David West says if you put IBB and Buhari on a scale of corruption, IBB will fall down…FG figures for fuel subsidy is Amoebic.

 

Former Petroleum Minister, Prof. Tam David-West, on Wednesday slammed former Military President Ibrahim Babangida for accusing his predecessor, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), of corruption, ionigeria.com reports.
David-West, alongside human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, also accused Goodluck Jonathan of deceiving Nigerians to justify his “anti-people” policies.
They were the guest speakers at the 3rd Year Memorial Lecture held in Lagos in honor of the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi.
David-West, who was Minister of Petroleum under Buhari, alleged Babangida institutionalized corruption in the oil industry.
He said, “If you put IBB and Buhari on a scale of corruption in Nigeria, IBB will fall down.
“IBB cannot challenge Buhari in terms of corruption and management because IBB destroyed the oil industry.”
David-West maintained that there was never subsidy on fuel and that the government was only deceiving Nigerians when it said it was going to remove it.
The Professor of Virology said the amount spent on fuel subsidy assumed the nature of “amoeba”, changing to about 10 figures as given by different government sources including President Goodluck Jonathan.
He said, “The government itself does not have the figure that has changed 10 times. The so-called subsidy is a fraud rooted in government lies. The government has been lying to justify the removal of subsidy that does not exist.”
He said the sale of petrol at N97 “is a political figure”, adding that based on his calculations Nigerians should be buying it for a maximum of N40.
Falana said payments on subsidy by government in 2011 were fraud involving officials of the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
He said, “N245bn was budgeted for fuel subsidy in 2011. By the end of December, the CBN had released 1.7trn. The coordinating minister (Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala) released additional N500bn. The implication of that is that about 2.2trn was spent without appropriation.
“Those who looted the treasury and pay money to their friends including the officials of the CBN, the Ministry of Finance and the NNPC, all of them, must be dealt with under the law.”
He also criticized CBN’s proposed introduction of N5,000 note and coinage of N20, N10 and N5, saying the plan is to make it “easy to bribe. It is not about the economy.”
Representative of Jonathan at the event, Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr., paid tribute to Gani, describing him as “the people’s lawyer, strong in body and soul.”
He said, “He was a champion of all champions who fought vigorously for an untrammeled rule of law, aiming for an all-embracing social justice system, and undiluted democracy.
President of the Gani Fawehimi Memorial Organization, the group which organized the lecture, Mr. Ayodele Akele, called on government to immortalize Fawehinmi by naming the office of the National Human Rights Commission in Abuja after him.
Fawehinmi, popularly called Gani, a social critic, human and civil rights lawyer, died on September 5, 2009 at 71 after a prolonged battle with lung cancer.
Courtesy Punch

Nigeria’s N5,000 notes to be reserved for banks, heavy cash users.

Nigeria’s N5,000 notes will be reserved for banks and heavy cash users said the nation’s National Planning Minister, Shamsudeen Usman recently. According to him, the notes will not be for mass circulation.
Meanwhile, an activist group called the “Anti Corruption Network” recently protested the introduction of N5,000 notes in the country. The protesters stormed the Central Bank of Nigeria headquarters in Abuja chanting anti government songs even though there was a heavy downpour.
Usman argues that like the 5000 Euro note, the N5,000 note would not be in circulation to the average cash user but would e specially reserved for people who need a lot of cash to store higher value. He noted that the proposal for the higher currency note has been endorsed and that the notes would not lead to inflation in the polity nor would it encourage corruption.
“Clearly, the N5000 note unlike some people misrepresent, is not going to lead to higher inflation. There is absolutely no link. I am an economist, I had been deputy governor operations of the Central Bank. The last review of the introduction of N1000 note and the various coins I was deeply involved, it was my responsibility at the Central Bank.
There is absolutely no link between inflation and the currency denomination. So, obviously the discussion today was basically to endorse. Mr. President had already approved, that is the only requirement by law. The CBN is to propose and Mr. President is to approve. And since Mr. President has approved, really what is important is to just explain,” he said.
He further noted: “A 100 dollar bill is N16,000 while N5000 note will be 30 dollars, so which one is bigger to carry if you are doing corruption? So, I do not think is necessarily going to increase the level of corruption.
Those doing corruption will probably find that too small than 100 dollar bill, which is still bigger than the N5,000 note.”
Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote also weighed in on the introduction of the high value currency saying that the N5000 note would not cause inflation but protect the economy.
In the same vein, Chief Atedo Peterside, the Chairman of IBTC, argued the N5000 would reduce the cost of printing bills.
“If I were the CBN Governor, I will prefer to print N10,000 notes,” he said.
CP-Africa.com

Sack Sanusi Lamido, CDHR Appeals to National Assembly.

Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi.

 

By SaharaReporters, New York

The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) has called on the National Assembly to sack the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, over his intention to introduce a five Naira currency bill.
In a statement signed by Comrade Taiwo Otitolaye, its National Vice-President, CDHR cited Sanusi’s “recurring display of power- arrogance and unapologetic agency for imperialist policies and dictates.” It said that the introduction of the five thousand Naira note is a confirmation that the CBN governor and his cronies are “playing the script of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and other Imperialist agencies.”
CDHR described the measure as an attempt to further entrap Nigeria’s economy to the desires of Western countries, and that to enforce such an economic regime demonstrates lost focus by the Jonathan administration and a disconnect with the people.
With more than 100 million Nigerians living below the poverty line, CDHR questioned why the nation must commit over 40billion Naira into a wasteful exercise when that kind of money can be deployed towards creating jobs.
“This is a road map to further inflation,” CDHR said.  “Acceding to this obnoxious policy will lead to the introduction of higher denominations in the near future, which continues to devalue our currency, erode our economy and dehumanize our people. The amount of money required for petrol (PMS) to fill a tank could buy a brand new Peugeot in the early eighties.”
It argued that Sanusi’s economic command subjugates Nigeria’s national growth and development and called on the National Assembly to begin the process of sacking Sanusi before a national mass revolt against his policies erupts.

Nigerians At Risk : Japanese Radioactive Cars In The Market By Chika Ezeanya.

Chika Ezeanya

Over one year has passed since the Japanese tsunami caused about seven nuclear meltdowns at three reactors  in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.  The immediate result was that about 50 km radius of the plant’s range, dangerous radiation rays affected lives and properties.

Initially, there were tight restrictions on the export of products from the nuclear meltdown affected areas by the Japanese government. As time has passed, the restrictions are becoming more relaxed, and now, more and more products with dangerously high levels of radiation are being shipped to several ill-regulated markets. This is most especially the case with used vehicles, which are  hardly subjected to the same level of safety testing as brand new vehicles, prior to shipment.

Immediately after the nuclear incident, governments of countries around the world installed radiation testing equipments at the ports of entry. Australian government was among the first to test 700 vehicles in the June of 2011; this testing has continued till date and thousands of cars are tested monthly.

In Chile, port workers and custom agents staged a protest against their government for not immediately destroying 21 vehicles found with traces of radiation. In the view of the Chilean Nuclear Commission, the radiation levels found was not high enough to cause damage to humans. The workers thought otherwise and forced the government to revisit its decision.

In a July 2012 report, Russian government stated that it has so far  denied entry to about 300 cars proven to come from the nuclear explosion district and found with very high levels of radiation. The Daily Telegraph of UK not too long ago, reported that fraudulent Japanese used-car dealers were selling vehicles “exposed to dangerously high levels of radiation to unsuspecting buyers.”

Cars having up to twenty times the permissible level of radiation have found their way to African countries where several governments are clueless or unconcerned about such health risks. Governments of Kenya and Tanzania however,  are among the few African countries, who, unable to afford the high cost of testing all incoming vehicles have expressly banned the importation of cars from Japan into their markets. Kenyan government went as far as destroying some cars after it hired independent firms to test for radiation levels.

Uganda imports between between 4,000 – 5,000 cars monthly, several of them used.  The government of Uganda, concerned about the threat to its citizens sent a delegation to Japan headed by the House committee leader on trade and which included officials of Uganda National Bureau of Standards. The delegations reported upon return that “it was established, through random scientific tests as well as motor vehicle inspection records, that many used motor vehicles destined for export markets from Japan are contaminated with significantly high level of ionizing radiation, way above recommended levels.”

Nigerians buy more used cars than brand new cars, and Japanese cars are the favorite of most first-time and budget car buyers. For the sake of peace of mind, one must desist from thinking of how many radiation drenched cars have already found their way to the Nigerian market. Most radioactive materials settle on the body of the car, windows and seats, and no amount of scrubbing or re-painting or even change of chaircover can remove them.

Radioactive agents are highly carcinogenic. Radiation forms cancerous cells and makes them grow aggressively. Other side effects of radiation include infertility, birth defects and irreversible DNA alterations that exposes future generations to yet-to-be ascertained risks.

Although a little belated, the Nigerian government should immediately release a public statement on the stand of the government towards used Japanese cars, or else the health of Nigerian citizens and residents would no longer be assured. It is suggested that Nigerian government should, as a matter of urgency, join its Kenyan and Tanzanian counterparts in placing a temporary ban on importation of used cars from Japan, until it has acquired equipments to test cars for radiation at the various ports of entry.
 

Jonathan: Criticisms, snake oil, and the way forward – Sabella Abidde.

On August 28, 2012, The Punch quoted President Jonathan as saying he was “the most criticised President in the whole world,” and at the same time vowing that “before I leave I will be the most praised President.” He went on to promise his listening audience that by 2013, the vast majority of Nigerians would come to appreciate him because that is when most would begin to reap the dividend of democracy and the policies he has put in place. A few days earlier, Mr. President was quoted as saying that the media was no longer the voice of the people. The Nigerian media, as the President sees it, has become injuriously partisan, politicised and untrustworthy.

On all counts, I disagree with President Jonathan. I disagree, not merely or necessarily because I think the President is wrong; but because I think he failed to take our modern history into account. And the modern history of leadership, the media, and the people’s aspiration tells us three things. First, every president or head of government have been subjected to all types of criticisms. This was the case in the days of Gen. Yakubu Gowon. He believed, in many instances, that the Nigerian media (especially the Lagos-Ibadan based media) were unduly critical of him. In later years, President Olusegun Obasanjo voiced a similar complaint.

In and out of office, Chief Obasanjo continues to be a target of the media. He is also a target of very sharp tongues within the comedy cycle. Again, if President Jonathan is feeling the sweltering heat and the saline humidity coming from the media, it is principally because of the changing nature of the Nigerian society. Millions of Nigerians now have a stake in their government. In the past, millions grumbled quietly about the government and about inefficiency, waste and corruption. Today, it is no longer enough to grumble. Millions now make their voices heard. And if it so pleases them, they are able to employ the new media: the social media.

If President Jonathan is complaining, what then should Gen. Ibrahim Babangida say or do? After all, this is a man who has been pursued, and continues to be pursued by the media and sections of the Nigerian society. Oh well, maybe this President is looking for sympathy. He is not likely to get it, though. On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean was George Walker Bush. He was perhaps the most reviled and the most abused and most ridiculed US President in the last 50 years. His intelligence was called into question; his political sagacity was doubted; his bravery suspected; and his managerial skills doubted. Yet, he went about his presidency the best he could. Why is our president whining?

Third, President Jonathan can be honestly praised; or, he can be praised by yes-men and by bootlickers. Praises are like trust: they have to be earned. And this President knows what to do in order to earn the people’s trust, love and affection. He said he would end up being the most praised President in the history of Nigeria. Well, let’s wait and see. He also promised democratic and economic miracles by 2013. Did I hear you say 2013? Wasn’t this the same President who told us, while attending the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit, that he would transform the Nigerian economy to rival those of the four Asian Tigers within the next few years?

In 2000, Obasanjo promised Nigerians and the world that the Millennium Development Goals would be achieved by 2015. The Obasanjo and Yar’Adua administrations wasted millions of dollars touting this dream. In spite of all the bravado and careless talks, we are nowhere near achieving any one of the eight goals: Eradicate poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership for development. This President is promising us 13 bottles of snake oil?

I very much want to heap praises on this President (because) I know he is capable of good and great things. Why his abilities and aspirations have not manifested in his Presidency is what continues to baffle me and a million others. Granted governance is not as easy as most critics think, still, anyone who presents himself before the people as a potential leader ought to know what the intricacies and complexities of leadership are. Public safety and security is the main task. This is followed by what is generally referred to as development: economic, social, cultural and political development

According to James Weaver and his colleagues, “The overriding goal of development is to improve human well-being and to enable humans to achieve their potential.” To this end, therefore, four goals are generally pursued: (1) a healthy, growing economy that’s constantly undergoing structural transformation; (2) an economy in which the benefits are widely distributed; (3) a political system that provides for human rights and freedoms and effective governance; and (4) a political economy that is consistent with preservation of the environment.

For an economy that is basically agrarian and rentier in nature, what President Jonathan should have aimed for, from day one, is what is collectively known as basic needs: quality education and quality health care; potable water and good sanitary conditions; clean physical environment; safety and security from internal and external forces; provision and maintenance of infrastructure; prevalence of the rule of law, etc. If the President had done that – if he had done so – criticisms from the media and public commentators would have been the least of his worries. But as things are, this President must worry. He has to!

He must worry about the general direction the country is headed. For instance, he must worry about Boko Haram and the general state of insecurity. He must worry about the nasty environmental conditions that have come to characterise the country. He must worry about very high rates of unemployment. He must worry about low productivity and the gradual institutionalisation of corruption

Ifeuko Omoigui Okauru: An Embodiment Of Excellence.

Comrade Nwobodo Chidiebere.

“Greatness is not an attribute of the strong or the mighty, but a virtue achieved by those who dare to travel on that lonely and narrow road called excellence”.

The values expressed above exemplifies the solid foundation of the dynamic reforms zooming across the dual-carriage highway of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), which was laid by the immediate past executive chairman of FIRS and Joint Tax Board, Mrs. Ifeuko Omoigui Okauru, when she  was calling the shot at the Revenue House, headquarters of  FIRS, Abuja.
William Shakespare said, “be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them” (Twelfth Night).  Ifueko Omoigui Okauru, not minding her background, believed not only that some are born great or some have greatness thrust upon them, but also that greatness can be attained by living a life that thrives on excellence and making excellence her watchword, because greatness is  repeated excellence over a long period of time.
Before her appointment as  Executive Chairman of FIRS and Joint Tax Board, FIRS like other sister agencies and parastatals of government which included, but not limited to the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), used to be an appendage of the ruling party, which they used to compensate those who lost out during the party primaries or during the general elections and those party faithful who worked for the success of the party during the general elections.
FIRS operated as a toothless bull dog which could only bark, but not bite in matters of tax collection and revenue generation until the emergence of a visionary, charismatic and erudite leadership at the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) led by Mrs. Ifueko Omoigui Okauru.
Under her leadership, annual tax revenue rose from slightly below N1.2 trillion, in 2004, when she assumed office, to over N4.6 trillion in 2011. This rise in revenue generation was sustained by her successor, Alhaji Kabir Mashi Mashi, who is still in acting capacity at the time of writing this article. Ifueko Omoigui Okauru-led leadership in FIRS indirectly diversified our economy by spear-heading the generation IGR which stood at over N4.6 trillion in 2011, which was above the 2011 national budget, which stood at N4.4 trillion. This implies that the IGR generated by federal government via FIRS under the leadership of Ifueko Okauru could have financed our 2011 budget comfortably, without any input from the over-burden crude oil earning; which accounts for 90% of our foreign exchange.
If this height attained by Ifueko Okauru could be replicated in other sectors of our economy, Nigeria will be on her sure way of being economically viable and at the same time gain her economic independence from crude oil revenues. Under her leadership, FIRS ensured the passage into law of the following Acts: FIRS (Establishment) Act 2007, National Automotive Council (Amendment) Act 2007, Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act 2007, and the Companies Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2007. Together, these Acts formed the nucleus of the new push that reformed the nation’s tax administration and subsequently laid the solid foundation of taxation in Nigeria.
The new tax regime which is a product of Personal Income Tax (Amendment) Act, initiated by her leadership, came into effect on June 14, 2011. The Tax policy compels the president and his vice as well as governors and their deputies to pay tax on their earnings; as these will help to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor in the country.
The introduction of Personal Income Tax policy exposed the true courageous spirit and strength of character which she possessed, because it takes an audacious and sagacious person to initiate a policy that will impose tax on her employer (Presidency). Mrs. Okauru entrenched transparency and accountability in the day to day operations of FIRS by introducing the  E-payment system which enabled her in blocking all  financial leakages in the system, thereby increasing the national IGR (Internally-Generated Revenue).
The truth is, you might like Omoigui Okauru, you might even loathe her tasty impatience for result and excellence, her rigor and insistence on relentless pursuit of skills and training for the staff. Ifeuko Okauru made the welfare of the staff of FIRS her number one priority during her reign as the executive chairman, because she subscribed to what Schopenhauer wrote, “intellect is a magnitude of intensity, not a magnitude of extensity.” Mrs. Ifeuko Okauru braced the trail in the financial sector as the executive chairman and Joint Tax Board, she also left an indelible legacy on the heart of Nigerians.
She is not only an embodiment of excellence; but an epitome of simplicity. I met her for the first time during a conference in Abuja; I was flabbergasted and puzzled when I discovered that she was not only a yardstick to measure excellence; but an oasis of humility and kind-heartedness, not minding her high profile status in the society. Mrs. Okauru treats everyone she gets in touch with as an important personality, because she understands that, “all men were born equal in right and dignity,” apologies to Martin Luther King, Jnr. Mrs. Ifeuko Okauru has made a thunderous statement using the reforms she championed when she was at the helm of affairs in FIRS; that institutions can change for good, when the right people are given the opportunity to lead. The outstanding results she got during her tenure, has collaborated what Dr. Myles Munroe said about good leadership; “an army of sheep led by a lion will always defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.” This is also in line with John Maxwell’s statement that, “everything rises and falls on leadership.”

Power Sector And Obasanjo’s Regrets.

LEADERSHIP EDITORIAL.

Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has been flooding the nation with crocodile tears regarding his inability to fix the power sector after wasting a whopping $16billion dollars in an eight year pretentious policy which became a merry-go round that impoverished the nation. In his own estimation, during his years in office as president, he succeeded in all he set out to achieve except in the power sector. To rationalise this, he said that it was due to paucity of funds!
Obasanjo’s atrocities in the sector were the main subject of a probe by the House of Representatives. At that probe, key actors in the sector testified to the fact that funds injected into it went down the drain with nothing to show for it. They also agreed that the failed attempt by Obasanjo to revive the power sector was a ploy by him to enrich himself and his cronies.
His topmost allies during those years of waste, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who served as his Minister of Finance and Dr Oby Ezekwesili, who was in charge of due process, said this much in their testimonies at the probe panel.
Okonjo-Iweala told the panel that during that exercise, Obasanjo substituted due process in the award of the contracts and of certification at various stages of execution of contracts for the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) with waivers.
Ezekwesili confirmed this much when she told the panel that “the country lost billions of naira through flagrant disregard for due process in the award of contracts.” Others who also testified at the panel admitted that “Obasanjo’s eight year rule caused Nigeria colossal loss in trillions of naira arising from his self-centred interests in the award of phony contracts in NIPP.”
In the face of all these, we are persuaded to suggest to Obasanjo to save the nation further anguish regarding his malfeasance especially as it concerns the power sector. Worse things happened in the oil sector which was part of the energy equation.
The then Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Engr Lawal Yar’Adua accused him of forming oligarchs in the oil sector. According to him, Obasanjo concentrated the oil sector in the hands of a few oligarchs who manipulated it at the expense of majority of Nigerians.
We recall the reaction of his Special Adviser on Energy during that period, Engr Joseph Makoji, when he was confronted with the figures bandied around as the amount spent in the energy sector. It was at a press conference. He said that if they had given him that kind of money, there was no way the nation would not have had uninterrupted power supply.
In our opinion, Obasanjo as President, lost all credibility, morals, transparency, sense of accountability as well as his conscience to filthy lucre. Instead of regrets, he should be talking about restitution and  refunding all the money he is believed to have stolen from us. That is what he needs to do and urgently too.