Obasanjo, An Irredeemable Hypocrite —Wole Soyinka

Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has described former president, General Olusegun Obasanjo, as an irredeemable hypocrite and a liar who takes delight in denigrating people.

Soyinka, in his reply to the attack on him by Obasanjo in his latest controversial book, My Watch, pillories Obasanjo for invoking God all the time and wonders whether Obasanjo actually believes in such an entity, given his recourse to lying compulsively.

“Our Owu retiree soldier and prolific author is an infliction that those of us who share the same era and nation space must learn to endure,” Soyinka writes.

Obasanjo has a “capacity for infantile mischief.”

Soyinka describes him as “master of mendacity,” writer of ‘ignoble fabrication’ and an “indefatigable peddler of lies.”

“I despise humanity whose stock-in-trade is to concoct lies simply to score a point, win an argument, puff up his or her own ego, denigrate or attempt to destroy a fellow being. However, even within such deplorable species, a special pit of universal opprobrium is reserved for those who even lack the courage of their own lies, but must foist them on others.” The high-point of Soyinka’s diatribe is a succinct comparison of Obasanjo to Olowo-aiye, a character in D.O. Fagunwa’s novel.

Soyinka says he has been brief and mild because of the interventions of some mutual friends and this traditional season of goodwill.

Here is the full text of Soyinka’s response to Obasanjo titled: WATCH AND PRAY, WATCH AND PREY! :

“I had fully attuned myself to the fact that our Owu retiree soldier and prolific author is an infliction that those of us who share the same era and nation space must learn to endure. However, it does appear that there is no end to this individual’s capacity for infantile mischief, and for needless, mind-boggling provocations, such as his recent ‘literary’ intrusion on my peace.

Perhaps I ought to interrupt myself here with an apology to some mutual acquaintances – ‘blessed peacemakers’ and all – especially in this season of ‘peace and goodwill to all men’. Please know that your efforts have not been entirely in vain. I had a cordial exchange with Obasanjo over the phone recently – engineered by himself, his ground staff and/or a chance visitor – when I had cause to visit his Presidential Laundromat for the first time ever. During that exchange, I complimented him on making some quite positive use of landed property that was acquired under morally dubious circumstances, and blatantly developed through a process that I denounced as ‘executive extortionism’. That obscene proceeding has certainly set a competitive precedent for impunity in President Jonathan’s recent fund-raising shindig, editorialized in THE PUNCH (Dec. 23, 2014) as “Impunity Taken too Far”. So much for the latest from that direction – we mustn’t allow Handing-Over notes between presidents to distract us for too long.

To return to our main man, and friendly interventionists, you may like to note that I went so far as to engage him in light banter, stating that some of his lesser sins would be forgiven him for that creative conversion of the landscape – a conversation that he shortly afterwards delightedly shared with at least three mutual acquaintances. I promised a follow-up visit to view some mysterious rock script whose existence, he informed me, was uncovered by workers during ground clearing. The exchange was, in short, as good as ‘malice towards none’ that any polemicist could hope to contribute to the ongoing season of peace and goodwill. Obviously that visit will not now take place, any more than the pursuit of vague notions of some creative collaboration with his Centre that began to play around my mind.

That much I do owe you from my report card. Perhaps you will now accept that there are individuals who are born incorrigible but, more importantly, that some issues transcend one’s personal preferences for harmonious human relationships even in a season of traditional good will. The change in weather conditions sits quite well with me, however, since we are both acquainted with the Yoruba proverb that goes: the child that swears his mother will not sleep must also prepare for a prolonged, sleepless infancy. So let it be with Okikiola, the overgrown child of circumstance.

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo

One of the incessant ironies that leapt up at me as I read Obasanjo’s magnum opus was that we are both victims of a number of distasteful impositions - such as being compelled again and again to seek justice against libel in the law courts. I felt genuine empathy to read that he still has a pending thirty-year case instituted by him against his alleged libelers! Judgment was delivered in my favour regarding one of the most nauseating only this year, after surviving technical and other procrastinations, defendant evasions and other legalistic impediments for nearly as long as his. That leaves only a veritable Methuselah on the court list still awaiting re-listing under the resurrection ritual language known as de novo. Unfortunately, not all acts of defamation or wilful misrepresentation are actionable, otherwise, my personal list against this newly revealed fellow-sufferer would have counted for an independent volume of the Nigerian Law Report since our paths first crossed during the Civil War. My commitment to the belief in the fundamental right of all human beings NOT TO BE LIED AGAINST remains a life obsession, and thus demands, at the very least, an obligation of non-commission among fellow victims.

I must, therefore, reserve a full, frontal dissection of Obasanjo’s My Watch for later, most especially since the work itself is currently under legal restraint and is not readily accessible to a general readership. So, for now, let me single out just one of the most glaring instances of this man’s compulsive career of lying, one sample that the media can readily check upon and use as a touchstone – if they do need one – in assessing our author’s multifaceted claims and commentaries on people and events. I refer here to the grotesque and personally insulting statement that he has attributed to me for some inscrutable but obviously diversionary reasons. In the process, this past Master of Mendacity brazenly implicates an innocent young man, Akin Osuntokun, who once served him as a Special Adviser. Instead of conferring dignity on a direct rebuttal of an ignoble fabrication, I shall simply make a personal, all-embracing attestation:

I despise that species of humanity whose stock-in-trade is to concoct lies simply to score a point, win an argument, puff up his or her own ego, denigrate or attempt to destroy a fellow being. However, even within such deplorable species, a special pit of universal opprobrium is surely reserved for those who even lack the courage of their own lies, but must foist them on others. When an old man stuffs a lie into the throat of an age-mate of his own children – omo inu e! – we can only pity an irredeemable egomaniac whose dotage is headed for twilight disgrace.

D.O. Fagunwa, the pioneer Yoruba novelist, was a compulsive moralist. I suspect that he may have exerted some influence on our garrulous general, resulting in his pupil’s tedious, misapplied and self-serving deluge of moralizing. It seems quite likely indeed that the ghostly, moralistic hand of Fagunwa reached out from the Great Beyond, sat his would-be competitor forcefully before a mirror and bade him write what he saw in that image. I invoke Fagunwa because, at his commemorative colloquium in Akure in August last year, I drew my audience’s attention to a remarkable passage in Fagunwa’s Igbo Olodumare. The passage had struck me during translation and stuck to my mind. I found it uncanny that the original creative moralist, Fagunwa, had captured the psychological profile of a being whom I have been compelled by circumstances to study as an eerie creation, yet this was a character Fagunwa was unlikely to have encountered in real life at the time that he produced that work.

The section comes from an account of a visit to the abode of Iku, Death, the terrifying host to Olowo-aiye, the narrative voice of the adventure. Iku, the host, had been admonishing his guests through the histories of seven creatures who were not permitted a straightforward passage to Heaven or Hell, but were subjected to admonitory punishment at the halfway house to the abode of the dead. The most horrendous tortures were reserved, it would seem, for the last of the seven such ‘detainees’, and I invited my audience to ponder if they could identify any prominent individual, a public figure whose life conduct seamlessly fitted into Fagunwa’s portrayal, which went thus:

“The seventh…. is not among those who set out to improve the world but rather to cause distress to its inhabitants. It was through manipulations that he attained a high position. Having achieved this, however, he constantly blocked the progress of those behind him, this being a most deplorable act in the eyes of God, and rank behaviour in the judgment of the dwellers of heaven – that anyone who has enjoyed upliftment in life should seek to be an obstacle for those who follow him. This man forgot the beings of earth, forgot the beings of heaven, in turn, he forgot the presence of God. The worst kind of behaviour agitated his hands – greed occupied the centre of his heart, and he was a creature that walked in darkness. This man wallowed in bribery, he was chairman of the circle of scheming, head of the gang of double-dealing, field-marshal of those who crept about in the dark of night. With his mouth, he ruined the work of others, while he used a big potsherd to cover the good works of some, that others might not see their attainments. He nosed around for secrets that would entrap his companions, and blew them up into monumental crimes in the eyes of the world. He who turns the world upside down, places the deceitful on the throne, casts the truthful down – because such is a being of base earth, he will never stand as equal among the uplifted.”

My co-occupants of the High Table, in side remarks, and those who came up from the audience afterwards to volunteer their answer to the riddle, without exception named one individual and one individual only, even as I remained non-committal. Indeed, one or two tried to put up a defence of that nominee, and I had to remind them that I had named no one! Fagunwa wrote largely of the world of mongrelized creatures but, as I remarked, his fiction remains a prescient and cautionary mirror of the society we inhabit, where beasts of the forest appear to have a greater moral integrity than those who claim to be leading lights of society.

In this season of goodwill, we owe a duty to our immediate and distant neighbours: CAVEAT EMPTOR! Let all beware, who try to buy a Rolex from this indefatigable watch peddler. His own hand-crafted, uniquely personalized timepiece has been temporarily confiscated by NDLEA and other guardians of public health but, there is no cause for despair. Such has been the fate of the misunderstood and the envied, avatars descended from the heavens before their time, the seers, and all who crave recognition. Our author invokes God tirelessly, without provocation, without necessity and without justification, perhaps preemptively, but does he really believe in such an entity? Does our home-bred Double-O-Seven believe in anything outside his own Omnipotency? Could he possibly have mistaken the Christian exhortation – ‘Watch and Pray’ for his private inclination to “Watch and Prey? This is a seasoned predator on others’ achievements – he preys on their names, their characters, their motivations, their true lives, preys on gossip and preys on facts, preys on contributions to collective undertakings…..even preys on their identities, substituting his own where possible. Well, hopefully he may actually believe in the inevitable End to all vanities? So, let our Great Immortal, the Unparalleled Achiever, Divinely appointed Watchman even on the world that is yet to come remember Fagunwa’s Iku, the ultimate predator whose visitation comes to us all, sooner or later.

Hoodlums disrupt church service in Ondo, flog officiating pastor .

 

About 10 hoodlums yesterday, invaded a church at the Ondo State capital, Akure, disrupting the weekly service, while the officiating pastor was seriously flogged by the invaders.

It was gathered that members of the church were not spared in the attack as some of the church members also received the beaten of their lives.

A source said the hoodlums went straight to the officiating pastor known as Pastor Arije and started flogging him.

The source alleged that the attack might have been masterminded and sponsored by a rival pastor in one of the churches within the area

In an attempt to save the situation, some members of the public sought the intervention of men of the Nigeria Police while some of the hoodlums were arrested, but later rescued by some other members of the group, who stabbed a policeman with a broken bottle in the neck.

It was gathered that the hoodlums have dealt with the church members before the police arrived at the scene of the incident and were chased to Odopetu area in Oke Aro where some of them were arrested by the security agents.

The hoodlum mobilised themselves and rescue some of their members while they revisited the church on motorcycles and destroyed some of the church properties which include plastic chairs, wall clock, window glass and electrical appliances at the CAC, Pillar of Fire located around LA Primary School, Akure while the day’s offering was also carted away by the hoodlums.

The state Police Public Relation Officer, PPRO, Wole Ogodo confirmed the incident, but said the details of the incident were still sketchy, but added that his men are investigating the reasons behind the action of the hoodlums.

 

 

Skye Bank takes over Mainstreet from AMCON

 

 

Skye Bank Plc says it has taken over the control of Mainstreet Bank Limited following the completion of the acquisition process.

The lender said the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria had divested its interest and transferred full ownership of the bridge bank to Skye Bank, having successfully paid 100 per cent of the acquisition value and received regulatory clearance as the new owner.

A statement by the Head, Corporate Communications, Skye Bank, Mr. Rasheed Bolarinwa, on Sunday read in part, “AMCON formally handed over ownership and commended Skye Bank for emerging the preferred bidder out of over 29 bidders in the highly competitive and transparent process that took over a year to complete.”

The bank quoted AMCON as commending the out-going board and executive committee members of the nationalised bank for “their dedication and service to Nigeria in steering and piloting the affairs from what it used to be to profitability.”

Between October 3 and October 31, Skye Bank the full amount for the acquisition of Mainstreet Bank well ahead of the November 3 deadline.

The statement quoted the Group Managing Director, Skye Bank, Mr. Timothy Oguntayo, as assuring the staff members and customers of Mainstreet Bank of good times ahead; even as he solicited their cooperation in ensuring a seamless transition process.

Skye Bank, with dominant operations in the South-West, according to the statement, is also banking on Mainstreet Bank to deepen its penetration of the South-East and South-South regions where it is currently less represented.

Twenty-six per cent or 54 branches of Mainstreet Bank’s network are located in the two regions, which account for 28 per cent of the bank’s over 1.9 million customers, second only to Lagos with 37 per cent.

The latest audited report and accounts of Mainstreet Bank for the year ended December 31, 2013 showed that retail and commercial banking contributed 78 per cent, 36 per cent, and 18 per cent of total deposits, total loans and profit before, tax respectively.

 

 

 

 

Heartless son, wicked dad: Stories of suspects accused of killing relations .

 

THE length to which some people can go to satisfy selfish desires can best be explained with the cases of a son who conspired with others to kill his own father, while a father got the support of another man to kill his son.

Thirty-three-year-old Ahmadu Saidu, a resident of Rakama village in Ningi Local Government Area of Bauchi State, was arrested by policemen from Ningi Division of the state police command for allegedly conspiring with 30-year-old Umar Sanda Ali and one other suspect, now at large, to kill his biological father on the excuse that the deceased, Sa’idu Lawwali, was a thief, causing shame to the family in their area.

They did not stop at slaughtering 60-year-old Lawwali; they also burnt his corpse and buried him in a shallow grave in the village before they were nabbed by the police.

Speaking with Crime Reports while being paraded alongside other suspects who committed various offences at the Bauchi State Police Command headquarters during the week, Saidu vehemently denied killing the man who sired him, saying it was his accomplice, Umar, who committed the act.

According to him, Umar came to their house in the village and slaughtered his father on the ground that he had been stealing people’s goats and cows. He, however, accepted that the deceased had been causing a lot of embarrassment to his family and that he and his sister had not been able to get anyone in the village to marry.

“I am not involved in the killing because I have never stolen in my life. My sister and I are not married because people call us children of a thief. No one has come to marry my sister and any woman I proposed to usually turned me down on the excuse that my father was a thief,” he added.

However, Ali swore that he was innocent of the crime he was accused of.

“I swear I don’t know anything about Ahmadu’s father’s death,” he simply said.

In a related case, a 10-year-old, Aliyu Rabiu, was dispatched to the world beyond by his father, Rabiu Yusuf, for alleged stubborness.

But Yusuf, a farmer and a father of nine, including the deceased boy, said that he only detained the boy for his obstinacy.

He said he had divorced the boy’s mother and had married another woman, adding that the boy ran away to stay with his mother. This, he said, did not go down well with him,  hence his ordering the return of the boy to his house. The boy, he said, however refused to comply with his directive.

He added that he was forced to go and bring the boy back home, after which he detained him. In the process, the boy became ill, the father claimed.

According to him, he took the boy to a doctor who gave him an injection and drug, saying that it was the deceased’s grandmother who took him to Rimi Clinic in Bauchi where he later died, though he lamented that he never knew his action could cause his son’s death.

“I don’t know why they invited me here because I only wanted my son to stay with me since I am no more living with his mother. But he was stubborn, so I detained him in the house and as a result of this, he fell ill,” he added.

Addressing journalists, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state police command, Haruna Mohammed, said that Yusuf conspired with one Ismail Idris to kill the deceased.

According to the police spokesman, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Yusuf chained and detained the boy for a period of 10 days and the boy later fell ill as a result of the ill-treatment meted to him. He added that the boy was taken to Rimi Clinic in Bauchi where he died while receiving treatment.

Yusuf’s accomplice, Idris, who said he was a Tsangaya (Islamic) teacher, stated that though the boy was brought to him about two months ago, his father later came back for him and took him home, adding that he did not know anything about the boy’s death. 

Thousands scramble for Tinubu’s Xmas gifts .

 

 

 

Thousands of Lagos residents converged on the Idowu Taylor Street, Victoria Island, on Saturday to receive Christmas gifts from the Bola Tinubu Foundation, a non-profit organisation owned by a former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

The gifts comprised bags of rice, salt, vegetable oil, T-shirts and cash.

The event was not without hitches as policemen and other security agents tried to push back the large crowd that turned up from every local government area in the state.

PUNCH Metro observed that the barricades were broken as beneficiaries caused a stampede.

As the crowd became uncontrollable, policemen fired teargas into the crowd but the crowd remained adamant and stood their ground.

A Special Adviser to the former Governor, Mr. Femi Oyatolu, said over 2,000 bags of rice had been distributed as of 12pm on Saturday.

Oyatolu, however, argued that the exercise was not politically-motivated as no one was made to show evidence of membership of any political party.

He said, “We have distributed over 2,000 bags of rice of 12.5kg. We have also distributed vegetable oil, T-shirts, salts and cash for the needy. It is not politically-motivated because we have been doing this for the past five years.

“It is a Christmas outreach but we also do it during Salah as well. It is just a way of giving back to society and putting smiles on people’s faces. It is not stomach infrastructure because it cuts across all political divides. It is not restricted to any group.

“Apart from giving out gift items, we also do free medicals for people and also pay school fees of indigent students.”

 

 

 

Jang names son as commissioner .

 

The Plateau State Governor, Mr. Jonah Jang, has named his son, Yakubu, as the state Commissioner for Lands and Urban Planning.

Before this new development, Yakubu was his father’s Special Adviser on Special Duties. Yakubu, according to the Commissioner for Information. Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, will take over from Mr. Yilji Gomwalk, who has been picked as the running mate to the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate for the 2015 governorship election, Mr. Gyang Pwajok.

Abubakar, who briefed newsmen in Jos on Sunday, said the action was to allow for continuity in governance.

Meanwhile, the PDP governorship candidate has appealed to all those who contested with him in the primary to close ranks and work with him for the growth of the state.

Pwajok told newsmen in Jos on Sunday that he would run an all-inclusive government, adding that his mission is to continue with the redemption agenda of the outgoing governor.

He said, “I see my emergence as the manifestation of what God wants to do in Plateau State. Mine will be an all-inclusive government as my campaign slogan, Greater Together, has shown.”

Pwajok said that he intended to fill the generational gap which the people, especially the state’s youths, had been yearning for.

In another development, a youth group, Political Reawakening Support Team, has urged Pwajok to look beyond the primaries and focus on consolidating his victory at the forthcoming governorship election in 2015.

The youths, who addressed newsmen in Jos on Sunday, said that the emergence of Pwajok was a realisation of their clamour that one of their own should become the state governor.

Spokespersons for the group, Messrs Jonathan Amande and Mr. John Ibrahim, said that the youths on their part would work to ensure that the PDP candidate emerged the winner of the governorship election next year.

 

This is not a good year for Mariah Carey at all!

Mariah Carey is being sued by a former staff member for unpaid overtime.

Ex-employee Ylser Oliver, 49, has issued a lawsuit against the singer claiming she was forced to work up to 16-hours-a-day, seven days a week without proper meal breaks or any extra money in her pay packet as compensation for her extra hours.

According to legal papers filed at Manhattan federal court, Ylser claims she began working as an assistant for Mariah in March 2007 and her duties included tidying up her Tribeca home in New York and organising repairs to the property, packing her luggage for trips, tending to her "personal needs," travelling with the R&B star on her business trips, taking her calls, carrying out shopping tasks for her and "caring" for Mariah's friends and family.

Ylser quit in June 2014 after becoming disgruntled with the working hours and lack of overtime.

Matthew Blit - Ylser's employment lawyer - said: "My client put her family's life on hold while tending to Mariah Carey's family, and Mariah repaid her by underpaying her.

"My client is a very hard-working woman who treated Mariah and her family like her own, working all hours of the day and night. Even celebrities are required to abide by the law."

Ylser is suing Mariah - who split from her husband of six years, Nick Cannon, earlier this year - for significant amount of money'', but the actual fee is undisclosed.

However, the suit claims she was entitled to at least time-and-a-half pay when working more than 40 hours a week.

When asked about the lawsuit, Mariah's spokesperson Cindi Berger said: "I can't comment on anything that I'm not aware of and we haven't heard anything about this lawsuit."

I killed my master because I needed N150,000 for Dubai trip – motor boy

 

 

 

A look at 32 year-old Sani Saidu , will never pass him for a betrayer, let alone a killer , owing to his quiet disposition and soft way of speaking. But his disposition has only proved to be deceptive after all , as he is currently cooling his heels at the Lagos State Criminal Investigations Department ,SCID, Yaba , Lagos, over a case of alleged murder.

 

The first sign that signalled an unpalatable situation for the truck driver, followed difficulty by his employee to reach him on his mobile phone, two days after he embarked on the journey.

Further checks from the tracking device on the truck reportedly showed that the truck had been diverted from its original route to somewhere around Mutum Biu, in Taraba state.

Suspecting that the driver had a sinister motive up his sleeve ,the company reportedly lodged a complaint at the State Criminal Investigation Department SCID, Yaba, where detectives swung into action by travelling to Taraba state. Fortunately for them, the truck was recovered at the Taraba state Police Command, with only Saidu, the motorboy.

I stabbed him, threw him out of the truck

Preliminary investigation as gathered , revealed that Saidu allegedly murdered the truck driver before diverting the truck to the northern part of the country.
In this interview, Saidu gave a graphic description of how he stabbed his master with a knife and threw him out of the truck , before taking over the steering..

Asked what made him carry out such dastardly act, Saidu replied : “ I killed Mr Aremu because I wanted to sell the aviation fuel and use the money to travel to Dubai on a business trip”
Narrating how he snuffed life out of Aremu whom he fondly called baba Oyo, , Saidu said: “ A day after we left Lagos, at about 6pm, the company called baba Oyo and instructed him to park at Umunede, Delta state for security reason and that he should proceed on the journey the following day.

While there , I bought a knife without him knowing and tied it with a rope on my leg. Very early the third day, baba Oyo started the ignition to continue the journey. As he was about to move, I told him that one of the tyres had developed a fault. I came out of the vehicle and pretended to be checking the tyres. I went to his side of the truck, bent down as if checking the tyres and in the process, I brought out my knife. But as I raised my hand to stab him, he held my hand and we started struggling, in the process of which the knife cut me on the index finger. I succeeded in stabbing him first on the lap and blood started gushing out. Again, I stabbed him again in the stomach, leaving the knife in there. By then he was too weak to shout.

Thereafter, I pushed him out of the vehicle and mounted the driver’s seat and zoomed off.

Diverts truck to the north

My intention was to take the aviation fuel to Taraba state and sell it at the black market. When I got to Adamawa state, I sold four drums , at the rate of N28,000 per drum. On reaching Katsina Ala, the truck developed a fault and I ended up spending N57,000 to fix it. I continued the journey but on reaching Mutum Biu, I was stopped by some soldiers who were on a joint operation with the Police, at a check point. They demanded for the way bill and I showed them.

But one of the policemen asked where the plate number was and I brought it out from where I kept it. I had earlier removed it because the company’s number was inscribed on it. When the policemen dialled the telephone number, they discovered that the vehicle was supposed to be heading for Port Harcourt. When they asked what it was doing at Taraba, I could not provide a ready answer and I was subsequently apprehended”

I wanted to raise 150,000

The father of five whose family resides in Adamawa state further disclosed that “ I did what I did in order to raise N150,000 for a ticket to Dubai. A friend of mine who lives in Kano usually travels to Dubai to buy handsets and sell in Kano. He told me he would take me down if I could raise N150,000. That was why I did what I did. But with the look of things, it is obvious that I am in a big trouble and may never come out of from it for the rest of my life”, he stated remorsefully.

Information at Crime Guard’s disposal revealed that operatives at the SCID would be leaving Lagos for Umunede in Delta state, to inspect the spot where the suspect claimed to have thrown Aremu’s body, with a view to ascertaining whether he is alive or not.

Police sources however hinted that the driver’s seat of the recovered truck was stained with blood, adding that at the end of investigation, the suspect would be charged to court for murder and stealing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ll not cut salary, pension in 2015 —FG •As Okonjo-Iweala presents N4.3trn budget .

 

Nigerians got some bad news yesterday  – more taxes are coming. It is all to shore up the shortfall, Minister for Finance and  Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said yesterday.

“We’ve tried to broaden the tax-base,” the minister told reporters shortly after laying the budget before the House of Representatives. She said the Federal Government had also “closed many loopholes and leakages”.

The Minister, who also laid the budget proposal before senators, added that the economy would be driven mainly by the non-oil sector, considering the global oil price slide.  “We’ve speeded up audit, we’ve closed some exemptions all of these will bring additional revenues into the coffers,” she said.

The 2015-2017 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) presented to the National Assembly shows that Federal Government’s net revenue projection from non-oil sector is N2.075 trillion after costs and deductions for 2015. Net oil revenue was put at N3.955 trillion after costs, deductions and derivation.

The minister, who led six other ministers to the National Assembly, said in spite of the oil price slide, the Federal Government would ensure regular payment of pensions, salaries and wages to its workers.

While giving an outlook on the 2015 budget proposal, she said: “I’ve laid the budget on behalf of His Excellency, Mr President. This budget is based on few indicators, the $65 a barrel benchmark and we are going to stick to it for now inspite of the declining prices because we feel the average price next year will be around $65 to $70. The production level is 2.27 million barrel per day.

“The revised growth rate based on the new parameters for the country, down from 6.35 to 5.5 per cent next year, that is still one of the fastest growth rate we are experiencing in the world today. We have a budget expenditure of about N4.3 trillion, revenue of N3.6 trillion, we’ve tried to make up for the drop from $78 per barrel to $65 by raising non-oil revenues. This budget points to the fact that this country is a non-oil country and I think we want Nigerians to start to think of the country that way.

“So we have worked very hard to move on non-oil revenues, so we’ve closed many loopholes and leakages; we’ve tried to broaden the tax-base, we’ve speeded up audit; we’ve closed some exemptions; all of these will bring additional revenues into the coffers.

“We’ve also worked on the expenditures. On the expenditure side, in the short term, we are going to look at the administrative expenditure; equipment we will not be able to buy next year, travels and trainings will only be inside the country just on exceptional bases if someone is paying for you, you will be able to go out or if it is a critical government directive to go out.

“It is not going to be easy on the short term to do so much because we want to make sure that people get their salaries and wages and pensions are paid. We don’t want to make any adjustments on the part of our pensioners and workers but in the longer term, we will now be able to look at how to restructure governance.”

Many lawmakers, including Minority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila, said the budget was only laid without details attached. According to Gbajabiamila, “no member of the National Assembly has a copy of the budget at the moment, so no one can say he or she is going to comment on it”.

Deputy Leader Leo Ogor said the most important issue was that the budget had been laid and all other things were in the hands of the National Assembly.

The Finance Minister later broke the budget down at another forum with Finance reporters.

On specific measures to increase non-oil revenues to boost the treasury, she said: “A 10 per cent import surcharge would be imposed on new private jets, which is estimated to yield about N3.7 billion in 2015; 39 per cent import surcharge on luxury yachts, which is estimated to potentially raise N1.6 billion in 2015; and 5 per cent import surcharge on luxury cars which is estimated to yield about N2.6 billion of additional  revenues.”

Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala added: “There will be a surcharge on Business and First Class Tickets on Airlines. There will be no surcharge on economy tickets. There is also an imposition of 3 per cent luxury surcharge on champagnes, wines and spirits to generate about N2.3 billion in 2015; and a 1 per cent FCT Mansion Tax on residential properties with value of N300 million and above which should yield additional N360 million.”

The budget has an aggregate revenue target of N3.602 trillion made up of: oil revenue of N1.918 trillion and non-oil revenues of N1.684 trillion (implying a ratio of 53 per cent oil revenues to 47 per cent non-oil) to fund an Aggregate Budget Expenditure of N4.358 trillion proposed for 2015 Budget, which is about 8 per cent less than the 2014 Appropriation.

This expenditure figure is made up of N412 billion for Statutory Transfers, N943 billion for Debt Service, N2,616 billion for Recurrent (Non-Debt) and N634 billion for Capital Expenditure (inclusive of SURE-P).

Internally Generated Revenues (IGR), Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said “actual receipts have continued to grow from about N182 billion in 2011 to N274 billion in 2013 and then, N328 billion as of October 2014”.

The minister spoke of leakages and non-remittance of funds to the treasury by some agencies.

According to her, President Goodluck Jonathan has “subsequently issued an unequivocal directive to all revenue agencies to ensure remittance of their obligations to treasury and all relevant government bodies are now working with banks to ensure strict compliance, and so we have projected IGR receipts of N450 billion for 2015”.

“In 2015, the federal government will be ramping up the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)/McKinsey initiative to contribute an extra N160 billion in tax receipts and an aggregate of about N460 billion over and above the 2014 levels in the 2015-2017 period,” Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said.

There were no changes to the parameters of the proposed 2015 budget which still remains as oil production at 2.2782 million barrels per day; Benchmark oil price of $65/barrel; GDP growth rate projected at 5.5 per cent; An exchange rate of N165 to the US dollar; non-oil revenue (including non-Federation account) of N1,684.63 billion; fiscal deficit of N755 billion (or 0.79 percent of GDP); and domestic borrowing of N570 billion, down from N571.9 billion in 2014.

Based on these parameters, the 2015 Budget envisages a net federally collectible revenue of N6.9 trillion. Of this, N3.6 trillion is envisaged to fund the Budget, representing about 3.4 per cent drop from N3.7 trillion for 2014 Budget. This is with more emphasis on non-oil revenue sources to partly compensate for the shortfall in actual oil revenue.

In taxes, the minister hinted of a possible but gradual increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) but only as a long term measure, but in the medium term, focus will be on tax policy to see where opportunities lie to streamline and rationalize certain taxes and levies whilst looking to boost others.

The government is also contemplating short and medium-term measures in expenditure. In the short-term, government plans to institute measures aimed at improving spending. This exercise, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said, will save N82.5 billion. This will include the following:

•Overhead expenditures: We propose cuts to international travels and training by 50 per cent for all MDAs saving about N14 billion while other provisions for overhead expenditure have been dropped completely – saving about N4 billion.

•Administrative Expenditures for buildings, equipment, supplies, etc: MDAs’ provisions for the procurement of administrative supplies and equipment will be cut, saving about N5 billion; procurement and upgrade of buildings were similarly curtailed, saving about N44 billion. Another N76 billion is proposed for reallocation to more impactful programmes of government in the security, health, and education sectors.

Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said the government had also begun partial implementation of the Whitepaper on the rationalization of agencies, based on the Oronsaye Report and have built in savings of about N6.5 billion in the Budget.

On workers’ agitation for higher salaries next year, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said: “Prices are not going up; all that talk was to scare people and make them feel that austerity measures, yeah, the government is trying to do something to you. It is not true! This government everyday tries to protect the average Nigerian. So if inflation is going down, why would you now add it to a wage increase. It means that you should even have a wage reduction. So please, let us say things on facts not on sentiments.”

 

 

 

I’m not Obasanjo’s concubine –Ezekwesili

 

 

A former Vice-President of the World Bank, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, on Wednesday denied having any amorous relationship with former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Ezekwesili’s denial followed the widespread circulation of a photograph showing her in a very warm embrace with Obasanjo.

In the trending photo, the former President is seen holding Ezekwesili from behind and giving her a peck on the cheek.

The controversial picture was taken on Tuesday during the public presentation of Obasanjo’s three-part autobiography entitled, ‘My Watch’.

Many online commentators expressed displeasure with Ezekwesili and Obasanjo for behaving in such a manner in public.

They accused the former minister of education, who once served in Obasanjo’s cabinet, of being indecorous as a married woman and passing a wrong message to young girls who look up to her as a role model.

A group known as ‘Hope for Nigeria’ stated that it was taken aback by the decision of the two public figures to behave themselves that way in public.

“This is Dr. Oby Ezekwesili the #BringBackOurGirls crusader with former President Obasanjo at his book launch.

“Was it that Ezekwesili forgot that she was in a public place and a married woman? She threw caution to the wind. Anyway, we saw her sticking out her finger in excitement, while the ‘Chemistry’ lasted.

“What manner of role model will this woman be to young Nigerian girls who look up to her?” the group wrote, after posting the controversial photograph on its Facebook page.

But Ezekwesili has fired back at her accusers, describing those who have reacted to the photo by calling her unprintable names as “gutter minds.”

The former minister stated that Obasanjo merely gave her a “boisterous greeting”, adding that only “impure hearts” would be suspicious of the motive behind his expression of goodwill.

She blamed declining “family values” for her critics’ line of thought, noting that those “purveyors of the filthy conversation” were merely “living for the gutter.”

“My former boss – President Obasanjo – gave me a boisterous greeting at his event yesterday (Tuesday) and the impure in heart now turn it to lurid tales.

“Restoring family values will also help take us back to a descent society. It is clear that many among us have lost our pure hearts.

“Let us leave them to their lowliness. It is out of the abundance of the filthiness or purity of heart that the mouth speaks,” Ezekwesili tweeted.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, has said only 10 states of the federation were working towards “breaking the chain” of corruption in the country.

Arguing that corruption was a major obstacle to economic and social development of the nation, Odinkalu stated that the 10 states had enacted laws capable of stemming the tide of corruption.

“Today in Nigeria, only 10 states have enacted fiscal responsibility laws. The remaining 26 states have not started working towards breaking the chain of corruption,” Odinkalu wrote on his Twitter page.

According to him, to understand how to make corruption a thing of the past, political leaders and the citizenry needed to know how the country got entangled in the menace from the outset.

“We created a country in which the church and mosque matter at the expense of country. What prayer is bigger than second stanza of national anthem?

“There was a time when there were only three public integrity institutions: the police, judiciary, civil service. Today, we’ve dozens of public institutions and the majority of them are more corrupt.

“Roads, buildings and monuments aren’t achievements in public life. To break the chain of corruption, we must count achievement in terms of growth in values,” he added.

Also, online activist, Tunji Lardner, lamented the absence of political, institutional and public will to fight corruption in the country.

In a Twitter chat titled, “Corruption in Nigeria,” held in commemoration of the world anti-corruption day, Lardner insisted that there was a direct link between the “systemic corruption” in the nation’s armed forces and the security challenges being witnessed.

The Federal Government, he stated, had spent over $6b on the armed forces with ‘nothing’ to sure for it in terms of military capabilities

“Corruption is a process that corrodes, debases and destroys personal, collective, material and moral values in a society.

“Of course stealing is the popular and pervasive front face of corruption the systemic corruption of Nigeria.

“To reduce the rate of corruption in the country, there is a need for total reform of the judicial sector, massive civic education campaign, and holding of the elite accountable for their misdeeds,” the activist said.

 

 

 

I thought I was smuggling hemp, not guns ─ Suspect

 

 

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a suspected robber, Amos Kuesi, who said he thought he was smuggling hemp and not guns before he was arrested.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the suspect was arrested on Thursday, November 27, by policemen attached to the Pen Cinema Division while on patrol.

Our correspondent gathered that while another gang member, identified simply as Sotin, evaded arrest, 24-year-old Kuesi was apprehended and subsequently transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja, for further interrogation.

According to the police, two revolver pistols with four live cartridges and a bag of Indian hemp were recovered during a search on a commercial bus around the Pen Cinema/Agege Roundabout.

Speaking with PUNCH Metro on Tuesday, Kuesi, a native of Ogoni, Rivers State, confessed that he and Sotin were heading for Mile 2 when he was arrested.

He, however, said he did not know he was carrying any gun. He explained that it was after the police discovered the guns that he realised that those who gave him the hemp to deliver to a man in Mile 2 hid guns in the package.

He said, “I travelled to Port Harcourt to see some friends. I went with Sotin. On our way back, I was given a package and I was told it contained hemp. I was asked to deliver it to a man in the Mile 2 area of Lagos. I did not know the Port Harcourt boys also hid guns and live cartridges inside the bag.

“The bag was placed in the boot of the bus I boarded from Port Harcourt to Lagos. If only I knew the content of the bag included guns, I would not have agreed to deliver it. They gave me the man’s phone number adding that he would pay me N50,000.

“But while heading for Oshodi through Agege, some policemen searched us. Sotin ran away, but the policemen arrested me.”

Kuesi, who said his fiance had no idea he was a member of a robbery gang, added that it was some financial difficulties which forced him into joining the gang.

He said, “I used to work as a generator repairer. I was living fine until some months ago when I ran into financial difficulties. That was how I was introduced to the gang by one Ifeanyi. I knew them as casual friends. I did not know they were robbers.”

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the arrest of Kuesi, adding that investigations were ongoing on the matter.

He said, “Policemen on patrol along Iju Road, Agege intercepted the suspect with a bag containing two pistols with 5.56mm live ammunition. The case is under investigation at the Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba.”

Fire guts Mansard Insurance building

 

A building belonging to Mansard Insurance Plc was on Tuesday gutted by fire in Lagos.

The building, which is located on Aboyede Cole on the Victoria Island, was said to have been gutted by fire around 11am after a petrol tanker exploded near the building.

It was gathered that the explosion led to the inferno. The tanker was said to have supplied diesel to a filling station near the building.

Some concerned Nigerians, while commenting on the incident through various social media platforms mistook the building for the corporate head office of the insurance company, but our correspondent was able to speak with a customer care representative on the phone, who said while the building belonged to the company, it was not its head office.

The customer care representative, who declined to give his name said, “The building belongs to the company, but it is not its head office”.

When asked for the cause of the fire, he said, “I cannot say anything about that for now, your call was routed to the Surulere call centre. I am not on the Island so I cannot comment on the fire incident.”

Confirming the incident, the Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Razak Fadipe, said firefighters got a distress call and arrived at the scene within five minutes of receiving the call.

According to him, no life was lost and his men were able to contain the fire and prevent it from causing further damage and spreading to other buildings.

“We received a distress call at 11.45am and we arrived there at 11.50am. We have been able to successfully curtail the fire from posing further threats or spreading to other buildings. Our men are still on ground to monitor the fire as it gradually dies down,” he said.

Policeman tortures man, wife in Lagos .

 

 

 

A 29-year-old photographer, Ejeh Smith, and his wife, Grace, 26, are in pains and receiving treatment at a Lagos hospital after a police officer, identified as Dada Ogunsanya, allegedly tortured them with his rifle.

Ogunsanya is attached to the Ikoyi Police Division.

The incident happened at the Lekki Roundabout on Wednesday, last week, while the couple was in a taxi en route to their home at Parkview Estate.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the police officer was among a seven-man team, patrolling the area around 10pm.

The police team was said to have stopped the taxi driver and demanded that he opened his boot for a routine check.

The taxi driver, Ndubuisi Iheaka, told our correspondent that after he opened his boot which contained scaffolding belts, the policeman demanded to see his driving licence.

“I was about getting the driving licence when he started flashing his torchlight on my passengers who were sitting at the back.

“The wife told the officer not to flash the torch on them since the inner light of the vehicle was on.

“Because of what she said, the policeman asked them to come down from the cab. This started an argument. The next thing I saw was that the policeman pulled my passenger (Ejeh) by his trousers, and his wife went to plead with him to stop.

“But instead, he slapped her and punched her husband. He was wearing a ring, which inflicted a deep cut on Ejeh’s face. After that, he used the butt of his gun to hit him in his eye and face. He also dragged his wife on the road.”

Grace said the policeman, apart from slapping her, stepped on her tummy.

“If I was pregnant that night, I would have lost my pregnancy. I was only trying to pet him to leave my husband since he did not have business with us. I told him to face the cab driver and leave us alone. “The other policemen were just looking at him while he dragged me on the ground. A man riding a tricycle at the time was the one who rescued me. He said the policemen must call their Divisional Police Officer or else he would not leave the scene,” she said.

The Ikoyi DPO, Mrs. Aisha Haruna, was said to have arrived at the scene.

Ejeh claimed he could barely see because blood was dripping from his eyes, while his wife was vomiting blood. He added that the DPO ordered that they be taken to the station to make statements.

He said, “But we told her that we needed to first treat ourselves before we could make statements. That was when we were given forms and referred to the Falomo Police Hospital. We paid for the treatment and we also went to the eye clinic for treatment.”

His wife claimed that the DPO seized her phone and asked an inspector at the station to delete all the pictures and video recording she did of the incident.

“Even my personal data were deleted. And when I asked the DPO why she did that, she said we deserved the treatment we got. She said she would have locked us up in the cell if not for our injuries. She said we did not know how to talk,” she added.

The family lawyer of the victims, Mr. Sunday Agbinya, said his office would write a petition to the Inspector General of Police to redress the wrong done to his clients.

“This is a case of assault occasioning harm and we intend to challenge it. We will send a petition to the IG. We want the police to conduct a full investigation into this,” he said.

The legal officer of a non-governmental organisation, Project Alert on Violence Against Women, Mr. Ben Odeh, said the police officer responsible for the act should be disciplined for torturing the couple.

He said, “It is a breach of their constitutional rights. The policeman went too far.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the incident.

He said, “Yes, the incident happened in the Ikoyi division.Inquiries are on as well as disciplinary procedures.”