Do you know that?

Fight Corruption in Nigeria - BribeNigeria.com

Courtesy Ayo Adedoyin's Wall

Do you know that?
1. The River Niger Bridge at Onitsha was constructed between 1964 and 1965 by Dumez- a French construction company and cost £5 million.
2. Patience Jonathan is one of Nigeria’s most-educated First Ladies, with an NCE, a B.Ed, and a PhD from University of Port-Harcourt.
3. The highest peak in Nigeria is located in Taraba and is called Chappal Waddi which means “The Mountain of Death”.
4. There are 196 countries in the world and at least one Igbo person from Nigeria lives in every one of them.
5. The Pidgin word ‘Sabi’ came from ‘Saber’, Portuguese and Spanish for ‘to know’. Both country’s ships traded slaves from the Bight of Benin.
6. Katsina College (now Barewa College in Zaria) has produced 5 Nigerian Presidents/Heads of State since it was founded in 1921 in Katsina.
7. Ojukwu taught Murtala Mohammed and Ben Adekunle at Regular Officers Special Training School, Ghana. Both ‘fought’ their teacher during the civil war
8. At Nigeria’s independence in 1960, there were 41 Secondary Schools in the North and 842 Secondary Schools in the South.
9. In 1983, Senator Arthur Nzeribe spent $16.5 million to win a Senatorial seat in Orlu (in Imo State).
10. In 1973, the Federal Government of Nigeria considered officially changing the name of “Lagos” to “Eko”. Regarding “Lagos” as a colonial name.
11. The geographical area now referred to as Nigeria was once referred to as ‘Soudan’ and ‘Nigiritia’.
12. Offences punishable by death sentence after the 1966 coup included embezzlement, rape and homosexuality.
13. MKO Abiola was named Kashimawo (Let us wait and see) by his parents. He was his father’s twenty-third child, but the first to survive infancy.
14. Jaja Wachucku was the first person to refer to Lagos as a “no-man’s land” in 1947, provoking a national controversy.
15. Jollof rice, chicken breast, serve of ice cream, tea, coffee or Bournvita, with full cream milk and sugar: Meal Cost = 50Kobo- Unilag in the late 1970s
16. At the point death in 1989, Sam Okwaraji was a PhD candidate and qualified lawyer with an LL.M in International Law (University of Rome)
17. When British Bank of West Africa (now First Bank) opened a branch in Kano in 1929, Alhassan Dantata (Dangote’s Grandfather) opened an account depositing 20 camel-loads of silver coins.
18. Jaja Wachuku is reputed to have owned the biggest one-man library in West Africa. Balewa sometimes referred to him as “Most Bookish Minister
19. The colonization of Nigeria took more than 40 years to achieve and the territories were integrated by the use of force.
20. Yoruba is spoken as a ritual language the Santeria cult in Carribean and South-Central America.
21. Slavery existed in the Nigerian territory before the 15th century and was abolished in the 19th century- 1807 by the British.
22. At least 55 women were killed in South-East Nigeria, in 1929 when the women forced the Umuahia warrant chiefs to submit to their rule.
23. The coinage ‘Supreme Court’ was first used in 1863 by the colonial administration through the enactment of the Supreme Court Ordinance No. II.
24. MKO Abiola died suddenly on July 7, 1998, exactly one month after General Sani Abacha died mysteriously on June 8, 1998.
25. Agbani Darego was the only one to wear a maillot as opposed to a bikini during the Miss Universe contest in 2001.
26. The ‘Ankara’ material is not indigenous to Nigeria. Our indigenous textiles include the Akwete, Ukara, Aso-Oke and Adire.
27. Aloma Mukhtar is the first female lawyer from the North and went on to become the first female Chief Justice of Nigeria.
28. The area known as Makoro town in Lagos was first a swamp, later sand-filled by the colonial government and served as the first bridge to the Island.
29. Esie Museum is Nigeria’s first museum, established in 1945. Once reputed to have the largest collection of soapstone images in the world.
30. Aminu Kano formed the Northern Teachers’ Association (NTA) in 1948, the first successful regional organization in the history of the North.
31. George Goldie, who played a major role in founding Nigeria, placed a curse on anyone who attempts to write his biography.
32. In 1996, John Ogbu, a Nigerian Anthropologist firmly advocated for the use of African-American Vernacular to teach in the U.S
33. Hause Language indigenous to Northern Nigeria is spoken in 11 African States. Germany, French, U.S., and British International radio stations broadcast in Hausa.
34. The surgeon who ‘killed’ Stella Obasanjo was sentenced to 1 year in prison, disqualified for 3 years and fined €120,000.
35. The word ‘asiri’ means ‘secret’ in Hausa, Yoruba, Nupe and Igarra. It also means ‘gossip’ in Igbo.
36. Igbo-Ora in Oyo State, Kodinji in India and Candido Godoi in Brazil are the towns that produce the highest number of twin births in the world.
37. Bishop Ajayi Crowther, a Yoruba, in 1857 produced a reading book for the Igbo Language and a full grammar and vocabulary of NUPE in 1864.
38. The first TV broadcast in Nigeria and Tropical Africa was on October 31, 1959.
39. In 1978, a 50Kobo increase (from #1.50 to #2) in the cost of University Students’ meal per day caused the ‘Ali Must Go’ protests.
40. Albert E. Kitson discovered coal in Enugu in 1909. This discovery led to the building of Port-Harcourt town in 1912.
41. Today, only Nigeria has a larger black population than Brazil. More than 3.5 million Africans were captured, enslaved and transported to Brazil.
42. Groundnut pyramids were the invention of Alhaji Alhassan Dantata to stack bags before export.
43. In 1967, old traditional ruler, Oba Akran and A. Ademiluyi were jailed for 14 years (7 each) for stealing £504,750 (#2.5b).
44. Since 1960, Nigeria has been either ruled by an ex-lecturer/ex-teacher or military man. The only exceptions are Azikiwe and Shonekan.
45. If you visited Lagos in 1975, you could spend a day at the Presidential Suite of Federal Palace Hotel for #100, single room for #19.
46. The first aircraft to land in Nigeria landed in Kano in July 1925. A British fighter jet flew from Khartoum (present day Sudan).
47. In 1895, Koko of Nembe (now in Bayelsa) took 60 white men hostage. When the British refused his demands, more than 40 of those men were eaten.
48. The ‘Naira’ was coined by Chief Obafemi Awolowo when he was serving as the Federal Commissioner of Finance.
49. Koma Hill (settlement in Adamawa where people lived and practised the killing of twins) was discovered in 1986 by a NYSC corps member.
50. The pilot (Francis Osakwe) that flew Ojukwu away from Biafra (1970) was the same pilot that flew Gowon to Uganda (last flight as Head of State).
51. In 1986, Shehu Shagari was banned from participation in politics for life. The ban has still not been lifted.
52. As the wife of the deputy Head of State (Vice President of Nigeria) in 1984, Biodun Idiagbon personally ran a small ice cream shop in Ilorin..
53. Koma Hills (Adamawa State) inhabitants when discovered were observed to engage in the practise of borrowing wives among themselves.
54. Juju, Dashiki, Yam and Okra are words in the English dictionary that originated from ethnic groups located in present day Nigeria.
55. Nigeria has more English speakers than England. -

THE FALL OF THE CABAL 2.

THE FALL OF THE CABAL 2.

NIGERIA’S OIL FRAUD GANGSTERS NAMED.
A must read.

Diezani Alison-Madueke

As Diezani Allison-Madueke expects a possible Jail term of between 12-15 years in London, if convicted, the former powerful Petroleum Minister Nigeria has ever had, is also
expected to name over 200 accomplice who connived, helped or participated in one of the biggest oil fraud Nigeria has ever
had. In a well orchestrated scheme where almost $50Billion was lost in a period in more than five years of her reign as Petroleum Minister, Diezani midwifed oil theft, fraud and
money laundering ceespool that milked Nigeria’s oil fortunes. Sources in London and Abuja have told Pointblanknews.com that Diezani is not prepared to go down alone. She is indeed, preparing to name all her accomplice, tell all, in what may be dubbed “Nigeria’s Oil Fraud Gangsters. In one year alone, Diezani and her cronies have fraudulently milked Nigeria about $11Billion from offshore processing agreements (OPAs) popularly known as oil swap. And within
the Period she midwifed the Petroleum sector, Nigeria lost about $50Billion.

In the well built cell of cronies whom she used at will to perpetrate the most audacious criminal activities in the oil industry, are men who built walls around themselves, spending
petro-dollars with impunity, acquiring private jets, yatchs, private islands, undermining and sabotaging the Nigerian economy.

With her arrest, Diezani is said to be ready to name names and implicate all those who know about the deals that saw her become richer than some countries.Some of those who are expected “feature prominently and perhaps go down with Diezani are: Alhaji Abubakar Aliyu, (AKA A.A Oil), Dan Etete,
Tope Shonubi, Tonye Cole, Ade Odunsi, Tunde Ayeni, Idahosa Wells Okunbo, Walter Wagbatsoma, Benny Peters, Jide Omokore and Kola Aluko. Meet Some Members of the ‘Crude Oil Gangsters’ Tunde Ayeni and Idahosa Wells (Ocean Marines Security, PPP
FM) The two men since 2011 have been involved in the transportation of five million barrels of crude from Escravos to Warri refinery, and Bonny Island to Port Harcourt refinery, from drilling terminals to the
refineries using ships, and circumventing direct linking pipelines, at the cost of
N3.063.00($15.4 USD) per barrel of crude.
Mrs. Madueke, Austin Oniwon,Yinka Omorogbe, the legal adviser to the corporation and some others, facilitated the deal for Ocean Marines and PPP Fluid Mechanics. After the Isrealis that had fronted for the two companies were“paid off,” they jerked up the contract sum to N6.7 billion monthly from N1.1 billion ($5.82 million USD) monthly, in the most bizzare manner in a
contract that was never bidded for, according to industry sources. While the deal was expected to supply Warri Refinery with
105.6 million barrels of crude, NNPC records show that the refinery only received 61.2
million barrels, combined. At least half of what was expected by ship alone was not delivered. Ayeni and Wells allegedly pocketed
proceeds from the barrels never recieved by the NNPC. From his fraudulent proceeds, Ayeni bought major shares in Skye Bank,
Mainstreet Bank, bought Ibadan and Yola Discos, Nitel and Ascot. Sahara Energy (Tope Shonubi, Tonye Cole, Ade Odunsi) Tope Sonubi, Ade Odunsi and Tonye Cole were some of the few oil magnates who benefited immensely from former petroleum minister,
Diezani Alison-Madueke sleazy administration. Sahara Energy was allocated 90,000 barrels per day (bpd), through an
agreement with Societies Ivorienne De Refinage crude oil by the NNPC and
was expected to use proceeds from the sales to import petrol, Kerosene and other petroleum products into the country.

On the other hand, some of the companies received crude to be refined in some refineries abroad under a special arrangement and were expected to import the products back into thecountry. It was however discovered that the Sahara Energy short- changed the country in the arrangement as the crude allocated to them could not be accounted for. It was suspected that the companies have been selling the crude allocated to them by NNPC without making returns to the government neither did they import the bye products into the country based on the agreement
with NNPC. Investigators said Sahara Energy made over $2Billion from the Oil swap deal alone. NNPC had requested Sahara Energy, with it’s Switzerland subsidiary, Sahara
International Pte Limited at 7, Quai du Mont-Blanc, Geneva to refund N6.034 billion ($37.55 million) of subsidies unless a ‘credible explanation’ can be provided on the subject it oil swap transactions. They never did. A Swiss report stated that Sahara Energy is entirely unable to justify a bank statement showing another $33.7 million while it is
among the companies that have not imported the quantities that they should have but
who have nevertheless been able to continue their importing activities with flagrant impunity. Sahara Energy is a major beneficiary of the Petroleum Ministry
under Diezani. Even when the OPA agreement of others were canceled, Sahara and
Aiteo were the only ones left behind because of their closeness to Diezani, a source close to both companies told Pointblanknews.com.
Jide Omokore, Kola Aluko, Atlantic Energy, Seven Energy Without any bidding, the NPDC signed “strategic partnership
agreements” worth around $6.6 billion with two local firms to manage
them; Seven Energy was awarded three fields; while Atlantic Energy got
two. Seven was co-founded in 2004 by Kola Aluko, who also co-owned
Atlantic with Jide Omokore. Atlantic was incorporated the day before it signed
the deals.
According to the contracts signed with the NPDC, Seven Energy retained 10%
of profits in the three oil blocks, while Atlantic got 30% in its two blocks. Unlike Shell, neither firm pays royalties, profit tax or duties to
the state. Both companies wasted no time sub-contracting to other
operators, on terms that were neither disclosed to the NPDC nor the NNPC.
Atlantic Energy does not publish accounts, but Seven’s 2013 annual report showed
its deal with NPDC helped its revenue more than triple to $345 million. In
May 2013, House of reps called for investigations into the contracts saying Madueke transferred state assets to private individuals without competitive tender.
But Madueke argued no tender was needed because the contracts involved no
sale of equity in the oil fields; the probe failed. Seven said on its
website its agreement with NPDC pre-dated the Jonathan administration and
included an allowance for taxes. The company claimed it had
invested over $500 million, more than doubled production from its three
blocks, and paid $48.8 million in taxes in 2013.

Aluko owns a fleet of supercars, including a Ferrari 458 GT2 that he races
with Swiss team Kessel Racing. He also owns a $50 million yacht, according
to Forbes magazine, and divides his time between a $40 million home in Los
Angeles, an $8.6 million duplex on Fifth Avenue in New York,
and homes in Abuja and Geneva.
Omokore has also become rich from oil and gas. Forbes estimated his annual
revenue at Energy Resources at $400 million. His jet-setting lifestyle
matches Aluko in equal measure.
According to SuperYatch.com, Aluko owns the Galactica Star yacht, which he
acquired in June 2013. The 65m long Galactica is a unique custom built
Super Yacht; the newest and largest Heesen yacht ever built and goes for
over $100 million! Beyoncé and Jay-Z celebrated her 32nd birthday on one
in Italy this year. Omokore and Aluko both made $3.9Billion from shady oil
deals under Diezani. Abubakar Aliyu, Dan Etete/Malabu Oil Scandal
Alhaji Abubakar Aliyu, the dimunitive Kogi born has been heavily involved
in fraudulent oil deals since the reign of late Gen. Sani Abacha. He is
alleged to have been one of those who imported the infamous foul smelling
fuel in the late 90’s and early 2000 which killed many Nigerians.
Aliyu was a middleman in the yet-to-be resolved Malabu Oil scandal.
Aliyu owns Rocky Top Resources Limited with an account in one of the Abuja
branches of Key Stone Bank with number 1005556552, where $336 million of
the $400million Malabu money was transferred to. The remaining balance of
$60 million was transferred to account No 3610042596 (allegedly belonging
to Etete) for forex trading, leaving zero balance with Malabu’s
Keystone bank account.
Of the $336 million transferred into the Rocky Top Resources account, $165
million was subsequently transferred into various individual accounts,
leaving the balance of only $171 million, the anti-graft agency’s report said.
According to an EFCC’s report, Rocky Top Resources was registered with the
Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) with 100,000 shares capital only and is
owned by one Abubakar Aliyu.
Former Attorney General and Minister of Justice Mohammed Adoke and the
former Minister for Finance (State) Dr. Yerima Lawal Ngama “instructed the
release of $401, 540, 000″ into Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd accounts domiciled
with First Bank of Nigeria and $400 million into another Malabu accounts
with Keystone Bank (former Bank PHB).
The EFCC report said “JP Morgan complied with this instruction and made
the transfers on 23 August, 2011.” Malabu, controlled by Chief Dan Etete,
ex-oil minister, who was convicted of money laundering in France in 2007.
The report further said that first payment of $401 million to Malabu’s
First Bank account was distributed directly to A Group Construction Co.
Ltd-also co-owned by Abubakar Aliyu ($157m); Mega Tech Engr. Co. Ltd
($180M); Imperial Union Ltd ($34m); Novel Property and Development
Ltd-also co-owned by Abubakar Aliyu ($30m); leaving the balance of $143
million Malabu’s account. And “reasons for this payment is yet to be
ascertained,” the EFCC report said.
Benny Peters (Aiteo Energy)
Benny Peters, the owner of Aiteo Energy. Mr. Peters is one of the major
beneficiaries from Nigeria’s notoriously fraudulent fuel subsidy payments.
A well known crony of Ms. Alison-Madueke, he is also quite close to
President Jonathan.
Sometime in 2014, in a hushed deal that fell far short of the requirement
of the bureau of public enterprise, the company acquired 85percent stake
in OML 29 ,one of the biggest onshore oil blocks from Shell Nigeria for
$2.56 billion. The block is believed to have around 2.2 billion barrels of
oil and 300 million standard cubic feet of gas.
He fraudulently made $1.5billion from the Oil Swap deal from
which it recieved a 90,000 bpd contract from the offshore processing
agreements (OPAs) for which his supplies were short by 193,046,590
litres in 2011. His contract was renewed at the tail end of the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration and was swiftly canceled by President Mohammadu
Buhari. Walter Wagbatsoma
Wagbatsoma and his Ontario Oil and Gas Nigeria Limited,
allegedly defrauded the Nigerian government of N1.9billion in unearned oil subsidy
payments. Wagbatsoma and his firm, Ontario Oil and Gas Limited,
received payment inexcess of N414 million by filing fraudulent fuel importation claims.

He is part of numerous fuel marketers standing trial for allegedly defrauding Nigeria by forging documents that enabled them to receive fuel subsidy payments from the Petrol that was never supplied.

Buhari’s uneventful 100 days

 by Femi Aribisala

AFTER the 2015 election, I predicted on Twitter that when critical decisions are to be taken, Yemi Osinbajo, the token Southerner in Aso Rock, would be sent to go and buy “guguru and epa.” This has proved prescient. The Vice-president was reportedly barred from attending a national security briefing on grounds he did not have security clearance. But who can have more clearance than a man elected by the people? How did Buhari himself get his?

On 30th August, 2015, the vice-president was again publicly embarrassed when armed men shut down Aso Rock Chapel; preventing him from worshipping there.

After shouting myself hoarse, warning Nigerians on electing Buhari as president, I decided to keep quiet and watch things unfold from the sidelines. Fela said about Buhari’s first-coming: “The people wey no sabi dey jubilate, the people wey sabi dey shake their head.” It is now 100 days since Buhari became president and many of my worst fears have been confirmed.

Dictatorship

In the middle of a national economic crisis, the president has been comatose. He made himself the Sole Administrator of Nigeria; a role not envisaged by the Constitution. These 100 days, Buhari has been the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Petroleum, as well as the Attorney-General. He has been the Minister of Education. He alone has been the minister in all the ministries of the federal government.

As a result, the country has ground to a halt. There has been no national direction, no economic policy. Only bombastic anti-corruption rhetoric. Not surprisingly, the economy has gone from bad to worse. Official reports from the National Bureau of Statistics indicate that our GDP has plummeted to 2.35%; a 40% decline under Buhari. Job-creation has dropped by 69%.

The CBN, in its Monetary Policy Committee Report of August 2015, complained that: “lack of fiscal directives is behind (Nigeria’s) current economic woes.” This is a big indictment of the administration. The coming of Buhari has brought about stagnation in domestic and foreign direct investments. The stock market has nosedived with investors scared away due to uncertainties arising from the government’s indecisiveness in the face of national economic adversity.

“One-chance”

It is now clear that Buhari obtained votes from Nigerians during the election by false pretenses. Contrary to his highfalutin campaign promises, he has not stabilised the international price of oil. Instead, it has fallen drastically from $60 to $40. Buhari has not made the naira equal to the dollar. As a matter of fact, it has depreciated considerably under his short watch. He has not used his vaunted military experience to defeat Boko Haram. On the contrary, the insurgency has become far more deadly, with over 1,000 innocent Nigerians killed within just three months.

Buhari’s promised free meals for school-children, allowances for discharged Youth Corpers, and 5,000 naira monthly allowance for indigent Nigerians have all turned out to be poppycock. He has not even mentioned the coal industry in Enugu, how much more made any moves to revive it. His boast to APC governors that he will recover billions of dollars of stolen funds within three months has proved to be hogwash. With the election over, he quickly backtracked on Chibok, saying: “We do not know if the Chibok girls can be rescued.”

In my years as a public policy analyst, I have never seen a government anywhere spend its vital first 100 days doing very little like this one. In defense of the president, Lai Mohammed said in a recent interview that: “Buhari never promised he was going to do anything in 100 days, that’s the honest truth.” This admission by the mouthpiece of the APC confirms conclusively that President Buhari has wasted 100 days of Nigerian lives.

Stolen achievements

Such improvements as are noticeable are legacies of the Jonathan administration. It is the height of deception that the Buhari government has been trying to take credit for them.

NERC Chairman, Sam Amadi, stressed that the recent improvements in power supply are the result of the efforts made by the Jonathan administration. That should put paid to bogus attempts to attribute them to the effects of Buhari’s “body language.” Neither does “body language” bring about a turnaround maintenance of our refineries. The credit for this goes to “clueless” Jonathan.

If we are now celebrating the end of polio in Nigeria, it has nothing to do with Buhari, and everything to do with Jonathan. If we are indeed well on our way to self-sufficiency in rice production, it is because of the activities of Jonathan, and not because of the inactivity of Buhari. In three months, the Buhari administration has added nothing to past achievements. On the contrary, it seems inclined to bring things to a standstill.

Media blackmail

Instead of providing effective leadership, Buhari’s government has opted for a campaign of calumny against the Jonathan administration. Day-in day-out, we are regaled with outrageous declarations without substantiation about how bad the previous government was, and by how much it ran down the economy. Only the gullible would fail to realise this is just a pathetic attempt to divert attention from the poor performance of the Buhari government.

Buhari claims he inherited an empty treasury. Nevertheless, he found over $30 billion in our foreign reserves. He says: “Jonathan’s ministers stole 150 billion dollars;” without telling us where he got this figure from. We are told one million barrels of oil was stolen everyday under Jonathan; without any shred of evidence to back this up. Buhari even went on record to claim Jonathan diverted $700 million from the $1.1 billion Chinese loan for the Lagos/Kano rail project. But the evidence shows the loan was for three different projects, with only $400 million earmarked for Lagos/Kano rail.

Governor Oshiomhole of Edo State says a senior official of the Obama administration revealed that a Jonathan minister stole $6 billion dollars no less. This has been denied by the Americans. He claims a consultancy fee of 140 billion naira was paid for the Second Niger Bridge project. However, the Bureau of Public Procurement says the total cost of the bridge is 108 billion naira.
Oshiomhole should face his state and desist from further cheap newspaper blackmails. Someone needs to remind the APC that election campaigns are over. Once bitten, Nigerians are now twice shy. APC won by manipulating the media. It cannot expect to rule using the same trickery.

Anti-corruption media distractions

Buhari’s so-called fight against corruption has already become a farce. The first salvo was to lock up former Jigawa governor and prospective 2019 PDP presidential candidate, Sule Lamido and his two sons in jail. Then when Saraki rocked the boat by steamrolling himself to the Senate presidency without APC endorsement, his wife was peremptorily invited for lunch by the EFCC. The Senate has now retaliated by putting the EFCC Chairman himself on trial on allegation he stole trillions of recovered naira.

The truth of the matter is that any anti-corruption probe is likely to open up a can of worms. Buhari is surrounded by corrupt politicians.
After claiming he did not have the 27.5 million naira required for the APC presidential nomination papers and had to borrow it, Buhari now claims he has 30 million naira sitting pretty in his bank account. How does he account for this discrepancy?

If the president wants to probe, he should go right ahead and do so. However, the current shenanigans of trying people in the media, and declaring everybody PDP guilty without trial, only attests to lack of sincerity. APC governors, including Amaechi and Kwankwaso, are also accused of corruption. Fashola of Lagos is alleged to have spent 78 million naira setting up a personal website. These are the president’s political buddies. We are waiting to see if his famous probe will also reach them.

Fighting corruption on the pages of newspapers cannot surely be the only preoccupation of a government. One trenchant observer said: “Probing is not governance neither is body language a substitute for economic policy.”

Regional agenda

With 100 days in office, Buhari’s chauvinism is no longer hidden. We have now discovered that what he meant to say on his inauguration was : “I belong to every Northerner , and I belong to no Southerner.” The president went on official trip to the U.S. without an economic agenda, but with 29 Northerners and only 4 Southerners. While there, he declared that: “The constituents (that) gave me 97% cannot in all honesty be treated on some issues with constituencies that gave me 5%.”

We now understand his thinking. Fulani herdsmen continue to kill innocent farmers while Buhari sees no evil and hears no evil; after all, he called them “my people” to Lam Adesina of Oyo State. Of the 32 critical appointments he has made so far, 27 are from his native North and only 5 from the South. Not a single appointment from the South-east. When queried about this blatant discrepancy, Femi Adesina , and not Garba Shehu, was craftily trotted out.

Tongue-in-cheek, we are told the appointments were made strictly on merit. But since when did the North acquire a monopoly of merit in Nigeria? How can the region with regularly low cut-off JAMB scores suddenly become the citadel of the most meritorious public servants in the country?

Sound and fury

The Buhari administration is shaping out to be full of sound and fury signifying nothing.
After 100 days, it should now be abundantly clear that Buhari may not be president of 21st century Nigeria. The president has neither agenda nor direction. His cardinal objective is apparently the prosecution of a hegemony. The APC desperately needs to organise an intervention, before Buhari drives the country into the ditch. How can this biased person be expected to lead Nigeria into the future?
It is time to admit it. Nigerians were wrong about Buhari.

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Photo: B Dabo/AllAfrica

Building infrastructure in Senegal: could the nation become one of the continent's powerhouses? Already in the top 10 best-governed countries, it is also one of those which has seen the most improvement since 2011.

By John Allen

Cape Town — Zimbabwe is one of the African countries where governance has improved most in the four years up to 2014. Senegal just might surge ahead of its African counterparts in the future, to become one of the continent's powerhouses. Developments in Somalia, long the worst-governed country in Africa, can be described as "a good news story".

These are just some of the conclusions that can be drawn from the latest edition of the Ibrahim Index of African Governance which fly in the face of what might be called "conventional wisdom" about the continent.

While the index's identification of trends enables broad generalisations to be drawn, "Africa is not a country," says Mo Ibrahim, whose foundation oversees its compilation.

He adds: "The scores and trends seen in the 54 individual countries on the continent are diverse, each showing specific patterns in their own right, along a wide range of results, with more than a 70 point gap between the top ranking country, Mauritius, and the bottom ranking country, Somalia."

AllAfrica, helped by the index's director, Elizabeth McGrath, has tried to look beyond the averages to provide more detailed snapshots about how some key African governments are performing.

Most improved nations

The five countries whose governance improved most between 2011 and 2014 were Cote d'Ivoire, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Kenya and Togo.

The "most comprehensive improvements" were achieved in Cote d'Ivoire, Zimbabwe and Senegal, says McGrath, judged by advances in all four major categories of the index: participation in government; human development - education, health and welfare services; safety and the rule of law; and the provision of sustainable economic opportunities.

Cote d'Ivoire is in the lower half of a list of Africa's best-governed nations - 35th among 54 countries - but its record as that which achieved the most progress comes with its recovery from the post-election conflict of 2010 and 2011.

It not only improved its performance in the main categories in the index, but in all 14 sub-categories which make them up - an "incredibly rare" achievement, in McGrath's words.

It notched up the greatest gains in Africa in the area of personal safety, and huge gains - 66 points on an index of 100 - in reducing political violence. Participation in government improved substantially but freedom of association and the number of women in politics declined.

In strong contrast to the general trend across the continent, Cote d'Ivoire grew its road network more than any country other than Morocco.

But its support for rural development and business declined.

Zimbabwe, says McGrath, "is benefitting from a sustained period of stability," but she notes that "it's much easier to improve if you are coming off a low base" - despite its improvements, its ranking remains low, at 44th place escaping the 10 worst-ruled nations by only one place.

Also, the government's accountability has deteriorated since 2011, with its achievements in combating public sector corruption plunging to the worst possible score - a zero - in 2014.

The government's record in establishing an environment conducive to business also declined, perhaps a harbinger of the trend reported by the International Monetary Fund on October 3, which says that in 2015 "growth has slowed, unemployment is rising and economic activity is increasingly shifting to the informal sector.

Senegal's achievements as the country which showed the third-best improvement on the continent is enhanced by the fact that its progress comes off a high base as the ninth best-governed country in Africa.

This progress is shown most dramatically by the consequences of its 2012 election, in which incumbent president Abdoulaye Wade was voted out and replaced by President Macky Sall. Its performance on an indicator designated "transfers of power" has improved by 66 points, to the highest possible score of 100.

In an environment in which standards in the three best-governed countries in Africa - Mauritius, Cape Verde and Botswana - slipped, not only did Senegal's general score improve; it improved in every one of the four major categories, the only country among Africa's top 10 performers to do so.

Asks Elizabeth McGrath: "Are we seeing some kind of a shifting landscape, where government performance is coming from places different from... the big powerhouses... we've seen in the past?" Senegal's progress suggests it is a country to watch.

Kenya, which already has a relatively high ranking of 14th best-governed nation, has achieved its highest governance score in the 15 years for which statistics have been collected.

The performance of its judiciary has helped to boost its record in rule of law but personal safety and national security have slipped slightly, and human trafficking has worsened considerably. Steady progress in economic opportunities and participation and human rights, including a massive expansion of telecommunications, have placed it among the four most improved countries in these fields. In the case of the economy, this bucks the continental trend, which is one of decline on average.

In the area of human development, however, Kenya's record is against the general trend in a negative way. Here, the country has deteriorated since 2011, particularly in education - where the backsliding has been most serious in education system quality and the pupil to teacher ratio in primary schools - and in health - where the year 2013-2014 saw a plunge in public health campaigns.

Togo also has countered the continental trend for economic development by notching up impressive gains, driven by advances in opening up the business environment, creating infrastructure and in the rural sector. It has improved across the board in human development, less consistently in participation and human rights, but has slipped slightly in safety and the rule of law.

The next five most improved nations were Morocco, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Madagascar and Tunisia.

Africa's losers

The countries whose quality of governance have deteriorated the most since 2011 are South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Mali.

Not only does South Sudan enter the index for the first time at a very low ranking - after Somalia, it is the second-worst ruled country in Africa; the data since for the period since 2011, when it became independent, shows that it has experienced the worst deterioration in the continent.

Its scores have dropped across all categories of performance and in 13 of the 14 sub-categories which underlie them. In 22 of the 93 indicators which make up the index, its score is zero. Given the internecine warfare since December 2013 among those who took the nation to independence, the prospects for a quick turnaround appear particularly bleak.

In the Central African Republic (CAR), the third-worst governed country, rebellion and sectarian warfare have also taken their toll.

The gloom is relieved only by some improvements in accountability, access to information, the rights of women, education and health, especially access to anti-retroviral drugs and public health campaigns.

Likewise in Mali. Although it enjoys a better ranking than South Sudan or the CAR - at 30th place - rebellion in the north, a coup and fighting since 2012 have seen a steep drop in safety and the rule of law, as well as Africa's worst decline in participation and human rights. Improvements are few and far between, with some in health and education and, in the field of economic opportunity, the investment climate and telecommunications.

A surprise

The "good news story" from the bottom of this year's index, suggests the Ibrahim Index's Elizabeth McGrath, is Somalia.

While it remains Africa's worst-governed country, it is the nation in the bottom 10 which has shown the most progress since 2011, and in all the major categories of the index, reflecting a degree of progress towards stability since the installation of an internationally-backed government in 2012.

What's happening in... ?

Lesotho and Senegal have joined Africa's top 10 governance performers, replacing Zambia and Benin.

In other nations, in the words of excerpts from Ibrahim Index country summaries:

Ghana - A mixed record

Ranked 7th, declined slightly since 2011.

"Despite ranking in the top ten in overall governance and in three of the four index categories, Ghana's trajectories in some governance components are negative. In line with trends seen at the continental level, Ghana has deteriorated, in similar magnitude, in Safety & Rule of Law and Sustainable Economic Opportunity since 2011.

"Even though the country has improved in Participation & Human Rights and Human Development over the past four years, these trends are juxtaposed by deteriorations in some of these two categories' underlying sub-categories."

Madagascar - Among top 10 improvers

Ranked 29th, it among the 10 most improved countries since 2011 and the most improved in the continent in safety and the rule of law.

"Madagascar shows improvement at the overall governance level as a result of considerable progress in Safety & Rule of Law - the largest on the continent - and Participation & Human Rights. Despite this, Madagascar remains in the bottom half of the overall governance rankings.

"In Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development Madagascar displays downward trends, including year-on-year deterioration in the latter category. Madagascar's negative performance in these two categories, in which it receives its worst scores in 2014, is compounded by declines in all constituent sub-categories."

Nigeria - Economy up, rural development and education down

Ranked 39th, improved slightly since 2011.

"Despite showing some improvement at the overall governance level since 2011, Nigeria performs worse in 2014 than the continental and West African average scores at the overall governance level and in all four components.

"Since 2011, this resource-rich country has improved in Sustainable Economic Opportunity, in contrast to an average decline at the continental level. Within Sustainable Economic Opportunity, however, Rural Sector has declined, with Nigeria registering the eleventh highest deterioration over the past four years in this measure.

"Whilst showing an overall improvement in Human Development in the last four years, Nigeria is the fourth most deteriorated country in Africa in Education."

"Safety & Rule of Law: particularly concerning performance in Personal Safety.

"Nigeria scores 41.8 in Safety & Rule of Law, ranking 42nd on the continent and 14th out of the 15 countries in West Africa. The country has shown deterioration in this category of -2.5 score points since 2011. This downward trend has been driven by worsening performance in three of the four sub-categories: Rule of Law, Personal Safety and National Security.

"Particularly concerning results are evident in Personal Safety, which has shown Nigeria's greatest sub-category decline since 2011 (-8.1) and the sixth biggest Personal Safety decline on the continent. This trend is entirely driven by worsening performance in two of the sub-category's six indicators: Political Violence (-10.4) and Human Trafficking (-50.0).

"In the three indicators in which Nigeria has maintained a steady score since 2011, Safety of the Person, Social Unrest and Violent Crime, the country scores 0.0, the lowest scores in Africa. In only one indicator, Police Services, Nigeria has demonstrated noteworthy progress, having improved by +11.9 score points and moved up the rankings from 43rd to 39th over the past four years.

"Within Safety & Rule of Law the only sub-category Nigeria has demonstrated modest gains in is Accountability. An improvement of +1.4 points is the result of a slight improvement in the indicator Accountability, Transparency & Corruption in the Public Sector (+2.1) but mainly due to an increase in score of +21.4 in the Online Services indicator."

South Africa - Freedom of Association plunges

Ranked the 4th best-governed nation in Africa, improved slightly between 2011 and 2014.

"A historically strong performer in the index, South Africa continues to rank highly in many governance aspects, including overall governance and each of the four categories. However, high ranks conceal some concerning trends at the sub-category level, including deterioration in the issues of Rights, Gender, Public Management, Rural Sector and Health.

"South Africa is one of only 13 countries to show a decline in Health, and is the only country in the top five performers to show a negative trajectory in this issue. The country's Personal Safety score continues to be of concern, with not only a low score and rank position, but a recent score drop, triggered by a fall in the measure of Social Unrest."

"Participation & Human Rights: South Africa's only deteriorating category core.

"South Africa's second best performing category, Participation & Human Rights, also exhibits the country's only decline at the category level.

South Africa scores 73.9, ranking 4th , and shows a weakening in its score by -0.2 points. This deterioration is the second smallest in magnitude on the continent in this category, but is South Africa's only category fall since 2011.

"South Africa's best score is in Participation, scoring 81.1, and this is the only sub-category improvement to be seen in Participation & Human Rights. Meanwhile, both other sub-categories show deterioration, tipping the balance at the category level to be one of general decline, even if marginal.

"The drop in Rights of -1.3 score points is triggered by two particular indicators: Freedom of Association & Assembly (-18.1) and Freedom of Expression (-3.2). Gender, on the other hand, which shows a decline of -0.7 score points, is driven down by both Legislation on Violence against Women (-8.3) and Women in Politics (-0.6). Both Freedom of Association & Assembly and Legislation on Violence against Women are two of South Africa's ten most deteriorated indicators across the index, since 2011."

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