EFCC may probe Obasanjo

By Geoffrey Ekenna Punch Newspaper, 23rd Novermber 2007

There were indications on Thursday that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission might have started investigations into the activities of former President Olusegun Obasanjo while in office, following a petition submitted by a non-governmental organisation, Coalition against Corrupt Leaders on November 14.

Our correspondent gathered that the EFCC on Tuesday, November 20, invited the Chairman of CACOL, Mr. Debo Adeniran, to give a statement on the petition submitted by his group. According to Adeniran, when he arrived at the Awolowo Road office of the agency, he was ushered into room EG 4, where he tendered a written statement to the agency.

He said on his delegation were the acting Secretary General of CACOL, Mr. Declan Ihekaire, the Director of Mobilisation, Mr. Samson Olayiwola and the Director of Finance, Mr. Kola Odepeju, among others. In a statement made available to our correspondent on Thursday, Adeniran said, ”The offic er in-charge who pleaded anonymity assured the delegation that the petition was being given a priority treatment. He said a file had been opened on the case and that every allegation contained in the petition would be thoroughly investigated in order not to leave room for reasonable doubts that may lead to the case being thrown out of the court” Adeniran said he reiterated the group‘s position that the former president used his office to acquire fund illegally.

He said, “part of the statement to the EFCC reads, ” Chief Obasanjo was indicted in the PTDF scandal by the Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba led committee; Chief Orji Kalu (former Governor of Abia State), confirmed that he gave the former President One million Dollars for his campaign in 1999, while the NEPA/PHCN gulped over N521bn and none has anything to show for the money invested in them” The group further informed the EFCC to investigate the state of businesses of the former President before he mounted the saddle in 1999 and when he left office in 2007. Efforts to reach the EFCC spokesman, Mr. Osita Nwaja to confirm if the investigation had actually started proved abortive.

After calling him several times on his mobile phone, a text message sent to him by our correspondent was ignored to as at press time. But an official of the agency, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed to our correspondent that Adeniran made a statement to the agency on Tuesday. When asked if he was aware of Adeniran‘s invitation, he said, ”I am aware he made statement of Tuesday. But I think you should call Mr. Nwaja to confirm.”  

Adeola Aderounmu.

Thanks to Marion Jones! The US will be stripped of her Gold Medal in the 4 x 400 women relay.

Nigeria will now be in the 3rd Position behind Jamaica and Russia.

Congratulations to the drug-free Nigeria women relay team. You have made Nigeria and Africa proud.

Hardwork really pays, doesn’t it?

Adeola Aderounmu


My interest in economics and business is growing by the day especially since I found myself on the naïve side after the attempted soludization slash dollarization of the Naira. So, you can imagine my enthusiasm when I received my weekly dose of TIME Magazine (November 26 2007 Europe Edition) with a special report on The Best Countries For Business*. Since I live on a Scandinavian Island, I am always quick to look out for Scandinavian countries anytime a world rating is done on anything at all. Incidentally, on page 14-15 of this same Europe Edition of Time Magazine, there was an outline of 128 countries on the basis of gender equality. The first 3 countries are Sweden, Norway and Finland. They are Scandic countries. The UK is 11th while the US is 31st. Nigeria occupies the 107th position. It is the same Swiss-based World Economic Forum (WEF) that gave us the gender equality ratings that has also given us the list of the best countries to do business and Nigeria is number 95 out of the listed 100 countries.

The WEF has what is called Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) which was developed by a professor named Xavier Sala-i-Martin. The GCI is based on economic statistics and extensive polling of international business leaders. In the actual report released by WEF, 113 factors that contribute to an economy’s competitiveness were tallied for all the countries used in the study. Of interest among the range of index includes the quality of a nation’s roads to the independence of its judiciary to the incidence of certain diseases to how it is easy to hire certain labor (an engineer for example). I thought I would be able to read extensively on Nigeria when I learnt that 37 key countries were analyzed in-depth. Alas! Nigeria, the supposed giant of Africa has not been discussed as a key country where anyone can do business; she is ranked 95th out of the 100 on the list (same position as last year). With a population of over 140m people and abundant engineers in the labor market, can Nigeria be that bad for business or is this a make believe kind of story? Perhaps there are more issues to doing business or in investment than the anticipated market and labor sizes? I must learn.

The report stated that GCI is widely watched by countries that want to ferret (search about) out weak spots and by companies deciding where to invest. These observations bring serious questions. When Obasanjo was travelling around the world for 8 years to woo investors, did he or the Minister for Economic planning know anything about GCI? Was anyone taking note of our position on the scale and our weak spots and how to adjust in those areas? One thing is sure; the investors would have been watching the GCI because they would like to know where to locate their next investment by taking the index of the rankings into considerations. Doesn’t it make sense now that the many travels of Obasanjo didn’t yield much? The travels must be travails indeed! I am convinced that all the travels and the unnecessary wastage of tax-payers money would have been avoided if the economy monitoring team in Nigeria has been wary of this kind of index. Maybe they knew but the president still chose to be on his own trail rather than work on our weak spots as a prerequisite to natural wooing of investors.

Perhaps Obasanjo was out based only on Nigeria’s nascent democracy. That would have drawn some pity and ridicule from International Investors. According to Sala-i-Martin, the data used in arriving at the GCI show that democracy in the developing countries is a wash. Though democracy is desirable, it just doesn’t help economic growth. What I can make from this is that democracy is the more acceptable form of governance but basic infrastructure and whatever makes up the remaining 112 factors are equally important in attracting investors. Fundamentally, Nigeria has a very bad power supply system which can knock down the benefits of being democratic. There are several other factors that make Nigeria investment unfriendly. It is not a secret that several Nigerian businesses now operate from neighbouring African countries. This means that a true legitimate government in Nigeria would have to first of all do its homework and put things right such that indigenous investors and industrialists would feel at home to do their businesses. Then it would not be too stressful if there is a need to attract foreign investments.

In the overall GCI ranking, the US finishes first not because it was perfect on all fronts but because it grabs the number 1 slot for 10 measures (out of 113 factors). The US did badly in primary school enrollment, in her ability to ward fend off organized crime, in macroeconomics, debt deficit and savings rate. Yet, it tops the list on the GCI ranking. This is a big lesson for Nigeria sinking at 95th position. Perfection is not the key word but setting the priorities right. Quite naturally, the Scandic countries were up in the ladder: Denmark-3, Sweden-4 and Finland 6. The 2nd and 5th spots went to Switzerland and Germany respectively. The report was quick to point out that the nature of the ranking could masks certain economic realities of a globalized world. Indeed, it further stated that the ability of countries to raise their citizens’ standard of living is not a zero-sum game.

Still, why would certain countries rank abysmally? The example of Kenya which ranked 99 overall was cited. In Kenya, favoritism in decisions of government officials and the business impact of malaria were major obstacles. However, this East African country enjoyed some good runs as well. Kenya is remarkable for legal rights tied to the financial markets and she boasts of a very high quality of scientific research institutions. Kenya must have skipped the basics and therefore lacks the foundation to make her a competitive place for business. Mauritius ranking 60 is the only African country to have eradicated malaria or provided free education and health care and HIV/AIDS infects just 435 people a year. There have been no coups and its ethnicities are a model of integration.

Without repeating the obvious, we should just ask ourselves: In what ways can Nigeria sharpen things up so that in the nearest future, she can truly claim her place as the giant of Africa? How can Nigeria place herself strategically so that she can be a major beneficiary of the anticipated growth that Africa will encounter before the turn of this particular decade? What is the quality of Nigerian roads? How has corruption in Nigeria deterred genuine investments by her own citizens and international investors? What is Nigeria doing about her power supply system? How independent is her judiciary? One thing that Nigeria must avoid or urgently get away from is the Angola model or pattern of bad Africa described in this Time report as a ship heading for the reef of authoritarianism, corruption and popular discontent (you can say this again).

*References:
1. Best Countries for business, getting to the top by Barbara Kiviat. 2007 Time Magazine Report
2. Online version The Best Countries for Business

Adeola Aderounmu.

 

CACOL is an organisation that all Nigerians should belong to. This is the kind of association that should not be undervalued or underestimated. It should be supported by all and sundry.

Whoever the brain is behind this organisation gets my highest recommendation. I hope you stay on course. I hope you’ll never derail. I hope you’ll never become or that you are not yet a tool in the hands of some crazy politicians or socialite seeking vengeance.

With the kind of courage shown so far by CACOL, the people’s revolution is not far. This action by CACOL should symbolize what lies ahead for the corrupt leaders /politicians in Nigeria. The clock is ticking on them and their time is almost up. The people will rise up and take what is theirs. It is a function of time, it will happen.

Evil will not prevail for too long, voices of reasoning are emerging and coalitions upon coalitions will emerge. The people will seize power on the long run and their votes will count-in a time not too long again. It will come to pass…the people’s revolution is looming.

Nigeria Nov 14 2007.

Youths this morning under the aegis of Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, (CACOL), stormed the office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) in Lagos to demand the immediate arrest and prosecution of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The youths, carrying placards and chanting songs, alleged in the petition they submitted to EFCC that the ex-president illegally accumulated billions of naira while he was in office.

They said that there are at least three main reasons why the EFCC must arrest the former president who is no longer covered by immunity.

Among the reasons cited are the setting up of the Bells University of Technology, Ota, with the sum of N40 billion; the lunch of his “private” library during which N6.5 billion was donated by Nigerian businessmen and top government functionaries while he was still in power and the Obasanjo Farms in Ota, worth billions of naira.The petition reads: “The Bells University was established between 2001 and 2007 when Obasanjo was the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.“The university has a gross asset of about N40 billion. The former president is the sole owner and financier of the library located in Abeokuta, the Ogun State Capital.

 

“For eight years, while he was in power, Chief Obasanjo sustained a devilish desire to strengthen his chicken farm while exploiting the power of his office to mortally destroy his competitors.”

 

The chairman of CACOL, Mr. Debo Adeniran, said that after the petition, if Yar’Adua and Ribadu did not summon enough courage to arrest and prosecute Obasanjo, they will be telling the world that some people are above the law.

 

The youths were singing “Obasanjo lo so ra, Obasanjo be careful o, iku to pa Sani Abacha lai yo kondo, ko ma si eni ti ko le pa.”

 

CACOL added that if these main reasons are not enough for EFCC to begin investigating Obasanjo, they must look into the claim by the former Abia State governor, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, now standing trial for alleged corruption, that he gave the former president $1 million for his 1999 presidential campaign or ask Obasanjo to explain how the N521 billion given to the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) was tilized.

To help the EFCC not to mistake the former president for another person while effecting his arrest, the group described Obasanjo vividly as follows:

“Obasanjo currently lives in Ota, where he could be found and apprehended. He spends most of his time in the day at the Obasanjo farms in Ota and could be seen at home in the evenings with his friends, most time playing draft.
“He is dark, 5.9 feet tall, stocky, with brown eyes. He is easy to anger, pugnacious, infuriated easily by logical arguments in almost every encounter and easily provoked by the least of matter.” 

Copied from http://www.thenewsng.com/modules/zmagazine/article.php?articleid=20459(The News: Nigeria’s Leading Weekly News Magazine)__________________________________________________________________________

This group, CACOL, not only stated what they wanted, they also followed it up with action. This is similar to the monks’ protest in Burma. It will be nice to know more about CACOL, their contact information, website and membership requirements.

In the future, CACOL should make public announcements to sensitise more people to join their protests, they should send sms to several mobile phones and do all they can to involve as many people as possible. If the ountry stands still for several days just to bring corrupt people to face the law, it is more than worth it! They should make it a massive protest, sustain it for several days (depending on several factors of course), stay focus on their demands and make things uncomfortable for the administrators until they start to yield to popular voices.

 All Nigerians should join in the course of bringing corrupt politicians to judgment. Not only Obasanjo, the list is endless and very long. Ibori, Odili, Atiku, Lucky Igbinedion, David Mark…..I am sure CACOL have a list they are working on. This should just be the beginning and you have my full support.   

….. AND I hope the EFCC will start to act on this impulse they have received. To do nothing means that we can start to ask for the scrapping of the EFCC and then we will find alternatives to bringing looters to judgment.

……We have no trust in Aondoankaa, his mission is clear enough: Emphasis the rule of law to save corrupt politicians! We all know why he is doing this. It’s so obvious. Protect the people you served while you were a nobody. Protect the people who nominated you for AGF. Very useless attitude but for a good personal reason. A very irresponsible human being is made the AG for personal reasons. Where is the reason that would serve the benefit of the down-trodden, the hungry people, the helpless masses who cannot spend 100 naira a day as individuals or as a family? The fake attorney general will soon realise that:

The voices and actions of the people remain the strongest influence in governance. Now is the time to act, Arise O compatriots!

Adeola Aderounmu.

I know countries where the flags will fly low and days of national mourning will be declared if 3 people die accidentally or mysteriously.

Many more countries will declare several days of National mourning if 100 people die for various reasons.

In Nigeria, bad roads and dangerous driving have contributed to as many as 400 deaths daily on our roads. The figure is even a onservative one. What is the real figure?

What is the value of a Nigerian life where some idiots are just stealing and looting?

This is serious!

Here is the piece of News from ThisDay Newspaper:

Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Mr Osita Chidoka, said yesterday that 4,944 Nigerians were killed in 9,114 road accidents, while 17,390 were injured in 2006.He said conservatively, 400 people die daily on Nigerian  roads.
Speaking on the “World Day  of  Remembrance for Road Traffic  accidents,” organised by FRSC, Minister of Information and  Communication, Mr John Odey, advised motorists to  exercise  caution on the roads.
“To be an organised person, we  must pay attention to the rules  and regulations guiding our roads,  especially when travelling.
“We are endangering our lives and  others if we neglect road  signs,” he said.

Odey said the exercise could not  have come at any better time than  the ’ember period’ when the year  is coming to an end. He said God created everyone to live and in the course of doing  this, “we should always try and  be patient and careful, pray when   travelling, not only for ourselves  but  also for other road users,”  he said.

Odey commended FRSC  management for organising the   event which serves as a   warning to all Nigerians as they prepare for Sallah and Christmas celebrations.

Also speaking, Mr Austin   Oghede of the World Health  Organisation (WHO), said that  the world embarked on such  procession to remember  road traffic victims. 
 

He appealed to road users to   always obey traffic signs to avoid carnage on our  roads. http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=95732

AND here is a tip of the Iceberg: http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1846&Itemid=45