, with the generous gift by Elihu Yale of nine bales of goods, 417 books, and a portrait and arms of King George 1, the university was renamed Yale College in 1718. Yale College became Yale University in 1887. Harvard College was established in 1636 and was named for its first benefactor, John Harvard of Charlestown, a young clergyman whose bequest of £780, was (in 1639) the first principal donation to the new institution. Stanford university was named in honor of the only child of Leland Stanford, a railroad magnate, United States Senator, and former California governor, and his wife, Jane Stanford. The child, Leland Stanford, Jr., died in 1884 just before his 16th birthday. In Nigeria, the University of Ife was changed to the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria; and we have the Ahmadu Bello University, Nnamdi Azikiwe University amongst others. I agree that the Nigerian Universities mentioned above are not on the list of the first 5000 universities in the world, but whatever the challenge that has kept them off the list is not due to name-change in any way.

What is true is that most of the critics of the name change will relish the opportunity to send their kids to study in the Universities with human names abroad. The student critics will not even care what the names of the foreign universities are, as long as they can attend. What is sure is that name is not really the challenge and name-change should not be the challenge either. Many have turned against the choice of the name "Moshood Abiola" because of their biased and jaundiced conception as to what they feel the name sounds like and its imposition on the supposed premier University. We should be careful, lest we throw the baby out with the bath water. We should be careful, so that a justifiable rejection of the imbalance of the Federal Executive Council and the President does not become the very ideology of casting aspersion on the pedigree of MKO. Let us not forget that MKO did the needful and made the ultimate sacrifice for a worthy national issue. Perhaps it will be good to suggest that the people rejecting the name should do a background check on the role and the impact of the personality in question on our nascent democracy; as rejecting the name maybe in itself an attack on the personality, the life and the achievement of Moshood Kashimawo Abiola. This act may not be better than the arbitrary decision-making culture of the Federal Executive Council…and may even be worse. I have wondered that if MKO's name was Jeffery Walter and today, UNILAG is being renamed Jeffery Walter University, will the anger be as heightened? I believe if that was the case, the reservations will strictly be about the poor execution of the renaming. I may be crucified for this, but I believe the real problem most critics have with the name-change is the idea that the name is local. It seems that this is what most critics mean that they are not saying. Most believe the name is too local for the "greatness" UNILAG has achieved. It sounds to me like a "War of Sophistication". Since no one can deny that MKO is deserving of the recognition, reasonable alibi will have to be invented to prevent critics from shamefully admitting that sophistication is the unspoken real battle. This is the shame in this name-change saga.

 

For years, I have been a vocal proponent of originality in all its ramifications. On almost every platform I grace, I have scarcely come short of saying no person or people can make any form of critical advancement without seizing responsibility for their originality. The world is filled with seven billion people and well over half of them are caught up in an identity crisis. They possess a very fragile concept of self, and unconsciously believe all they need to do to get by is to be somebody else. Originality sells and makes a difference, but it's scarce. It takes guts to be truly original in a crowded, competitive world where the media peddles sophisticated influences, urging us to be everybody and everything else but ourselves. Rarity is the synonym for value, and in life, nothing of substance has ever endured, that misrepresents or obscures its identity.  A critical part of a people's identity is their language and their names. To strip this away or to subject it, by foisting another language on them, or to respect another foreign name above that which nature (through culture) bestows on them is to alter their identity, shackle their originality and tamper with their sense of self. Have you ever wondered about the English language and its "Westernized Oppression" on our essence as a people? Have you observed its import on our psyche and our individual and collective development? Well, I have and it bothers me.

The people of 50years ago and before must be forgiven for the colonial mentality that created a critical part of the inferiority complex of our times in the name of modernization and urbanization. We cannot forgive the people of 2012 and beyond if they refuse to defend the uniqueness of the names we bear, that in themselves so legitimately communicate the strength and dignity both of our languages and the people that speak them. Oppression begins as an invisible enemy, quietly speaking to our mind, will, conscience and spirits to accept ourselves and our contents as lesser and inferior fabrics. Nobody will come out to tell us we are inferior, but we can say it to ourselves through our attitudinal exchanges and actions. Accepting another man's name as acceptable, and neglecting ours, is a very silent way of announcing and emphasizing our inferiority to ourselves and our unborn generation. Let us rethink the ideologies we are selling to our children who are being brought up in a global competitive world economy, where they would be unable to compete without the relevant self confidence, drawn to great extents from their sense of identity and originality. Without doubt, Ngugi Wa Thiong'o was right after all; a people's identity is hidden somewhere in their language. We must make a change, and without this change, even western names may become another platform of self-enslavement. It will remain a lethal distraction to our global competitiveness and collective prosperity. I stand to be corrected, but as far as acceptable and legitimate identity is concerned, there is no single difference between a MOSHOOD ABIOLA UNIVERSITY and HARVARD UNIVERSITY---the difference at this level ONLY EXIST in a DEFEATED and WEAK MIND. This is the shame in this name-change saga.

Culled from www.olakunkesoriyan.wordpress.com

155 Billion naira alleged Presidential fraud; official statement from A.G Federation

Read full text of Mr. Adoke's statement below:

1. The attention of the office of the Attorney General of the Federation has been drawn to recent media reports containing allegations of round-tripping against the Federal Government as a result of the settlement agreement it brokered between Malabu Oil & Gas Limited (Malabu) and Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited (SNUD) over their long standing dispute over the ownership and right to operate Block 245.

2. In view of the misrepresentations and obvious mischief in reporting the role of the Federal Government, its agencies and officials in the settlement of the dispute, it has become necessary to issue a comprehensive response to these allegations so as to set the records straight and properly explain the role played by the Federal Government, its agencies and officials in accordance with this administration's commitment to transparency and accountability in governance.

3. It will be recalled that in furtherance of the Indigenous Exploration Programme Policy introduced by the Federal Government in the early 1990s to encourage effective development of indigenous capability in the upstream sector of the oil industry, Malabu and other indigenous Oil and Gas companies were allocated Oil Blocks which they were expected to develop in partnership with international oil companies as Technical Partners.

4. Malabu was allocated OPL 245 in April, 1998 and in accordance with the terms of the grant, it appointed SNUD as its Technical Partner. The two companies executed relevant Agreements including a Joint Operation Agreement in 2001. Records indicate that SNUD took 40% participating interests in the venture in a farm-in- agreement and also signed agreement with Malabu as its technical partner for the venture.

5. Although, Malabu was issued a licence for Block 245 in April 2001, the same licence was subsequently revoked by the Federal Government on 2nd July, 2001. Exxon-Mobil and Shell were invited in April 2002 to bid for OPL 245 despite a subsisting contractual agreements between Malabu and SNUD with respect to OPL 245. Malabu was dissatisfied with the revocation and contended that the circumstances leading to the revocation of its licence on Block 245 was less than transparent and smacked of inducement and connivance from SNUD, its technical partner.

6. Malabu also contended that the subsequent re-award of OPL 245 to SNUD by the Federal Government was done under questionable circumstances. It then petitioned the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum to look into the matter. It is apposite to note that the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum found no rational basis for the revocation and reprimanded Shell for its complicity. The Committee also directed the Federal Government to withdraw the re-award, it made to Shell and return OPL 245 to Malabu, the original allotee of the Block.

7. Malabu also instituted Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/420/2003, before the Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja to enforce its claim to OPL 245. Although, the suit was struck out by the FHC, Malabu lodged Appeal No. CA/A/99M/2006 before the Court Appeal, Abuja, Division. During the pendency of the Appeal, an amicable settlement was entered into between Malabu and the Federal Government and in compliance with the Terms of Settlement executed by the Parties on the 30th of November 2006, OPL 245 was fully and completely restored to Malabu in consideration for its withdrawal of the Appeal.

8. SNUD, apparently dissatisfied with the Terms of Settlement between the Federal Government and Malabu commenced arbitral proceedings against the decision of the Federal Government to restore/re-allocate OPL 245 to Malabu at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington DC, and made representations to government on the impending arbitration. It also commenced a suit against the Government before the Federal High Court, Abuja.

9. Although, several meetings were held between the Presidency, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, SNUD and Malabu, to  resolve the dispute, no satisfactory outcome was achieved. Attempts were also made in 2007 to resolve the dispute by a Committee comprising the Honourable Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Minister of Energy, Group Managing Director, NNPC and DPR, the issues could not be amicably resolved before the administration of Late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua GCFR came to power.

10. It is also important to note that SNUD had entered into a Production Sharing Contract with the NNPC in 2004 upon which their claim to OPL 245 was anchored and had paid $1Million US Dollars out of the $210 Million US Dollars signature bonus to the Federal Government, and kept the balance of $209 Million US dollars in an Escrow Account with J.P. Morgan pending the resolution of the dispute between Malabu and the Federal Government.

11.  In 2010, when this administration came to power, Malabu again, petitioned the Federal Government to implement the terms of the out-of-court settlement of 30th November 2006 on the basis of which they had discontinued their Appeal. Government also took cognisance of the pending cases instituted by SNUD against Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and/or Malabu, including Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) arbitration No. ARB/ 07/18 pending at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID Arbitration) to enforce SNUD's rights to exclusively operate Block 245 as Contractor on the basis of the 2003 PSC between NNPCand SNUD and the financial implications of defending these actions on the public purse and opted for amicable resolution of the dispute.

12. To resolve all the contending claims in a satisfactory and holistic manner, due regard was given to the Terms of Settlement of 30th November 2006 which had been reduced to Orders of the Court, the underlying policy of encouraging the participation indigenous oil and gas companies in the upstream sector of the oil industry and the fact that Shell had substantially de-risked Block 245. To accomodate all these interests, a Resolution Agreement dated 29th April, 2011 between the Federal Government of Nigeria and Malabu Oil & Gas Limited was executed wherein the FGN agreed to resolve all the issues with Malabu in respect of Block 245 amicably and Malabu also agreed that in consideration of receiving compensation from the FGN it would settle and waive any and all claims to any interest in OPL 245.

13. In furtherance of the Resolution Agreement, SNUD and ENI agreed to pay Malabu through the Federal Government acting as an obligor, the sum of US$ 1,092,040,000 Billion in full and final settlement of any and all claims, interests or rights relating to or in connection with Block 245 and Malabu agreed to settle and waive any and all claims, interests or rights relating  to or in connection with Block 245 and also consented to the re-allocation of Block 245 to Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited (NAE) and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCO).

14. It is therefore quite evident from the foregoing that the role played by the Federal Government, its agencies and officials in relation to Block 245 was essentially that of facilitator of the resolution of a long standing dispute between Malabu and SNUD over the ownership and right to operate Block 245. At all times material to the resolution of the dispute, the Federal Government was not aware of any subsisting third party interest in Malabu's claim to OPL 245 and neither did any person or company apply to be joined in the negotiations as an interested party.

15. Government has overtime demonstrated its commitment to attract investment in the oil and gas sector of the economy and encourage genuine investors (local and foreign) by creating the enabling environment for their business to thrive. The resolution of the lingering dispute over Block 245 was in furtherance of that objective. Accordingly, the FGN, its agencies and officials should not be dragged into a purely commercial dispute between Malabu and its purported partners. It is also clear that the allegation of round-tripping levelled against the FGN is without basis and cannot be substantiated having regard the role it played as mere facilitator of an amicable settlement between two disputing parties over a long standing dispute with obvious economic implications for the country.

 Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, CFR
Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice 

REPRESSION; TOOL BY GOVT AGAINST HUMAN RIGHTS

"Failed leadership has gone global in the last year, with politicians responding to protests with brutality or indifference. Governments must show legitimate leadership and reject injustice by protecting the powerless and restraining the powerful. It is time to put people before corporations and rights before profits," said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International Secretary General."

I remember in January when Nigerians expressed their legitimate right to protest the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government. Large numbers of people gathered daily  especially at the Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota, Lagos to express their discontent with the policy and how did the govt of President Jonathan react, it deployed soilders to break up the protest.

Similarly in Lagos state, Policemen were also deployed by Governor Babatunde Fashola to forcefully repress the protests of Lekki residents against the high toll fare imposed by the lagos State government. This act of repression now seems to be the norm for governments who have thrown the concept of fundamental human rights into the bin, while they protect the interests of a few irresponsible government croonies.

Such actions by government agencies are however not restricted only to Nigeria but can be found in places such as Quebec, Angola, Egypt and Syria just to mention a few. With crackdown on  protesters leading to the arrest and assault of thousands of  people.

In January, 2012 during the period of Nigeria's awakening, it became apparent that in Nigeria the interest of oil marketers and their partners in the Legislative and Executive arm of government come before the interest of the common Nigerian, how else would government expect us to react if not by taking to the streets. Our representatives in the National Assembly are too busy drafting bills to increase their pay and allowances.

Civil disobedience would always be a tool of engaging government and i must warn the administration of President Jonathan that if corruption is not brought under control in  Nigeria's public and private sectors, all the solders and policemen in Nigeria would not be able to quench or repress the wrath of Nigerians who are now demanding change.

@adedunmade.

Activist: ' zimbabwe government increases repression following arab spring

Activist: 'Zimbabwe government increases repression following Arab Spring'

Jenni Williams is executive director and founding member of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)

© Amnesty International

"

Suddenly the world – as well as the last dictators standing – looks at peaceful protest with a different lens. Things have been tougher for us this last year – personally I've been arrested twice, and fixed with fabricated charges of kidnapping and theft

"

Jenni Williams, leader of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)

Fri, 25/05/2012

Hope that the wave of popular uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa would spread south and translate into widespread social reforms was quashed over the last year with the brutal suppression of demonstrations across sub-Saharan Africa.

Jenni Williams, executive director and founding member of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) says in her country there is no doubt that events in Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain and Syria have in fact meant harsher crackdowns on protests

"It's been a very hard year that began in February 2011," she says.

"We've always faced opposition to our work from the authorities – but the repression increased with the brave, wonderful work done in the Arab Spring.

"Suddenly the world – as well as the last dictators standing – looks at peaceful protest with a different lens. Things have been tougher for us this last year – personally I've been arrested twice, and fixed with fabricated charges of kidnapping and theft", she told Amnesty International.

WOZA is a social justice movement with a membership of around 80,000, which provides a platform to encourage women to speak out about issues that affect their everyday lives in Zimbabwe. Since its first protests in 2003 members of WOZA have been repeatedly intimidated, detained and ill-treated because of their activism.

"Suddenly the police have a variety of strategies to stop us gathering peacefully as we have been doing for the last 10 years. Robert Mugabe's regime clearly wants to prevent a Zimbabwean spring," says Jenni Williams. 

In February 2011, 45 social justice, trade union and human rights activists were arrested and charged with treason merely for holding a meeting discussing the implications of protests in Egypt and Tunisia. 

Jenni Williams has been arrested 43 times, has spent time in prison on several occasions, and says she expects to be jailed again next year when Zimbabweans go to the polls. She is constantly forced to present herself at court as her case is still pending. Yet she has no plans to stop her activism.

"I don't regret a single moment. I celebrate the work that I do and the people I work with have the same spirit. We are in it together and together we are going to build a new democracy.

"That 'livingness' that you do as an activist- expressing yourself, makes up for so many of other moments when you are marginalized and shut up."

Culled from www.amnesty.org

MESSAGE FROM AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Dear member, As you know, change, courage and conflict all characterized 2011 – a year in which people rose up in protest against governments and other powerful actors in numbers not seen for decades. The contrast between the courage of protesters demanding rights and the failure of leadership to match that courage with concrete actions to respect human rights was painfully apparent. All of these events and trends are reflected in the Amnesty International Report 2012 which was launched today. The report documents the state of human rights in 155 countries and territories in 2011 – the year that Amnesty International celebrated its 50th anniversary. You can read the report follow this link: http://amnesty.org/en/annual-report/2012 As Amnesty International moves into its sixth decade, this report bears witness not only to the plight of those living in the shadow of human rights violations, but also to people like you, who are inspired to take action, often at great personal risk, to secure human rights and dignity for all.  As Amnesty's 50th year draws to a close, I would like to call on you to give us the gift of one more member.   Please forward this message to a friend and encourage them to join us by following this link: http://www.amnesty.org/en/join Together we stand for human rights, united against injustice.  Help us build the strength of your collective action.  In solidarity and with thanks, Salil Shetty

Find us on Twitter and Facebook.   Amnesty International International Secretariat 1 Easton Street London, WC1X 0DW United Kingdom www.amnesty.org

OPTIONS BEFORE NIGERIA'S OPPOSITION by DELE MOMODU

"Actions and reactions are always equal and opposite" -Third Law of Motion, Isaac Newton

Fellow Nigerians, please let's start our weekly conversation with a simple Arithmetic since my Maths is a bit suspect. The whole idea is to establish who qualifies to be called proper opposition in Nigeria. In my permutations, I'm reasonably assured that all the politicians, political and technical office holders who have ruined, and are killing, Nigeria are not more than ten percent of our entire population. As a matter of fact, those who control the hearts, kidneys, livers and lungs of each of the 36 states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are never up to 1,000 per state. The total figure for the states, if this holds true, stands at 36,000 majorly bad people. Let's add the principalities in Abuja at 4,000 tough guys. This grand total puts the gladiators at 40,000. Let's assume that each of them has 20 acolytes. Our calculation rises to 40,000 plus 800,000 dependants. We can be a bit more charitable by inflating our figure by 100 percent. It would give us a maximum of 1.68m troublesome people.

No matter how hard we stretch this dramatic analysis, we can never get to 10 million. What this portends is that the entire commonwealth of Nigeria is rotating in the hands of less than one percent of our population. Most of the trillion naira, if not dollars, that we've heard about, but never saw, or felt its presence, in the past 13 ugly years, of our ruling party, can be directly traced to this extra-terrestrial beings. All the crushing poverty, excruciating pain, general backwardness, extra-ordinary deprivation in the midst of plenty, superlative oppression and chronic depression we've had to endure were all caused by this brood of vipers. What is sad and saddening is the remorselessness of these guys.

I have said it repeatedly that there is no country that is ruled by Saints but our rulers take the cake in all that is bad and unjustifiable. They have given a new name and meaning to greed. No amount is too little or big to pilfer. The ones they can't steal they waste without blinking an eye. We call figures that would have turned around the fortunes of several nations combined but which won't even whitewash our walls of shame. The situation is now so bad that most of our citizens have given up hope of any redemption in the horizon. The more we grumble the more our dare-devil politicians perfect their art and science of rigging themselves back to power. They have graduated from analogue to digital rigging and their dexterity is at the talismanic level. And we are so easily bewitched that we simply shrug our shoulders and move on with life like victims of mass hypnotism.

Three clear years to our next ritual of rarefied elections, debate is already raging and those who have not been able to fix 80 percent of our outlandish problems are already dreaming of re-election. Is it not the height of insult that anyone can be thinking of 2015 elections when no one is even sure of the status of our nation by then? This can only happen in a nation of rabid gamblers. Forget about the feeble denials from Aso Rock villa, President Goodluck Jonathan will run when tomorrow comes. In Nigeria, no promise is ever too sacred that it can't be reversed. No agreement is too sacrosanct that it can't be broken by those who came to power by dishonouring such agreements in the first instance. A bad precedent had already been set and there's nothing strange about continuing the tradition. There are more than enough spin-doctors angling for the job of defending the wilful murder of their own zoning formula. Read my lips: "2015 is not my priority" translates to, "it is not important to me at this moment when you folks know I will contest anyway." I'm a student of language and linguistics; there is no other meaning to that semantic.

If our conclusion, therefore, is that the ruling party has started assembling its formidable arsenal, in anticipation of the magical 2015, when according to some doomsday forecasts our country is expected to have broken up into smithereens, where then do we go from here. I have no iota of doubt that PDP cannot and will not change or save Nigeria. And under the present government we have been driven closest to the precipice. Never have we come so close to our self-immolation since the civil war that killed millions of our fellow citizens. It appears like we've learnt no useful lessons from our tragic past. Everywhere we turn, Nigerians of all shades and characters are beating the tam-tam of war as if what we are about to plunge ourselves into is a tea-party. Those in power want to remain in power by hook or by crook. Those outside want to attain power by every force available. This is definitely an invitation to anarchy. That is why our government should understand and appreciate the predilection of General Mohammadu Buhari.

According to Newton's Second Law of Motion, "When a force acts on a body it produces some change of momentum. This change of momentum is inversely proportional to its line of force." What we are likely to witness in Nigeria is that change of momentum described by Isaac Newton. It can only come about by the Nigerian opposition gathering enough power and force to push out the PDP mega force. The velocity must be blistering and capable of blasting any impediment in its path. This is the picture Buhari was trying to paint. If the PDP apparatchik was under any illusion that it would continue to recycle itself perpetually in power, without any evidence of performance despite the trillions being collected and wasted every year, it should perish the thought and go back to the history books. Revolution is an integral part of the political process. Those who do the right things need not panic or remain jumpy at the drop of that dreaded word. Revolution is the terminal end and destination of all irresponsible governments. The world has known no other means to remove recalcitrant tyrants who forced themselves perennially on the people.

A government should never think of doing the same tomfoolery repeatedly without being challenged sooner or later. It is sheer wishful thinking for the ruling party to think it can rule forever even if it fails to govern properly in all ramifications. It is obvious that our over-stretched security agencies have not been feeding the leaders with true picture of life outside the gilded cage called Presidential villa. Perhaps, it would have helped the leaders to know the level of frustration in the land. Let the government not get paranoid over Buhari. All men of strong principle in history were accused of proclivity to violence. Check out Malcolm X, Walter Rodney, Steve Biko, Patrice Lumumba, Obafemi Awolowo, and others. Buhari has joined that distinguished company. He's a bigger bully of the bullies in power. And if for that reason alone, Allah must keep him alive for us.

I was not a fan of Buhari on account of his truncation of a civilian government but was pleasantly impressed with his amiability during our brief meeting at his Abuja residence last year. I was also struck by his incredible passion for Nigeria. I did not feel any dictatorial aura around him as I switched on my elementary psychology. He was willing to work with like minds to save Nigeria. And he did not waste any time in inviting me over despite our difference in age and status. I left him that late evening wondering how he acquired the unfortunate appendage of a violent man. Being strong-headed is no reason to resort to violence. Buhari convinced me clearly that he believes in using instruments of law to realise his dream. That is why he always headed to the courts.

I believe, however, that the time has come for him to become a father in the struggle and support whoever becomes our symbol. He would always have a role, and I believe it would be, in the critical area of fighting corruption. The burden of Nigeria has become too heavy for a man of his age to carry. What he owes Nigeria today is to lead his foot-soldiers to victory. Every father dreams of his children achieving what he couldn't. I pray he accepts this huge responsibility.

This government will suffer cardiac arrest the day Buhari joins forces with many brilliant Nigerians at home and abroad to form a water-tight opposition. There is no point going through the same rituals and allowing these political vampires to run away with cheap victory. Nigeria is haemorrhaging to death and it would require all the selflessness on the part of opposition leaders to take our nation back from reckless gamblers. The time has come for us to join our hands and legs to fight a common enemy. The level of retrogression in Nigeria is totally unacceptable in this modern world. And there's no better time than now when everyone is looking for a supernatural intervention.

There are over 70 percent of our youths floating outside the political corridor. Most of them are frustrated and despondent. They have no hope of getting jobs even if they over-qualify. Those living abroad and returned home to test the waters were swept off by our invisible tsunami. They are running back from a stranger land to strange lands. Such people are hoping for a day they can return home in peace before death beckons. No one wants to die in a foreign land if home was good. Nigerians in diaspora are more frustrated than even those at home. They must be actively involved in the process of restoration. If convinced about the seriousness of opposition, they can make huge material and financial contributions to the struggle.

Also the opposition has a ready army to recruit in our youths who can be easily connected these days. Their duty is to ensure mass registration, queue to vote and protect their votes. We must go all out to educate the uneducated ones about how one vote can terminate and banish poverty in their lives. Social media is changing the way politics is conducted the world over, ours cannot be an exception. Our internet warriors should use the power in their fingers to galvanise the citizenry into action instead of running after crumbs from government quarters or abusing perceived enemies. What we need to propagate is the abc of removing ruling parties from power. Our celebrity artistes have great roles to play like their American counterparts did in America. They cannot continue to use their fame and reputation to endorse those who have made it impossible for talents to thrive in our clime. Nigeria would make as much money as Hollywood if and when we have exposed leaders in government who can harness the awesome potentials.

We should stop being a nation of incurable doubters as if we are descendants of the French philosopher, Rene Descartes. An average Nigerian believes we'll live with this madness forever. I met such people who said they won't vote for me in the last election so as not to waste their votes. From what I now get on Twitter, they are regretting their decision to vote based on primordial sentiments. What they did last year was tantamount to throwing their votes and their future into the Atlantic Ocean. Lamentations alone won't bring anything back. But the future beckons. Only a certified idiot would allow himself to be fooled repeatedly. The opposition now has its brightest chance ever to take its pound of flesh by tapping into the rapturous anger in the land. I'm convinced it is not as difficult as it seems. We all know the sacrifice we all need to make to get to our destination. Our children will curse us in the future if we blow this golden opportunity.

The big question is, will ego prevail again?

@delemomodu

BOKO HARAM KILLED 308 PEOPLE IN 2011

Nigeria's police reports that in 2011 the fundamentalist Islamic group Boko Haram launched 118 terror attacks killing 308 people in six states in north-central Nigeria, plus the federal capital of Abuja.

From the time Boko Haram began its attacks against the Nigerian government in 2009 to January 2012, the group has killed at least 1,200 people, according to numbers from the Nigerian army, which for all practical purposes has been given the task of reestablishing law and order in the country's north.

Police Minister, Caleb Olubolade, has also confirmed that, in 2011, 33 terrorists were arrested and raised the alarm about the low number of men at his disposal. There are 370,000 Nigerian police officer, but the ministry would "650,000 in a nation of 160 million people, which is also particularly complex to manage."

As far as the other national emergency, kidnapping, the police has explained that there were 366 in 2011, of which 140 ended with the victim's release, which was not the case for Franco Lamolinara, the Italian engineer who was killed in a rescue attempt on March 8 after being held for ten months. A Briton, Chris McManus was also killed.

A barracks has been opened in the northern state of Kaduna to train 500 soldiers in anti-terror tactics. The program will consist of "psycho-physical training, courses in mental agility, street patrolling, combat in closed spaces, bodyguard skills, air and bus rescue, attacks against terrorist hiding places or training camps." The director of the course, General Tijjani Golau, said, "The time has come to prepare ourselves. The current security situation in the country faces us with a challenge we have never seen in the past." . .

- culled from www.Saharareporters.com

THE LAW OF TRIAL VERSION by TEMITOPE BALOGUN

Am back to writing again, I wonder why I keep doing this but really I haven't figured it out why yet. I guess because it makes me calm and put me in a lighter mood.  

I have so much to write about but don't know how to start or how to be explanatory enough. I kind of came up with a theory called the LAW OF TRIAL VERSION.   

Am sure y'all re wondering what that means and how come it's relevant, but the truth is that in a way we somehow apply this law without knowing. What is the LAW OF TRIAL VERSION?

This simply means a tryout.  Short and simple as that yeah? Y complicate a definition? Lolz…………..  

  Anyway I kind of further this illustration with a game. Let me not complicate or get you confused, am sure one way or the other you guys have come across a laptop or computer especially brand new ones, let me be more explicit, most computers/laptops come with games but usually a trial version which simply means you are allowed to play the game to a particular stage or for a particular period of time before it expires, and when you realize you like and understand the game you download the real and full version of the game. Am sure y'all have an idea of what am talking about now.  

How is this now relevant to my love life or people's love life? Am going to use myself as am an example, I happen to be single and this isn't a result of my crush oh (story for another day), just that I haven't found a game I like and understand enough to download the real version. I happen to have a couple of games on my system so it's taking much time to try them all.  

 How did I come about this theory? Really it just came to me or maybe cause I was so pissed or just in that realm so the thing jus popped up in ma head that it's just like a trial version of a computer game. What actually got me into this mood? Uhmmmmmmmmn *sigh*.

I happen to come across this game, it looked colorful and interesting so I decided to play. I started by giving the game so much attention and time, it was getting all interesting  and it seems the game was even enjoying my attention @ one point, but all of a sudden the game started acting up and I was like nah! This game shouldn't do this cause I was already telling my friends about it. ):

I just thought that oh! This game doesn't even realize it's just a trial version and that I haven't downloaded the real version plus I still have other games I could tryout and it can be forgotten within a twinkle of an eye.   

The whole point of this matter is that I qualify the men on my case as a TRIAL VERSION of a game, why? Because it's better for me to know what am in for. Tryout is better and more fun cause there's no major injury sustained out of it cause you know in your mind that this guy/babe is only on tryout so whatever he/she does wouldn't get to you or shouldn't allow it get to you.

If you like, understand the guy/babe enough and you feel this game is worth downloading and spending your quality time with then you know you are going into the real deal. You never can be too sure  but this theory is 90% cool and workable with mainly because no one sustains a permanent injury, and if one game isn't good enough for u, you can always tryout others but make sure it's one at a time so u don't get it all mixed up.    

Funny enough, there are some games that just creep into your world you wouldn't realize you downloaded the real version without tryouts, some of does kind of games actually ends up been fun, interesting, adventurous and worth your time but some leaves you confuse, hurt and out of place. Most times you can't help it or help the fact that they just come and leave before you could fully enjoy the game or know the full usage of it.

I  have experience that kind of full version game that creeps into your life without you even realizing. In my mind I was trying out then I realized the game didn't jus expire before I knew it I had a full/real version of a game instead of a TRIAL VERSION. I got all scared even my friends were sacred for me but it took me over a year to balance the malfunction the game caused, the point is I have not fully recovered from it or I should say I still play the game once a while but I never let it mess with my head again. It hasn't been easy not even as easy as am making it look but am still hoping I snap out of it one day, I just might not.

I almost had the same experience of a full version of a game creeping in my world but cause I had once had an experience of it I snapped out a sap before that becomes another virus. Am sure y'all agree that trial version is sorter safe in a way. Give it a try but you have to know the most important rule "IT'S JUST A TRYOUT!!!! Don't get it twisted or mixed up with a REAL/FULL VERSION….. (:

PS: TRIAL VERSION could be said has setting p or dating      
FULL/REAL VERSION means a relationship       
 GAME means guys/babe

@spicyirishpeach

Fuel Subsidy Fraud; President Jonathan Unlikely To risk Oil Graft Clampdown - Reuters

President Goodluck Jonathan is coming under pressure to prosecute top officials implicated in a $6.8 billion fuel subsidy fraud, but many of the suspects are allies he is unlikely to go after if wants to keep his power base intact. It has been three weeks since parliament produced a report detailing massive corruption in a state subsidized petrol import scheme and Jonathan has yet to indicate how he intends to respond.

Inaction on one of the biggest corruption scandals in Nigerian history will hurt Jonathan's reformist credentials and further alienate his government from a disillusioned population. It could also prompt major public protests. But some of Jonathan's closest allies manage the oil industry, which is based in his home region, and the tentacles of the subsidy fraud spread throughout the political elite, making it near impossible to untangle. "In the past pressure for change has usually prompted the casting aside of a scapegoat," said Antony Goldman, Nigeria analyst and head of Africa-focused PM Consulting. "Too many people in the ruling elite do not want an end to corruption, they just want their turn.

From an external perspective, failure to act may indeed look like weakness; the domestic environment is more complex." Civil society groups have threatened protests if those they deem responsible for the mess, including Oil Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, and heads of the state oil firm, aren't sacked. In January, thousands bought the nation to standstill in protests against an attempted removal of the subsidy. "The president is hoping this will blow away and we believe his own vested interests are holding him back," said Clement Nwankwo, a political activist with the Abuja-based Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, one of many that led protests in January. Jonathan already has many opponents and is struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency in the north.

In a country where patronage and largesse still determine political success, prosecuting power brokers is risk he is unlikely to take. The report said Nigeria paid 900 percent more in fuel subsidies last year than it budgeted for, handing out billions of dollars to briefcase companies that had no capacity to import fuel or to firms that sold the petrol to neighboring countries. Criticism focused on fuel importers and government agencies but the report's evidence pointed to several ministries and the central bank. If Jonathan implements its recommendations he will undermine a large section of the team he chose to run the country. "I don't think we're going to see high level officials in jail ... that would imply his regime had imploded," said Patrick Smith, editor of Africa Confidential. "The government didn't want this to come out.

It isn't hard to track back some of this to the top people in government." Jonathan this week squashed speculation about a cabinet reshuffle, saying he had confidence in existing ministers, to the dismay of activists who wanted tough action. He has said subsidy fraudsters will be prosecuted, but called for patience. He built his career in the oil-rich Niger Delta, where much of the fraud took place under the noses of security agents and politicians he has worked closely with for decades. Some of the fuel import firms criticised in the probe have politicians as stakeholders - aviation minister Stella criticized Others are owned by oil industry oligarchs who have helped fund Jonathan's election campaigns.

Femi Otedola, the CEO of Forte Oil, one of Nigeria's biggest fuel importers which testified at the hearing but was not named in the list of fraudsters, was made a member of Jonathan's economic management team this year. "If he is going to act, he needs to be very careful ... the scam reaches into many powerful crannies," said Kayode Akindele, partner at Lagos-based financial advisory firm 46 Parallels. Government sources and political analysts see dismissals of mid-level officials and the banning of some fraudulent fuel importers, rather than arrests of senior officials, as a likely compromise.

Swiss-based oil firm Nimex Petroleum was suspended this month by Nigeria's fuel regulator for failing to provide documents for fuel shipments, a sign authorities may target the importers rather than government regulators. It is unlikely to be enough to appease an angry public. Some government officials said January's protests were aided and funded by political opponents and they believe Jonathan's rivals may use the subsidy probe to build momentum against him. Jonathan won an election a year ago that international observers considered one of the fairest in decades, but he has not capitalized on early optimism.

An insurgency by Islamist sect Boko Haram has distracted his team and delayed reforms. How he balances public demands for action on corruption with the interests of an entrenched elite feeding off it may determine his ability to implement important reforms such as power privatization. "Lack of action has the potential to further alienate the Goodluck Jonathan government from the general public and reduce support and momentum for other reforms," Akindele said. "This is a defining moment for the Jonathan government."

FINDINGS OF PROBE
* The subsidy regime between 2009-2011, the period the report covers, was fraught with "endemic corruption and entrenched inefficiency".

* Investigators looking into the subsidy found importers were being paid for 59 million litres a day, while the country only consumes 35 million.

* Mismanagement and theft by fuel marketers and government officials cost $6.8 billion over three years -- about a quarter of Nigeria's annual budget.

* Nigeria spent 2.587 trillion nigerian naira ($16.46 billion) on the fuel subsidy in 2011, 900 pct more than the 245 billion naira in the budget. The overspend is equivalent to over half of the 2011 federal budget.

* The state-owned oil company NNPC is accountable to no one. It owes the government 704 billion naira for various violations of the subsidy scheme and it owes a string of fuel traders, including Trafigura, $3.5 billion -- about the amount in the Excess Crude Account, meaning that Nigeria essentially has no savings.

* Oil Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke has a conflict of interest by being both on the board of NNPC - a fuel importer - and the supervisor of the subsidy regulator, the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

* The number of fuel importers rose from 5 in 2006 to 10 in 2007, 19 in 2008 and 140 in 2011. This decision taken by PPPRA was one of the biggest causes of fraud. Many firms only existed on paper and collected subsidies on fuel that never existed.

* In one example of mismanagement, the accountant-general's office made 128 subsidy payment transactions of 999 million naira each in the space of 24 hours between Jan. 12-13 2009 -- equal to about $6.36 million almost every 10 minutes. RECOMMENDATIONS

* President Jonathan should reorganize the oil ministry to make it more effective in carrying out reforms to the sector. The oil minister's role should be divided between two people.

* The management and the board of NNPC should be overhauled and those involved in any infractions should be investigated and prosecuted. The company should be unbundled to make it more transparent and efficient.

* NNPC should be audited to determine its solvency due to a plethora of claims of indebtedness.

* NNPC through local refining, swap arrangements and offshore processing should be able to provide enough fuel for Nigeria. Therefore the government has no reason to grant subsidy import licenses to other companies.

* The chairman of PPPRA between 2009-2011 and its entire board during that time should be reprimanded. The executive secretaries of the PPPRA during that period should be investigated and prosecuted by anti-corruption agencies.

* PPPRA should conduct a full performance assessment on all companies who import fuel into Nigeria.

* All those in the finance ministry, budget office and the accountant general's office involved in the overspend on subsidies between 2009-2011 should be sanctioned.

- Culled from Sahara Reporters.

@adedunmade

GEJ, LIP SERVICE & CORRUPTION

Weeks after  reports of the Police Pension and Oil subsidy probes were made public, Nigerians are still shocked to their bones at the magnitude of fraud and corruption perpetuated by our political and ruling class.

Its more saddening that as usual the indicted persons who are larger than the Nigerian constitution and the Nigerian people would never be reprimanded or prosecuted, in fact,the probes are already being swept under the carpet,if we are to follow the submission by the Political Adviser to the President, Alhaji Ali Gullack who said that the oil subsidy probe lacked credibility and "looks like the probe is targeted at some individuals".

How would a so called elder statesman say a probe by the Legislative arm of government lacks credibility and be assumed to be targeted at some individuals?
I have never heard anything more ludicrous.

Hear the Probe Panel: "The NNPC was found not to be accountable to anybody or authority. The corporation in 2011 processed payment of N310.4 billion as 2009-2011 arrears of subsidy on kerosene contrary to a Presidential directive which removed subsidy on kerosene in 2009 without any provisions in the Appropriation Act. Direct deductions from funds for the Federation Account in contravention of section 162 of the Nigerian constitution and illegal granting of price differential or discounts of crude oil price per barrel to NNPC to the tune of N108.648 billion from 2009-2011."

The former national Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr. Ahmadu Ali who was also the Chairman of the PPPRA, another conduit pipe for funds siphon was also indicted.

On him the panel said: "The chairman of the board of the PPPRA from 2009-2011, and the entire members of the board during the period are hereby reprimanded and their decision which opened the floodgate for the bazaar is condemned in the strongest terms".

The case also affected the former Accountant-General of the Federation who is now the Governor of Gombe State in the North eastern geo-political hemisphere of the country, Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo. The Panel alleged that his office made excessive payment amounting to 128 times within 24 hours."

Likewise the Police Pencom Probes by the Senate uncovered that billions of naira had been fraudulently diverted. Farida Waziri and Ibrahim Lamorde, the past and present heads of the EFCC were also indicted. It was the regular practice for huge sums to be paid into the accounts of workers, who would them remit such monies to their bosses according to the sworn testimonies of witnesses at the probe.

Truth is, all other government agencies are riddled with chronic corruption,if a probe was carried out in every government agency,none would be found without blemish. Even monies at the Security Exchange Commission were diverted into buying Rolex wristwatches and luxury yatches as recently discovered.

In my opinion,the government is only playing lip service to this fight against  corruption, you and I know President Jonathan would never rock the boat,take the bull by the horn and fight corruption come what may.

May i conclude with the words of John Lennon, "revolution or a life time of exploitation"?. I suggest you choose carefully.

@adedunmade
http://adedunmade.blogspot.com

WHY NOTHING WORKS

According to a story by Mr. Sina Agboluaje, NEPZA managing director, about an imaginary rowing competition between a Nigerian team and its Malaysian counterpart, each team featured eight members who had to compete against each other after months of training.

The first competition was held, and the Malaysian rowing team defeated the Nigerian rowing team by a margin of 10 kilometres. Following the dismal performance, managers of the Nigerian rowing team contracted some experts to analyze the problem and recommend appropriate solutions.  

The analysis revealed that whereas the Malaysian rowing team had one captain and seven rowers, the Nigerian rowing team had one rower and seven captains. Ordinarily, the solution should have been obvious, but the managers of the Nigerian rowing team hired a consulting firm to restructure the team.

 Their recommendation was just as bizarre as the outcome of their finding: the eight-man Nigerian team should comprise four captains, two supervisors, one manager and one rower. Of course, the result at the next competition was predictable: the Malaysian rowing team defeated the Nigerian rowing team, this time by a margin of 20 kilometers!   - culled from Segun Adeniyi's book titled Power,Politics and Death.  

The above illustration is a depiction of why things hardly work in Nigeria, a colleague describing the situation said Nigeria is like a company which has a Board of Directors, Shareholders and the President as the Managing Director with the President not knowing who to listen to. Take for example the recent fuel subsidy probe which has indicted several of the President's friends whom i would refer to as members of the board of directors that seem untouchable while we the masses who are shareholders keep raving and ranting over social media platforms, we are yet to see whose tune our managing director would dance to,however your guess is as good as mine.  

Nothing would ever work in this country,if our leaders don't recognise that ultimate power resides in the people, that of course is if we show them how much power we have.

Adedunmade Onibokun Esq.

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

So what more would you like to hear?

That everything you have lived for is not worth a grain of salt because you are in a country that is so corrupt, you are assured never to experience the true way citizens of a country should live.

Prof. Wole Soyinka said we have been de-humanised, in addition I think every thing is messed up, I am just to tired to go into all the specifics, especially most recently the spate of bomb blasts,if we continue like this we could at least expect a bomb twice a week before the end of the year.

Let's also not forget Nigeria is a fertile ground for corruption and our leaders have been reaping what we have sowed, what your country and God gave you to make your life better, they have stored it in foreign accounts and under their beds.

Nigeria should be a developed country with everything the United States has and more,the true pride of Africa, however we both know the reality. If we don't fight corruption in Nigeria, we might as well just stop having children or else they be plunged into deeper sorrow than you can imagine.

Be warned a bomb is coming to a place near you, that's if you don't
do something to make our leaders know you are tired of this fiasco they call governance.

So what are you going to do about it?. Don't mind me I know you would just read this article and say to yourself "it doesn't concern me.

FULL TRANSCRIPTION of BOKO HARAM VIDEO

Full transcription

"This is a message from the public awareness department of the Jamatu Ahlis sunnah lil daawati wal jihad, a group engaged in jihad in Nigeria.

"We wish to explain about the attack we carried out on Thisday Newspapers. Some of the reasons why we decided to attack some Media Houses, especially Thisday, is because the paper was used in dishonouring our

prophet, Mohammad (SAW) during a beauty pageant in Kaduna in November 2002.

"At that time, some people who called themselves leaders of Muslims came out to say they have forgiven those who committed the offence.

"But based on our knowledge, we know that no one has the power to forgive anyone for an offence that God himself has given judgement, especially on an offence that has to do with dishonouring Prophet Muhammad

(SAW).

"No one has the power to forgive this type of offence, and the judgement is for such persons to be killed.

"This lady that committed this crime, the judgement on her is to be killed at any opportunity; and the media house is also supposed to be driven out of existence whenever there is a chance to do so.

"We are just getting the opportunity to attack the media house, and we are hoping to continue these attacks until we drive them out of existence.

"It is our hope that Allah (SWT) will help his religion.

"We know that any genuine Muslim must have been deeply touched by the Thisday incident.

"Thisday newspaper is also leading in helping the government in fighting us, alongside other media houses that we will mention soon.

"Some of the offences of Thisday and other media outlets include: firstly, during the botched attempt to rescue some kidnapped foreign nationals in Sokoto; these media houses asked us if we have anything to do with

the kidnap and we said we have nothing to do with it, yet these media houses reported that we were responsible for the incident, that was a lie against us.

"Secondly, when we sent a video of our leader, Abubakar Shekau, the media houses reported things that our leader did not say, such as that in response to the president's threat to finish us in three months, we have also

threatened to finish the government in three months. But the truth is, nowhere in the video did our leader said what they attributed to him.

"Thirdly, on the purported arrest of Abu Qaqa by the SSS, we have come out to tell them that the person arrested was not Abu Qaqa,yet the media continue to potray us as liars, and even said that our leader had

ordered for Abu Qaqa II to be executed, and we are now searching for Abu Qaqa III.

"Recently too, they came out with another lie that one Mohammed Awwal Kontagora was the Abu Qaqa II that was executed, and that even his parents confirmed it, that was just a big lie to convince the world.

"The media also said that we have killed the father of Abu Darda, so as to pass a message to him, because he had leaked our secrets after his arrest by security agencies, and they wanted him to know that he is one of

our targets.

"These are all lies, and they are many.

"These media houses have committed a lot of offences that is detrimental to Islam, and we don't have the power to forgive them. We will take revenge on them by God's grace, some of these media houses have been

categorized into three groups.

"The first group is the likes of Thisday whose offences are big.

"The second group we will also attack soon are Punch, Daily Sun, Vanguard, Guardian, Nation, Tribune, and National Accord, which are all newspaper houses.

"There is also VOA Hausa radio. All these media houses we will attack them including their staff and offices, by God's grace.

"VOA Hausa for instance have recently started campaigning for people to support the government against us by exposing us,

"The next group that are on the verge of joining this list who if they are not careful we will attack very soon include, Leadership, Daily Trust, Peoples Daily and RFI(Radio France international)

"There is an online medium known as Saharareporters who have their office in New York, and who have made their site as a platform for attack against Islam. So we are warning them to stop making their site an avenue

for attacking Islam, otherwise we will find a way of attacking them too.

"We resorted to using this medium to send our message instead of the normal tele-conference because of the fear by journalists; which made them refuse to conduct the conference.

"We are grateful to God for the success recorded on the attack on Thisday, and we hope to continue such attacks.

"Finally, the government has now resorted to arresting our wives and children and also demolishing our houses, like they did in Biu recently, that is why we have also resolved to start attacking government schools,

especially, tertiary ones.

"We promise to demolish 500 buildings for any one of our houses that the government destroys.

"We have already started with Gombe and Kano."

- culled from www.premiumtimesng.com

KLEPTOCRACY UNLIMITED, text of press conference addressed by SAVE NIGERIA GROUP

Text of Press Conference today in Lagos:KLEPTOCRACY UNLIMITED.(Being text of a press conference addressed by Save Nigeria Group (SNG) on the Report of the House of Representatives Probe of the Subsidy Reforms in Nigeria, on  Monday April 30, 2012.)

Gentlemen of the Press,You are welcome to this press briefing by the Save Nigeria group (SNG) on what a news magazine has rightly called "A DIARY OF EXECUTIVE THEFT".The report of the House of Representatives ad.hoc Committee on the management of Petroleum Subsidy revealed an organised banditry which, in the words of the Lawan   Farouk Committee, "can hardly be rivalled in the history of a warped budget management of any nation anywhere in the world", has reinforced our position in January that the crisis in the oil industry in Nigeria is not about subsidy but corruption.

The Committee said the following, and we fully agree: "We found out that the subsidy regime as operated between the period under review (2009 and 2011) were fraught with endemic corruption and entrenched inefficiency. Much of the amount claimed to have been paid as subsidy was actually not for consumed PMS. Government officials made nonsense of the PSF Guidelines due mainly to sleaze and, in some other cases, incompetence. It is therefore apparent that the insistence by top Government officials that the Subsidy figures were for products consumed was a clear attempt to mislead the Nigerian people".MIND-BOGGLING REVELATIONSEvery line in the Committee's report is a poignant statement on the culture of official corruption in Nigeria. However, for the purpose of this briefing, we are highlighting the most tellingly embarrassing aspects of the book of larceny.

HOW DID WE SPEND THREE (3) TRILLION NAIRA  IN ONE YEAR?The report showed that the budget expenditure on subsidy for both PMS and HHK in 2006 was N261. 1b, N278.8b in 2007 and N346.7b in 2008 and N245 b for 2011.
The tables below show subsidy payments in the five years preceding 2011:              PPPRA Report To NASS-October 2011.    
  2006-261.1billion Naira      
2007-278.9 billion Naira      
2008-630.6 billion Naira      
2009-421.6 billion Naira      
2010-673.0 billion Naira

KPMG's Final Audit Report- May 2011.      
2007-272 billion Naira      
2008-688 billion Naira     
 2009-384 billion Naira

Though it is curious from the above figures how the subsidy payments dropped in 2009 by about N200b  only to rise by the same quantum in 2010, this is inconsequential compared with the humongous bill of 2011.The Petrol Armada of 2011 was not only about the number of companies involved, but more on the amount of money stolen in the name of subsidy. Quoting the report: "...contrary to the earlier figure of subsidy payment of N1.3 trillion, the Accountant-General of the federation put forward a figure ofN1.6 trillion, while the Committee established subsidy payment of N2.587.687 trillion as at 31st December 2011, amounting to more than 900% over the appropriated sum of N245 billion.....There were outstanding claims by NNPC and the marketers in excess of N270 billion as subsidy payments for 2011".

We now know that between January and February 2012, another N340 billion has been withdrawn as arrears of 2011 subsidy. When these figures are put together, it can be seen that what was stolen in the name of subsidy in 2011 alone is about three-quarters of the entire Federal Appropriation of 2012. The report did well by putting a lie to the claim by the Budget Office and Minister of Petroleum Resources that the gap was due to "assurances that deregulation would take effect on the first quarter of 2011". This is a fraudulent claim according to the committee which says it "was not only contradictory but also an after-thought. The time limitation was not expressed or implied in the Appropriation Act of 2011.

Furthermore, the Appropriation Act of 2011 was amended in May of the same year and there was no request from the Executive for an increase in the subsidy figures". Could it be that there was a sudden prosperity in Nigeria in 2011 which led to sudden increase in the purchase of cars demanding massive importation of fuel? The answer is NO as the year actually witnessed depletion in the purchasing power of Nigerians as official statistics put the figure of the dirt poor at 71.1% of the population.That what we are dealing with is organised banditry is underscored by the fact that virtually every organ of government that has anything to do with fuel importation was indicted - including external auditors.

It would have been impossible to carry out this horrendous haemorrhage on our treasury if it was not sanctioned from the highest levels. Note the following:.
1)    The theft of N310 billion by NNPC on kerosene subsidy in spite  of an official policy against paying subsidy on the product.
2)    Another theft by NNPC of N285b above PPPRA recommendation.
3)    An NNPC self-discount of N108b.
4)    The sum of N8b through marketers in total violation of the PSF Scheme.
5)    Payment of N999m in 128 times within 24 hours to some companies totalling N127.872b by the office the Accountant-General of the Federation.
6)    Companies who collected forex to the tune of $402.6 million whose utilization is unclear.
7)    72 companies that are indicted in the forensics with over N230b against their names.
8)    The over-recoveries of N2.766b and N5.276b which were not accounted for by the office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
9)    The cases of double deductions by the NNPC for subsidy payments in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
10)    About 20 companies getting allocations to import fuel before they were registered with PPPRA.
11)    A 24 million litre gap between the volume of import and actual consumption.
12)    The virtual discount of the 53% capacity of the refineries in a bid to promote 100% import level for our fuel consumption.
13)    The 210,000 barrels per day the NNPC allocates to swap/off shore price out of its 445,000 barrels of crude allocated daily is not reflected in its differential claims to subsidy.

These among other acts of economic sabotage identified by the committee all add up to show that corruption has become official in the transaction of government business.NOW THAT THE HOUSE HAS ADOPTED THE REPORTWe commend the House of Representatives for its painstaking consideration and adoption of the report in two days with some amendments.  This shall go down in history as one act of redemption by a chamber of the National Assembly that has not done much since 1999 to endear itself to the people it represents.We are glad that the Speaker of the House of Representatives Hon. Aminu Tambuwal spoke our minds to the anti-graft agencies which had earlier said they would be waiting for a harmonised version of the report before taking action: "Let me quickly say here that this is at best an excuse that cannot stand, after all the same agencies accept and investigate petitions from individuals, how much more resolutions of the House" he said.That settles the question of what is to be done.

FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES SNG WANTS THE NATION TO TAKE NOTE OFHaving gone  through the report and followed keenly the debate in the House of Representatives, there are fundamental issues we at SNG are putting on the table the  resolution  of which will get to the root of this grand collusion to milk the nation dry:

1.    The management of NNPC has denied that it did not receive the payment of N1.329 Trillion the report said was paid to it by the Central Bank of Nigeria. This has compelled the executive councils of NNPC NUPENG and PENGASSAN in an advertorial in This Day of April 26, 2012 at Page 44b to demand that a critical inquiry be launched by the relevant agencies " including the NLC, TUC, security agencies to take this issue seriously and demand full disclosure of whether the said amount was  ever paid ,to whom and for what purpose".    This is very germane as there is nobody that answers the name NNPC.There must be     names of persons who authorised these payments and those who received them.     We must fish them out and they must tell us where the money ended and for what     purpose. It may just be that cheques were written by higher authorities in the name     of this agency and some officials used to cash such and funnelled into slush funds in     the order of "PTDF" of Obasanjo and Atiku days.

2.    The clearance of Gombe Governor,Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwanbo who was the Accountant General of the Federation in 2009 and who was alleged to have issued cheques of N999m in 128 places in 24 hours totalling N127b raises another serious matter. Passing the buck to PPPRA does not answer the issue. The impression this gives is that the Governor may have been exonerated in a deal to ensure that he does not spill the beans if push comes to shove. These dubious payments must be traced and the nation must know where the money ended.

3.    A great number of the indicted subsidy scammers are members of the ruling party and or businessmen who have over the time been billion donors at PDP fundraisers. There must be a thorough investigation of the possible connections between their dubious subsidy payments and the donations they make to the ruling party.

4.    President Goodluck Jonathan has played the ostrich by saying that no one indicted would be spared. That is fine for as long as that includes his oil Minister (Mrs Diezani Allison-Maduekwe) and all the three ministers of Finance in the period covered by the report (Alhaji Mansur Muhktar, Mr Olusegun Aganga and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala).We have no doubt in our minds that all the lesser officials in the NNPC, PPPRA etc; whom they want us to focus on were mere chattels in a web of  a big conspiracy at the highest level of governance to steal our country broke.

Those officials must be punished for their roles as well but they cannot be scapegoats for the big masquerades!    But is the commander-in- chief saying no one would be spared except himself? At     the core of this horrendous heist is the violation of budget management for which     the President carries the responsibility.

Any President who says he is not aware of     the theft of N3trillion Naira for an item for which only N245 Billion was budgeted is     not fit to hold office. That the President presented a supplementary budget in May,     2011 without asking for more money on subsidy is clear evidence that he cannot say     he was not in the know of over 1100% fiscal roguery on the budgeted sum and this is     a clear breach of his oath of office. In this regard, we agree with the House     recommendation of the need for the criminalisation of budget overspend but we     demand that it should not be in the future but to start now with this subsidy     scam. The constitution is clear on this breach.     

By the provisions of section 80 and 81 of the 1999 constitution which relates to the powers     and controls over public funds by the President, it is clear that these sections have been     breached by the actions or inaction of the president.

This amounts to gross misconduct as     construed in Section 143 (2) (b) and Section 143 (11) which places a responsibility on the     National Assembly to determine whether the actions or inactions of the President are not     sanctionable under these provisions.    

Constitutional Provisions on Powers and Control over Public Funds      
   Section 80. (1) All revenues or other moneys raised or received by the Federation     (not being revenues or other moneys payable under this Constitution or any Act of     the National Assembly into any other public fund of the Federation established for a     specific purpose) shall be paid into and form one Consolidated Revenue Fund of the     Federation.       

  (2) No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the     Federation except to meet expenditure that is charged upon the fund by this     Constitution or where the issue of those moneys has been authorised by an     Appropriation Act, Supplementary Appropriation Act or an Act passed in pursuance     of section 81 of this Constitution.       

(3) No moneys shall be withdrawn from any public fund of the Federation, other     than the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, unless the issue of those     moneys has been authorised by an Act of the National Assembly.     

   (4) No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other     public fund of the Federation, except in the manner prescribed by the National     Assembly.    Section 81. (1) The President shall cause to be prepared and laid before each House     of the     National Assembly at any time in each financial year estimates of the     revenues and     expenditure of the Federation for the next following financial year.

5.    The recent external auditors reports on the accounts of political parties for year 2010 released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) revealed that the PDP could not give its account. Given the undue use of money in the 2011 elections by the ruling party to the extent that local and foreign currencies were alleged to have been doled out to delegates at its presidential primaries at Eagles square, we must compel the ruling party to open its books for investigation as subsidy funds may have gone to unsavoury places.

6.    The House of Representatives found in respect of the 445,000 barrels a day, that the NNPC produced the following based on its 53% local refining capacity and 47% SWAP/Offshore arrangement;  
 (a) 40 million litres per day of PMS            
(b) 10 million litres per day of Kerosine                       
 (c) 8.97 million litres per day of Diesel    
(d) 0.62 million per day of LPG and    
(e) 2.31 million per day of FO The implication of this is that if the NNPC has been meticulous with the management of the 445,000 barrels of oil per day, there would not have been any need to import oil.

This is because the corporation would have produced 5 million litres of oil in excess of the 35 million litres of PMS consumed daily.Given these findings, the Federal Government has to explain the justification for the N888Billion budgeted in the 2012 budget when we may actually have enough products for our local needs.      

 THEY STOLE US BROKEA serious fall- out of this mindless looting is that the country has been stolen broke. The Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala recently told the nation that the excess crude account is down from $20Billion to $3.6billion.As we address you at the end of April the states are yet to receive their allocations for the month of March because the treasury is empty.This is a serious warning crisis of an imminent collapse of the economy with no evidence that the government is doing anything to salvage the situation.Rather what we are seeing is that those whose fingers are being proverbially chopped for corruption are still acquiring diamond rings. An open letter to President Jonathan by Fitch, Fitch, Fitch and Associates at The Hague, Netherlands on behalf of Transparency International says it all:"The problem, Your Excellency, has to do with the rate and scale of scams and corruption probes coming out of Nigeria in 2012.The scope and speed of corruption in your country this year is beyond anything our client has ever dealt with.When the pension scam broke out, the three specialists working on Nigeria complained about overwork and threatened a law suit against Transparency International because they had to work 23 hours a day from Monday to Sunday just to cope with the figures coming out of that scam. Our client had to pull country specialists away from zero or lowcorruption countries such as New Zealand, Denmark,  Finland, Sweden, Singapore, Norway, Netherlands, Australia, Switzerland, and Canada.

The specialists working on all these countries were transferred to the Nigerian Desk"Quite heartbreaking!PANICKY MEASURES WON'T POSTPONE DAY OF RECKONING!Like the way a transgressor runs when no one pursues him, the Jonathan administration recently rolled tanks to the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park at Ojota where Nigerians gathered in millions in January to assert their dignity as a people. This is at best a panicky response by those who have cornered our collective patrimony and are scared of the questions we shall be asking. The regime portrays itself in a comical light to think that Ojota is the only space in Nigeria where the people of Nigeria can express their anger peacefully against the brigade of thieves running our country through open theft of our money. More importantly, the knee jerk pre-emptive action response is the thermometer with which its democratic temperature is to be gauged by the whole world.  

ACTION NOW!Now is the time to act to save our country from the grip of corruption. To this end, we are giving two weeks to see concrete steps in the direction of prosecuting the indicted officials failing which we shall be calling our people out on protestGiven the low confidence the people have in the anti- corruption agencies in dealing with political corruption in Nigeria, we are demanding the appointment of a private prosecutor to deal with these prosecutions.The counsel to be so appointed must be a man or woman of proven integrity with a team of Lawyers recommended by the Nigerian Bar Association working with such private prosecutor. Civil society organisations should also be allowed to appoint their own counsel as observers.

DO NOT FLINCH!Our message to our country men and women is that they must be strong hearted and determined to take back our country. If our people realize what N3 trillion can do in the life of a nation, it would not be difficult to understand why we must kill corruption lest it kill us all as it is systematically doing already. We have nothing to lose but our chains as we embark on this patriotic and just resistance against the destroyers of our nation. All we must be ready to do is to assert our collective dignity and let our "leaders" know that we are better than their animals.For in the words of Dr Patrick Wilmot "Many Nigerian politicians, especially those with a military background possess modern farms where they raise livestock. They provide nutritious food, clean water, sanitary housing, the latest medicine and the best sanitary services. They have interest in the welfare of their animal because they want to make profits. If they have the same interest in their citizens, Nigeria would be a far better place and 70% of the population would not be classified as dirt poor"This is a decisive moment in our history to assert our humanity and restore our dignity as a people.

Enough is enough!Thank you all