From the GG Platform: Courtesy Udem.
Rather simple question won’t you say
to
own a thing, implies you derive utility from it, so let’s answer by
examining who derives utility from crude oil in Nigeria. Utility of
course means taxes, who derives taxes from crude oil?
Well before the independence of Nigeria, as at 1958 this was how crude oil taxes were shared…
1958:
1. Oil Producing States retained 67.4% of Mining Rents and Royalties
2. Federal Government got 20% of Mining Rents and Royalties
3. Non-oil states got 12.6%
So the crude oil and gas was owned by the oil producing states, that how the British left it.
In 1970, General Yakubu Gowan passed decree No 13, this was how crude oil taxes were now to be shared.
1970
1. Oil Producing States retained 45% of Mining Rents and Royalties
2. Federal Government got 55% of Mining Rents and Royalties
3. Non-oil states got 0%
So
in the military’s wisdom, the non-oil states did not deserve to get any
share of oil revenues. Oil was only for the oil producing states and
the Federal Government.
Then 1975, General Murtala Muhammed introduced decree 6, this is how crude oil taxes were shared
1975
1. Oil Producing States retained 20% of Mining Rents and Royalties
2. Federal Government got 80% of Mining Rents and Royalties
3. Non-oil states got 0%
Again the military decided the oil producing states should “manage” 20%. of oil revenues non-oil states got zero…
In 1976, Gen Obasanjo created a technical commission called the Aboyade Technical Commission, this was the result
1976
1. Oil Producing States got 0% of Mining Rents and Royalties
2. Federal Government got 100% of Mining Rents and Royalties
3. Non-oil states got 0%
Obasanjo,
also introduced the Consolidated Revenue fund aka FAAC, thus, the oil
taxes were centrally pooled, then shared to all states.
This was
the important junction in Nigeria fiscal federalism, this was when
crude oil was federalized, taken from the states, managed by the federal
government then shared back to the states. In essence, crude oil was no
longer based on derivation but on metrics like equality, fiscal
efficiency and absorptive capacity…
In 1979, President Shehu
Shagari set up the Okigbo Commission, to review the sharing of oil
revenues. The Commission agreed to retain the Obasanjo 0% allocation to
oil producing state and continue with FAAC but they tweaked the sharing
formula in FAAC…. they came up with
1979
Equality of States 50%
Population 40%,
Land mass 10%
So here we see population of states and land mass introduced
in
just 9 years, the oil producing states saw their share of crude oil
taxes go from 67.4% to zero. It took until the year 2000 for the
implementation of 13% back to the oil producing states.
So in summary, its 67% to 0% to 13%.
Oil
revenues were in essence transferred from the states to the federal
government by decree, even today, if Exxon Mobil pays VAT on operations
in an oil producing state, that VAT is shared by the federal government
to all states of the federation. Oil is a federal baby….
What is the effect? Well massive inefficiency in the oil and gas sector.
It’s fair to say the FGN has mismanaged the oil industry, NNPC is essentially broke…can’t manage its assets to return a profit
We
still flare gas, i.e. we legally “burn” money, The FGN has taken the
oil wells but can’t pay Joint Venture cash calls...the FGN can’t clean
the oil spills, they can’t even pass a PIB...
So why hold the
oil? If they can’t manage it? Well because the FGN has built a massive
bureaucracy funded by crude oil, the FGN pays for primary education and
primary health care, then also funds religious pilgrimages and football.
These
powers the FGN has given to itself outside the constitution have been
made possible because the FGN has grabbed a hold of the oil wealth of
the nation. for instance primary schools are the function of the Local
Governments and the Constitution recognizes that and allocates money to
them, but the revenues for the local governments are paid to the
states….via a "joint" account.
Right now, we have a problem, there is no more oil and salaries must be paid, salaries that had been paid by crude oil.
The
Federal Government enjoyed a monopoly on telecoms in Nigeria, the
result was that a phone became a luxury, only for the rich, in 2001, the
FGN left the business of communication, became a regulator and tax
recipient, and today everyone has a phone, I mean everyone…
What
is the fascination in crude oil that the FGN still wants to own it? if
the Federal Government can hand over Telecoms, regulate and tax the
telecoms companies...why not do the same for crude oil? Before 2001, the
FGN funded NITEL, today the GSM companies fund the FGN.
Thing
have to change. Nigeria can’t say its practicing a federal system of
governance without fiscal federalism, that will be like driving a car
without wheels.
So what should we do? It’s a no brainier, give the oil back to the people, Tax the oil business....simple
1.
The FGN has to get out of business, and set itself as a regulator of
business and recipient of business taxes, the gains are obvious, its
costs are reduced, and its revenues go up.
2. Give the oil
and non-oil assets back to the states and local governments, let states
retain the proceeds of exports from their states. In essence if cocoa is
exported, the state or origin of that cocoa get a share of the Company
income tax by derivation
This is not just a call for
resource control, it’s a call for responsibility allocation, as long as
the FGN is responsible for collecting 95% of taxes and Local Government
are paid their allocation via states, we can’t really expect and demand
much.
“To him who little is given…little is expected”
It’s our problem, we can fix it
- Kalu Aja
Monday, 8 August 2016
Sunday, 7 August 2016
British secret files on Nigeria’s first bloody coup, path to Biafra
Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa | Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu | Sir Ahmadu Bello
About
the same time that Nigeria is marking the 50th anniversary of its first
bloody military coup d’état of January 1966, which claimed the lives of
prominent political and military leaders from the northern part of the
country and set the stage for a gory counter-coup in July and three
years of civil war, there have been growing calls to arms and separation
by a section of the country. Those seeking to return the nation to
those dark, unforgettable days by rekindling the fires of disunity have
clearly not learnt any lessons from the horrors of the past. Daily Trust
on Sunday has decided to publish an independent account of the
historical events that were extracted from “hitherto hidden dispatches
from British diplomats and intelligence officers,” with the hope that
those calling for war can see reasons why it must be avoided. The files
were first published in a serialized form by TheNews magazine in its
June and July 2016 editions. We are reproducing it with the permission
of TheNews, beginning from this week.
Kaduna
It was a soundless morning, dark, pulsating, starless. The harmattan spiked the 2am air with prickly cold and fog. With his finger to the trigger, the 28-year-old Major Patrick Chukwuma Nzeogwu addressed the soldiers from Charlie Company of the 3rd Infantry Battalion and some Nigerian Military Training College (NMTC) personnel. They were armed with fury, submachine guns, knives, grenades, torchlights, rocket launchers. Nzeogwu reeled about how the politicians had dragged the country to the cliff of fall and kicked it down into a worst-case scenario. He reeled about nepotism, large scale looting of public wealth, persistent poverty of the people, the yearnings of millions hollowed out by afflictions, the epidemic of insecurities, the Tiv riots, the Western Region’s daily bloodletting, the country’s tireless race to the bottom instead of high up to the plane of regard.
He pointed to Sardauna’s residence right behind him as the ultimate
symbol of the filth Nigeria had become. His fellow soldiers were
stunned. They did not know they had been turned into reluctant rebels.
They thought this was supposed to be another night’s training exercise
the brigade high command had approved for them which they started two
weeks previously. Nzeogwu then asked the soldiers to concentrate on how
to be necessary and to feel proud that they were the ones called upon to
rescue the nation, to show the way, to be the new founding fathers of a
better Nigeria. In other words, like Homer’s Illiad, he was asking them
not to see the epic bloodbath that was about to start as an outbreak of
evil, but their generous contribution to the redemption and welfare of
the nation.It was a soundless morning, dark, pulsating, starless. The harmattan spiked the 2am air with prickly cold and fog. With his finger to the trigger, the 28-year-old Major Patrick Chukwuma Nzeogwu addressed the soldiers from Charlie Company of the 3rd Infantry Battalion and some Nigerian Military Training College (NMTC) personnel. They were armed with fury, submachine guns, knives, grenades, torchlights, rocket launchers. Nzeogwu reeled about how the politicians had dragged the country to the cliff of fall and kicked it down into a worst-case scenario. He reeled about nepotism, large scale looting of public wealth, persistent poverty of the people, the yearnings of millions hollowed out by afflictions, the epidemic of insecurities, the Tiv riots, the Western Region’s daily bloodletting, the country’s tireless race to the bottom instead of high up to the plane of regard.
They Charged Forward
Four hours earlier around 10 o’clock, the last lights in the Sardauna’s household had gone out. They were expected to wake by 4am to eat suhur, the predawn meal to begin the fast. Ramadan started on 23rd December 1965. A week earlier, the Prime Minister Mallam Tafawa Balewa Abubakar met the Queen and the British Prime Minister Harold Wilson. He had invited all the Commonwealth Prime Ministers for a special meeting in Lagos from 11- 12 January to resolve Rhodesian crises. It was the first of its kind outside London. On 19 December, he went to the small village of Arondizuogu in Orlu for the commissioning of his trade minister, Dr Ozumba Mbadiwe’s Palace of the People. Built by Italian contractors, it was a three-storey affair resplendent with blue terrazzo walls, swimming pool and a fountain, grand conference halls and event rooms, red carpet and gilt chairs. All these in a village where most houses were still born of mud and thatched roofs.
Since the first tarred roads were constructed in 1890s in Lagos, and the first dual carriage way in Nigeria - Queen Elizabeth Road - appeared in 1956 in Ibadan, no road in Arondizuogu or in Orlu had ever been graced with bitumen before. Yet Mbadiwe situated the grand palace there as a source of pride for his people. At the commissioning ceremony, the Eastern Premier, Dr Okpara never saw the project as a white elephant planted by megalomania and watered by corruption, rather he hailed the project as “a great achievement for one of the priests of pragmatic socialism to have been so clever to accommodate this building within the context of pragmatic African socialism.” The press placed the value of the house at least half a million pounds. Mbadiwe said it was “at most £40,000.” After the commissioning, Abubakar then proceeded to his farm in Bauchi for his annual leave. On Tuesday 4th of January, he joined the retinue of well-wishers in Kaduna airport to bid farewell to his in-law and godfather, the Sardauna, who was going to Saudi Arabia to perform Umra, a lesser hajj, in the company of 184 other state-sponsored pilgrims. The cost of the one-week pilgrimage to the government was around £17,000.
unprecedentedly scathing editorial laying the blame for the region’s financial woes and lack of development on Sardauna inefficiencies and ineptitude and asked him to “put his house in order.” When Nzeogwu read the editorial, he went straight to the paper’s newsroom and demanded to see the writer. He was in his uniform and his eyes were red. No one knew him nor had seen his face before. The staff did not know what to make of his demand. The expatriate managing editor Charles Sharp then stepped forward. Nzeogwu shook his hands and said the content and tone of the editorial reflected their thinking in the army and they had resolved to put that house in order. The newsroom did not understand what he meant until the morning of the January 15. The paper was the first to publish for the world the picture of Sardauna’s house still smouldering in the flames of Nzeogwu.
Meanwhile, the premier of the Western Region, Samuel Ladoke Akintola received a tip from his NNDP ministers in the federal cabinet that after the Commonwealth special meeting, the Prime Minister planned to impose a state of emergency on the Western Region, drop him as an ally and appoint a federal caretaker just as he did in 1962. Market women staging protests against skyrocketing costs of foodstuffs, burnout cars, shot and charred corpses, politicians and civil servants’ houses set on fire, intellectuals’ houses emptied onto the street were weekly occurrences in the West. Ever since the rift between Awolowo the Action Group leader and Akintola his deputy, the Western Region that was an Africans-can-do-it model of governance and jaw-dropping development was turned into a landscape of sorrow, blood and tears. With fund from the public treasury and under the command of Fani-Kayode the deputy premier, Akintola’s well-armed hooligans held the upper hand while AG’s bully-boys sponsored by Dr Michael Okpara and the NCNC leadership were on the defensive. After the elections of 11 October 1965, Akintola used the state broadcasting services to announce false counts while the Okpara-sent Eastern Nigeria Broadcasting Service team secretly camped in Awolowo’s house declared the correct results ward by ward. On the night of 15th October, when Akintola was to announce himself the winner, Wole Soyinka, with a generous assistance from his pistol, forced the Western Broadcasting Service to air his own subservice tape asking Akintola to resign and go. Akintola and his supporters went berserk. The police declared Soyinka wanted and he fled to Okpara in the East for temporary refuge until his arrest on 27th October 1965.
On Thursday, 13th January when Sardauna arrived from Mecca, Akintola flew to Kaduna to meet him to dissuade Abubakar from imposing a state of emergency on the West or replace him with an Administrator. Akintola had recently buried his daughter and staunchest ally Mrs Modele Odunjo who on 26th October died allegedly of overdose of sleeping pills. She was married to Soji Odunjo, who was a staunch enemy of her father and he was also the son of the Alawiye’s Chief J.F. Odunjo whom Akintola also sacked as the Chairman of Western Region Development Corporation for being pro-Awolowo. Akintola had also sent his son, Tokunbo (who died in 1973) faraway to Eton College in England. He had imported the first ever bulletproof car into Nigeria: an £8000 Mercedes Benz. As the 13th Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, he felt unchained and fired up for a total fight. With more men and firepower, he told the Sardauna, he would crush all disturbances from AG’s supporters and their Eastern sponsors. The Sardauna promised to discuss his request with the Prime Minister. Major Timothy Onwuatuegwu, a 27-year-old instructor at the NMTC who was detailed to track Sardauna’s daily movements reported this surprise meeting with Akintola to the Revolution’s high command. From his No 13, Kanta Road residence, Nzeogwu promptly dashed to the Kaduna airport where Sardauna had already gone to see off Akintola. Nzeogwu went to the VIP lounge saluted the Sardauna and wished Akintola safe journey back home convinced that in 48 hours at most, both VIPs would be counted among the dead.
That evening, Nzeogwu went back to the airport to pick up his best friend Major Olusegun Obasanjo the Officer Commanding the Field Engineers who had just finished his course in India and flew in via London. Obasanjo’s deputy Captain Ben Gbuile was supposed to pick him up at the airport but he was busy mobilising for the Revolution. And so he telephoned Nzeogwu who promptly came to the airport. Though they slept together in the same room, Nzeogwu never told him of the death awaiting certain personalities.
The following day, 14th January, Bernard Floud a British MP and director of Granada TV (now ITV) which partly owned the Northern Region Television Station was staying at the plush Hamdala Hotel in Kaduna. He had met with the Sardauna briefly to discuss funding and expansion of the television reach. They were supposed to meet the following day Saturday 15th January to continue the business talk. But there would be no tomorrow.
For Nzeogwu and his soldiers had cut through the Premier’s Lodge fence by the side and at the entrance rounded up three policemen (Police Constables Yohanna Garkawa, Akpan Anduka, Hagai Lai) and a soldier (Lance Corporal Musa Nimzo) rubbing their hands together between their knees to resist the harsh harmattan. Nzeogwu asked them to face the wall and coldly pulled the trigger on them. He was trying to man up his fellow soldiers who were still acting like reluctant rebels and give them a taste of where the night was heading. He then posted two new sentries by the entrance while he and other soldiers conducted a room-to-room search in the main house for the Sardauna. Routine police patrol that sighted the mutineers converging menacingly in front of the Premier’s Lodge radioed the British Police officer on duty in the Kaduna Police Operations room. He in turn phoned Mallam Ahmed T. Ben-Musa Sardauna’s Senior Assistant Secretary (Security). He immediately sprang up and went to the Lodge. He was shot on arrival by the sentries who were motivated by Nzeogwu’s earlier example. They had accepted the transformation from reluctant rebels to motivated mutineers.
The general alarm had woken Sardauna. He was not in the main house but upstairs in the rear annex with his senior wife Habsatu, the daughter of Mallam Abbas, the Waziri of Sokoto, his second wife Goggon Kano, the third, Jabbo Birnin Kebbi and Sallama, a house retainer. They listened and rattled prayer beads in fear for an hour as Nzeogwu and his motivated mutineers booted down doors, pumped bullets into guards mounting resistance and shouted to others, “Ina Sardauna? Take us to the Sardauna.” It was dark, Sardauna and his wives went downstairs and into the courtyard connecting the annex and the main house. They were trying to escape. On finding them, Nzeogwu shot the Sardauna and his senior wife who was trying to protect him. He then blew a whistle which was the agreed signal for all soldiers to converge at the rallying point at the front gate for the final onslaught on their symbol of national decay. The rocket-launching party then began shelling the house. Boom! Boom! The ground shuddered like the cannon fire which the great Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky laced into his 1812 overture. Nzeogwu was a lover of jazz and classical music.
Their beauty heightened his sensitivity to the decay which Nigeria was. He even mentored Captain Theophilus Danjuma to become a classical connoisseur. With the huge flame before him overpowering the harmattan and the night with abundance of light and heat, Nzeogwu was satisfied his own unit’s assignment was a success. He felt like a single note from an oboe, hanging high up there unwavering, avid for glory, above pulses from bassoons and basset horns till a drag from a clarinet took over and sweetened the note into a phrase of such delight, such unfulfillable longing making the coup’s failure unlikely with every passing bar. Nzeogwu then left for the brigade headquarters to await news from other units confident as ever like that high oboe note from Mozart’s Serenade for the Winds in B Flat that the news would be good news.
The mutineers had divided themselves into three groups. Nzeogwu headed the group that looked after the Sardauna, Captain Gbuile was to seize the 1st Brigade Headquarters, the TV and radio stations and Major Timothy Onwuatuegwu headed the group to delete the existence of Brigadier Samuel Ademulegun and his Deputy, Col Raphael Shodeinde. Ademulegun was startled when Onwuatuegwu entered his bedroom just after 2am. He was reported to have asked, how did you get in here? As the commander of the 1st Brigade of the Nigerian Army, he was the most protected personality in the whole of the Northern Region. While police personnel guarded the Premier and the Governor, Sir Kashim Ibrahim, his own guards were drawn from the 3rd infantry battalion. They guarded not only inside and outside his compound but around his main house too. But the guards had been compromised and they led Onwuatuegwu straight into the Brigadier’s bedroom. Had Ademulegun survived the assassination, he would have ordered all the guards, the guard commander and their officer commanding to face firing squad because as guards, they were supposed to die first before anything happened to him.
But he was not scheduled to survive. Onwuatuegwu asked the Brigadier, “Get dressed and come with us sir. Those are my instructions; to bring you to the headquarters.” It sounded like nonsense to him. As the head of that headquarters since 17 February 1964, he was the only person that could give such an order. His wife Latifah, 8 months pregnant, planted herself fearlessly between her husband and the pointed guns knowing full well that if she remained glued to the comfort of their bed those weapons would not be diverted away from her husband. The Sardauna’s senior wife did exactly that at that moment somewhere else. (Any other Nigerian woman would have done the same. Contrary to what the New Feminists led themselves to believe, Nigerian women were never born to be weak. In the top bedside drawer was a service pistol. As a Brigadier, Ademulegun knew a pistol was no match for 6 soldiers armed with SMGs. But he would rather fight and die gallantly than degrade the honour of his office by surrendering to subordinates.
As he made a dash for a quick draw, Onwuatuegwu opened fire on the Brigadier, his wife and the unborn. Cruelty resulted when anything stood in the way of the indefinite expansion of the will to power. Without Ademulegun dead, Nzeogwu could not preside over the biggest Brigade of the Nigerian Army. Ademulegun’s children Solape and Kole were in the next room. They heard all the clash and they were the first to see their lifeless parents surrounded by a pond of blood. Onwuatuegwu and his mutineers then strolled out across the street unchallenged by the guards to the home of Colonel Shodeinde, Deputy Commandant of Nigerian Defence Academy whom Ademulegun usually handed over the Brigade too when he was not around. They killed him too in cold blood with an angry grenade. They then left for the Brigade Headquarters satisfied their mission was a success. That was what Nzeogwu meant when he asked his fellow mutineers not to see the epic bloodbath that was about to start as an outbreak of evil but their unique and generous contribution to the development and welfare of the nation. Anything that benefitted their Revolution cannot be injurious to morals. That was their driving belief. And it freed them to be terrible.
Monday, 1 August 2016
AN AMAZING STORY...
Here is an amazing story from a flight attendant on Delta Flight 15, written following 9-11:
On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, we were about 5 hours out of Frankfurt, flying over the North Atlantic .
All of a sudden the curtains parted and I was told to go to the cockpit, immediately, to see the captain. As soon as I got there I noticed that the crew had that "All Business" look on their faces. The captain handed me a printed message. It was from Delta's main office in Atlanta and simply read, "All airways over the Continental United States are closed to commercial air traffic. Land ASAP at the nearest airport. Advise your destination."
No one said a word about what this could mean. We knew it was a serious situation and we needed to find terra firma quickly. The captain determined that the nearest airport was 400 miles behind us in Gander, New Foundland.
He requested approval for a route change from the Canadian traffic controller and approval was granted immediately -- no questions asked. We found out later, of course, why there was no hesitation in approving our request.
While the flight crew prepared the airplane for landing, another message arrived from Atlanta telling us about some terrorist activity in the New York area. A few minutes later word came in about the hijackings.
We decided to LIE to the passengers while we were still in the air. We told them the plane had a simple instrument problem and that we needed to land at the nearest airport in Gander , New Foundland, to have it checked out.
We promised to give more information after landing in Gander .. There was much grumbling among the passengers, but that's nothing new! Forty minutes later, we landed in Gander. Local time at Gander was 12:30 PM .... that's 11:00 AM EST.
There were already about 20 other airplanes on the ground from all over the world that had taken this detour on their way to the US.
After we parked on the ramp, the captain made the following announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen, you must be wondering if all these airplanes around us have the same instrument problem as we have. The reality is that we are here for another reason."
Then he went on to explain the little bit we knew about the situation in the US. There were loud gasps and stares of disbelief. The captain informed passengers that Ground control in Gander told us to stay put.
The Canadian Government was in charge of our situation and no one was allowed to get off the aircraft. No one on the ground was allowed to come near any of the air crafts. Only airport police would come around periodically, look us over and go on to the next airplane.
In the next hour or so more planes landed and Gander ended up with 53 airplanes from all over the world, 27 of which were US commercial jets.
Meanwhile, bits of news started to come in over the aircraft radio and for the first time we learned that airplanes were flown into the World Trade Center in New York and into the Pentagon in DC.
People were trying to use their cell phones, but were unable to connect due to a different cell system in Canada . Some did get through, but were only able to get to the Canadian operator who would tell them that the lines to the U.S. were either blocked or jammed.
Sometime in the evening the news filtered to us that the World Trade Center buildings had collapsed and that a fourth hijacking had resulted in a crash. By now the passengers were emotionally and physically exhausted, not to mention frightened, but everyone stayed amazingly calm.
We had only to look out the window at the 52 other stranded aircraft to realize that we were not the only ones in this predicament.
We had been told earlier that they would be allowing people off the planes one plane at a time. At 6 PM, Gander airport told us that our turn to deplane would be 11 am the next morning.
Passengers were not happy, but they simply resigned themselves to this news without much noise and started to prepare themselves to spend the night on the airplane.
Gander had promised us medical attention, if needed, water, and lavatory servicing.
And they were true to their word.
Fortunately we had no medical situations to worry about. We did have a young lady who was 33 weeks into her pregnancy. We took REALLY good care of her. The night passed without incident despite the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements.
About 10:30 on the morning of the 12th a convoy of school buses showed up. We got off the plane and were taken to the terminal where we went through Immigration and Customs and then had to register with the Red Cross.
After that we (the crew) were separated from the passengers and were taken in vans to a small hotel. We had no idea where our passengers were going. We learned from the Red Cross that the town of Gander has a population of 10,400 people and they had about 10,500 passengers to take care of from all the airplanes that were forced into Gander!
We were told to just relax at the hotel and we would be contacted when the US airports opened again, but not to expect that call for a while.
We found out the total scope of the terror back home only after getting to our hotel and turning on the TV, 24 hours after it all started.
Meanwhile, we had lots of time on our hands and found that the people of Gander were extremely friendly. They started calling us the "plane people." We enjoyed their hospitality, explored the town of Gander and ended up having a pretty good time.
Two days later, we got that call and were taken back to the Gander airport. Back on the plane, we were reunited with the passengers and found out what they had been doing for the past two days.
What we found out was incredible.....
Gander and all the surrounding communities (within about a 75 Kilometer radius) had closed all high schools, meeting halls, lodges, and any other large gathering places. They converted all these facilities to mass lodging areas for all the stranded travelers.
Some had cots set up, some had mats with sleeping bags and pillows set up.
ALL the high school students were required to volunteer theirtime to take care of the "guests."
Our 218 passengers ended up in a town called Lewisporte, about 45 kilometers from Gander where they were put up in a high school. If any women wanted to be in a women-only facility, that was arranged.
Families were kept together. All the elderly passengers were taken to private homes.
Remember that young pregnant lady? She was put up in a private home right across the street from a 24-hour Urgent Care facility.There was a dentist on call and both male and female nurses remained with the crowd for the duration.
Phone calls and e-mails to the U.S. and around the world were available to everyone once a day. During the day, passengers were offered "Excursion" trips.
Some people went on boat cruises of the lakes and harbors. Some went for hikes in the local forests.
Local bakeries stayed open to make fresh bread for the guests.
Food was prepared by all the residents and brought to the schools. People were driven to restaurants of their choice and offered wonderful meals. Everyone was given tokens for local laundry mats to wash their clothes, since luggage was still on the aircraft.
In other words, every single need was met for those stranded travelers.
Passengers were crying while telling us these stories. Finally, when they were told that U.S. airports had reopened, they were delivered to the airport right on time and without a single passenger missing or late. The local Red Cross had all the information about thewhereabouts of each and every passenger and knew
which plane they needed to be on and when all the planes were leaving. They coordinated everything beautifully.
It was absolutely incredible.
When passengers came on board, it was like they had been on a cruise. Everyone knew each other by name. They were swapping stories of their stay, impressing each other with who had the better time. Our flight back to Atlanta looked like a chartered party flight. The crew just stayed out of their way. It was mind-boggling.
Passengers had totally bonded and were calling each other by their first names, exchanging phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses.
And then a very unusual thing happened.
One of our passengers approached me and asked if he could make an announcement over the PA system. We never, ever allow that. But this time was different. I said "of course" and handed him the mike. He picked up the PA and reminded everyone about what they had just gone through in the last few days.
He reminded them of the hospitality they had received at the hands of total strangers.
He continued by saying that he would like to do something in return for the good folks of Lewisporte.
"He said he was going to set up a Trust Fund under the name of DELTA 15 (our flight number). The purpose of the trust fund is to provide college scholarships for the high school students of Lewisporte.
He asked for donations of any amount from his fellow travelers. When the paper with donations got back to us with the amounts, names, phone numbers and addresses, the total was for more than $14,000!
"The gentleman, a MD from Virginia , promised to match the donations and to start the administrative work on the scholarship. He also said that he would forward this proposal to Delta Corporate and ask them to donate as well.
As I write this account, the trust fund is at more than $1.5 million and has assisted 134 students in college education.
"I just wanted to share this story because we need good stories right now. It gives me a little bit of hope to know that some people in a faraway place were kind to some strangers who literally dropped in on them.
It reminds me how much good there is in the world."
"In spite of all the rotten things we see going on in today's world this story confirms that there are still a lot of good people in the world and when things get bad, they will come forward.
*This is one of those stories that need to be shared. Please do so...*
Accused of laundering N2.1 billion, Dokpesi lobbies to become PDP Chairman
Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji
Raymond Dokpesi
The founder of Daar Communications, accused of corruptly receiving N2.1 billion from #Dasukigate, took his lobby to become national chairman of Nigeria’s main opposition party, PDP, to Ogun State.
Raymond Dokpesi and his team arrived Conference Hotel, Sagamu at about 8.00 p.m. on Friday to seek the support of a former Ogun State governor, Gbenga Daniel.
At the hotel, Mr. Dokpesi sought Mr. Daniel’s support to secure the votes of the Ogun State delegates at the upcoming Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, convention.
Speaking after Mr. Daniel treated him and his team to a dinner, Mr. Dokpesi said the visit was to ask for his host’s support in view of his influence in the Ogun PDP.
The founder of Nigeria’s first private radio station said he and Mr. Daniel enjoyed a friendship that has existed for over 40 years.
‘We shall rebuild the party together,” he told his host. “I am at home in Ogun State. We have been friends for over 40 years and I believe when the time comes I will have the best votes from Ogun State.”
The aspirant said he was convinced Mr. Daniel would not run against him for the position of National Chairman as being insinuated.
The PDP, led by Ahmed Makarfi, has zoned the chairmanship position to Southern Nigeria, meaning both Mr. Dokpesi (Edo State) and Mr. Daniel (Ogun State) are eligible.
Corruption trial
Mr. Dokpesi is currently facing a six-count charge of money laundering at the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Before his prosecution, he was arrested and detained for weeks by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for allegedly receiving N2.1 billion from the office of the embattled ex-National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, prior to the 2015 general elections. The money is believed to be part of the mismanaged billion dollar funds earmarked to purchase weapons for the military, in a scandal now known as #Dasukigate.
Mr. Dopkesi has denied any wrongdoing.
Upon his arraignment, the politician was granted bail by Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court for N200 million and two sureties.
Shortly after he regained freedom, Mr. Dokpesi disclosed his intention to run for the PDP national chairmanship seat and promised to roll out strategic programmes that would restore the party to its glorious days.
He said he would formally unveil his 10-point programme at the August 17 National convention in Port-Harcourt.
On Friday, Mr. Dokpesi’s host, Mr. Daniel, said he was ready to support the revival of the party.
Without making any commitment of support, Mr. Daniel wished his guest luck, saying what was paramount to him was strengthening the party.
Buhari approves appointment of 17 CEOs in Ministry of Education
National Universities Commission – Prof. Abubakar Adamu Rasheed;
Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB – Prof. Ishaq Oloyede;
Nigerian Institute for Education Planning and Administration – Prof. Lilian Salami;
Universal Basic Education – Dr. Hameed Bobboyi;
National Library of Nigeria – Prof Lanre Aina;
National Examinations Council – Prof. Charles Uwakwe;
National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal education – Prof. Abba Aladu;
Nomadic education Commission – Prof. Bashir Usman;
National Business and technical Examinations Board – Prof. Isioma Isiugo-Abanihe;
Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria – Prof. Sunday Josiah Ajiboye;
Computer Registration Council of Nigeria – Afolabi Aderinto;
National Commission for Colleges of Education – Prof. Bappah Aliyu
Tertiary Education Trust Fund – Dr. Abdullahi Bichi Baffa;
National Mathematical Centre – Prof. Steven Ejugwu Onah;
National Institute of Nigerian Languages – Prof. Chinyere Ohiri-Aniche;
Librarian Registration Counil of Nigeria – Prof Michael Afolabi;
National Teachers Institute – Prof Garba Dahuwa Azare
Those retained in their respective agencies are, Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council – Prof. Samaila Junaidu;
Nigerian French Language CVillage – Prof Rauuf adebisi;
National board for technical education – Dr. Mas’ud Kazaure
National Arabic language Village – Prof. Muhammad Mu’az.
House Leader, Gbajabiamila, breaks silence, reacts to budget padding scandal
Hassan Adebayo
The Leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has
broken his silence over the budget padding scandal rocking the lower
chamber, following accusations of budget fraud made against Speaker
Yakubu Dogara and others by former appropriations committee chairman,
Abdulmumin Jibrin.
Mr. Gbajabiamila had remained silent since the House descended into a crisis that has drawn the attention of anti-corruption agencies, and sparked calls for the Speaker to step aside.
Mr. Gbajabiamila gave his position via emails sent to members of the House on Monday. A lawmaker shared the message with a PREMIUM TIMES reporter.
Mr. Gbajabiamila confirmed to this newspaper he disseminated the message in which he asked not to be dragged into “an arena I tried very hard to stay out of”.
Mr. Jibrin had last year withdrawn from the speakership race to back Mr. Dogara who was then running a tight race against Mr. Gbajabiamila, the then anointed candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
There were speculations last week that Mr. Jibrin had teamed up with Mr. Gbajabiamila to unseat the Speaker.
But Mr. Gbajabiamila, through his media aide, Wasiu Olanrewaju, told PREMIUM TIMES he had no deal with Mr. Jibrin or any problem with Mr. Dogara’s leadership.
He however called for investigation of the allegations, and cautioned against taking sides.
The Lagos lawmaker circulated emails to colleagues after some
unknown people sent text messages around suggesting he was part of a
group working discreetly to force a leadership change in the House.
The anonymous message was sent from phone number 08119106894.
It reads,”Plot to destabilize the leadership of the House of Reps has taken a new dimension as the AGF working with Gbajabiamila, Jibrin & SGF has (sic) drafted charges to arraign and detain principal officers of the House so that the transparency group who recently met with Tinubu’s wife will effect a leadership change with Gbajabiamila as Speaker and Jibrin as Deputy. This is why Jibrin did not mention Femi in his allegations. The 8th House won’t be anybody’s rubber stamp. We will resist them like the senate resisted them.”
But Mr. Gbajabiamila, in his email to lawmakers, denied claims made in the anonymous message.
He said, “Since the budget controversy that engulfed the House about a week ago, I have pointedly maintained a dignified silence. I did this for the sake of the institution I represent and which I have laboured hard to grow and protect, knowing that whatever I say could be impactful both within the House and outside it.
“I was determined to keep in place the glue that holds an otherwise fragmented House, protect its integrity and at same time avoid eroding the little confidence and vestiges of hope Nigerians have in us.
“I am being dragged into an arena I tried very hard to stay out of only for the good of the House. The Speakership election has come and gone. The election was divisive and acrimonious but I have since worked hard to heal the wounds some of which still fester amongst members on both sides.
“It is my responsibility to bring all tendencies in a House I lead together and I have worked well with the Speaker and all other Principal officers in a bipartisan manner and in the interest of the institution and members.
“It is clear that our budget process needs radical reform and very quickly too. Yes, allegations have been made but I strongly believe judgment should not be passed based on allegations. We operate a constitutional democracy and we must at all times submit to its dictates and ethos. All parties are innocent until otherwise proven. This should be our guide. I plead with all members. The mudslinging must stop.
“This text message, which desperately seeks to finger me in some macabre plot to destabilize the House is a throwback and echoes our dark post Speakership election history. The resurfacing or resurgence of the faceless text messengers will not help us as a House and let me quickly add that it will fail.”
“My strongest critics and biggest political adversaries in the House cannot deny the fact that my commitment has always been to strengthen the legislature and its processes and our democracy as a whole. I consider everyone a friend and colleague and urge that as we collectively work towards a stronger legislature and strive to deepen our democracy, we do not pull back the hands of the clock nor lose sight of the enormous responsibility placed upon us by providence as members of a critical arm of government.”
Mr. Gbajabiamila had remained silent since the House descended into a crisis that has drawn the attention of anti-corruption agencies, and sparked calls for the Speaker to step aside.
Mr. Gbajabiamila gave his position via emails sent to members of the House on Monday. A lawmaker shared the message with a PREMIUM TIMES reporter.
Mr. Gbajabiamila confirmed to this newspaper he disseminated the message in which he asked not to be dragged into “an arena I tried very hard to stay out of”.
Mr. Jibrin had last year withdrawn from the speakership race to back Mr. Dogara who was then running a tight race against Mr. Gbajabiamila, the then anointed candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
There were speculations last week that Mr. Jibrin had teamed up with Mr. Gbajabiamila to unseat the Speaker.
But Mr. Gbajabiamila, through his media aide, Wasiu Olanrewaju, told PREMIUM TIMES he had no deal with Mr. Jibrin or any problem with Mr. Dogara’s leadership.
He however called for investigation of the allegations, and cautioned against taking sides.
The anonymous message was sent from phone number 08119106894.
It reads,”Plot to destabilize the leadership of the House of Reps has taken a new dimension as the AGF working with Gbajabiamila, Jibrin & SGF has (sic) drafted charges to arraign and detain principal officers of the House so that the transparency group who recently met with Tinubu’s wife will effect a leadership change with Gbajabiamila as Speaker and Jibrin as Deputy. This is why Jibrin did not mention Femi in his allegations. The 8th House won’t be anybody’s rubber stamp. We will resist them like the senate resisted them.”
But Mr. Gbajabiamila, in his email to lawmakers, denied claims made in the anonymous message.
He said, “Since the budget controversy that engulfed the House about a week ago, I have pointedly maintained a dignified silence. I did this for the sake of the institution I represent and which I have laboured hard to grow and protect, knowing that whatever I say could be impactful both within the House and outside it.
“I was determined to keep in place the glue that holds an otherwise fragmented House, protect its integrity and at same time avoid eroding the little confidence and vestiges of hope Nigerians have in us.
“I am being dragged into an arena I tried very hard to stay out of only for the good of the House. The Speakership election has come and gone. The election was divisive and acrimonious but I have since worked hard to heal the wounds some of which still fester amongst members on both sides.
“It is my responsibility to bring all tendencies in a House I lead together and I have worked well with the Speaker and all other Principal officers in a bipartisan manner and in the interest of the institution and members.
“It is clear that our budget process needs radical reform and very quickly too. Yes, allegations have been made but I strongly believe judgment should not be passed based on allegations. We operate a constitutional democracy and we must at all times submit to its dictates and ethos. All parties are innocent until otherwise proven. This should be our guide. I plead with all members. The mudslinging must stop.
“This text message, which desperately seeks to finger me in some macabre plot to destabilize the House is a throwback and echoes our dark post Speakership election history. The resurfacing or resurgence of the faceless text messengers will not help us as a House and let me quickly add that it will fail.”
“My strongest critics and biggest political adversaries in the House cannot deny the fact that my commitment has always been to strengthen the legislature and its processes and our democracy as a whole. I consider everyone a friend and colleague and urge that as we collectively work towards a stronger legislature and strive to deepen our democracy, we do not pull back the hands of the clock nor lose sight of the enormous responsibility placed upon us by providence as members of a critical arm of government.”
SSS seals Appropriation Committee Secretariat over budget padding scandal
FILE PHOTO
The closure marked the latest development in the ongoing political and media war between the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, and a lawmaker from Kano State, Abdulmumin Jibrin, over alleged manipulation of line items and figures in the 2016 Appropriation Bill.
Mr. Jibrin began working to oust Mr. Dogara from office a day after the Speaker announced his removal as chairman of Appropriation Committee on allegations that he committed serial betrayal of trust.
PREMIUM TIMES sources said SSS officials stormed the secretariat, which serves as offices for the 40-member appropriation committee and its staff, and immediately placed it under lock and key.
The sources said the SSS also sealed Mr. Jibrin’s office at Room 1.05 in the New House of Representatives building.
The development followed Mr. Jibrin’s statement on Thursday that Mr. Dogara ordered removal of workstation from the Appropriation Committee Secretariat and allegedly attempted to break into his office.
Mr. Jibrin had reportedly visited the SSS Headquarters on Friday to brief the agency about the budget padding scandal rocking the House. He also called on EFCC and ICPC to commence investigation into the crisis with a view to prosecuting those involved.
Efforts to reach the spokesperson of the House of Representatives, Abdulrazak Namdas, were unsuccessful as his phone was switched off. Speaker Dogara’s spokesperson, Turaki Hassan, disconnected a phone call upon hearing it was a PREMIUM TIMES’ enquiry.
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