Welcome to Linda Ikeji's Blog |
- MTO is still on this Rihanna is pregnant ish
- Photos: Peter and Lola Okoye take a cruise together..
- Photo: Billionaire wife and daughter looking fab in new photo
- 50 Cent comes for A$AP Rocky after he tries to holla at his ex-gf
- Ash Seven presents Nigeria's first stop 3D animated film 'Dave and Golly'
- Damboa town currently under attack by Boko Haram
- Charles Soludo replies Okonjo-Iweala, says Nigeria’s economy collapsed under her watch
- Fun & laughter as Omotola arrives private dinner in two statement outfits
- Photo: When a mother crosses the line
- Photo of Chadian helicopters used in fighting Boko Haram today
- Photos: Nollywood actor, Enyinna Nwigwe, steps into the limelight
- He shouldn't have! Hehe...Reno Omokri's twitter polls favours his opponent
- "Your opinion doesn't offend me' - Alexx Ekubo
- 15 year old girl who went missing in Ogba has been found
- Nigeria Military releases statement on today's attack in Maiduguri
- University of Birmingham in Port Harcourt, Nigeria
- Check out this couple's traditional wedding cake
- Suicide bomber blows himself up inside the residence of a PDP politician in Yobe state, 6 killed
- Exclusive pics: Omotola at Silverbird Abuja for autograph signing
- Whitney Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina reportedly brain dead
- Akin releases new single, Make Am Ft. Dotman (Prod. by T-Spize)
- IBB explains why he has not remarried 5 years after losing his wife
- Photos: Meet the first Nigerian women to be made lawmakers
- INEC extends deadline for collection of permanent voter cards
- Jude Okoye shares cute pic of daughter as she turns 2months old
MTO is still on this Rihanna is pregnant ish Posted: 01 Feb 2015 12:55 PM PST *Sigh*. MediaTakeOut is still insisting that Rihanna is pregnant and shared this pic as 'confirmation'. That doesn't look like a baby bump to me. MTO wrote; MediaTakeOut.com broke the news few weeks back . .. that Rihanna was pregnant. At the time some of y'all doubted us . . . well what do you have to say now. Rihanna showed off a noticeable tummy bulge at her Superbowl party performance with Kanye. That's clearly a baby in there... |
Photos: Peter and Lola Okoye take a cruise together.. Posted: 01 Feb 2015 12:55 PM PST |
Photo: Billionaire wife and daughter looking fab in new photo Posted: 01 Feb 2015 12:27 PM PST |
50 Cent comes for A$AP Rocky after he tries to holla at his ex-gf Posted: 01 Feb 2015 12:26 PM PST 50 Cent likes to bully people on social media sha. A few days after he put his ex-girlfriend Tatted Up Holly on blast, calling her community puzzy, he's now fighting rapper A$AP Rocky over her. 50 Cent came for A$AP after he sent a direct message to Tatted Up Holly On Instagram. 50 shared the message on twitter and called A$AP broke. A$AP responded. See all that after the cut... A$AP's response below... |
Ash Seven presents Nigeria's first stop 3D animated film 'Dave and Golly' Posted: 01 Feb 2015 12:13 PM PST 'Dave and Golly' is said to be the first stop motion 3D animation in Nigeria. The fifty minutes long animated film will be released Nationwide in the second quarter of 2015. "Dave and Golly", although was inspired by a biblical epic that anyone can watch, has its own twists, turns surprises and additional characters that are bound to leave movie lovers wanting for more. The film was put together by a group of Nigerians who form the media company, #Ash Seven. The company strives to inspire youths through art and creativity, and "Dave and Golly" does just so. Animator and director of the film: Victor Enoch, at first had no intentions whatsoever to make a 3D film anytime soon, but having created smashing animated hits like "The House of Ajebo Comedy Skits", he tweaked his goals a bit and set to achieve it. Mr.Victor Enochsaid "it's already taking about a year to do the movie but the effort will definitely beworth it". "We want to make this international, we want this country to be known for having great animation standards, and that's why we're trying to make it happen and make it perfect. It's going to take a lot of work because the otherAnimation companies [Disney, Pixar, Marvel] have put in a lot of years work, but someday we'll get to that spot," he said. Voice actor Daniel Okosun doubles as the Public Relations agent for, #Ash Seven and as the voice of antagonist Golly said there was a lot of work done to make sure the film becomes a reality. At the recent press conference of "David and Golly" in Abuja, The Secretary and Marketer to the group, Miss Mani-Tiffany Tela, also mentioned that "Dave and Golly" is not a Christian film, it's a movie for everyone. She said to watch out for good quality and humour. Mr. Emeka Ibe, who is the assistant director of #AshSeven added that "David and Golly" will be in the cinema soon. You can as well follow the animation project on: www.facebook.com/ Twitter: @AnimationNg |
Damboa town currently under attack by Boko Haram Posted: 01 Feb 2015 12:14 PM PST |
Charles Soludo replies Okonjo-Iweala, says Nigeria’s economy collapsed under her watch Posted: 01 Feb 2015 11:58 AM PST Former CBN Governor Charles Soludo has replied Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala's response to his viral article. Interesting read. Find below.... I read some of the responses to my article, "Buhari vs Jonathan: Beyond the Election", and I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the debate. I am glad that the debate has finally taken off. I have decided, for the record, to re-enter the debate if only to set some records straight and hopefully elevate the debate further. Whom do I respond to? First, let me thank Gov Kayode Fayemi for his very mature and professional response on behalf of the APC. It forms a great basis for deepening the conversation. Pat Utomi, Oby Ezekwesili, Iyabo Obasanjo, and thousands of other patriotic Nigerians have raised the content of the debate. Femi Fani-Kayode made me laugh, as usual. The Gov. Jang faction of the Governors' Forum played the usual politics, although I know what most of them think privately. Who else? Oh, Peter Obi. Well, since he can't write and designated Valentine as usual to write for him (who never disputed the NBS statistics that Obi broke world record in the pauperization of Anambra people but instead focused on lies and abuses) I won't dignify him with a response here. His third class performance in Anambra will be the subject of a comprehensive article later. Here, I will focus on Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala's response (as Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy—CME and hence on behalf of the Federal Government). Since I have known her, out of deep respect, I have never called her by her name: I call her Madam. I must state that I have great pains seeing myself on the opposite side of the table with Madam, in this way. I respect you, Madam, and will always do. If you read my article of September 2010 (before you became Minister), the tone and elucidation were as strong as the current one. It is my honest effort to ensure that our choice of leaders is based on rigorous scrutiny of what is on offer. Part of my frustration is that five years after, everything I warned about has come to happen and we are conducting our campaigns as if we are not in crisis. As a concerned Nigerian, I have a duty to speak out again. Regrettably, you have taken it very personal. I am not bothered about the personal abuses: I actually expected worse. What name has the government not called President Obasanjo or any person who has dared to disagree with it of late? Anyone who disagrees with the government must either be 'insane' or have a 'character' deficiency or must be 'looking for a job' or 'without honour', or a 'charlatan'. Yesterday, Sanusi alleged that $20 billion was missing and he was accused of gross financial mismanagement, recklessness and poor governance to the point of being the first governor of central bank to be suspended from office. Today, he is the good one; and for daring to award an "F" grade for our economic performance, Soludo has become the 'worst' and 'without character' or perhaps 'looking for position' (Lol!). Some days ago, a former president was called 'a motor park tout' and 'un-statesmanly' just for disagreeing. This "how dare you criticise us" mind-set of the government is dangerous for our democracy. In this Part One of my planned three part series, I will restrict it to the main issues you raised. I will not bother about the malicious attacks on my person. For me, it is nothing personal. In early 2011, I had a similar heated exchange with then Finance Minister Segun Aganga. But when the Nigerian economy was at stake and he invited me to a stakeholders meeting in his office (as Minister of Trade and Investment) to discuss Nigeria's response to the ruinous EU- Economic Partnership for Africa (EPA), I flew into Nigeria for that (at my expense)— the first and only time I have been to any government office to discuss policy since I left office. It is about Nigeria. I will, as expected, remind people like you of the salient aspects of my record of public service in response to your charge; challenge your claim to debt relief, and your reason for not saving; highlight your forgery of economic statistics and the lies in your response; but most importantly re-focus our attention to the historic mismanagement of our economy which you carefully avoided. I will show that while you are introducing austerity measures and soon to immiserate the citizens, our public finance is haemorrhaging to the point that estimated over N30 trillion is missing or stolen or unaccounted for, or simply mismanaged— under your watch! We can't go on like this, and I am convinced that an alternative future is possible. Can we have a public debate on this alternative future? The issues at stake are too grave to be trivialized through name calling. As I write, the naira exchange rate to the dollar is at N215 (from N158 a few months ago) and unless oil price recovers, this is just the beginning. For the sake of Nigeria, I won't keep quiet anymore! Let me start with Madam's rather comical, wild judgment on my tenure of office which I believe to be totally false and baseless. I apologise upfront that in the process of making a 'personal defence', it is difficult to avoid a rather uncomfortable emphasis on "I". I did not want that but since Madam has dragged us this low, I have little choice but to do so in the next few paragraphs—just to keep the record straight! In my view, there are three criteria for evaluating a public officer's stewardship: the evaluation by his employer; the satisfaction of the public he served; and the hard facts of performance. As I will show on these three counts, I am convinced that I left a world record of public service, and a thousand Okonjo-Iwealas cannot re-write that history. I served Nigeria under two presidents (Obasanjo and Yar'Adua) and as my immediate bosses, below are their written testimonials of my record. Said President Obasanjo (December 2004): "Charles Soludo is a true Nigerian. He is the sort of Nigerian that we all know we can rely on. Among his numerous virtues is COURAGE. I have found in him a man who can take tough and realistic decisions, stand his ground, educate others on the salience of his decision, and work very hard to ensure that the decision is efficiently and effectively implemented. His dedication to duty is first rate. His leadership qualities are admirable and his willingness to listen and learn is simply infectious. Professor Soludo has within a short time emerged as one of the leading lights of our nation. Not because he has a godfather but by sheer hard work, loyalty, dedication to duty, commitment to the nation, creativity, and undiluted association with the reform agenda…." President Yar'Adua (May 2009) had the following to say about the Central Bank of Nigeria under my leadership: "… the CBN has performed creditably well in delivering on its core mandates. This is especially even more so in the last five years. Most people would agree that without the successful banking consolidation and effective management of our foreign reserves, the current global crisis would have shaken the financial system and our national economy to their foundations with calamitous consequences". In the President's special letter of commendation after the completion of my tenure of office, President Yar'Adua (June 2009) had the following to say to me: "As your tenure as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria comes to a glorious end, I write on behalf of the Government and people of Nigeria to place on record our debt of gratitude to you for your dedicated service and uncommon sense of duty over the past five years. I am confident that your worthy antecedents in the CBN and in prior appointments in the service of our nation remain sources of inspiration to an entire generation. As I wish you even more astounding successes in the years ahead, it is my fervent hope that you will readily avail us of your distinguished service when the need arises in the future". To the best of my knowledge, President Obasanjo has not changed those views even after ten years. The views of my two bosses, not the emotional outburst of an angry person desperate to get even, are what count. How did Nigerians evaluate my public service? Unfortunately, we do not have scientific opinion polls on job approval ratings for individual public officers. But if the public opinions of individuals and organized groups (labour, employers, depositors, borrowers, stakeholders of the financial institutions, newspaper editorials, investors, etc) as expressed in thousands of newspaper/magazine clips during and after my tenure are anything to go by, then 82% of the public largely agree with the sentiments expressed by my two bosses. Your views belong to the other 18% which is okay, after all, no one is perfect. Five Nigerian newspapers and magazines simultaneously named us "man of the year" in one year— unprecedented in Nigeria's history. I do not talk about hundreds of awards and recognitions by various segments of our society (during and even after service) for "excellent public service". I was particularly touched by the historic award by the staff union of the Central Bank and the tears in the eyes of many as thousands of the staff gave me a standing ovation as I walked the aisle after my brief farewell speech. Certainly, the international community (investors, bankers, scholars, donors, media, etc) took serious notice of the revolution in Nigeria's monetary and financial system. I am recipient of five international awards as global and African central bank governor of the year, not to mention dozens of other recognitions (even after leaving office). The London Financial Times described us as "a great reformer". Even as the global economic and financial crisis raged in 2008, the United Nations General Assembly appointed me to serve on the Commission of Experts to reform the international monetary and financial system. You don't appoint someone who has 'mismanaged' his national financial system to reform the global system. For 8 years until 2012, I served on the chief economist advisory council (CEAC) of the World Bank, and together with two Nobel Prize winners in economics and other experts we met periodically and advised two presidents and two chief economists of the World Bank, and in 2011, I served on the External Advisory Group of the IMF. Again, these are not positions for 'mis-managers'. Since I left office, I have been advising countries and central banks; and there is hardly any two months I don't consult/advise on banking/financial and monetary policy. I have given these illustrations to make the point that for every one Okonjo-Iweala's attempt to rewrite history, there are thousands who disagree. Now, to some skeletal facts of our stewardship! I will be brief as I have a whole book to tell my story. As chief economic adviser, I had advised that our banking system could not support the private sector-led economy envisioned under NEEDS. When I assumed office at CBN, I inherited 89 rickety, mostly family banks (all of which put together were not up to the size of number four bank in South Africa). Many were insolvent, with depositors' money trapped, and 20 more about to collapse. To get a credit of $300 million probably required all the banks to syndicate it. For me, there was a national emergency. I drafted a 13-point reform agenda, discussed and agreed all the specifics with the President, and his VP; as well as my management team at the CBN, and we swung into action. President Obasanjo promised 100% support and actually delivered 1000%— which was decisive. I apologize to you Madam because I did not brief or inform you about it. We just wanted to keep it confidential given the sensitivity of the announcement. It is on record that you never supported it. It was both a revolution and a war and most people thought it was "impossible", but thank God we succeeded. For the first time in Nigeria's history a policy of that magnitude was announced and deadline kept with precision. We were courageous to revoke the licenses of 14 banks, including those of my friends, in one day. The FT-Banker concluded that the scale, precision, and cost of the transformation were unprecedented in the world. Before then, Malaysia had the least cost of banking consolidation at 5% of Malaysian GDP. It did not cost Nigerian taxpayers one penny. Twenty-five new, stronger banks emerged but the powerful idea behind consolidation ignited something even more powerful—'the race to the top'. Banks raised more capital, and even banks like First Bank, Zenith, GTB, etc that did not merge with others went on capital raising several times. The consequence was higher levels of capitalization and within two years, 14 Nigerian banks were in the top 1000 banks in the world and two in the top 300 (no Nigerian bank was in the top 1000 before I came). Even after I left office, still 9 banks were in the top 1000. Our vision was to have a Nigerian bank in the top 100 banks within 10 years. As I see the new Access bank; Zenith, GTB, Fidelity, Diamond, UBA, FBN, FCMB, Skye, Stanbic IBTC, Union, Ecobank, etc, I cannot but feel that we have taken giant steps forward. Deposits and credit soared (from barely N1.2 trillion to over N7 trillion); new technologies (ATM and e-banking) boomed, and banks had 57,000 new jobs; mega businesses emerged (ask any major operator in the Nigerian economy their experience with banking and credit before and after Soludo —the Dangotes, Arik, MM2, oil and gas operators; etc); capital market boomed and dominated by the banking sector. It was a new dawn for Nigerian private sector. I have heard Dangote twice say that he would not be near as big as he is today without the banking consolidation. Many other stakeholders still say it today. FDI and portfolio inflows flooded into Nigeria. The world celebrated, and one single transformative idea has changed the face of the private sector and economy forever. Banks became Nigeria's first transnational corporations with about 37 branches outside of Nigeria. Nigeria survived the global crisis because of this, and it is the banking sector that has largely been powering the economic growth you claim (compare banks trillions of naira credit for investments in the productive sector with your government's miserable expenditure on critical infrastructure and investment; much of your borrowing – bonds – is from the banks). Your privatization of power sector, several PPP projects on infrastructure, etc, are now possible because of the mega banks. Today, Nigerian banks syndicate multi-billion dollar loans— unthinkable before. Madam, if the consolidation was 'mismanaged', there would not have been any bank to start with in the aftermath of the global crisis— as President Yar'adua correctly pointed out. Even you, during a recent presentation at the Banquet Hall in Abuja advertised consolidation as a historic achievement. How can you recognize a 'mis-managed' project as an outstanding achievement? As we say in Igbo, you can't cover the moon with your palms. Let me be clear: the quantum size of the new banks following consolidation presented challenges of risk management and supervision. We deployed all we had and overworked the CBN staff. The carry-over of bad loans from the consolidated banks was quickly cleaned up. To the best of my knowledge, we instituted stringent regulatory and supervisory regime (consistent with best practices at the time). We even had resident examiners in the banks and required bank MDs to personally sign their reports to CBN. I recall that the former MD of GTB complained of "regulatory intrusiveness". To our credit, non-performing loans (NPL) came down from 22% in 2003 and 2004 to 6% as at 2008. Anywhere in the world, a central bank that brought NPL from 22% to 6% over a four year period does not look like one with a loose supervisory regime. Name other developing countries that performed better, Madam. So, on point of fact, Madam lied. Yours was a reckless assertion without basis by a Finance Minister. The banks in Nigeria were supervised by the CBN and NDIC, but other institutions— international firms which audited them, international rating agencies which also examined their books, capital market operators since most were listed companies — all had oversight. I put on record that there was never any information/report of infractions by any bank which was brought to my attention and which we did not act upon decisively during my tenure. I heard the comment that some of the bank MDs were my friends. Well, my response is that perhaps as CME you should kill all your friends operating in the economy or become their enemies. For the record, my successor audited all the banks and none of my so-called friends was indicted. It speaks volumes. Indeed, it is also a fact that the alleged personal criminal infractions (including lapses in corporate governance Madam alluded to) by some bank CEOs were found out, only AFTER they had been removed from office. My successor told me that the comprehensive audit of the banks did not reveal such infractions. Of course, you must be God or have a special tip-off from inside to get to such information while the MDs are in office. Unfortunately, all over the world, no financial system has succeeded in routing out all criminal behaviours by the operators. So, Madam, I challenge you to provide one shred of evidence that 'there was no separation between regulators and regulated' or be honourable enough to retract your reckless statement. What happened? The unanticipated and unprecedented crisis of 2008/09 hit the world. More than 40 US and European banks either collapsed or were shaken badly (remember the Lehman Brothers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Wachovia, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, even UBS, etc) and hundreds of billions of dollars were spent to bail them out. The contagion effects spread like a wild fire, destroying national stock markets and banks. The nascent (big) banks in Nigeria faced sudden multiple shocks— liquidity, exchange rate, oil price, capital market, etc. As oil prices collapsed, loans to oil and gas became non-performing overnight; loans to the capital market became non-performing overnight; etc. Our first priority was to save the entire banking system and the economy from systemic collapse. I assured Nigerians that no bank would be allowed to fail, and not many people know what it took to achieve it. Once we had navigated through the unexpected /unprecedented turbulence, we laid out a comprehensive plan to clean up the debris which we presented to stakeholders in Lagos (March 2009). I had pleaded with the Senate to pass the AMCON bill which we sent to them in 2004. But I had a comprehensive plan to finish the clean-up with or without AMCON by the end of 2009, including second round consolidation and a N500 billion fund (my book will detail all these). I left behind an 11-volume document of the Financial System Strategy 2020 (FSS2020) which has remained the policy roadmap for the CBN/financial sector since I left office. I have two analogies for our experience. Ours was really like an airplane that was cruising and suddenly meets an unexpected and unprecedented turbulence. After the pilots and the crew succeed in navigating through the potential crash and probably land the airplane, people look in and start blaming the crew for the broken tea cups, chairs, and drinks that fell during the turbulence as evidence that the crew never kept the airplane clean or serviced it. My second analogy is that of a sudden earthquake in a region it was never expected and some houses collapsed. All of a sudden, the housing authority is to blame for not requiring earthquake-proof foundations for the houses. Well, my legal experts call it force majeure, an act of natureTo be fair, after every crisis, there are lessons (and my book will detail what, with benefit of that experience, we should have done differently). Risk management— which has always been there— now took a new centre stage all over the world following the crisis. But for anyone to suggest that CBN under me, for one minute, took its eyes off the ball is, to say the least, ludicrous. The US financial system literally crippled the world costing America hundreds of billions of dollars but no one has suggested that Alan Greenspan is no longer the great maestro! AMCON is a big topic (which I will address at a later date) but her claims show either ignorance or mischief. She claims that N5.7 trillion of AMCON funds was used to rescue banks and the 'bond issued' as 'cost to taxpayers'. Really? I will deal with the AMCON I envisaged and the AMCON under you later but let me state that even if 100% of the banks' NPL was offloaded on AMCON, it would not be up to N5.7 trillion. Enough said for now. The fact is that the Federal Government has not put a penny in the AMCON fund: the banking system is financing itself, and together with the sinking fund by banks, AMCON surely can't default (thanks to consolidation that the banks are now big enough to cough out such funds to solve the system's problem). Did you intend to deceive the readers by refusing to tell them that much of the AMCON fund is 'investment' and not 'expense'. Am sure you heard the IMF's alarm about moral hazard? If you want, we can have a focused debate on AMCON. Next, let me briefly respond to a few outlandish claims. She brags about 'single-digit' inflation rate 'now' and alleges that when I left office, inflation was above 13%. I just laughed at this one. In Nigeria's history, no governor of the Central Bank has delivered 24 consecutive months of single digit inflation as I did until the advent of the unprecedented global crisis in 2008. It was not for nothing that the world cheered us as monetary policy czar, Madam! Perhaps you are also not aware that we broke a world record by having a depreciated real effective exchange rate during a time of export boom and this was at the heart of our reserve accumulation and the portfolio/FDI inflows. I resisted the IMF advice to deplete reserves for liquidity management, and Nigeria had enough self-insurance to survive the global crisis. The opposite has happened under you Madam, and the Nigerian economy is in trouble. Naira exchange rate appreciated under me from N133 to N117 before the global crisis; and reserves grew to all time high of $62 billion. For the first time since 1986, the official, interbank and parallel market exchange rates converged under me. You can't match these records! I hereby challenge your attempt to blame others for not saving for the rainy day. It is not a virtue when you are quick to appropriate all the credit when things are going well, but shift the blame when they go wrong. You blame the state governors— who, according to you, have taken the Federal Government to the Supreme Court—not that a Supreme Court judgment forced your hands. For your information, the governors have never agreed to savings and always threatened court action even under Obasanjo. Why did we save under Obasanjo but not under Jonathan? Two keywords explain it: leadership and integrity. Governor Amaechi said the governors insisted on sharing the funds because they found out that you were illegally fiddling with the savings. So, as Nigerians still wonder, if billions of dollars are now 'missing' under your nose, why should governors trust you to keep their money? Do the states that have taken the federal government to the Supreme Court and refused to save also include the PDP governors—who are in the majority? If so, then it is fatal: even governors of your own party, PDP, do not trust you to keep their money! Furthermore, did the governors also stop the Federal Government from saving part of its share? If you ran a surplus budget at the Federal level, you would have had credibility to blame others or to say they did not listen to your advice. The key point is that since you were running huge deficits yourself, it was also in your own interest to share the ECA. You did not show leadership or credibility, full stop! Next, Madam, I was really embarrassed for you to read that one of the reasons for declining forex reserves is 'oil theft'. Under you as Minister of Finance and coordinator of the economy, the basket of our national treasury is leaking profusely from all sides. Just a few illustrations! First, you admit that 'oil theft' has reduced oil output from the average 2.3 – 2.4 million barrels per day (mpd) to 1.95mpd (meaning that at least 350,000 to 450,000 barrels per day are being 'stolen'. On the average of 400,000 per day and the oil prices over the past four years, it comes to about $60 billion 'stolen' in just four years. In today's exchange rate, that is about N12.6 trillion. This is at a time of cessation of crisis in the Niger Delta and amnesty programme. Can you tell Nigerians how much the amnesty programme costs, and also the annual cost for 'protecting' the pipelines and security of oil wells? And the 'thieves' are spirits? Come on, Madam! Second, my earlier article stated that the minimum forex reserves should have been at least $90 billion by now and you did not challenge it. Rather it is about $30 billion, meaning that gross mismanagement has denied the country some $60 billion or another N12.6 trillion. Now add the 'missing' $20 billion from the NNPC. You promised a forensic audit report 'soon', and more than a year later the Report itself is still 'missing'. This is over N4 trillion, and we don't know how much more has 'missed' since Sanusi cried out. How many trillions of naira were paid for oil subsidy (unappropriated?). How many trillions (in actual fact) have been 'lost' through customs duty waivers over the last four years? As coordinator of the economy, can you tell Nigerians why the price of automotive gas oil (AGO), popularly called diesel, has still not come down despite the crash in global crude oil prices, and how much is being appropriated by friends in the process? Be honest: do you really know (as coordinator and minister of finance) how many trillions of Naira, self- financing government agencies earn and spend? I have a long list but let me wait for now. I do not want to talk about other 'black pots' that impinge on national security. My estimate, Madam, is that probably more than N30 trillion has either been stolen or lost or unaccounted for or simply mismanaged under your watchful eyes in the past four years. Since you claim to be in charge, Nigerians are right to ask you to account. Think about what this amount could mean for the 112 million poor Nigerians or for our schools, hospitals, roads, etc. Soon, you will start asking the citizens to pay this or that tax, while some faceless "thieves" were pocketing over $40 million per day from oil alone. You alluded to debt relief in your response and tried to take credit. Well, your CV is honest enough to admit that your two achievements in office as Finance minister under Obasanjo were that "you led the Nigerian team that struck a deal with the Paris Club" and that you "introduced the practice of publishing each state's monthly financial allocation in the newspapers". You are right about the two achievements. Let me put on record that Nigeria would have secured debt relief under anyone as Minister of Finance. President Obasanjo secured debt relief for Nigeria. Much of his first term was used to get Nigeria back into the international community and to campaign for debt relief. Before you were sworn in as Minister of Finance, President Bush visited Nigeria and both of us accompanied President Obasanjo during the meeting. There, Mr. Bush promised to support Nigeria with debt relief and asked our president to ensure that he met the conditions of the Paris Club. Obasanjo mobilized the global political support and coordinated all of us to ensure that the government met the check-list of 'conditionalities' as required. I spent five weeks in the hotel with my team (as coordinator/chairman for drafting the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy, NEEDS). Some of the reform targets in NEEDS became the 'conditionalities' Nigeria was required to fulfil to merit debt relief. You and I signed the various MoU with the IMF on behalf of Nigeria (the policy support instrument). We had a great team at work and each member of the economic team had specific aspects of the conditionalities to deliver: Bode Agusto was in-charge of the budget; Oby Ezekwesili held sway at Bureau of Public Procurement and later Minister of Solid Mineral, and Education (but specifically tasked with delivering on EITI and procurement reforms); Nuhu Ribadu was at the EFCC fighting corruption; I was at the Central Bank delivering on monetary policy and banking reforms; Steve Oronsaye worked hard to delist Nigeria from the FATF; Nenadi Usman was in-charge of the parastatals; El-Rufai held forth at FCT and in charge of public sector reforms; privatization programme went on, etc. Did you know that the IMF wrote President Obasanjo threatening that there would be no debt relief if the CBN did not meet some monetary targets, and do you know the magic we performed to meet them? Can you tell Nigerians which of the 'conditionalities' that you personally implemented? With the groundswell of political support and Nigeria meeting all the 'conditionalities', debt relief was assured. Your major role as stated in your CV was to lead the team to negotiate the specific terms of the relief, having fulfilled the conditions. I still believe that Nigeria should have gotten far better terms than you negotiated. Of course, with your eyes on returning to the World Bank after office, I did not expect you to boldly stand up to the donor community in defence of Nigeria. Was there a conflict of interest on your part? By the way, can you tell Nigerians why you were eased out as Finance Minister and you cried like a baby begging OBJ to still allow you remain in the Economic Management team—- barely few weeks after the debt relief? Why were you eventually also removed from the economic management team if you were so important? Ironically, President Jonathan has recycled you, with a bigger title and greater responsibilities. But the difference is that the team that did the actual work is no longer there, and the world has seen that the king is naked. You are brilliant Madam, but you need serious help. Having spent all your life in the World Bank bureaucracy largely in administration/operations, no one will blame you if your economics has become a bit rusty. There are firebrand Nigerians all over the world to draft to service. It is certainly embarrassing to Nigeria for you to be bothering World Bank economists to help you with most basic economic analysis. Your response on the poverty issue is deeply troubling. You accuse me of using "2011 statistics on poverty by the NBS to support his argument, while ignoring more recent figures". At least you did not refute the NBS figure as valid. In the next sentence, Madam went ahead to note that "as stated in the Nigeria Economic Report 2014 by the World Bank, poverty in Nigeria has dropped from 35.2 percent of population in 2010/2011 to 33.1 percent in 2012/2013". Did you notice that you have quoted two figures for poverty for the same year as being equally correct? So, for 2011, was poverty 71% (according to NBS) or 35% according to the World Bank? To the best of my knowledge, the last published household survey by NBS was in 2011. The World Bank does not conduct household surveys in member states to determine poverty incidence. So, when and by whom was the survey that gave the World Bank figures? What worries me is that this government is the first in our history to attempt to manipulate our national statistics under Okonjo-Iweala. When NBS published the poverty figures in 2011, she felt indicted and incensed. She called upon the World Bank to come and examine the 'methodology' and get NBS to 'review' its numbers. Oby Ezekwesili (as VP Africa Region rejected the call to try to tamper with a country's statistics). Once Oby left, the 'World Bank' started talking about 'new figures', without conducting any new surveys. I was told about it by a World Bank economist, and I cautioned that it was a dangerous gamble that would damage the credibility of the NBS. If you want to 'review methodology', you conduct another survey but you can't change 'methodology' because you don't like the published figures. No government in our history has tried it: even Sani Abacha allowed a poverty survey that put poverty at 67% under his regime. At this rate, who will believe statistics coming from the Nigerian government again? Is it now the World Bank that sits in Washington and allocates poverty numbers to Nigeria? Something smells here! Madam alleges that the NBS—as a parastatal under the National Planning Commission (under me) departed from the 'international standard method of poverty measurement'. How and when, Madam? I was in office at National Planning for 11 months from July 2003 to May 2004. A poverty survey was conducted in 2004 and the results computed and published in 2005/2006— more than a year after I had gone to the Central Bank. Or perhaps, it was a clever way to divert attention from your manipulation of published economic statistics. The NBS published its poverty data in 2006 when you were Minister of Finance, and you did not question the 'methodology' because the figures looked good. In 2011, the poverty numbers (using the same methodology as in 2005/2006) indicted the government and suddenly, the 'methodology' is wrong. Interesting times! Now that you decide which economic statistics published by NBS to accept and which ones to 'change the methodology' to give favourable figures, you can keep feeding your manipulated figures to your international media circus for the vain glorious awards to sustain an empty hype, while Nigerians groan under hardship. We can actually ask Nigerians whether they are getting better off now contrary to your bogus figures. Many of Madam's responses were comical, but this one is classic. According to her, the chief economic adviser and NBS "worked hard to determine how many jobs we need to create in a year", and went on to ask, "why didn't Soludo do this when he was CEA?" (Lol!). Madam, any good economist needs less than 10 minutes to compute this figure, not the (months? of) 'hard work' by your team. My calculation is that the number of jobs Nigeria needs to create each year to significantly reduce unemployment rate to sustainable levels in the next few years is at least 3 million, and not the 1.8 million by your team. We are talking about the Nigerian economy, please. Your magic wand for mass housing is the Mortgage Refinance Corporation with 23,000 mortgage offers—for a country with 17 million housing deficit! Then, there is the pedestrian proposal of a new development bank— financed with loans from the World Bank, etc? A World Bank loan to set up another 'development bank' where we already have Bank of Industry, Bank of Agriculture, NEXIM, Federal Mortgage Bank, etc? People have totally run out of ideas and can't see anything for Nigeria without through the prism of the World Bank. I will offer you free consultancy on how to set up a development bank without a World Bank loan but we don't need another one now. I actually gave President Yar'adua a two page note for a N3 trillion development fund then, and if we plug your leaking pipes, it could actually be a N10 trillion Fund. I envisioned and set up the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC)—Africa's premier infrastructure bank! Frankly, I don't understand why you seem highly troubled that the Soludo you thought had "disappeared from the political space" seems to be still around. Well, let me assure you that I will only 'disappear' in God's own time. I gave credit to two past presidents who laid the foundation of the market economy we operate today. You did not contest or contradict any of my points. Rather, what you see is that Soludo must be 'looking for a position'. Pity! If I am looking for a position, I would be running around one of the candidates now just as you are busy dancing Atilogwu dance at TAN and PDP rallies, struggling to keep your job. How Yar'adua drafted me to contest for governor in Anambra and APGA leadership as well and how I was "stopped" on both occasions are in the public domain. But I am not deterred for one minute. Chinua Achebe said that on leadership, Nigeria is a country that goes for a football match with its 10th Eleven. I am proud and happy to have offered to serve my people, and for the service of Nigeria, I will do it again and again. How many times did Abraham Lincoln, Obama, Reagan, etc contest before they got there? I actually encourage everyone who believes he/she has something to offer to get involved or stop complaining. I am happy seeing the increasing critical mass of professionals (like you) now getting involved. It is good for Nigeria! What is at stake is the survival and prosperity of Nigeria. Next elections are critical, and for me the key is the ECONOMY. We must offer Nigerians clarity on the choices before them. Can I propose a three-way debate with you (representing PDP/Federal Government), nominee of APC (Utomi or Fayemi? or any other), and myself (as independent citizen— I don't belong to any of the two). Let us have two bouts of debate between now and 12thFebruary, 2015 focusing on: CBN/AMCON and the financial system (if you want); our economy and its outlook, and agenda/alternative paths to sustainable prosperity post elections. Choose the dates and times, and for the sake of Nigeria, I will fly in. You can invite any of your international media friends as moderators. I feel the pain of the 180 million Nigerians whose tomorrow you have carelessly rendered bleak, and when I think of what the missing trillions could do for them, it becomes extremely urgent that we all must deepen the debate. Eagerly waiting for your response, please! |
Fun & laughter as Omotola arrives private dinner in two statement outfits Posted: 01 Feb 2015 11:40 AM PST It was time to relax, laugh and have fun finally as Omotola arrived at the intimate dinner in her honour to wrap up the Abuja kick-off of the "Omotola@20" world tour. The ace actress wore two outstanding outfits by the glamourous Chidinma Obairi. Among the people who came to celebrate Omosexy were Joseph Yobo, Osita Iheme, Benny Ark, Uti Nwachukwu, Larry Coldsweat, Mohammed Jammal (white Nigerian) and many more. Pics after the cut... Hosted by Gordons , the Night saw many giving their opinions on Omotola including her old school mates from her secondary school, command Kaduna. The actress who has just re-launched her website Omotola.tv was full of smiles and gratitude and danced till the wee hours of the morning. |
Photo: When a mother crosses the line Posted: 01 Feb 2015 11:03 AM PST According to Twitter user @bebeBADaxx, her mom sent her this picture of how a parent showed up to a mother-son dance in a school. This has got to be wrong on every level! |
Photo of Chadian helicopters used in fighting Boko Haram today Posted: 01 Feb 2015 10:58 AM PST |
Photos: Nollywood actor, Enyinna Nwigwe, steps into the limelight Posted: 01 Feb 2015 10:49 AM PST With the forthcoming Nigerian release of the action drama, Black November, Nollywood actor, Enyinna Nwigwe, is set to step into the limelight. Black November was directed by award winning director, Jeta Amata, and Enyinna Nwigwe stars in the movie alongside Hollywood heavyweights, Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. Also in the movie are Mbong Amata, Sarah Wayne Callies, Vivica Fox, Anne Heche, Akon, and Wyclef Jean. The actor dedicated two years of his career to filming Black November and promoting it around the United States and Europe. His two-year commitment to Black November has not been without reward. He has received Certificates of Recognition from several branches of the United States government for his performance in the movie and its message to the world. These include the Congressional District of Texas, the Los Angeles City Council, the Texas Senate, and California's 37th District. Black November is a gripping story of the struggle of a Niger Delta community against a corrupt government and a multinational oil corporation. In the film, Enyinna Nwigwe plays a charismatic militia leader named 'Tamuno', who orchestrates the kidnap of CEO of Western Oil, Tom Hudson (played by Mickey Rourke). The movie was premiered at the Kennedy Center on May 8, 2012. It was also screened September 26, 2012, during United Nations(U.N) General Assembly and at the United States Library Of Congress. Following his two-year tour of duty on Black November, Enyinna Nwigwe is now back in the mainstream of Nollywood, filming non-stop. Some of the latest productions he has been involved in are Obi Emelonye's Thy Will Be Done, Seyi Babatope's When Love Happens, Juliet Asante's Pan-African movie Silver Rain, Elvis Chucks' For the Wrong Reasons, and Izu Ojukwu's Remember Me, to name a few. Enyinna Nwigwe hails from Imo State, Nigeria. He attended the University of Calabar, where he studied Economics. The first movie he appeared in was Wheel of Change (2004). He went on to appear in productions such as Games Men Play, Reloaded, Be My Wife, The Amazing Grace, Mary Slessor, Heaven's Gate (TV series), and Turning Point. He is widely known for Bachelors (TV Series) where he played "Teddy." Without a doubt, the actor is back to claim his place as one of the leading men of Nollywood. Website: www.enyinnanwigwe.com Facebook: Enyinna Nwigwe |Fan Page| Twitter: @A_yinna Instagram: @A_yinna LinkedIn: Enyinna Nwigwe |
He shouldn't have! Hehe...Reno Omokri's twitter polls favours his opponent Posted: 01 Feb 2015 10:21 AM PST Presidential media aide Reno Omokri took to twitter to ask people to retweet in favour of GEJ or Favourite in favour of Buhari on two questions he put out. Well, the opposition won. Lol. Politics! |
"Your opinion doesn't offend me' - Alexx Ekubo Posted: 01 Feb 2015 09:13 AM PST Gbam! |
15 year old girl who went missing in Ogba has been found Posted: 01 Feb 2015 09:06 AM PST The 15 year old girl, Paulina Ojeka Ogwuledwu, who went missing in Ogba on January 14th (Read here) has been found. According to the girl's uncle, Pastor Akinlade, she returned home on Friday January 30th with the intent of parking her things to go live with a man she'd met at a bus park. When interrogated, Paulina said she'd gone to live with him in his house in Ishaga Lagos after she ran away from home. She's currently undergoing rehabilitation. |
Nigeria Military releases statement on today's attack in Maiduguri Posted: 01 Feb 2015 09:00 AM PST |
University of Birmingham in Port Harcourt, Nigeria Posted: 01 Feb 2015 08:57 AM PST The prestigious University of Birmingham is holding a student Counselling session in the Garden City of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. This is a very good opportunity to get to speak with the University's Country Officer about your interest in studying at this world-class institution. At the University of Birmingham we offer an elite education and an inspirational learning & research environment. Whether you join us on one of our undergraduate, taught postgraduate programmes or embark on Doctoral research with us, we value you as part of our academic community and we are constantly striving to develop the services, facilities, and opportunities available to you. Our various schools provides the best possible research and education environment – from dedicated postgraduate study rooms providing space for you to work, to events and training programmes to support your personal and professional development. We ensure that our teaching, learning, and research support is first class, enabling you to fulfil your potential. We share your ambitions, and want to ensure that your time at Birmingham secures your future success whether your career lies in academia, in business, in public service or in the professions. We are a truly global university: not only are we home to over 5,000 international students from over 150 countries, but our representative offices and staff in India, China, Nigeria, Brazil, the United States, and Brussels in mainland Europe, as well as our membership of the U21 global network, ensures that the University is well connected and measures its success against the highest international standards. Avail yourself of this wonderful opportunity to study at a truly high-status University. Come speak with the Country Officer of the University, John Ojeogwu; Date: 3rd of February, 2015. Time: 10:00am to 2:00pm Venue: UKEAS Nigeria (Port-Harcourt office) Plot 156, No 11 Tom Inko-Tariah Street. Rumuogba Estate Port Harcourt, Rivers state To book a place, please send an email to birmingham@ukeas.com.ng or call/sms +2348158868617 (email preferably) |
Check out this couple's traditional wedding cake Posted: 01 Feb 2015 07:41 AM PST |
Suicide bomber blows himself up inside the residence of a PDP politician in Yobe state, 6 killed Posted: 01 Feb 2015 06:08 AM PST A suicide bomber at about 1.20 this afternoon blew himself up inside the residence of a PDP House of Representative candidate in Potiskum, Yobe state, killing 6 people. According to reports, the suicide bomber made his way into the residence of Sabo Garbu, the PDP candidate for the Potiskum / Nangere Federal constituency in Yobe for next month's general elections and detonated the bomb. Many supporters of the politician were at his residence when the bomb went off killing at least 6 people. They are now entering politicians homes? More later. |
Exclusive pics: Omotola at Silverbird Abuja for autograph signing Posted: 01 Feb 2015 05:45 AM PST Omotola attended the only part of her 'omosexy@20' tour that was open to the general public. The actress stormed the Silverbird Galleria Abuja to meet, greet and sign autographs for numerous fans who all came to celebrate with the entertainment Icon. |
Whitney Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina reportedly brain dead Posted: 01 Feb 2015 05:50 AM PST Late Whitney Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina, 22, was found unresponsive in the bathtub inside her Georgia home yesterday. She was rushed to the hospital where TMZ later reported that she was in a medically induced coma for swelling of the brain. Now MTO is reporting that she's brain dead MediaTakeOut.com just exclusively spoke to a hospital worker at North Fulton Hospital, where Bobbi is staying. We're told that Bobbi Kristina is "brain dead". The worker, who asked to remain anonymous said, "She lost oxygen to her brain for too long - she's not going to be able to recover." We asked if the worker was sure about Bobbi's condition, and they replied, "Yes, very sure." We're also told that her father Bobby Brown, and family friends including Tyler Perry are at her bedside, praying for a miracle. Let's all say a special prayer for Bobbi tonight. MediaTakeOut.com just learned MORE information - on what happened to Bobbi Kristina yesterday. As you all know, Bobbi Kristina was found FACE DOWN in a bathtub - and NON-RESPONSIVE. She was rushed to the hospital and placed into a medically induced coma. And we spoke EXCLUSIVELY to a person at the hospital - who described Bobbi's current condition as "brain dead". Her family is currently praying by her side, asking GOD for a miracle. Initial reports were that Bobbi Kristina may have had a DRUG OVERDOSE . . . well now we're hearing otherwise. A person CLOSE to the Brown family tell MediaTakeOut.com exclusively that they suspect that Bobbi Kristina may have COMMITTED SUICIDE!!! The insider dropped EXCLUSIVE TEA to us. The tipster explained, "Bobbi and [husband] Nick [Gordon] were not together. They were staying apart. Nicki got a call from Bobbi Kris and he felt hat she was try to hurt herself. So he [and a friend] rushed home, and they found her." We're told that Bobbi Kristina was in a DEEP DEPRESSION - caused by trouble in her marriage, and FRUSTRATION with the portrayal of her mother Whitney in a recent Lifetime Biopic movie. |
Akin releases new single, Make Am Ft. Dotman (Prod. by T-Spize) Posted: 01 Feb 2015 05:33 AM PST U & I Music presents another bang from Akin! This one is titled 'Make Am' and was produced by T-Spize, featuring label-mate; fast rising indigenous rapper, 'Dotman'. The duo who joined creative efforts in the recently released remix to Akin's hit single 'Nigerian Girl' are proving to be a formidable force as far as making good music is concerned. Listen and Download Akin's new Single 'Make Am' featuring Dotman here: bit.ly/Akin_MakeAm Listen and Download the duo previous single 'Nigerian Girl Remix' here: bit.ly/NigerianGirlRemix To Connect with Akin, Follow him on twitter @akinmusic To Connect with Dotman, Follow him on twitter @Dotmanofficial For contact and enquiries go to www.uandimusic.net |
IBB explains why he has not remarried 5 years after losing his wife Posted: 01 Feb 2015 05:18 AM PST After 40 years of marriage, former Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida lost his wife and mother of his four children, Maryam Babaginda, to ovarian cancer on 27th December 2009 in an LA hospital. She was just 61. It's been five years and IBB, now 73, hasn't made an attempt to re-marry. He spoke to Vanguard about why he hasn't tried to re-marry On what life has been like without her: She was a real companion who got to understand and accept me for what I am and tried to make the best of me and that is what I am missing. She was the one who would look at me and say 'you're wrong' and I had to accept and bury my pride and I will say 'sorry, you're right'. That is the sort of counseling I am missing now. On why he hasn't remarried I will tell you an interesting story. There was a woman I was joking with and I said, 'Okay, why don't you marry me?' and she said, 'No I won't'. And I asked her why? She said, 'I am not sure I can spoil you the way your wife used to spoil you; so don't put any idea into my head'. |
Photos: Meet the first Nigerian women to be made lawmakers Posted: 01 Feb 2015 05:00 AM PST Margaret Ekpo (left) and Janet Mokelu (right) were the first women in Nigeria to be elected into a regional parliament; Eastern Assembly 1961. Love history. Photo credit: SeeMeSeeNigeria. |
INEC extends deadline for collection of permanent voter cards Posted: 01 Feb 2015 04:55 AM PST Find the INEC press statement released today below... The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has extended the deadline for collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to Sunday, 8th February 2015. This supersedes the earlier deadline of Saturday, 31st January 2015, and is intended to give registered voters yet to collect their PVCs the opportunity to do so in readiness for the February 2015 general elections. Continue... INEC hereby calls on duly registered persons not to delay in going to collect their cards before the expiration of the new deadline. The Commission reaffirms its determination to make the 2015 elections free, fair, credible and peaceful; and urges all stakeholders, including voters, to spare no effort in working towards the same objective. Kayode Robert Idowu Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman |
Jude Okoye shares cute pic of daughter as she turns 2months old Posted: 01 Feb 2015 04:51 AM PST So adorable! |
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