Nigeria: Mr. President, Enough of Sermonisations Please!

BY DOUGLAS ANELE

OPINION

At the official commencement of the national Christian campaign on social transformation tagged: "Be the change you want to see", put together by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), President Goodluck Jonathan claimed that a lot had gone wrong in the family, schools, churches, and the society generally, and that there is need to bring about transformation.

According to media reports Mr. President, represented by the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Ms. Ama Pepple, expressed optimism that the campaign would reset misplaced priorities in the society, pointing out that "Our priorities are misplaced. The values of hard work, respect for elders, truthfulness, contentment, humility, patience, compassion, fairness, love, justice, obedience, etc. are all lost."

Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the President of CAN, while preaching at the event, sermonised that "If God can change me, God can change Nigeria. If you look at Nigeria in the eyes of the spirit, you will see a great Nigeria. But if you look at Nigeria with natural eyes, you see a confused nation." It is instructive to note that President Jonathan and Pastor Oritsejafor, who are living witnesses to the shambolic state of affairs in the country were not bold enough to locate the root cause of our problems at the doorstep of mediocre leadership. The reason for this deliberate omission is not far to seek. As Usman Dan Fodio, a nineteenth century Muslim cleric declared, "Conscience is an open wound. Only truth can heal it."

President Goodluck Jonathan (4th r) leading other fathers in the presentation of a special song during the 2013 Father's Day celebration at the Aso Villa Chapel Abuja on Sunday (16/6/13).

Therefore, Mr. President and Pastor Oritsejafor deliberately avoided the inconvenient truth, namely, that the fundamental cause of Nigeria's arrested development is the inability or plain refusal by members of the ruling elite to provide responsible, transparent, and selfless leadership for the people. Let us begin with President Jonathan himself who, alongside former President Olusegun Obasanjo, are among the luckiest Nigerians alive today. As we argued last week, President Jonathan's meteoric rise from very humble beginnings to the pinnacle of political power is the kind of existential experience repackaged for entertainment purposes in blockbuster movies.

However, the question is whether he has manifested the kind of leadership qualities that Nigeria needs now to progress. The most charitable and generous assessment of Jonathan's administration would score it thirty five percent. Most Nigerians believe, correctly in my view, that his government has failed in the areas of electricity supply, security, employment generation and wealth creation through a robust manufacturing sector, as well as drastic reduction in the amount of money used in running a bloated sybaritic government. Similarly, mind-bending financial rascality and corruption is continuing unabated among top public officials despite Jonathan's shibboleths about having zero-tolerance for corruption.

Therefore, President Jonathan can make ceremonial speeches about misplaced priorities and the loss of values. The real issue is whether as President he has led by example, that is, whether he has demonstrated the same virtues the disappearance of which he was lamenting. In my view, Mr. President has not really been as transparent and accountable as some Nigerians would have wanted.

Even in a simple and symbolic matter of declaring his assets publicly, he cleverly refused to come clean. President Jonathan, just like his predecessors whether military or civilian, has perfected the art of making fine speeches without sincerity of purpose to back them up. As a result, it is not surprising that all the talk about his transformation agenda, about repositioning the economy for sustainable growth, about poverty alleviation and delivery of dividends of democracy to the suffering masses are just that - mere talk full of hot air.

The main reason why President Jonathan and other members of the ruling cabal are always lamenting the vanishing effectiveness of moral values in the society while the masses are suffering is that they do not take their responsibilities very seriously.

Again, our leaders know that Nigerians have an incredible capacity to endure manmade hardships occasioned by incompetent leadership. Now, in countries where people are really serious and desirous of positive change, the citizens protest publicly to compel their leaders to act responsibly. For example, there are massive protests in Turkey and Brazil as the people unleashed the power of dissent against policies and programmes of their respective governments that are detrimental to the common good.

Consequently, the government in both countries are making concessions and working on reforms to placate the people. That is how it should be; after all, government is about people, not about a few greedy individuals and multinational organisations solely motivated by primitive accumulation and megalomania. In our own case here in Nigeria, the situation is rather different.

Nigerians tend to depend on an imaginary supernatural power to solve all their problems, rather than take concrete actions to assert their fundamental right to good governance. This is where I have serious objections to the close ties between religion and state in this country. Now, I consider religious irrationality, as exemplified by Christianity and Islam, to be one of the most formidable obstacles in the path of Nigeria's evolution towards greatness. Very wealthy "men of God" are spiritual consultants to the President, governors, members of the legislature and other top government officials and politicians.

Thus, it is not surprising that political and religious leaders in Nigeria have been conniving to despoil gullible Nigerians. That is why prominent members of the clergy always admonish their followers to pray for our political leaders. If I were a pastor or imam (I am so lucky not to be one), I would continuously pray with my congregation that the almighty should grant corrupt Nigerian leaders long life and afflict them with the most horrible diseases so that they would not enjoy their ill-gotten wealth.

Indeed, since the Supreme Being is supposed to be a God of justice for whom nothing is impossible, I would pray fervently that He (or She or It) should use any means necessary to make sure that Nigerian leaders, their families and cronies do not benefit from the proceeds of corruption.

However, our religious leaders can never pray that God should severely punish VIP thieves here and now because some of them are benefiting from the appalling existential situation on ground, which compels millions of Nigerians to seek illusory spiritual help in churches and mosques. Remember, Pastor Oritsejafor is a very comfortable Nigerian.

He is among the lucky few that live in mansions, owns a private jet and can afford the best things of life for himself and his family. On that basis, one can understand why he can only see Nigeria's imaginary greatness with "spiritual eyes." However, the suffering masses see clearly and objectively a very different Nigeria with their "natural eyes"; and what they see is a deformed country in dire need of radical positive transformation without the illusory comfort of religious superstition.

Nigeria, as presently constituted and run, is not working. President Jonathan, members of the ruling elite and highly placed clergymen and clergywomen should stop sermonising and begin to lead by example. Moral virtues are best taught by action, not by pious sententious platitudes, which ultimately amount to nothing.

Why We Chose Tinubu’s Daughter As Iyaloja

The Secretary-General of Lagos Markets, Deacon Lanre Ajayi, has  put to rest the controversy that trailed the emergence of Mrs Folashde Tinubu-Ojo as the new Iyaloja of Lagos, saying she fulfilled what was stated in the constitution.

Speaking with Saturday Tribune in a telephone interview,  on Friday, Deacon Ajayi admitted that though it came as a shock to many people when it was announced by the constituted authorities that Folashade, the daughter of the former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu, would be the next Iyaloja, she was qualified to be.

He insisted that what many people didn’t know was that Folashade fulfilled “to a large extent” what is stated in the constitution guiding markets operations and how a new Iyaloja should be chosen in Lagos State.

“Our constitution states that a would-be Iyaloja must be a high ranking-officer in the leadership echelon of all markets in Lagos State. The new Iyaloja, Mrs Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, was until her appointment, the Chairman of the Marketing Development Board in Lagos State. By this position alone, she has met the basic requirements of the office,” he said.

Deacon Ajayi further revealed that apart from being the Chairman of the Marketing Development Board (a position she still occupies, it was gathered), Folashade also won the support of over two-thirds of the markets’ high-ranking officers who were “constitutionally empowered to select who the next Iyaloja would be.”

“I know that it is not everybody that will be happy about the development, as no one really knows what was running through some people’s minds the day she was announced as the new Iyaloja, even though there was jubilation on that day; but you can’t deny the fact that she fulfilled certain critical conditions,” he remarked.

When asked if Folashade’s emergence was not synonymous with imposition of the will of Tinubu, generally believed to be the strongest man in Lagos politics, on the majority of the people, Deacon Ajayi said, “I know the manner she was announced was bound to raise eyebrows in some quarters, but I believe she was not imposed.”

Saturday Tribune recalls that after the death of Chief Abibatu Mogaji, the famed Iyaloja-General of Lagos markets, rumours started doing  the rounds as to who the next leader would be.

The situation took a dramatic twist when the Internet (especially various online magazines, social sites and blogs) was inundated with the news that Tinubu had used the occasion of the fidau prayers (Islamic prayers made in honour of the dead) held in honour of the late Iyaloja  to pronounce his daughter, Folashade, as the new Iyaloja.

This was later declared as untrue, as more reports emerged that Tinubu did not even utter a word throughout the entire duration of the fidau, let alone declare his daughter as the successor to Alhaja Abibatu.

Many Lagos residents, including those who made diverse comments on the Internet, have, however, showed their displeasure about and contempt for the decision, but quite a number of others believe there was nothing wrong in what Tinubu allegedly did.

Adeola Oshokoya, a resident of Ketu area of Lagos State, said “What this tells us is that Lagos State and its affairs are, indeed, controlled, determined and monitored by this same man. First, it was the imposition of candidates for various electoral positions, now it is the Iyaloja. This goes on to emphasise the notion that he (Tinubu) has got the entire Lagos in his pockets.”

Similarly, Ayoola Usman, a cloth seller at Oshodi Market, insisted that imposition of an Iyaloja by just one individual was not different from tampering with tradition. According to her, traditionally, an Iyaloja should only be chosen and declared by a traditional ruler.

“First, I want to say that I am not against whoever the new Iyaloja is, or where she comes from; but the truth is that choosing an Iyaloja is supposed to be the job of tradition rulers, or chiefs. Tinubu is none of these, so how did he have the power to make his daughter the new Iyaloja?” She asked.

Some others, however, said they didn’t see anything wrong in Tinubu’s daughter being made the new Iyaloja, especially if she was considered competent enough to occupy such a position.

“The most important thing is for us to have peace and progress, irrespective of whoever is leading us as traders. Many of those calling Tinubu names because of the emergence of his daughter as the new Iyaloja are hypocrites; many of them would even do worse if they had such an opportunity,” said Anuolapo Akintunde, another trader at Oshodi.

Also commenting on the development, another Lagos resident, Yemi Adeoba, said, “Senator Tinubu always has a good reason for his actions; therefore, I can bet it that the lots of all market people in Lagos State will be better off with an educated Iyaloja fighting for their cause up there where decisions are made.”

Folashade Tinubu-Ojo is said to hold a degree in Business Administration combined with Management at the Middlesex University, England, and a Masters degree in Business Administration.

Ogbodo: Visa Bond: The British Can Do Better

Abraham Ogbodo

I WAS greatly relieved reading that going to London would no longer be as easy as ABC, or like going from Onitsha to Owerri. I want to sincerely thank the British government for being very thoughtful; for making it a rule for Nigerians to invest in some bonds before entering UK. My only problem is that the proposal is not comprehensive. To restrict the bond to only first time visitors to UK is counter-productive. It means the rest of us, especially governors, civil servants and the burgeoning colony of political aides who are in a better stead to defray the three thousand pounds bond will be allowed to move in and out of UK just like that.

This is why I do not like the British approach. They do not know how to make laws. They are applying the same method they applied close to 200 years ago, when they were searching for colonies in West Africa and elsewhere. With all their claims to development, the British have not advanced beyond the application of indirect rule and I cannot understand why. Instead of making a more useful and direct rule that will restrict the movement of public officers in Nigeria, they are chasing shadows with a bond rule that will punish innocent people who are genuinely seeking to breathe fresh air outside Nigeria. That, to me is human rights abuse.

For instance, will this bond rule stop the governors from living almost permanently in UK and elsewhere in the Western world? It is like these oyibo people do not even know that some Nigerian governors have more airtime flying around the world than the busiest British Airways pilot has. Sincerely, I cannot see the point that David Cameron wishes to make here. If the intention is to raise some good money to put the British economy on the same pedestal with the Germans, then he should come straight so that he can have the benefit of good counsel. There are consultants in town who understand these issues better and can create a workable template for the government of Her Imperial Majesty in this direction.

Why should the British authorities be talking of a paltry 3000 pounds when they could conveniently calibrate the bond to create a distinction between ordinary and extra-ordinary seekers of British visa?  I mean something like this: first time visitors including students – 3000; renewal or fresh procurement for local government councillors – 50,000; local government chairmen – 100,000; state legislators – 200,000; commissioners – 200,000; House of Reps Members – 750,000; Senators – 1,000,000; ministers and heads of parastatals – 1,500,000 and governors and their deputies and members of their families – 3,000,000. The President and his vice in line with international protocol should be liberated from all diplomatic encumbrances. But Mama Patience Jonathan should be captured on the list and made to pay the same bond as state governors.

To maximise the gains, the British should adopt the model of the Chinese embassy in Nigeria. The Chinese understand the visa economy better. They issue their visa, mainly to Igbo traders in piecemeal of three or six months only, without regard to frequency of visits to China by the passport holder. These traders who are always travelling to China for genuine business are compelled by that policy to visit the consular section of the embassy every six months or thereabout to pay good money to secure a renewal. And often, it is not as simple as walking up there, pay the official fee and await the issuance of a visa. There is a Nigerian content even in Beijing and often, the surest road to China is through Nigerian middle men who charge between N200, 000 to N300, 000 for just visa renewal. The fellows are good; they do not disappoint. An applicant gets the stuff at the appointed date and time without issues once all conditions regarding payment and amount to be paid have been met.

But the China story is stuff for another day. For now, let us discuss seriously how the British government can make more money that it badly needs to do things back home, including servicing the royal family. To make the formula less complex and more fruitful, I suggest that Cameron and his team should apply the comparative advantage theory propounded long ago by a Briton called David Ricardo. The theory says instead of a wild goose chase here, there and everywhere, nations should direct productive energies at areas where returns on efforts would be more than proportionate.

Same way, instead of wasting the British scarce resources tracking down Nigerian first time visitors to Britain for a paltry £3000, the authorities should refocus for the new challenges by instructing the consular section in Nigeria to migrate immediately to the Chinese Visa Model. The British policy, which allows immigrants, in the best-case scenario, a generous 10-year visa life span is not business-like. Secondly, the bond should be limited to governors, ministers and senators. This done, we can now go ahead to enlarge the assumptions and say each of the 36 Nigerian governors would, all things being equal, renew their entry visas to Britain every quarter or four times a year.

At £3million per renewal, each governor will pay £12million annually to the British government and 36 governors and their deputies will pay £12 times 72. It adds up to £864million. That sounds more like it than this three, three, thousand business they are planning to chase up and down. And that is only from the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. If the arithmetic is stretched to the National Assembly, each of the 109 senators will pay a visa bond of £4million annually and a total of £436million for all senators. The 39 ministers will add £234million to the British treasury. We can also do a very conservative estimate and say others not specifically mentioned will jointly pay a total of £500million yearly to get their British visa. Altogether, we would be talking of something above two billion pounds.

Converted to the soft naira, it is approximately N500 billion, enough to pay the subsidy money of one or two petroleum importers. The amount is also enough to pay all the British parliamentarians, maintain robustly the monarchy, including Prince William, his wife and their unborn baby for one year and there will still be change to do other things such as global shuttles by David Cameron to preach gay rights outside Britain.

Yet, instead of thinking seriously in this direction the British are reaching for peanuts as if they are also monkeys. They must learn to up their game. They are too conservative for the modern world. It is this unwillingness to detach from their old ways that is making them lag behind in a number of the things in Europe. Perhaps, they still see the British Empire as where the sun rises and never sets. Sorry, that empire is long defunct. Whatever is not achieved between sunrise and sun set within contemporary Britain is better forgotten. That imperial claim to boundlessness is anachronistic in modern contexts and the British must start to invent more creative ways of appropriating other people’s resources for their own good.

Anyway, the resources of Nigeria, as it was in the colonial days, are available for the grabs. In the specific matter of the visa bond, the British know what they are doing. Too many Nigerians are struggling to reach UK by whatever means and some experts in London must have seen in this mad passion an opportunity to enhance the British treasury. It is excellent thinking if you ask me. I hear Abuja is threatening a retaliatory policy. That is where I am worried because it is not the right way to go about this matter. I mean, £3000 is nothing to the colony of desperados who want to escape from the suffocation that is Nigeria and if some self-serving government officials in a false show of nationalism make matters worse for the escapees, I cannot foreclose the consequences here.

Meanwhile, without sounding immodest, I have offered options in this article that will help both sides. It is top class consultancy service. International best practices allow for 10 per cent service charge in transactions such as this. If I have a tenth of two billion hard British pounds, which translates to £200million, I will order Boeing or any other aircraft manufacturer to deliver a private jet at my doorstep within 24 hours. The balance is more than enough for me to overwhelm the system and emerge as the governor of my state in 2015. I may even decide to take a shot at the presidency, because I can adequately match Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP in a neighbour-to-neighbour campaign.

But I am letting all of that to go for good reason. My 17-year old daughter who is at the International School, Ibadan preparing for what they call Cambridge Matriculation (I guess it is the equivalent of Nigeria’s former Higher School Certificate) has dropped a hint to advance to the actual Cambridge. I am praying for her and I have also asked her to work hard for excellent grades. I do not want a threat to this ambition and the ambitions of thousands of other young Nigerians by this visa bond regime. I never heard of that before!

Next >

Author of this article: Abraham Ogbodo

Oil theft in Nigeria. The illicit trade is blooming in Nigeria, where regulations are few.

AL JAZEERA  English

Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta region is losing its battle against organised oil theft. According to the managing director of the Shell Petroleum Development Company, Mutiu Sunmonu, oil theft by local groups currently results in a total of $6bn per year in lost revenue to the corporate giant. Other major oil companies have also said they were losing a huge amount of money due to oil theft, and are paying huge amounts for security. The "blood oil" industry, a term coined by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, is reportedly run by armed groups as well as activists calling for a fairer distribution of the country's enormous oil profits. The majority of Nigeria's 160 million citizens live in poverty - despite being residents of Africa's biggest oil producer. Zoin Ibegi is a resident of the region. "Many of us live [on] less than one cent a day despite being blessed with crude oil," he said. "This forces many of us into the illegal refinery business because we can't continue in poverty." The Nigerian government has deployed soldiers to the restive region to eradicate these "firewood distilleries", as they are commonly known. When an illegal oil refinery is located, those involved are arrested and the refinery is burnt down. According to Onyema Nwachukwu, a spokesman for Nigeria's Joint Task Force, such methods are used in order to make it difficult for perpetrators to return to the illicit oil extraction trade. In 2009 an amnesty was declared, paying off people who had been engaged in "oil bunkering": stealing and selling oil, then sharing the profits with the community. However, the siphoning of oil and makeshift oil refineries are only part of the problem. Oil-producing areas also suffer from high levels of pollution, and Ibegi says the liquid often spills into rivers used for fishing. Many observers believe that the 2009 amnesty is not working, claiming it is just a way to buy off "troublemakers". They argue that ultimately, the core problems affecting people in the Niger Delta - poverty and inequality - have not been addressed.

View As Slideshow >> Tife Owolabi/Transterra Media A worker at an illegal refinery camp inspects refinery equipment as smoke emerges from behind drums, near the Nun River in Nigeria's oil state of Bayelsa. Tife Owolabi/Transterra Media A boat driver, David Sowawi, drives past an illegal refinery along the Nun River that has just been set ablaze by the military authority in the Niger Delta. Tife Owolabi/Transterra Media An oil slick covers lengthy parts of the river. Regular oil spills have badly damaged local ecosystems, killing off fish and forcing people to move. Tife Owolabi/Transterra Media An illegal refinery worker, John Sowawi, pumps water into the distilling equipment that is used to refine the stolen crude oil. Tife Owolabi/Transterra Media Fifty-year-old Tula Ebiowei carries an empty oil container for it to be filled with refined product. Tife Owolabi/Transterra Media Ebiowei and his colleague work along the Nun River in Nigeria's oil-rich state of Bayelsa. Tife Owolabi/Transterra Media John Tarila fills a container with refined PMS product before shipping it out to end users along the river. The locals say they make enough money from the business to escape poverty. Tife Owolabi/Transterra Media Many people living in the region live in abject poverty, and basic amenities are often lacking.  Follow Tife Owolabi on Twitter: @Tifeowoloabi

UK’s visa bond: Slap on Nigeria’s face

By Emmanuel Edukugho
Britain’s latest planned immigration policy compelling visitors from Nigeria and five other countries to pay 3,000 pounds (about N750,000) bond before they can enter the United Kingdom has generated mixed reactions from Nigerians of varying backgrounds.

A report in the Weekly Sunday Times was quoted as stating that from November 2013, according to the Home Secretary, Theresa May, there would be a pilot scheme by the Prime Minister David Cameron administration targeting visitors from Nigeria, Pakistan, India, Ghana, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh whose citizens are deemed to pose “the most significant risk of immigration abuse.”

Gbenga Ashiru, Foreign Affairs Minister and Prime Minister David Cameron

Visitors aged 18 and above would be forced to pay 3,000 pounds ($4,600, 3,500 euros) from November for a six-month visit visa. They will forfeit the money if they overstay in Britain after their visa has expired.

As explained by the Home Secretary, the policy is designed to show that the government is serious about cutting down immigration and abuses of the system, as Cameron wants annual net migration to fall below 100,000 by 2015.

In 2012, 296,000 people were granted six-month visas from India, 101,000 from Nigeria, 53,000 from Pakistan and 14,000 each from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Declared Theresa May: “In the long run, we are interested in a system of bonds that deters over-staying and recovers costs if a foreign national has used our public services.

“This is the next step in making sure our immigration system is more selective, bringing down net migration from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands; while still welcoming the brightest and the best in Britain.”

In conceptualising this proposed policy, the United Kingdom might not have overlooked the possibility of retaliation or reciprocity by the countries affected. British visitors could be asked to pay bonds before they are permitted into those countries.

“This is discriminatory and racial. Nigeria should not accept such prohibitive payment without retaliating. It is neo-colonialism and therefore, unacceptable. I am displeased with the proposed deposit Nigerians visiting England are forced to pay. This is unfair considering the historical relationship between Britain and Nigeria,” said Engineer Stephen Temitope.

He described the 3,000-pound visa bond as “a slap on Nigeria’s face.”

“It’s a strategic action and a way of tightening immigration into the United Kingdom. The British government had been worried by the influx of Nigerians into the country and the only means to check this trend is to impose severe financial punishment for people coming in. Why do they want nationals of these countries to pay so much as visa deposit?” he queried.

According to Temitope, the message being sent is clear. “They want Nigerians to stay at home and salvage their fatherland, instead of always seeking to travel abroad which may not be the best option.
There is nothing like home. Life in Britain could be terrible as well. Don’t be deceived. You will be amazed at what many Nigerians do for a living in the UK! Menial and embarrassing jobs that they cannot do here at home.”

Ms Margaret Osho, an administrative manager in an educational institution, blamed the government for the poor economy and not providing basic infrastructure, forcing people to travel out of Nigeria to seek better life.

“People, qualified and unqualified just travel abroad without any tangible thing to do. There is a careless attitude among Nigerians. We should blame ourselves and learn to stay at home. There are great potentials and opportunities in this country waiting to be tapped. There is nothing to gain travelling to the USA, UK or Canada unless to engage in slave labour.”

She urged the Nigerian government to provide the basic necessities of life such as good housing, electricity, water, employment, good roads, quality education and security for citizens to deter them from rushing to Britain.

“To a great extent, living in Nigeria is difficult, full of anguish and pains because virtually nothing works well in our country. It is expensive to live in Nigeria despite widespread poverty. People want to escape with the slightest opportunity available.”

Margaret expressed sadness over the teeming number of Nigerians who flooded foreign embassies like Britain, France, America, Canada, trying to get visa to travel.

“As early as 7 a.m, Nigerians are already on the line waiting for interview to obtain visas to enter Britain. At the end most of them are rejected and frustrated. The government has a lot to do by creating an enabling and conducive environment for people to remain at home.”

She told Saturday Vanguard that if our economy is revived, there would be no need to travel abroad for greener pastures which no longer exist as was the case in the past.

“Our leaders are not leading by good example. Bad governance, corruption, selfishness, greed, insecurity, favouritism, ethnic sentiments are traits exhibited by our leaders that have scared many people away to other countries,” she quipped.

Hassan Umaru is a banker who does not want Nigerians to blame Britain for the harsh visa bond which compels visitors to part with 3,000 pounds if they happen to overstay.

“Don’t blame Britain. The British people won’t want to expose their country to unscrupulous Nigerians, miscreants, terrorists, fraudsters, and those without expertise that can contribute to the growth and development of the UK economy. Many Nigerians are in prison there. Here in Nigeria, our government is even treating us as slaves. No justice, no welfare scheme, corruption everywhere. Nobody cares.”

He noted that foreign embassies in Nigeria are extorting the people who intend to travel abroad, asking for all kinds of consular payments and making plenty of money.

“Foreigners who enter Nigeria are not saints. Many of them commit crimes but are seldom tried and sent to jail. Some don’t even have visas because our immigration laws are soft and flexible.

“The government should not wait till November when the proposed policy would come into effect, but begin now to tell the UK it’s going to be an eye-for-an-eye by imposing similar visa bond on Britons coming to Nigeria. We cannot be taken for granted again, Nigeria has come of age to hit back at nations introducing hostile, discriminatory policies against us,” Hassan said.

It will be recalled that Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Olugbenga Ashiru, while saying the UK visa bond was discriminatory and could undermine the spirit of the Commonwealth family, urged Britain to reconsider the proposed policy.

According to Ashiru, who summoned the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Andrew Pacok for clarification, “It is incompatible with the strong and cordial relations built over the years between the UK and Nigeria.”

About 180,000 Nigerians applied for the UK visa last year and over 70% of this number were granted.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/06/slap-on-nigerias-face/#sthash.SVB6S0gH.dpuf

Nigeria: The World Awaits Fascinating Nigeria Brand

BY JIMOH BABATUNDE

OPINION

MANY tourist destinations in the world had ridden on the back of marketing slogans to attract tourists. The "Incredible India," the marketing slogan, that attracted tourists to India from around the globe, also reportedly posted incredible results for its marketers.

Other countries outside India that had used strong slogans to attract tourists are Malaysia's 'Truly Asia'; Zambia - the real Africa'; 'Egypt - where history began and continues' and 'Cuba - peaceful, safe and healthy tourism' among others.

Nigeria will soon join these other countries with the plan by the Minister of Tourism and Culture, Edem Duke, and his team to launch a slogan for the country, 'Fascinating Nigeria'.

The Minister said the country deserves to have a distinctive tourism brand identity which can be used to market the country's attractions.

Speaking with journalists recently, Edem disclosed that they had been working on the slogan for the better part of one year, before it was approved January this year by the Federal Executive Council.

"As I speak to you, it has been resolved that in the first week of July this year, the slogan will officially be launched in Abuja.

"If you don't have an identity nobody will recognize what you are doing. It is like winking in the dark. I am sure in the coming weeks we will see a better manifestation of this initiative."

As Nigerians await the launch of the 'Fascinating Nigeria brand', stakeholders in the industry have expressed happiness on what the tourism industry stands to gain.

Speaking with this reporter, Blessing Usen, a tour operator disclosed that when India launched the "Incredible India," slogan that the country's tourism grew by 6.9 percent to almost $42 billion in 2010 despite a global recession then.

She said the World Travel and Tourism Council in its reports then noted that despite a global recession, Indian tourism grew . 'Tourists to India spend almost twice as much as the average international tourist.

Infrastructure development

Usen is of the hope that Nigeria will benefit from the introduction of the slogan as she sees opportunities for the country's tourism in three ways- employment, foreign currency and infrastructure development.

The tour operator added that the Ministry should come up with media plans and other items that will be used to sell the country to foreign tourists, "the goal of a slogan is to encapsulate a destination's sense of place. If it does its job, it will be stored in consumers' working memory.

Earlier, Edem Duke in his chat with journalists had said that the social media will begin preliminary exposure of that brand and in pursuant of that they have been developing some collateral that will support the brand.

The Minister said there is no bookshop anywhere in the world that there is a respectable collateral about Nigeria, "there is no mission of Nigeria that you go to anywhere in the world that you find materials that speak of the various endowments of this country.

"I think that Nigeria deserves more as the biggest black nation on the face of the earth as the source market for the tourism revenue of other countries."

The Ministry, according to him, has produced promotional materials that will be used to sell the country as a fascinating destination.

Another tour operator with Peacock Travels, Patra Ada, said Nigeria caters to several market types. While saying that historically, the cultural tourist vacation market attracted the most foreign visitors, but marketers now target the business travel market as well, enticing them to schedule conventions and business meetings in conjunction with cultural activities. She said additional markets include adventure and eco-tourism, as well as the pilgrimage market, which is a major source of Nigerian domestic tourism.

Most of the churches in Nigeria, according to her, attract pilgrims from all over the world, so the country stands to gain if the Fascinating Nigeria is supported as the country's tourism will benefit from jobs in hotels, transport, attractions and tour companies. Other indirect benefits, according to her, are in areas such as restaurants and retail shops.

Petra explained that branding should underpin all marketing planning and the purpose of all marketing communication should be to enhance brand equity in the minds of the target audience.

Nigeria’s crude falls to 1.96mbd

… Loses 600,000 barrels daily

By Sebastine Obasi

Nigeria’s crude oil output declined to a six-month low of 1.96 million barrels per day, mbd, according to the International Energy Agency, IEA.

This means that the country is already losing about 600,000 barrels of its daily production benchmark of 2.567mbd in the 2013 budget.

The agency attributed the decline to oil theft and pipeline vandalism which had bedeviled the industry for a long time.

The IEA report gives credence to the recent statement by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, which said that 53 break points were discovered along the 97km Nembe Creek Trunk line.

“This will further reduce our April and May monthly average to about 2.2mbpd and further decrease crude oil revenue by about $554 million (N83 billion) that should have accrued to the Federation Account,” the corporation said.oil

“We shall continue to work with relevant government agencies both at the federal and state levels; to end this incessant crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism. We have the potential to meet the national target of 2.48mbpd if this menace is eliminated,” it added.

However, other oil producing nations among the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC fold fared much better.

According to the IEA, Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s biggest producer led the production gainers, with output jumping by 220,000 bd to a six-month high level of 9.56 mbd, which was attributed to a seasonal increase for domestic use to meet peak air-conditioning needs.

Despite international sanctions over its disputed nuclear programme, Iran’s output edged up 30,000 bd to 2.68 mbd in May.

The IEA estimated that imports of Iranian crude jumped to 1.39 mbd in May from 835 in April, which was mostly due to congestion at Chinese ports at the end of April delaying deliveries until May.

Another country that recorded increase in production is Kuwait. Its production edged up to 2.84 mbd. Angolan production edged up to 1.78 mbd, with several fields expected to increase output to peak capacity within the next year and other fields to come on line. Also, the United Arab Emirates, UAE, edged up its output to 2.73 mbd, while Qatar’s was unchanged at 725,000 bd.

Shell Looks to Change Its Strategy in Nigeria

By Arjun Sreekumar

Over the past few years, Shell (NYSE: RDS-A  ) has been plagued by a couple of major operational debacles. The first is its beleaguered oil campaign in Alaska, which the company recently decided to put on pause, and the second is its experience in Nigeria, where its operations have been plagued by oil theft, vandalism, and attacks on oil infrastructure that have cost the company some 60,000 barrels a day in lost production.

Well, it looks like Shell has carefully reviewed shareholder concerns and is determined to make its Nigeria operations a success story, rather than a reputational eyesore. Let's take a closer look.

Shell plans to review Nigeria licenses Last week, Shell announced that it is contemplating a further reduction of its oil production in the eastern Niger Delta, the region plagued by decades of spills and oil thefts.

Shell's Nigerian subsidiary, the Shell Petroleum Development Co. of Nigeria Ltd. (SPDC), said that it would carefully assess the future of its 28 leases in the country. Since 2010, the Hague-based company has already sold eight licenses in the Niger Delta for a total of $1.8 billion.

Shell said the review of its remaining licenses was part of a broader strategy to combat the scourge of oil theft and pipeline sabotage in the region and to concentrate its "operating footprint into a small, more contiguous area". It may also be partially prompted by Nigeria's growing assertiveness in taking ownership of its vast hydrocarbon resources.

The nation's government has said it plans to boost ownership of domestic assets by its own state oil company or by domestic firms, a move that has encouraged foreign oil companies to sell some of their assets. Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) , for instance, announced last week that it would sell five oil blocks in Nigeria's shallow waters.

At the same time, however, Shell is ramping up investment in two other Nigerian projects: the Trans-Niger Pipeline loop-line (TNPL) and phase two of the Gbaran-Ubie gas project. The two projects, estimated to cost roughly $3.9 billion, are intended to combat the issues of oil theft and vandalism that have plagued Nigeria for decades.

Shell's existing operations in NigeriaCurrently, a joint venture led by SPDC produces 750,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day on acreage that lies across 28 licenses near the Niger Delta. Shell maintains a 30% interest in the venture, while state-controlled Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation controls 55%,Total (NYSE: TOT  ) holds 10%, and Italy's Eni owns the remaining 5% interest.

The four joint-venture partners plan to spend some $1.5 billion to combat crude oil theft and vandalism on the Trans Niger Pipeline, as well as an additional $2.4 billion to fund five more gas pipeline projects. The oil theft and vandalism problem is so acute in the region that some companies have either scaled back or retreated entirely from their operations in the country.

For instance, in November, French oil major Total agreed to sell a 20% stake in an offshore Nigerian oil field to Chinese oil giant Sinopec (NYSE: SHI  ) , while ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP  ) sold its Nigeria unit to Toronto-listed Oando Energy Resources for about $1.79 billion in cash a month later. The Nigerian Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association estimates that the country loses roughly $6 billion annually to crude oil theft. 

The bottom line It appears that Shell is finally taking aggressive action to combat the oil spills, theft, and sabotage that have characterized its operations in Nigeria for decades. Though Shell has hinted that further asset sales in Nigeria may be forthcoming, its announcement suggests that it hasn't given up on the region's potential and may decide to invest further in deepwater licenses and onshore gas projects in the near future

Botswana auctions diamonds at home

Last year, De Beers moved its rough stone sorting operation to Botswana

Continue reading the main story

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Botswana, the world's largest diamond producer, has started to auction its own diamonds for the first time instead of selling them in Europe.

The auction is by the government-owned Okavango Diamond Company.

Later in the year, diamond giant De Beers, which owns the country's main mining firm with the government, will also move its sales to Gaborone.

Botswana has long campaigned for its diamonds to be processed, sorted, marketed and sold from the country.

Last year, De Beers moved its rough stone sorting operation, which had been based in London for nearly 80 years, to Botswana.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

Rob YoungBBC World Service, Gaborone

The auction is going to be small, but its symbolism is huge. It should earn more money for Botswana than the previous system. The diamonds which are being sold were mined in Botswana and are being sold by Botswana. For decades, the auctions have taken place in Europe.

Staff from diamond giant DeBeers in London are also relocating to Gaborone, and locals are being trained and employed. Soon, DeBeers will sell about $6bn worth of the precious stones annually in Gaborone; that is the equivalent of a third of the size of the economy.

It has seen by those in power as the beginning of "bringing the diamonds home". There is excitement among many here, especially the business community which hopes to benefit from a related economic boom. The plan is a long-term one - to set up a diamond hub similar to Antwerp and Tel Aviv that will continue once the diamond mines close.

'Big-scale move'

The BBC's Rob Young in the capital, Gaborone, says about a dozen diamond buyers from around the world are in the city for the auction, which lasts for two weeks as they inspect the diamonds first and then bid for them in several rounds.

The government hopes diamond sales operations will bring more value-added jobs to the diamond sector, including clerical and jewellery-making work, our reporter says.

Its long-term plan is to set up a diamond hub similar to Antwerp and Tel Aviv that will continue once the diamond mines close, he says.

When De Beers relocates its sales operation later in the year, it will be selling about $6bn (£4bn) worth of diamonds a year in Gaborone.

Philippe Mellier, chief executive of De Beers, told the BBC that moving diamond sales was part of a deal agreed with the government of Botswana. Together they own Debswana, the country's main mining company.

It would turn Botswana into a major diamond hub, as it was already the biggest centre for diamond production, Mr Mellier said.

"It's a global movement of big scale for the diamond business," he told the BBC's Newsday programme.

"If you migrate $500m-$600m per month of sales of diamonds - that's a big move and at the scale of Botswana that's a very big move and certainly a move of significant scale for southern Africa."

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Nigeria’s Foreign Reserves Fall To Lowest In 3-Months

Posted by: Channels Television Posted date: June 26, 2013 In: Business | comment : 0 Comments and 0 Reactions

The nation’s foreign exchange reserves fell 0.16 percent month-on-month to $48.33 billion by June 24, the lowest level in more than three months, data from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed on Wednesday.

The reserves, however, were up 30.86 percent year-on-year, compared with $36.93 billion the same time last year.

The CBN had sold $3.02 billion at its twice-weekly foreign exchange auction between May 22 and June 24, in its bid to support the Naira, foreign currency traders said.

 Naira Falls to N161.55

Naira fell against the dollar to its weakest in over a week on the interbank market as the CBN failed to intervene in the market on Wednesday, traders said.

The currency closed at N161.55 to the dollar, its weakest since June 14 when it closed at N162.7 to the dollar.

Naira closed at 160.50 to the dollar the previous day.

“Demand for the greenback remain strong in the market, while the sales of $12 million by Agip was too little to support the Naira,” one dealer said.

Traders said the central bank failed to sell dollars directly to some banks outside its regular twice-weekly auction as it had done in the last two weeks, causing the Naira to lose value.

Nigerian central bank had sold about $3 billion between May 22 and June 24 at its twice-weekly foreign exchange auction, plus an unspecified amount sold directly to banks, in its bid to reduce pressure on the local currency.

“We expect the naira to continue to lose value in the near term unless the central bank sustains its intervention in the market,” another dealer said.

At the regular forex auction, the central bank sold $300 million at 155.75 to the dollar, compared with $500 million sold at the same rate on Monday.

Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves fell 0.16 percent month-on-month to $48.33 billion by June 24, the lowest level in more than three months, data from central bank showed on Wednesda

Presidency Allays Fear on Economy

President Goodluck Jonathan

• Says Tompolo’s pipeline surveillance contract won’t be renewed  
• Economy has nose-dived, says Survey

Chuks Okocha and
Yemi Akinsuyi
The presidency  Tuesday allayed fears over the state of the economy following falling revenue from oil, Nigeria’s major source of foreign exchange earnings, caused by the drop in production and falling prices in the international market, which has negatively affected the revenue accruing to the Federation Account.

Besides, the production target for crude oil has fallen below the 2.528 million barrels per day (mbpd).
Earnings from oil sales contribute a major percentage of the nation's foreign exchange earnings.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had in April said that the government would resort to withdrawals from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) as an interim measure to ward off any threat to the economy.

Nigeria had a balance of $7 billion in ECA at the time, but this had dropped to $5.27billion in May.

The minister, who gave an overview on the  economy, had  explained that Nigeria was losing a total of about 300,000 barrels per day, blaming the losses on the activities of oil thieves and pipeline vandals.

The losses, she added, translated to a drop of $1 billion in revenue per month.
Despite the drop in revenue, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, told reporters in Abuja that there was no cause for worry as the economy was in safe hands.

He also said the federal government had no plan to renew the pipeline  surveillance contract given to a former militant, Mr. Government Ekpemukpolo alias Tompolo, explaining that the initial contract was awarded by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
Okupe  spoke against the backdrop of fears over the discovery of shale gas by the United States and its likely effect on crude oil prices, as well as a reaction  to the statement by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) asking the federal government to be honest with Nigerians on the state of the nation’s economy.

ACN had said that all indications showed that things were not as rosy as the government was trying to make Nigerians believe.

But Okupe said various fiscal policies, reforms and programmes adopted by the Jonathan administration would keep the economy in good shape.

“The truth is that contrary to this thinking, Nigeria’s total national crude oil production is 2.06 million barrels per day. Europe has become a major destination for Nigerian crude oil cargoes, with the volume of Nigerian crude oil grades going to Europe increasing from 28 per cent in 2011 to about 38 per cent in 2012.

The presidential aide added that the federal government was adopting appropriate strategies to effectively mitigate the impact of decline in the US markets. 

“While the Nigerian economy, like other oil dependent ones globally, often suffer from drop in sales and fluctuation in international pricing, the Jonathan administration has implemented key reforms to reduce dependence on oil and these reforms have resulted in the agricultural sector alone contributing over 40 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product in two years. Oil exports are now 69 per cent  of our total exports as against 91 per cent in 2008”.

Okupe explained that the federal government is also currently implementing measures to reduce incidence of crude oil theft in the last two years.

For instance, he said the  navy and maritime agencies had been equipped with modern tools  to patrol the waterways as part of efforts to stem  oil thefts.
President Goodluck Jonathan, he added, has also solicited the co-operation of the United Kingdom, United States and other countries in tracking and apprehending oil thieves.

Okupe also explained that the Jonathan administration has been working assiduously to reduce the  cost of governance, which has resulted in recurrent expenditure dropping from 74 per cent in 2011 to 68 per cent in 2013, adding that it is expected to  further go down next fiscal year.
“Just three weeks ago, government began the implementation of reforms suggested by the Oronsaye committee to further reduce recurrent expenditure by about N1 trillion in the next three years through the rationalisation of agencies and departments of government with similar functions.

“Domestic government borrowing declined from N852 billion in 2011 to N588 billion in 2013. Our national debt is 21% of our GDP compared to South Africa (42.7%) Sub Saharan Africa (34.2%) USA (106%) Japan (225%) United Kingdom (90%). Our foreign reserves have climbed up to almost $50 billion while the exchange rate has been steady,” he added.

He also  said the federal government was not relenting in infrastructure as major roads such as the Kano-Maiduguri, Benin-Ore, Abuja-Lokoja, Owerri-Onitsha, Katsina-Daura, East-West road and many others were being rehabilitated or reconstructed.

Besides,  the second Niger Bridge has been concessioned and work is in steady progress while the contract for the rehabilitation of the  Lagos-Ibadan Expressway  has been awarded at a total cost of N160.7 billion to Julius Berger construction company and the RCC.

Meanwhile, a survey conducted by the CLEEN Foundation, a Nigerian Non Governmental Organisation in collaboration with the Afrobarometer Network, a Pan- African network of survey researchers and analysts and the Centre for Democratic Development, CDD-Ghana has said that the Nigerian economy has further nose-dived under the President Goodluck Jonathan and PDP-led federal government than any other time during the country’s current democratic dispensation,  Presenting the report to newsmen yesterday in Abuja,  Vice Chairman, CLEEN Foundation, Prof Etannibi Alemika disclosed that the current survey is the fifth round in a series of surveys conducted from 1999 when the country regained her democracy.

On high food imports, Okupe said the Jonathan administration had achieved a reduction in the quantity of importation of rice, a major staple food and dominant import item which drains huge foreign exchange.

"Rice imports have therefore fallen from 5.2 metric tonnes to about 2 million metric tonnes in two years with the ultimate goal of attaining 100 per cent sufficiency by 2015.
"Besides, wheat imports have reduced from 4.1 million metric tonnes to 3.7 million metric tonnes within the same period while sugar imports are also on the decline.
Fielding questions on why the federal government awarded the pipeline surveillance contract to Tompolo, Okupe said the contract was awarded by the Yar’Adua administration but that Jonathan would not renew it.

“In total, all the above measures have saved Nigeria N857 billion which would have been spent on food imports. In recognition of these and other measures, the Food and Agriculture Organisation FAO recently presented an award to Nigeria and other countries for combating hunger and attaining the first goal of the Millennium Development Goals, three years ahead of the 2015 target date.

“The inviolable truth is that the Nigerian economy, like the economy of other nations, has its challenges which the Jonathan administration has courageously and innovatively been tackling with measurable, obvious and clearly tangible positive results in the last two years.

“With these considerations therefore, It is unfair and incorrect for anyone to suggest an impending collapse of the economy on the basis of a drop in crude oil sales, which is not within the control of any single nation, without taking into account current efforts by government to diversify the economy as well as fiscal measures which have resulted in inflow of over $14 billion new investments in the non-oil sector of the economy as well as other favourable ratings of the Nigerian economy by international ratings agencies,”  he said.

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