Okonjo-Iweala Lied over Budget Implementation – Reps

The face-off between the House of Representatives and the Executives deepened as the Legislators have accused the Minister for Finance, Dr.Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of lying about the implementation of the 2012 budget passed by the National Assembly.

Okonjo-Iweala had at a press conference in the wake of the impeachment threat against President Goodluck Jonathan over the poor implementation of the 2012 budget insisted that the Executive Arm of Government has implemented 56 per cent of the 2012.

But the House of Representatives in a statement signed by the Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon.Zakari Mohammed, disclosed that only 34 per cent of the 2012 Budget has been implemented by the Executive Arm of Government.

“First of all, it is not true that the executive arm has implemented as at today 56% of the 2012 budget as widely reported. In truth, about 34% of the budget has been implemented,” Mohammed said in the statement.

According to him, “what the minister admitted to as can be confirmed from her own words is that, at best Government has implemented 56% of the N404 Billion released to MDAs.

The Minister was clear in saying that, of this amount (N404 billion) only N324 billion has so far been cash backed. In order words, it is only N324 billion that is available to the MDAs for implementation of capital projects and programmes of government out of about N1.5 trillion appropriated for all capital expenditure.”

The House in the statement insisted “the House of Representatives also does not agree with the Honourable Minister that the slow pace of implementation of the 2012 budget is as a result of the constituency projects introduced into the budget by the National Assembly.”

The statement reads titled: 2012 Budget Non Implementation: Okonjo-Iweala Should Address The Real Issues, reads:

“The House of Representatives will like to restate its concern on the poor and selective implementation of the 2012 budget by the executive arm of government and the attitude of officials of government saddled with the responsibility of implementing the Appropriation Acts. For the avoidance of doubt, section 6 and 7 of the 2012 Appropriation Act clearly says what officials of government and in this case the Honourable Minister of finance is permitted to do.

“Section 6 of the Appropriation Act, 2012, states that: “The minister of Finance shall ensure that funds appropriated under this Act are released to the appropriate agencies and or organs of government as and when due, provided that no funds for any quarter of the fiscal year shall be deferred without prior waiver from the National Assembly”. Mark and note the choice of the word “shall” which is mandatory under the circumstance, not discretionary.

This is what the minister is expected to do. It is not within her powers to pick and choose projects and programmes to fund as has been the case with the Appropriation Act 2012. Her piece meal and discretionary release of funds for projects contrary to the schedule approved in the Appropriation Act is unlawful. She is, in fact, apparently breaking the law.

What the law requires the minister to do is ensure that all funds appropriated for projects within a particular quarter are released to all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies, as at when due without preference.

If the revenue target is not achieved in any particular period, it is the responsibility of the Honourable Minister to seek for waiver from the National Assembly. This has not been the case as the Honourable Minister has not told the nation or the National Assembly that the monies for these projects are not available.

“This is not to say that funds should be released and accessed by MDAs without due process and actual execution of projects, in other words, there should be value for money. How released funds are accessed by the various MDAs is stated in section 7 of the budget Act and further guided by due process law. Section 7 of the 2012 Appropriation Act states as

follows: “The department of government charged with the responsibility of certifying that due processes have been complied with in the processing of implementation of projects shall ensure that all processes of approval are completed within the specified period as provided for in the Public Procurement Act”.

Again, mark and note the choice of word “shall” and not “will”. If these processes are not satisfied by the MDAs the monies lapse at the end of the financial year and are returned to the treasury. The Honourable Minister has rather chosen to release funds for the implementation of the budget subject only to her whims and caprices. She has no right to do so.

“The House will further like to clarify a few misinterpretations on the Minister’s recent media briefing on the implementation of the 2012 budget as reported by the media on Thursday July 26, 2012.

First of all, it is not true that the executive arm has implemented as at today 56% of the 2012 budget as widely reported. In truth, about 34% of the budget has been implemented. What the minister admitted to as can be confirmed from her own words is that, at best Government has implemented 56% of the N404 Billion released to MDAs.

The Minister was clear in saying that, of this amount (N404 billion) only N324 billion has so far been cash backed. In order words, it is only N324 billion that is available to the MDAs for implementation of capital projects and programmes of government out of about N1.5 trillion appropriated for all capital expenditure.

The House of Representatives also does not agree with the Honourable Minister that the slow pace of implementation of the 2012 budget is as a result of the constituency projects introduced into the budget by the National Assembly.

“For the avoidance of doubt, constituency projects represent less than 10% of the 2012 capital budget. How can this be the reason for the slow implementation of the budget? This excuse for non-implementation falls flat on its face when a review of the performance of the Executive on even its own preferred projects is made.

More evidential is the fact that releases so far made to the MDAs are not enough to pay for on–going projects or projects chosen by the executive. For instance, out of a total appropriation of N145 billion for the ministry of works in the budget, only N47 billion has so far been released to the ministry.

In the first quarter N38 billion was released and in the second quarter only N9 billion was released, with a shortfall of about N30 billion for the 2ndquarter.

The projects that need these appropriations are core road projects scattered all over the country. Or are these inter-state highways and other strategic road projects also constituency Projects? Playing to the gallery by the executive arm will not change the facts of the situation.

“It is also important to restate that these constituency projects are managed by the Executive arm of government. Members of the National Assembly are not involved in the advertising of these projects, nor are they involved in the short listing of contractors for the projects neither are they part of the process of the actual award of the contracts. It has been their exclusive preserve.

“Furthermore, the idea of the National Assembly distorting the budget is incorrect. The National Assembly cannot distort a budget which it has full powers over. There is no law that says the budget must be returned to the President exactly the way it is forwarded to the National Assembly.

They seem to be suffering from military hangover where budgets were announced after a meeting of the Supreme Military Council, SMC. The Federal Executive Council, FEC, is not the equivalent of the SMC. The National Assembly has replaced the SMC. If the Appropriation Act is to be sent back to the Executive the way it is presented, then it is better that the National Assembly is abolished.

In a constitutional democracy, in the budgeting process, the National Assembly exercises the constitutional responsibility of taking care of the interests and aspirations of Nigerians from every constituency.

“The security, welfare and prosperity of Nigerians has always been and remains uppermost in the consideration of the House of representatives in raising concerns on the slow implementation of the 2012 Appropriation Act.

What is the benefit of annual appropriations if projects enunciated in the budgets are not implemented? For us in the 7th Assembly, significant implementation of budgets is our desire.

We are not at war with the executive arm on this matter. We shall continue to insist on the implementation of the budget no matter what is being insinuated as the motivating factor for our intervention.

“We further wish to enjoin all Ministries, Departments and Agencies, to continue with the procurement processes and eventual award of all capital projects within their purview. Finally, we call on Mr.

President, as an elected official who is ultimately accountable to Nigerians, to be careful of the type of advice he gets from his unelected appointees on the issue of the implementation of the budget, as its significant implementation is ultimately in the interest of his presidency.”

Signed

Rep. Zakari Mohammed

Chairman House Committee on Media and Public Affairs.

FG Vs Nigerians -Do PHCN Workers Truly Deserve Pension?

"The Federal Government on Monday deployed more troops in the headquarters of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, Abuja. It warned that the soldiers would remain on the premises if the threat by the workers continued.

Soldiers and policemen were on Friday deployed in the Abuja head office of the PHCN over the workers dispute with the Federal Government on their pension and gratuities.



In a telephone interview with our correspondent in Abuja on Monday, the Minister of Power, Prof. Bart Nnaji, said the soldiers and the policemen would not be withdrawn for now.

The Chairman of the National Union of Electricity Employees, FCT Chapter, Mr. Wisdom Nwachukwu, had on Friday condemned the government over the deployment and threatened that the workers would not resume until the last soldier had been withdrawn from the office complex.

But Nnaji said on Monday that the government was justified given that the workers had started behaving in a disruptive manner and we had to take steps to secure government property and installations.

The minister said, We required them to sign an undertaken of good behaviour before they could enter the complex.

We spoke with their General Secretary and we agreed that they could enter the office as long as they conducted themselves in an orderly manner. Given the security situation in the country, we cannot allow the breakdown of law and order in any government establishment.

Meanwhile, the PHCN workers resumed at the headquarters on Monday in spite of the presence of securitymen.

The workers insisted that they should be allowed into their offices and worked without disturbance.

The Federal Government and electricity workers are in disagreement over the workers terminal benefits subsequent to moving to successor companies that would soon be sold to private sector operators.

While the workers had insisted that they should benefit from the scheme that had been in place at PHCN before the Pension Reform Act of 2004, the government said it would not revert to the old pension scheme.

Explaining the governments position on Monday, Nnaji said negotiations with workers broke down after eight sessions.

He added that a meeting would be held with the workers representatives later on Monday. The outcome of the promised meeting was not known to The PUNCH on Monday.

We will not go outside the law. We will not budge on that. To us, that is not a disagreement. We are a government and we cannot go outside the law, the minister said.

He explained that while the government had accepted to bear the entire 15 per cent of the contributory pension fund, the workers were insisting on 25 per cent contrary to the provision of the law.

He added that the government had made sufficient provision to cater for the terminal benefits of the workers according to the Pension Reform Act of 2004.

Meanwhile, there were indications on Monday that the National Assembly had waded into the dispute between the government and the PHCN workers.

Nwachukwu told our correspondent on the telephone that the workers would decide the next line of action after the outcome of the intervention by the National Assembly and a meeting with the Minister of Labour, Chief Emeka Wogu, and Nnaji.

He however expressed shock that rather than withdrawing the soldiers from the PHCN facility with the intervention of the National Assembly, more soldiers were deployed in the place.

He said that the soldiers took over the gate and allowed the workers access to the premises only when national officials of NUEE came in from Lagos to intervene.

The leadership of the NUEE led by its Secretary General, Mr. Joe Ajaero, on Monday reportedly met with a Senate team.

Nwachukwu also said that a meeting of NUEE, the Nigeria Labour Congress, and the ministers of Power, and Labour was scheduled to take place later in the day.

He said, The NLC wrote to the President, the National Assembly and the minister to withdraw the soldiers.

Rather than withdrawing the soldiers, they deployed more troops in our office and the soldiers took over the gate and directed our people to stay 100 meters away from the office. But we said no and insisted that we must work in our offices.

As we are talking, the soldiers are still on the premises we are working with soldiers inside our complex and you can imagine the effect of that on the workers. The workers are really apprehensive about this situation.

When the Government is Deceiving The People, What Do You Think or Do?

"Mahmud Tukur, son of the incumbent National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Bamanga Tukur, was among the oil marketers who were on Thursday arraigned at a Lagos High Court in Ikeja for oil subsidy fraud.

Also arraigned for the alleged fraud totalling N5.6bn were Mamman Ali, son of a former national chairman of the PDP, Ahmadu Ali; and Abdulahi Alao, son of an Ibadan-based businessman, Abdulazeez Arisekola-Alao.



Tukur, Alao, Ochonogo Alex and Eterna Oil and Gas Plc were jointly arraigned before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo on nine counts, including an alleged fraudulent collection of about N1.899bn from the Federal Government as payment for subsidy on Premium Motoring Spirit, a.k.a petrol, which they never supplied.

Also, Alao, along with his company, Axenergy Limited, in a separate charge of seven counts, was arraigned before Justice Habeeb Abiru for alleged subsidy fraud amounting to N1.472bn.

Among the seven counts instituted against the son of the Ibadan businessman before Justice Abiru was one in which he was alleged to have with intent to defraud attempted to obtain about N1.168bn by falsely representing the money to be claim for importing 13,364,284 litres of PMS.

Ali, along with a Sierra Leonean, Christian Taylor, and their company Nasaman Oil Services in yet another charge, was arraigned before Onigbanjo on three counts among which the prosecutors said the suspects fraudulently obtained about N2.23bn in the name of subsidy for importing various litres of PMS.

Date for commencement of trial in the joint charge involving Ali and Taylor had been fixed for October 30, while the one involving Tukur, Alex and Alao had been fixed for November 13.

Common to all the charges faced by the accused are the offences ranging from obtaining various sums of money by false pretences, conspiracy to obtain money by false pretences, forgery and attering.

The prosecuting agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, alleged that the accused on different occasions in 2010 and 2011, fraudulently obtained the money from the Federal Government under the Petroleum Support Fund in respect of various litres of PMS which were never supplied.

The anti-graft agency also alleged that in order to facilitate the alleged offences, the accused forged some documents Bill of Lading and Origin Certificates which were issued by firms from whom they falsely claimed to have imported the PMS.

The accused were granted bail shortly after their arraignments before Onigbanjo.

However, Alao will not regain his freedom along with others because his bail application before Justice Abiru was not heard on Thursday.

The judge ordered that Alao should remain in custody of the EFCC till August 1, when his bail application would be heard.

Counsel for the EFCC, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, had urged Abiru to turn down the request by Alaos counsel, Babajide Koku, SAN, for hearing of the bail application on Thursday.

A former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Chief Wole Olanipekun, and Tayo Oyetibo, both SANs, are the lead counsel for Tukur, Alex and Eterna Oil and Gas.

Jacobs had urged the court to refuse hearing the bail application on the grounds that it was not ripe for hearing since he was only served with a copy of it just before the proceedings and as such he needed to be given time to file a written reply to it.

Justice Onigbanjo, however, granted bail based on the same conditions in the two separate charges.

The bail for each of the accused was in the sum of N20m with two sureties in like sum.

Onigbanjo ordered that one of the various sets of two sureties each must be a blood relation with a landed property worth N500m in Lagos. The ownership title documents of such property, which must be verified at the land registry, are to be submitted to the court registrar.

He said the other sureties must be a Grade Level 16 civil servant in the employment of either the Lagos State Government or the Federal Government, and they must provide evidence of tax payment.

He also asked them to deposit their passports with the EFCC officers who must depose to an affidavit of collecting them.

Onigbanjo, who said the essence of granting bail was to ensure that the accused would be available for trial, also asked the court registrar to verify the residential, business and physical addresses of the sureties.

Shortly after granting the bail in the charge involving Tukur and Taylor, their counsel, Joe Gadzama, expressed fear of how difficult that Taylor, a citizen of Sierra Leone, might not get a blood relation to stand as surety for him.

The judge then asked him to file an affidavit for variation of the bail conditions.

Meanwhile, the arraignment of another set of oil marketers before Abiru could not hold on Thursday due to the absence of one of the accused, Walter Wagbatsoma.

Others who were charged along with Wagbastoma are Adaoha Ugo-Ngadi, Fakuade Babafemi Ebenezer, and Ontario Oil and Gas Nigeria Limited.

The judge had on Wednesday adjourned till Thursday due to Wagbastomas absence in court and upon request by Jacobs that the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, SAN, had indicated interest to lead the prosecution personally.

The minister was also absent in court on Thursday, a development which Jacobs said was due to pressing state assignment.

Jacobs told the court that the minister had asked him to continue with the matter, but the matter was adjourned till Wednesday by the time which Wasgbatsoma would be expected to appear in court.

The offences of the accused were said to violate Sections 1, 1(1)(2) and 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 2006.

Lagos High Court Grants Bail To Fuel Subsidy Fraud Suspects.

Several oil subsidy fraud suspects were today granted bail by a Lagos High Court judge. 

They are: Mahmud Tukur, son of the chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, Bamanga Tukur; Mamman Nasir Alli, son of Arisekola Alao, Abdullahi Alao, Alex Ohonogu and Christian Taylor.

The suspects were admitted to a N20 million bail bond each with two sureties of at least Level 16 in the civil service. The sureties were required to produce three years worth of tax clearance certificates to be duly certified by the court registrar. 

Also the surety would be a wealthy Nigerian with landed properties worth N100 million.

The PDP yesterday indicated it would make a statement today about the threat of the House of Representatives to impeach President Goodluck Jonathan.  Yesterday, the party’s National Working Committee decided that that statement would be made by Dr. Sam Jaja, the Deputy National Chairman, in order to spare Mr. Bamanga Tukur embarrassing questions from journalists about his son.  

It would be recalled that in the days following the controversial election of Mr. Tukur, the PDP said it would help Mr. Jonathan to “fight” corruption in Nigeria.

Earlier today, in a story already published by Naija News Desk, sources told us that some of the high profile oil subsidy suspects have warned President Goodluck Jonathan against forging ahead with their prosecution as they might disclose how they supported his 2011 election campaign with nearly $1 billion funneled into his war chest through Diezani Allison-Madueke, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, and Godsday Orubebe, the Minister for the Niger Delta.

Fuel Subsidy Scam: We Did Not Encourage Our Members To Misbehave – PDP; Says Tukur, Ali’s Sons On Their Own.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has washed its hand off its members currently facing prosecution for perpetrating fuel subsidy scams and other crimes.
A top official of the PDP said the party did not encourage its members who are criminal suspects or those already convicted of crimes to abuse their various offices.

Speaking with reporters at the PDP’s national headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, Sam Jaja, the party’s national deputy chairman, said the party had no plans to rally to the aid of any members currently facing trial for involvement in any crime.

He specifically stated that the party would allow Mahmud Tukur and Nasir Ali, sons of the party’s national chairman, Bamanga Tukur, and a former national chairman, Ahmadu Ali, respectively, to bear their own crosses.

“On the issue of some PDP members being involved in oil subsidy, these are individuals,” said Mr. Jaja, adding, “Everybody will bear his own cross.”

Mr. Jaja also asserted that “there are governors who are now facing prosecution as a result of their actions and inactions, so is not a party thing.

“PDP did not send anybody to go and misbehave. Even if you mention my chairman’s son, he is up to age. Assuming he is to go to jail, they will not come and jail the national chairman, because he did not send him.”

The Presidency and the PDP as well as influential members of other political parties have come under critical searchlight in the aftermath of the government’s announcement of the first batch of suspects to be prosecuted for alleged involvement in oil subsidy scams. Naija News Desk has exposed a plan by President Goodluck Jonathan and Attorney General Bello Adoke to turn the fuel subsidy scam trials into a charade.

Several sources disclosed to us that Mr. Jonathan wants to use the so-called fuel subsidy scam to achieve two goals. “The president is under pressure from the US and the EU to show a tougher stance towards corruption. That explains the prosecution,” said one source. He added, “But the president cannot afford to alienate fuel marketers who funneled millions of dollars stolen from the subsidy to his campaign and other funds. That’s why the suspects closest to the president will all be let off the hook at the end of the day.”

However, Mr. Jaja denied that the party would help any suspect. Speaking about Mr. Tukur’s son, Mr. Jaja said, “He is a man of age and he has a household, he has his family. Everybody will account for his own position.”

Oil Subsidy Fraud Suspects Funneled Nearly $1billion To Jonathan Election Campaign.

Ada Ugo-Ngadi-MD of Ontario Oil and Gas Limited yesterday

Some of the high profile suspects arraigned on Wednesday for stealing $6.8 billion oil subsidy funds have sent a strong warning to President Goodluck Jonathan to desist from prosecuting them or face a full disclosure of how they funneled close to $1 billion towards his 2011 presidential campaign through the oil resources minister Diezani Allison-Madueke and the Minister for the Niger Delta, Godsday Orubebe.

Naija News Desk sources say that operators of Ontario Oil and Gas Limited, whose Managing Director, Adaoha Ugo-Ngadi, was docked along with 20 others, have compiled information that was sent to President Jonathan that includes:

• How they specifically handed over $300 million through the Minister for Petroleum Resources, Allison-Madueke, towards the election of President Jonathan in 2011; and 

• That they bought a mansion for Mr. Orubebe in Abuja worth N600 million.

Naija News Desk learned that the accused Ontario Oil chieftains were shocked by the public humiliation brought upon them by the EFCC. The most powerful member of the Ontario clan, Walter Wagbatsoma, reportedly left Nigeria for Paris shortly before the commencement of prosecution by the EFCC. 

Meanwhile, EFCC officials have confirmed to Naija News Desk that Mr. Wagbatsoma has not written any statement or appeared before the agency even though he was listed as one of those to be arraigned by the EFCC. He is believed to have the key to unlocking the involvement of Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke in the oil subsidy fraud. 

Specifically, Wagbatsoma is reportedly in possession of a private jet bought last year that he is holding in trust for Mrs Allison-Madueke. A source in Abuja also said that Mr. Orubebe is on the board of Ontario Oil, although he may not be publicly listed. Wagbatsoma is listed as the owner of several companies used to siphon off funds from the oil industry, they include: Ontario oil & gas Ltd., Ontario trading Ltd, Ontario storage terminals Ltd., ontario vessels Ltd., Ontario Drilling and Engineering services.

In Lagos today, the prosecution suffered another setback as the court adjourned following the failure of Wagbatsoma to appear  at the trial. The proceedings were equally stalled yesterday by the absence of the Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke.

Sources knowledgeable about the intrigues surrounding the trial have already predicted that due to the current threat to expose President Jonathan and some of his most powerful ministers, the case will fizzle out over time.

Abati Sidelined As Mrs. Jonathan Fumes Over Bad Publicity; Okupe Hired As Attack Dog.

Doyin Okupe

Presidential spokesman Reuben Abati has been effectively sidelined, with the Presidency hiring Ogun-state born medical doctor, Doyin Okupe, to handle President Goodluck Jonathan’s publicity. Mr. Okupe’s designation is as a senior special assistant on public affairs. One source revealed that Mr. Okupe is being brought in to act as attack dog against critics of the president and his wife.

Our sources within Aso Rock disclosed that the personnel shake-up came at the instance of First Lady Patience Jonathan who bitterly complained that Mr. Abati was not doing a satisfactory job of shielding her as well as her husband from media attacks.

One source revealed that Mrs. Jonathan had been fuming over a recent spate of media attacks targeted at her. The media, civil society activists as well as opposition political parties have recently pummeled Mrs. Jonathan for accepting an absurd appointment as a permanent secretary in Bayelsa State and the naming of an Abuja street after her.

More recently, she has faced a barrage of criticism for squandering billions of naira of public funds to buy 200 expensive cars for a jamboree of African First Ladies in Abuja.

At first, the Presidency responded by stating that the cars were donated by Cocharis Motors. However, the story developed into an evolving scandal when the car dealer insisted that the cars were purchased, but declined to disclose who paid for the automobiles.

“The attacks over the cars finally overwhelmed Madam [Mrs. Jonathan], and she blamed her image troubles on Dr. Abati’s incompetence,” said a source. He added that Mrs. Jonathan then demanded that Mr. Okupe, a medical doctor who served as former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s spokesman, be brought in to take charge of the Presidency’s image management. “The impression is that Dr. Abati has been too soft and has committed too many blunders in his attempts to defend the president and his wife,” said one source.

One source said Mr. Abati’s role may now be a sinecure, with diminishing importance in the president’s media strategy. Mr. Okupe, who has held several political posts and once eyed the Ogun State governorship, will assume primary responsibility for managing the image of the president and his wife.

Another source in Aso Rock told Naija News Desk, “Dr. Abati is a victim of a rumpus in the Villa over the 200 cars. The First Lady protested to the president on Wednesday evening over the bad publicity. She queried the relevance of the presidential media team, headed by Dr. Reuben Abati.
She insisted on immediate overhaul of the presidential media and publicity crew. The president now decided to move to hire an attack dog as a senior special assistant on public affairs.”

One source explained that Mr. Abati further infuriated Mrs. Jonathan when he tried to argue that it was the duty of her media team to handle her publicity affairs.

A Presidency source who witnessed Mrs. Jonathan’s fury told  Naija News Desk  that “The First Lady was close to tears as she desperately declared her innocence. She said, ‘I did not award any contract, I did not buy any car. Why are they writing this about me? And nobody in the media team could defend me and my family. Those coming for our meeting are not up to 200 First Ladies, but then they say I bought 200 cars.’”

The source said all the presidential aides who were around at the time the First Lady delivered her tirade were speechless.

Two sources told us that the Presidency decided that it was time to bring in somebody who is willing to act as an attack dog in the same way that Femi Fani-Kayode did for former President Obasanjo.

“Fani-Kayode would have been brought in, but he has been a big attacker of the president. So the president decided to approach Dr. Okupe,” said one source.

Mr. Abati, a former columnist and editorial page editor for the (Nigerian) Guardian, and Mr. Okupe share something in common: they are both indigenes of Ogun State.

A source who knows Mr. Okupe described him as needing “urgent financial rehabilitation” after a series of political woes. The source added that the Presidency has decided it “it has had enough of these attacks from the opposition. It is now fire-for-fire.”

Imagine -Alleged Boko Haram Financier, Ndume, Going For Hajj.

"A serving Senator accused of sponsoring the Boko Haram Islamic sect, Senator Aliyu Ndume, was on Tuesday granted permission by an Abuja Federal High Court to travel to Saudi Arabia for the Lesser Hajj.

The court, presided by Justice Gabriel Kolawole, ordered the release of the Senators passport to enable him to travel between August 1 and 31, 2012.



However, Kolawole ordered that Ndume must upon his return to the country, on or before August 31, 2012, re-submit his passport to the court within 72 hours.

The court granted the Senator leave to travel outside the shores of the country while ruling on an application in which he sought permission to undertake the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.

In the application, Ndume had also said he intended to undergo a check-up in Saudi Arabia.

But the court frowned on the Senators plea that the trip would enable him to attend to his health.

Kolawole noted that Ndumes application would have been refused, had it been based solely on the need to travel for check-up.

There is no evidence to indicate that the ailment cannot be treated locally. There is no medical report to show referral to a foreign hospital, he said.

The judge did not agree with the prosecutions argument that a permission to travel abroad would enable the Senator to jump bail and escape trial.

He also faulted the prosecutions argument that the application should be refused as Ndume could always undertake the pilgrimage after the trial.

Noting that the offence for which the Senator was facing trial could attract a prison term of up to 20 years, the judge noted that, in case the accused person was eventually convicted, I dont know of any prison sentence that can allow a prisoner travel for pilgrimage.

The matter was adjourned to October 24, 2012 for continuation of trial.

Time To Unbundle Nigeria by Senator Abe - Crazy or Intelligency.

" When an organisation becomes unwieldy, inefficient, corrupt, wasteful and incapable of delivering on its mandate or bringing value to its stakeholders, one of the accepted solutions is to unbundle it. That would mean the creation of smaller, more efficient organizations with greater efficiencies of scale. It would also imply specializations in the different organizations so that one mammoth entity is not saddled with the responsibility of doing everything.



In Nigeria, we are already applying the unbundling principle to some of our public corporations: the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) is being unbundled, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is facing the same fate in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). However, the entity that is most in need of unbundling is the Nigerian Federation. It is more unwieldy than NNPC, more inefficient than PHCN and more corrupt than both put together.


The Nigerian federation is not working and cannot work in its present form because we have a sharing federation. A lorry cannot fly, for the simple reason that it is not designed to fly. In the same vein the Nigeria federation cannot succeed as a productive nation because it is not designed to produce. Nigeria needs to be unbundled to create a productive federation where all parts can produce and contribute not equally but in equal strength.


The argument has been made that the present structure of Nigeria was necessary to curb the strength of the regions, and ensure the stability of the country. The result has been an overkill. We now have states that are clearly incapable of meeting even the elementary requirements of organised modern government, and not to mention preparing its citizens to compete in the global economy. Every federation succeeds on the strength of its federating units, to create a federation where the federating states have no capacity, authority or freedom to deliver is a tragedy.


We must never make the mistake of thinking that Nigeria is more important than its citizens; the future of Nigeria as a united country is meaningless and unachievable except it guarantees the safety, security and prosperity of its people.


The problem is that the federation in its present structure is designed as a sharing unit. Every action and evaluation in the federation is guided by the philosophy of sharing. As a sharing structure Nigeria has actually performed well. Nigeria has 36 states and a federal capital territory, 774 local government areas, hundreds of useless federal and state ministries, agencies, committees, parastatals, commissions etc. spread across the land. All these bodies are in a fierce competition to draw resources from one source. The nature of this competition is responsible for the rot that is Nigeria, it promotes deceit, that is why we lie about every thing from our census to school enrolment figures. It promotes disunity; that is why our country cannot be united.


In other to justify their share or demand for a greater share, politicians and other leaders are compelled to exploit differences between peoples to demand for an increase in the allocation of resources or positions. All offices are calculated in the sharing arrangement, and must be used to the advantage of whatever interest was able to capture them.


Juicy offices are regarded as another legitimate way of sharing the national cake. Nobody can be successfully punished for corruption in this sharing structure because the idea of eradicating corruption is a parody in a sharing federation. People are appointed primarily to take, collect, or settle themselves, and carry along their people, or interest group. Corruption in office begins from the day of appointment, when the villagers abandon their farms to celebrate their good fortune.

The most important tool in the fight against corruption is the disapproval and opprobrium of the society and your peers. We will never get that in our sharing federation because every means that you employ in getting something out of the system will meet the approval of your community and your peers who are similarly engaged, in an equally desperate quest for any advantage in getting a share of the national cake.
The sad reality of our situation is that the population has clearly overtaken the entirety of available resources, and everything is now stretched to breaking point.


This is the end of the road. Everything that can be shared has been zoned and shared. With nothing left to share, and the vast majority of our population still mired in hunger, poverty, illiteracy or half- baked education, unemployment, and anger, our natural reaction is to believe that the reason for this is because there are corrupt leaders in charge who are not sharing things equitably enough, or that if we have our own state or local government, we will be able to get our share. The sad truth is that the poverty index in Nigeria in 1974, when we had 12 states was less than 40 percent, today with 36 states poverty is up by more than 70 percent. More unproductive states may deliver a few more dual carriage ways, loads of government houses, commissioners quarters, federal secretariats and other ill maintained structures of government presence but it has clearly not delivered on the promise of a better life and greater opportunities for the broad majority of our citizens.


Solution? Let us unbundle Nigeria, let us restructure the country to create more efficient units in the states with true freedom and the resources to mobilise their people and plan for the future. We will then have a federal government that will be smaller, more efficient and more effective in its more limited functions as a regulator and enforcer. Taking more resources to the states creates an immediate advantage. Contrary to the fears being expressed in non- oil producing states, unbundling will not affect current revenue profiles, on the contrary, all states will get more from our oil revenues because along with the transfer of several federal functions to states will also come a massive reduction in the federal share.


But more important than money, is that the state will actually be given freedom to plan. If you then choose to lie about your population, it will be your choice, if you prefer to have a hundred local governments it will be your choice, if you elect to pay what the federal government pays its civil servants it will be your choice. States can actually determine their own priorities, compete, learn and cooperate with one another.

States should run their own criminal justice system, build and operate their own prisons, airports etc. States should determine their own system of local government administration, accredit and brand their own education, health, and legal systems, and also license their own practitioners. The federal government will remain the guarantor of our common freedoms ensuring that no state is allowed to discriminate against any Nigerian within the republic. Maintaining our common defence, providing a more effective federal police that is respected as an unbiased umpire in disputes between states and within states as it affects the fundamental rights of citizens under the federal constitution.


In such a federation, states will get oil revenue, but they will realise that they either utilize every kobo prudently and productively or they will be left behind. In this race no one will stand still once the starting short is fired. This competition and freedom will convert our sharing federation into a productive federation that will bring out all the hidden strengths and advantages in every part and every individual. It will unleash the full energy of our sleeping giant.


The greatest argument against giving power to the states is that it will make the governors too powerful. The governors already have power, what this change will do will be to give them real responsibility, and transfer to them the actual burden of governance. It will humble the governors. The size of your allocation will cease to count and the number of your civil servants will cease to matter. What will count is the quality of life under your watch. To crown it, let us give every chief executive one single term of five years. Do your best or do your worst and step aside so that Nigeria can keep moving. I rest my case.

Boko Haram Disorganised Me – Jonathan.

President Goodluck Jonathan and former president Olusegun Obasanjo today in Abuja

President Goodluck Jonathan today admitted, for the first time, that his government ground to a halt before it could take the first step, and he blamed Boko Haram for it.
Mr. Jonathan made the confession at the 60th National Executive Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party.

"During [the electoral] campaign, our emphasis was more on job creation, power but now what worries us most is security,” he said.  "This is because you must be alive before you will eat food”
He described security as “very, very fundamental,” saying, “If you are not safe, you can't even think of hunger because a dead person does not need food.”
The President told senior party members that although he had promised to focus on job creation and power, he had been forced to change government policy to focus on security due to the activities of the violent militant sect.

In convoluted remarks, he said, "If you look at this issue of Boko Haram, for the past three weeks, except the incident in Plateau State, which of course is unfortunate but  has nothing to do with Boko Haram, we will continue to work with Governor Jonah Jang and other leaders from the state to make sure that we resolve the crisis in Plateau State. That has nothing to do with Boko Haram.
"But outside that, we would see that there are some trends, there is some hope and God willing, the issue of Boko Haram will also come down."

Mr. Jonathan did not comment on his promise in April to vanquish the militants by June, a promise which he did not fulfill.  He did not apologize for that, either.
“Did Boko Haram also persuade him not to give a damn about corruption, for which both his government and his party are the most famous?” a political analyst asked in Abuja today.  “If he says Boko Haram brought him to a standstill, did they also tell him he should not provide personal example, such as declaring his assets or telling his wife it is a shame to live in Abuja and claim a job in Abuja she cannot possibly honour?”

A newspaper columnist, commenting on Mr. Jonathan’s confession, reminded SaharaReporters that it was only recently at the “Media Chat” that Jonathan told Nigerians they will start enjoying his success in 2013.
“The cows are coming home to roost now,” he said.  “Boko Haram did not stop him from buying himself executive jets or budgeting nearly N1billion for feeding himself or repeatedly traveling with hundreds of hangers-on to foreign capitals to collect huge estacode payments.  He is now telling Nigerians the militants are the ones stopping him from fulfilling his electoral promises!”

Walmart Coming To Nigeria To End Igbo Business. Good Or Bad?

The biggest problem facing the Igbo is so subtle. We got a glimpse of it penultimate week when some traders at Balogun market demonstrated against the Chinese who have come into Nigeria to do business.

The Balogun market branch Dealers of Bags and Leather Wears Association of Nigeria had a protest march against some Chinese business men. They accused the Chinese men of retailing leather products at a very cheap rate, thereby forcing these traders to operate at a loss. The traders said it was a systematic plan to undermine and kill off their business in Nigeria.

These traders said that they have been facing this problem for over five years now- that was when the Chinese came. They wanted the Chinese to remember that the reason the Federal Government allowed them to operate in Nigeria was to build industries that would create employment. These protesting traders called for dialogue with the Chinese with the hope that afterwards the Chinese would go back home and bring machines to set up industries.

One after the other they lined up and spoke to the press, begging the government to come to their aid. They said if the activities of the Chinese were not checked, thousands of them would lose their source of livelihood. If you read their statements you would be sorry for them. These men were shedding tears over the Chinese. They did not know that Walmart is on its way.

According to the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Walmart is on its way to Nigeria. This news was also confirmed by the Nigerian ambassador to the United States who told Empowered Newswire that Walmart plans to open two stores in Nigeria. Walmart came into Africa when it bought a controlling share in South Africas Massmart Holdings Ltd.
Already Africas largest grocer, South African Shoprite, is in Nigeria and other big retail stores like Pepkor Ltd are making plans to come. According to Pepkor Ltd CEO, the clothing company plans to ride on the coat tails of Shoprite. So the Igbo traders shedding tears over the Chinese have not seen anything yet.

Currently, these stores appear to target high-income earners in big cities. But over time, they would default to serving low-income earners everywhere in Nigeria. Pepkor, for instance, plans to open up to 50 stores in Nigeria. And that is when these traders will shed more than tears.



Of course, people like the CEO of Pepkor, Mr. Wiese are saying, theres enough for everybody. Its a growing market. And I bet you, if you get the Chinese business men to speak to the media, they would say the same thing.

The real truth is that the Igbo business model of opening stores in markets across city centers is coming to an end. In a generation or two, there wont be anything like that anymore. It would all go the way Mom and Pop stores disappeared in American cities where Walmart and Targets set up shop.

The Igbo business model is simple. At the top is an importer. His job is to import items from overseas and have a chain of wholesalers move the goods across Nigeria. The wholesalers on their own have a chain of retailers who buy from them and sell at markets across Nigeria. In one swoop, the Chinese and Walmart will replace all the Igbo traders on this chain from importers to retailers.

The question now is what will the Igbo do before Balogun, Ojo Alaba International, Ochanja, Ogbete, and other markets across Nigeria are turned into Malls, theaters and football fields? With millions of Igbo men and women who engage in retail business across Africa, what happens after the Walmarts of this world have settled in? What happens when regular Nigerians have become accustomed to walking into air-conditioned stores; looking up marked prices, paying for what they can afford and returning items they do not want seven days after they purchased it?

I trust that the Igbo will not fold their arms and go on the street to beg. I believe they will find something else to do. But it will be good if they begin to strategize now. It will be great if a ten-year and twenty-year plans for transition are put in place. I believe that a plan to transition into manufacturing, turning Aba and Nnewi and Nkpor into manufacturing hubs will greatly keep the Igbo in play as the Chinese and Walmart take their places in Africa.

The last war took the Igbo by surprise. They fought gallantly and lost. The debriefing has not been done. As a result, the aftermath of that war is still ravaging the Igbo society. This new war, already in progress, should not take the Igbo by surprise.

Dana plane lost both engines before crash -Preliminary report

Dual engine failure caused the crash of a Nigerian plane that killed 150 people on board, including two Indians, in Lagos last month, a preliminary official report has said.

The Nigerian government has released the results made available by the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) on the possible causes of the Dana airline crash that killed all 153 passengers and 6 crew members.

An Indian from Kerala, Rijo Eldos, was aboard the aircraft which crashed into a building in a highly populated area of Nigeria's commercial capital while the co-pilot of the plane was an American of Indian origin, Mahendra Singh Rathore.

The Chief Executive Officer and Commissioner of AIB, Captain Muhtar Usman, said the plane crashed, because of complete loss of power from its two engines while approaching the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos.

The preliminary report stated that the plane was on the fourth flight segment of the day, and had made consistent two round-trips between the commercial city of Lagos and the country's capital Abuja.

"The accident occurred during the return leg of the second trip. DAN 992 was on final approach for runway 18R at Lagos when the crew reported the total loss of power," the statement said.

The plane after taxing in Abuja was airborne after initial confirmation by the ground engineers that it had a fuel endurance of 3.5 hours.

The cockpit voice recorder (CVR), retained about 31 minutes of the flight and starts about 1515 at which time the captain and first officer were in a discussion of a non-normal condition regarding the correlation between the engine throttle setting and an engine power indication.

According to the statement, the flight crew did not voice concerns then that the condition would affect the continuation of the flight as they continued to monitor the condition.
They became increasingly concerned during the flight transition through the initial descent from cruise altitude at 1522 and the subsequent approach phase.

It was at the crucial decision moment, during the period of 1537 and 15:41, that the flight crew engaged in pre-landing tasks including deployment of the slats, and extension of the flaps and landing gear.

"At 15:41:16 the first officer (FO) inquired, 'Both engines coming up?' and the captain (Capt) replied "negative".

The flight crew subsequently discussed and agreed to declare an emergency.
At 1542:10, DANA 992 radioed an emergency distress call indicating "dual engine failure... negative response from throttle".

The Governor, The President, And The First Lady

I am not, and no one I know, is sure of what to make of the recent appointment of Mrs. Patience Jonathan, Nigeria’s First Lady, as a Permanent Secretary in the Bayelsa State civil service.

Hours earlier, I had received a call informing of the imminent announcement. Frankly, I dismissed it, not as a cruel joke, but as something that was so silly and so far out and so improbably that not even the nastiest of the most malevolent and sadistic politician anywhere in Nigeria would do, or attempt to do. And even for a cloak-and-dagger state like Bayelsa, stupidity and psychosis must surely have its limits. Or so I thought.

I was sure, so very sure of such an unlikely announcement that I quickly dismissed my caller. Not long thereafter, the second and third call came in. Minutes later, it was all over the Nigerian media and social network. The news and its immediate and future repercussions assaulted my senses and sensibility. As an indigene of the state -- and as someone who has written extensively about the going-on in Bayelsa and Ijaw politics -- I knew that many Ijaw politicians were capable of many reprehensible lows and stupidities. But this? This is something else: the vile and degenerate imagination, and the unguarded and runaway impulse of Governor Henry Seriake Dickson.

As we say in vernacular/broken English in my old neighborhood at Oseni Street Lawanson, “this man carry first…he carry first for stupidity and yeyerity.” Even Alamieyeseigha -- that wasteful and pompous and semi-literate former governor -- didn’t descend this low. And not even the most recent governor, Timpre Sylva, dreamed up and implemented such foolishness. It took the combined thinking and effort of Dickson and Jonathan and his wife, to come up with such a sordid and vile exercise. Really, why would you (even if you could), make such an appointment -- an appointment that is fraught with many unanswerable questions and knotty scenarios.

From publicly available records, Mrs. Jonathan’s combined years of service in both the Rivers and Bayelsa states civil services are not enough to elevate her to the position of a Permanent Secretary.  Generally speaking, the ministries are staffed by career civil servants; and each ministry is headed by a Permanent Secretary, who reports directly to the governor.  Other than coordinating the activity of their respective ministry, Permanent secretaries are responsible for implementing government policy. Mrs. Jonathan was a low-level civil servant. We also know that since her days as the wife of the Deputy Governor, she has basically been a truant who collected her monthly salary for many, many years.

A few questions: Now that she has been appointed a Permanent Secretary, to whom would she be answerable? Henry Dickson? Who will have the balls or the audacity to reprimand her in the event of maladministration, infringements, or incompetence? Henry Dickson? What administrative skills does she have to function as a PermSec? What oral and written communication skills does she have to effectively perform her duties? And I mean all the aforelisted questions in practical terms. I guess she can always pay somebody to do her job when she and her husband are mindlessly globetrotting.

As the First Lady, she is no longer “an ordinary Nigerian.” As a result her presence is likely to distract from the daily reality of everyday civil servants in the state.  This is a woman who travels with a dozen or more official and non-official personnel in her entourage and a motorcade that habitually contains a dozen or more cars and motorcycles -- with sirens blazing. When she is in the air, the airspace is usually closed or restricted. For her personal safety and security, a dozen or so members of the security and intelligence community trail and watch over her. Now, how are Bayelsans, and her colleagues in whatever ministry she is assigned, going to cope with such personal-crowd, commotion and dislocation?

Considering the personality of Patience Jonathan, and considering also her sense of self, she is likely to dominate, and then have the government under her armpit. We saw a glimpse of her true color when her husband was the deputy governor. We saw her true color when her husband was the governor. As the First Lady, she has shown the nation and the world the stuff she is made of. And the stuff she is made of is not pretty. Not at all! Now, if Mr. Henry Dickson thinks he is a match for Mrs. Patience, well, he is mistaken. Virtually every Bayelsan knows this: they know who is truly in control of the state’s political appointments and its treasury. They know who control who and what? They know where the power lies.

While it is true that the problem between Governor Sylva and Mr. Goodluck Jonathan is complicated, it was this control -- control of the treasury and the political space -- that was at the heart of the several years of overt and covert fighting and animosity between both men. With Sylva out of the equation, Bayelsa State is being assaulted and taken over by the Goodluck Jonathan camp and from two fronts: On the one side is Jonathan’s henchman, Chief Amalate Johnny Turner.  On the other end is Mrs. Jonathan, the one wearing the pant and the hat. Lady Macbeth! As the First Lady of Bayelsa state, she was said to have her own shadow cabinet with her own budgetary allocation. Today, as the First Lady of Nigeria, she is said to run a vetting agency that determines who gets what and when. Her raw ambition is boundless.

As Kaanayo Nwachukwu said, “Even the wives of Idi Amin, Eyadema, Omar Bongo, Mugabe, Charles Taylor, Jammeh, Mbasogo, Kerekou, Gbagbo, Ben-Ali, Mubarak, Ghaddafi, Olusegun Obasanjo, Abacha, Babangida, Rawlings, Dos Santos, Idris Deby, Paul Biya, Zenawi, Afewarki, Mobutu, Kabila, Bokassa and the rest of them who have ruled and ruined and continue to rule and ruin Africa are not half as ambitious as Patience Goodluck Jonathan.”

And President Goodluck Jonathan? Politically, he is what he is; and what he is, is an accretion of traits that many men and many leaders despise. This is a man who was better off in a zoology or hydrobiology laboratory in his hometown or in Port Harcourt. Frankly, he was not cut out for the series of political positions he has found himself in. In this instance, he should have known that allowing his wife to be appointed Permanent Secretary was a bad and lousy idea. He couldn’t tell, and he couldn’t sense it. A leader with a pouch of political sagacity and acumen would have known that this move, like many other moves that are associated with him and or his wife, was going to be controversial and dumb. But what did this President do or say? Nothing! And now, another mess! Oh what a mess!

;)Oil Spill Threatens Health, Environment In Zamfara

Late Thursday in Zamfara State, Nigeria, a fuel tanker overturned in a road accident and poured its entire contents into a nearby river, potentially impacting the drinking water of millions of people in Zamfara and neighboring Sokoto state.

This truck crashed on July 12, 2012 in the evening, spilling its contents, industrial oil, into a nearby river in Zamfara State, Nigeria, a region already reeling from the worst lead poisoning outbreak in modern history. (Photo courtesy Ivan Gaton)

Officials say they currently don't have the expertise or the equipment to clean up the oil and prevent another health disaster.  Nigeria's Zamfara state is also known for being the site of the worst lead poisoning outbreak in modern history, which is an ongoing crisis.

When Mouktar Lugga, the environment commissioner for Zamfara State, arrived on the scene of the fuel spill Friday morning, he saw about ten men standing nearby.  They were artisanal gold miners, a mainstay of the local economy.  But with 33,000 liters of industrial fuel in the river they couldn't go to work.

Lugga says the tanker accident the previous night left oil slicks the size of two football fields on the river.  He says Zamfara has neither the equipment nor the knowledge to clean up the spill and he is hoping the federal government will send technical experts to devise a clean-up plan.  

Officials say 33,000 liters of industrial oil spilled into this river late on July 12, 2012 potentially impacting the drinking water for millions of people in Zamfara and Sokoto states in Nigeria. (Photo courtesy Ivan Gaton)

At the moment, however, help does not appear to be on the way.  Lugga says right now workers are trying to contain the spill by trying to block the river with sandbags, but the oily water continues to flow.

"It's really difficult because this is actually the rainy season so the river is flowing and we are more or less working against the tide," said Lugga.

The driver and one other person were injured in the accident, he says, but the potential long-term health and economic consequences are huge.  Besides contaminating the drinking water and putting many artisanal gold miners out of work, the spill could also damage thousands of farms in Zamfara and Sokoto.

Environmental officials say if this oil spill in Zamfara State, Nigeria is not cleaned up, thousands of farms could be damaged and other economic activities like artisanal gold mining could be disrupted. (Photo courtesy Ivan Gaton)

Nigeria's Doctors Without Borders head Ivan Gayton says people in the region already suffer from ill health after lead poisoning associated with artisanal gold mines killed hundreds of children and made many more sick.  He says if the spill is not cleaned up it could mean another health disaster for Zamfara.

"It's just enormous in term of what it does to the water system and that can work its way up through the whole ecosystem," said Gayton. "Certainly a very small amount of petroleum oil can contaminate a huge amount of water.  And water contaminated with oil is not good for your health at all."

The spill coincided with a separate incident in which almost 100 people died in a fire after another tanker tipped over in Nigeria's southern Niger Delta region.  Locals rushed to gather the fuel as it spilled from the tanker and were killed in the inferno that followed. (VOA)

Five Things To Know About Religious Violence In Nigeria

Ongoing violence in Nigeria has exacerbated tensions between the country's Muslims and Christians.

Nigeria has equal numbers of Christians and Muslims, and 92 percent of the country's population says they pray every day, according to a 2010 poll by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Hundreds of Christians and Muslims have died this year alone, including scores killed last weekend (July 7-8) when Muslim militants attacked Christian villages in the nation's central plateau, where the mostly Muslim north and the mostly Christian south meet.

Here are five things to know about the violence in Nigeria.

1. This is not simply a Muslim-Christian conflict.

While Muslims and Christians are attacking each other, the combatants also divide along ethnic and cultural lines, and grievances often have little to do with religion.

"Religion is part of the mix, but it's very much linked in with political, ethnic, justice and poverty issues as well," said Claire Amos, a World Council of Churches official who recently visited the country to assess the crisis.

One of the main fault lines divides Muslim nomadic herders and Christian farmers. The groups clash as the herders migrate through farmland, Amos said. "It's of course an archetypal tension. It's the basic story of the conflict between Cain and Abel."

2. A growing desert makes matters worse.

Climate change and poor natural resource management create an ever-larger desert. "As the Sahara expands, people have to travel further south, which brings them into conflict with farmers," said John Campbell, a Nigeria expert at the Council on Foreign Relations.

The migrating northerners are the predominantly Muslim Hausa-Fulani people, the Southerners -- the predominantly Christian Berom.

3. The militant Islamist group Boko Haram is a menace, but its role is often mischaracterized.

Boko Haram, which envisions a purely Islamic society, has exploited the frustrations of pious Muslims who struggle to live faithfully in a society that is rife with corruption and that happens to be led by a Christian president.

According to the congressionally charted United States Institute of Peace, "since August 2011 Boko Haram has planted bombs almost weekly in public or in churches in Nigeria's northeast."

But many who study the conflict say portrayals of Boko Haram as the Nigerian version of al-Qaida oversimplify the crisis.

"Boko Haram is very local, and linking them to a global jihadi movement is irresponsible," said Qamar-ul Huda, of USIP's Religion and Peacemaking Center. "They may have similar tactics and techniques, but they're not global and they don't even have a global ideology."

4. Oil is flowing in Nigeria

Some look at the wretched poverty and say oil in the Niger Delta is a bane to the country. That's an overstatement, said Huda, but among many Nigerians there persists the view that oil isn't doing the nation much good.

"The frustration is that after more than 10 years of civilian rule, the political and economic institutions are still weak, and authorities are not able to maneuver a great prosperity for people," Huda said.

That sense of helplessness and deprivation breeds violence not only in the aggrieved Delta area, but in other parts of the nation where Muslim-Christian tensions are already high, he said.

5. If you're not in Nigeria, you can still do something about the crisis.

Katrina Lantos Swett, chair of the U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom, calls on U.S. citizens to contact their representatives in Congress and tell them of their concerns about sectarian violence in Nigeria.

"They can also call on legislators to fund and implement programs to stop religious violence and promote religious freedom in that country," said Lantos Swett.

Muslims and Christians "can urge their co-religionists in Nigeria to engage in interfaith dialogue, not engage in religious violence."

Nigeria leads the world in examination malpractices -NOA

Nothing could be more nauseating than the recent report of Nigeria’s prime position in the world’s examination malpractice index. According to the director-general of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mike Omeri, during the launch of a campaign to raise integrity standard in the nation’s education system, the ratio of exam cheats in Nigeria is number one in the world.

An average of 12 per cent of candidates in public examinations is said to be involved: 615,010 cases were recorded in the May/June 2010 school certificate examination; 439,529 candidates cheated in the 2011 exams conducted by the National Examinations Council (NECO).

These revelations should be very disturbing, and require immediate redress. The phenomenon is a sordid reflection of the devaluation of our value system and leaders’ preference for easy options in all facets of our national life. It is sad that teachers and parents have also been found complicit in the unethical conduct of procuring hirelings, question papers and scripts for their children and wards.

Admission fraud, certificate forgery and bribery are all vices that rear their ugly heads in the system from primary to tertiary levels. Paper qualification, which has seeped into our consciousness as a meal ticket, seems to have taken over from competence, industry and entrepreneurial skill.

One of the effects of these is that universities abroad merely equate the quality of Nigeria’s degrees with the poor scrolls they bear. The British Medical Council, for instance, recently barred from recognition graduates of nine medical schools in Nigeria, including those that used to be associated with academic excellence.

Hard work, virtue and integrity which should recommend themselves to teenagers have been eroded by adult members of the society; thieves and cultists are now role models.

There is something anti-intellectual about the politics and allocation of resources in our environment. UNESCO prescribes that about 26 per cent of a nation’s budget should be reserved for education, but no Nigerian government has done that.

The current budget gives less than 10 per cent to education with almajirai education taking the lion’s share. Indeed, the minister of state for education, Nyesson Wike, recently said that some states were diverting money meant for capacity building of teachers and that indicted states would not benefit from the programme this year.

Frequent disruptions in academic calendars are commonplace. The production, importation and access to educational materials are neither promoted nor encouraged. A system of reward for hard work and honesty is lacking.

We should make it possible for corporate organisations to provide seed money to be invested in bonds and securities as well as real property in form of endowments for our educational development.

We can rise up to the challenges of eliminating exam malpractice and corruption in the school system. This was part of the intention behind the Education Tax Fund which, sadly, has become another bureaucratic waste pipe. (Leadership)