The World Shale Oil Controls And Our Looters !!!

          Me I'm no longer interested in who fought and did soso and so in the Rivers State government or who George Zimmerman shot dead and he was acquitted and not charged . Neither am I interested in who cuts the other person in the head, since they have been distracted from their duties as lawmakers and so on. All they do now is fight like kids in high school. I'm more interested in the level of development in the next two to three years. Because there's this new oil called Shale oil or oil shale, however it suits you.This new oil has been established by countries like China, Brazil, Germany, Russia and will be the new oil to take over crude oil in the International community. Nigeria wasn't mentioned. It is wise for these politicians in Nigeria to understand that time is not on their side and start speeding up development processes. Everything is on President Goodluck Jonathan. He alone can help Nigeria out of this big mess that might leave us as underdeveloped forever. I really dont know how much building shale oil industries will cost in Nigeria. It is also important we have industries as such while we still have the money. Niger Delta ministry is a bad idea because i cant see numbers of projects coming out successfully from the ministry. it should be scrapped out and leave the NDDC to function alone. I just hope the Northern part of Nigeria has really put to end this madness of bombing people and destroying the little infrastructure we have left. Because oil might go for the price of eleven dollars, if we get lucky. These high school kids and looters should wake up from their sleep else our children's children will cause them even after they have died. they should be pro-active and not act like kids because i want my own kids to have a better life than what these looters offered to me. Im just a Nigerian who will want only better life for his kids. 

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PLATO'S THEORY OF THE CAVE, A REPEAT IN RIVERS STATE?

   In the allegory, Plato likens people untutored in the theory of forms to prisoners chained in a cave, unable to turn their heads. All they can see is the wall of the cave. Behind them burns a fire.  Between the fire and the prisoners there is a parapet, along which puppeteers can walk. The puppeteers, who are behind the prisoners, hold up puppets that cast shadows on the wall of the cave. The prisoners are unable to see these puppets, the real objects, that pass behind them. What the prisoners see and hear are shadows and echoes cast by objects that they do not see... to be continued

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NORMS AND VALUES ARE MORE PRECIOUS THAN INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT !!!

      As shocking as it sounds, it is true that the majority of the Nigerian population care about nothing but infrastructural development. Not that it is bad, because it is not. Our rulers ought to understand that in building a state, you must be proactive in every sphere. that is, you must understand the norms and values you intend to groom your target audience (younger generation) with if you wish them to be law abiding as time progresses. Filmmakers should make movies for kids that have the right norms and values for their age. Our entertainment industry has not done much in this regards, most homes in Nigeria with kids watch anything at will and grow up with norms that are despicable. The movie "All Dogs go to Heaven" is an example of how minds can be shaped. My point is that The Nigerian Broadcasting Cooperation (NBC) is yet to reach its maximum potential in checkmating what is being aired in the country as parents are also victims too. In fact, movies that are fetish should be banned in Nigeria. They do nothing but reduce the potentials of our young generation in actualizing their dreams and aspirations. The  fact that Nollywood provides revenue for the Nation is not enough, these administrators need to look inward... Our administrators should build a people rather than a "state". They need to create an environment that tells the younger generation that life is a beautiful gift and should be enjoyed.

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52 YEARS OF TANGLED MAZE OF JARGON.

                                          UWOMA ADIELA (MICKY) WRITES FROM CANADA.

   

    Corruption in governance is generally seen as the use of public office for private gain, which has been one of the problems that have contributed to the socioeconomic underdevelopment of many African countries. However, as evidenced by scandals in Italy, the United States, Korea, Indonesia, Japan, the Russian Federation, and many other countries, corruption is a universal problem affecting the economies of both developed and developing societies. Corruption has been a constraint to the development effort of many countries for a long time, but my focus is in Nigeria. The citizens of this country seriously frown upon this practice but what is the source of this corruption?

 This paper will talk a little about independence during the colonial period, and how colonization affected todays Nigeria. Also, it will look at corruption in government, weak bureaucracy in institutions and the best way to tackle these issues. 

      Independence in Nigeria was supposed to usher in a period characterized by the peaceful coexistence of population groups and significant improvements in the wealth creating capacity of the nation. First, independence was supposed to rid Nigeria of Europeans and their exploitive, alien, cruel, and non-democratic institutions. Second, Nigerians were expected to engage in democratic constitution making and provide themselves with new, locally focused, and more effective institutional arrangements. Finally, the new democratic leaders were expected to use public policy to enhance the creation of the wealth that could then be used to deal with poverty and significantly improve the welfare of the people.
 One could argue that government and critics have marginalized Nigeria with emphasis drawn from how they go about the term “democracy”. They never took out time to plan the development of the country and the peaceful coexistence of citizens properly. Nigeria is characterized as the “Giant of Africa” but yet one of the poorest countries in the world. Because after independence the people of this country were faced with important choices; To choose economic and political institutions that were locally focused and hence reflected the relevant stakeholders values, culture, as well as aspirations, the nation should have engaged in democratic (participatory, inclusive, and people driven) constitution making. Unfortunately, the leaders as at then engaged primarily in opportunistic reforms that produced laws and institutions that were not geared toward maximizing the public interest (the collective well being of citizens) but offered the new state custodians opportunities and the wherewithal to maximize their personal interest. Nigeria operates a weak electoral system that cannot guarantee any form of modern day democracy. The inability to conduct credible elections in the country has been attributed to the long period of military rule, coupled with weak democratic institutions and processes, and hosts of other historical factors which has led to the emergence of a political culture characterized by electoral violence, monetized politics, low political accountability, abuse and personalization of power, general apathy towards elections and low participation of critical segments of the society especially the youths. Another point is the issue of money laundering. The Press revealed how a former aide of as at then president Obasanjo, Andy Uba, used the presidential jet to haul about $170,000 in cash into the United States. Their was the shocking revelation by Otunba Fasawe, during his testimony at the Senate investigations into Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) scandal, during the then Obasanjo administration the Presidency used billions of public money to fund the party’s 2003 election. These are public funds that should have been invested on social projects to improve the living conditions of the citizens but these leaders have nothing in mind but their personal interest. A scholar argued that institutional structures that guarantee and protect democratic constitution making, constrain the power of the state together with better financial management, wealth creation, sustainable development and corporate governance should form the basis of any anti- corruption nation.  He provides an overview of the political and economic situation as well as governance structures that characterized Nigeria after independence. This was worsened by the adoption of foreign structures that were incongruent with local values, and the statist development model, which failed to achieve the desired socioeconomic results. He analyzes the relationship and linkage between what he calls bureaucratic and political corruption. He reviews the literature on the definition of corruption as well as the types and measurement of corruption. Making use of country- specific cases and examples from Ghana, Cameroon and Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo), The scholar gives an overview of corruption in Nigeria and discusses the causes of this socioeconomic vice. I will argue that despite many anti- corruption initiatives by Nigerian government, the tide of corruption has still not been stemmed because of a wide variety of reasons; these leaders see corruption as a means of greasing the wheels of the civil service. Despite all this, corruption is overall very detrimental to socioeconomic development in Nigeria because it negatively affects wealth creation and does little to improve human conditions. Nigeria lacks institutionalization, which convincingly accounts for development in modern states today. Nigeria lacks good and strong institutions and bureaucracy because the colonial masters never emancipated the continent properly. Primarily, one of the political problems that significantly affect proper institutionalization is “patrimonalism.” institutions in Nigeria are susceptible to bribery and corruption, redtapism, nepotism, favoritism. The appointment of junior level staffs are not based on qualification nor competence, but the decision of the highly ruling elites in the country; and the failure to succumb to their opinions or decisions would lead to lose of employment by this elites. Political sociologists have made it clear that issue of uniting citizens to the state would help facilitate the development of modern Nigeria. Unity in a sense is essential to the development of any state today. Division among Nigerians plays a primary role in the administration of the state today. However, the implication of disunity has lead to increased crime rates, violence, bribery, corruption, cultural differences, witchcraft, different ideologies and perceptions contribute to division and anti-development in Nigeria. The process of assimilating Nigerians into western culture has contributed immensely to the failure of states. Primary reasons for lack of strong institutionalization results from an attempt to transfer western culture to Nigeria institutions. From my point of view, I would like to believe the substantial argument in regards to cultural incompatibilities. For example, three different major colonies, the French, the British, and the Belgians colonized Africa with different ideologies, like the French used the “policy of assimilation” on the Cameroonians, the British used the indirect rule in Nigeria, thus, the failure of proper emancipation of African states from the colonialists traces poor scope of governance and slow sustainable economic growth and political success on the continent which Nigeria is a part. A regime of poor institutional environment, which manifested in the lack of protection for human rights and ethics, corruption, undue influence, and government inefficiencies are among reasons attributed for Nigeria's poor ranking in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report for 2011-2012. The report, described strong institutions as policies and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country, and according to the report, the level of productivity, in turn, sets the level of prosperity that can be earned by an economy. Also, an overall score of 3.4, Nigeria maintained its 127th position from the survey conducted for 2010-2011 in 2011-2012, out of the 141 countries surveyed by the WEF. The pillars of measurement used by the WEF in its survey on global competitiveness are: institutions; infrastructure; macroeconomic environment; health and primary education; higher education and training and market efficiency. Furthermore, the WEF report explained that the country's poor institutional environment does not support a competitive economy because of concerns about the protection of human rights, ethics and corruption, undue influence, and government inefficiencies. The report maintained that the institutional environment is determined by the legal and administrative framework within which individuals, firms, and governments interact to generate wealth, noting that the quality of institutions influences investment decisions and the organization of production plays a key role in the ways in which societies distribute the benefits and bear the costs of development strategies and policies. Owing to what it described as an unfavorable institutional environment, Nigeria was ranked 111th. In addition to poor institutions, another factor is the desire to be in office without having the skills to do so. Poor leadership training is another factor that has impacted negatively on Nigeria’s brand. “Where are our leaders trained and how?” If our leaders are trained from the failed education system, then “we get what we train”. Similar to leadership training is the utilization of nation’s resources, believing that Nigeria is a brand waiting to evolve, Ufomba says, “If we utilize our resources well, it will affect the intangible assets such as morals and behavior which will influence the tangible asset”. He blames government for not deploying adequate communication to reach the people on values, saying government and security officials must show examples on values and when government therefore communicates values, the citizens will listen. Adding to his point, senator from Enugu West said, Nigeria would not witness development unless concerted efforts were made to fight corruption in the country. He also said efforts by the Federal Government to enhance growth of the nation’s economy would not yield fruit, if rule of law was not enforced in the country. No country has witnessed real growth as those who rape public treasury were given red carpet treatment, which speaks on the absence of rule of law in the society. In each of the economies that thrived, rule of law, honesty, and good conduct stand out as key factors responsible for the feat of such nation. He noted the untapped human and material resources in the country and Africa generally, stressing that failure of leadership in the country had over the years held the country down. In conclusion, if Nigeria and the rest of Africa continue with corrupt practices, it will yield no better result rather than making one of the richest continents in the world poorer. Nigeria should be responsible for their well-being and leaders should lead the people, they should carry out reforms that will make institutions stronger rather than maintain their selfish interest in the aspect of the “want” to remain in power, money laundering, use of thuggery, and other aspects that cripples an economy as it will continuously affect the development of the nation or any nation that seeks growth.

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LIVE STREAM OF PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN ADDRESSING NIGERIANS.

President of Nigeria addresses the Nation LIVE.

Video streaming by Ustream

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I CANT DO IT ON MY OWN.

         President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday said he could not single-handedly surmount the challenges confronting the nation.

Jonathan, at an  interdenominational church service to mark  the 52nd independence anniversary of the nation  at the National Christian Centre, Abuja,  stated  that only the collective efforts of all would take the country forward.

He  expressed the conviction that the problems of the nation would soon become things of the past.

The theme of the service was “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal.”

The President said, “Leadership at all levels of government is a collective thing. One person cannot change a nation. The President, governors, lawmakers, members of the judiciary alone cannot do it.

“The leader matters but he cannot change things alone. All Nigerians, men and women, will change things in the country.

“If God can use Nehemiah to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, in all arms of governments, I believe we have many Nehemiahs. There are many of them among teachers, artisans, and clergy.

“God will use these various Nehemiahs to rebuild this country. I can say again that Nigeria will succeed; with our cooperation we shall succeed!”

Jonathan said if the nation must rise above  diseases, insecurity and other ills, Nigerians must earnestly play their roles  and intercede for the land.

He said his administration had succeeded in sanitising the electoral process and assured stakeholders that more efforts were being put into the government’s anti-corruption war.

He said although the works might not be obvious to many now,  his administration had also been doing well in the economic sector.

 Promising  that his administration would continue to work hard on the security challenges in some parts of the country, he added that he and his aides would not sleep until power supply    stabilises in the country.

In his sermon at the service, President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, described the fundamentalist  Islamic sect, Boko Haram, as a terrorist organisation.

Oritsejafor said the sect was being funded by some politicians who wanted to create political space for themselves as well as some outsiders who  desired Nigeria’s disintegration

He said, “Boko Haram is a terrorist organisation; you and I know it. The activities of Boko Haram are not fuelled by poverty but by a religious fundamentalist ideology.

“Boko Haram is funded from within by people who desire to use them to create political space for themselves and funded from without by those who want to see Nigeria divided along religious-ethnic lines.

“Boko Haram is also sustained by media apologist who feed the unsuspecting public with politically- incorrect half-truths.”

Oritsejafor said as a nation, if Nigerians were serious about getting answers to national prayers, they must turn from their wicked ways.

 The cleric identified the two conditions necessary for answered prayers as humility and turning from wickedness.

Former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, in his remarks said the nation’s independence anniversary called for a sober reflection and more prayer and supplication from all.

He said, “Together we can rescue our nation from its present difficulties. Nigeria would have been worst of if not for prayers.

“We have a divine responsibility to pray for the peace of our land, a nation bombarded with multiplicity of challenges. I urge church leadership to put on the armour of prayer to seek divine intervention from God. We must begin the process of mobilisation for prayers.”

Senate President David Mark read the first lesson of the service while Jonathan read the second.

Other dignitaries at the service were former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Vice- President Alex Ekwueme, members and the  leadership of the National Assembly, ministers, service chiefs, diplomatic corps and captains of industry.



SOURCE: THE PUNCH

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MEN WITH QUESTIONABLE REPUTATION WIN BID FOR POWER PLANTS.

      The National Council on Privatisation (NCP) Tuesday, in Abuja, opened the financial bids submitted by investors wishing to acquire the state-owned power generation companies, with foreign-based companies alongside their Nigerian partners emerging as winners of the power assets put up for sale or concession.

Some of the companies that emerged preferred bidders at the end of the exercise were backed by former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd); Chairman of Forte Oil Plc, Mr. Femi Otedola; Chairman of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Trancorp), Mr. Tony Elumelu; former military governor of Kano State, Col. Sanni Bello (rtd); and oil and gas magnate, Mr. Tony Onoh.

Other prominent persons that bid for the power plants included former Chief of General Staff, Vice-Admiral Okhai Akhigbe, and a former senator and retired military officer, Brig. Gen, Tunde Ogbeha.

During the financial bid opening, Transcorp, alongside its partners, offered $300 million to emerge the preferred bidder for the 360 megawatts (mw) Ughelli power plant in Delta State.
Transcorp beat two other bidders, including Feniks Electricity and Amperion Power Distribution Limited, which offered bid prices of $54 million and $252 million respectively.

Both Transcorp and Amperion’s bid prices were, however, said to be above the reserve price, which enabled Amperion to emerge the reserve bidder for the Ughelli plant. The Amperion Group is jointly owned by Israeli-based BSG Resource Limited, State Grid Corporation of China and their local partner, Forte Oil.

Should Transcorp pay for Ughelli, it will be acquiring 100 per cent of the plant.

However, Amperion's $128.52 million as the sole bidder for the 414mw Geregu power plant fell below the reserve price of $132 million to acquire a 51-per-cent stake and was offered the chance to match the reserve price to win the power plant.

Also, CMEC/Eurafric Energy, comprising a Chinese firm and Eurafric, a Nigerian oil and gas firm owned by Tony Onoh, offered $201 million to secure the 120mw Sapele power station, thus defeating its contender JBN-Nestoil (Julius Berger Nigeria Plc-Nestoil), which offered only $80 million initially.

JBN-Nestoil, however, was allowed to revise its bid price to $106.5 million, a figure declared by the NCP to have exceeded the reserve price. By revising its price upwards, JBN-Nestoil automatically emerged the reserve bidder for the Sapele plant.

Meanwhile, Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited, which has ties to Bello, Akhigbe, Ogbeha and Alhaji Ismaila Isa Funtua, Chairman of Bullet Construction Company and patron of the Newspaper Proprietors' Association of Nigeria (NPAN), who is the vice chairman of the consortium, was also the sole bidder for the Kainji-Jebba hydro electricity plants, as Mainstream offered $50,760,665.18 as fixed annual fees for the facility.

The Kainji-Jebba facility, we learnt, is a 15-year concession and not an outright sale. However, it shall attract a commencement fee of $257 million, which comprises the initial fee and the fixed annual fee.

Also, for the 600mw Shiroro power facility, North-South Power Limited, believed to have the backing of Babangida, offered to manage the firm under a concession for a fixed annual fee of $23,602,484.47 including a commencement fee of $111,654,534.30.

Speaking at the opening of financial bids for the generation assets, the Chairman of the Technical Committee of the NCP, Mr. Atedo Peterside, who has overseen the process, cautioned the jubilant successful companies to be mindful of the fact that their emergence as preferred bidders was still subject to the approval of NCP and that they could still be denied the opportunity of taking over the companies if they failed to pay their fees or if they were found wanting in documentation during post-bid assessment.

He added that the winners should not deem themselves “preferred bidders” yet until confirmation by the NCP and their ability to make a letter of credit or bank guarantee for 15 per cent of the bid amount.

“They will be given 15 business days after the NCP approval to comply and be designated preferred bidder,” he explained.

He said that the power privatisation and reform programme was now at full throttle with the opening of the bid for generation companies (gencos), noting that the power sector in the country has been saddled with insufficient funds and low electricity tariffs.

According to him, the privatisation of the distribution companies (discos) and gencos, besides the introduction of Manitoba as management contractor for the Transmission Company of Nigeria and the strengthening of the fuel to the power segment, would liberate the power sector from the low equilibrium trap.

He observed that if this is done, it “should help unleash long-term private sector investment activity in the country generally,” pointing out that “the electricity sector has segment that are intricately interwoven so in most nations, the pace at which results are achieved by the sector, as a whole, is determined by the weakest link in a complex and inter-dependent chain.”

Peterside concluded that the NCP had done its best to ensure that the genco transactions were accomplished in accordance with internationally accepted standards, stressing that the “NCP raised the qualification bar to ensure that only operators who are technically qualified and financially sound make it to the finishing line”.

In his remarks, Minister of State for Power, Mr. Darius Ishaku, described the successful conclusion of the exercise as a milestone in the history of the country, given the level of transparency attached to the entire selection processes.

Chairman, House Committee on Power, Mr. Patrick Ikhariale, said the event marked "a new dawn and glorious day" for the country as the issue of monopoly, which had been one of the major problems in the power sector, would be rested.

Also, Chairman, Senate Committee on Privatisation, Senator Olugbenga Obadara, commended the exercise, adding that the Senate would intensify its oversight functions to ensure that the new management of the various generation companies are held in trust for Nigerians.

Similarly, the Managing Director of Transcorp, Mr. Obinna Ufudo, who spoke to THISDAY shortly after the bid opening, described his firm’s success as “good news to the development of the Nigerian economy”.
“It is a fantastic opportunity for us and the Nigerian electric power supply situation by bringing private input and resources to this sector,” Uffodo said.

He assured Nigerians that shortly, the country would begin to enjoy the benefits of having steady power supply.
He said: “Transcorp and our partners are very happy to have this opportunity and it is a new dawn for Transcorp and a new dawn for our shareholders and a new beginning for the whole country.”

SOURCE:THISDAYLIVE

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