Former Governor Ibrahim Idris Takes Another Wife

The immediate former Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris recently  took Ramotu, an Igbira from Okene in Kogi State as his wife. The wedding which was kept out of public glare  attracted  personalities from across the state, including, Governor Idris Wada.

        Ramotu, whose parents reside in Lokoja, the Kogi state capital, lived with one of her elder sisters in Abuja, from where she sells senegalese’ cloths at the Presidential villa.
       It would be recalled that  former governor Idris was ousted following a Supreme Court ruling that asked him out of t office.  This development led to the controversial swearing-in of the present governor by a customary court Judge contrary to the orders given by the attorney general of the federation instructing that the State Chief Judge

NAFDAC Under Dr. Paul Orhi

By Moses George, FCIM


His appointment as Director General of the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on the I3th of January, 2009, was generally acknowledged as a great leap for the agency. This acknowledgment was born out of the confidence  in his ability to make the agency  efficient .
    Paul Botwev Orhi, is an internationally celebrated Nigerian born medical expert and legal luminary who had most of his academic and professional  attainments outside  Nigeria.
     Since his assumption of office as Director General, Dr Orhi has left no one in doubt that he has what it takes to make  NAFDAC more efficient in the discharge of its primary responsibilities. So far, NAFDAC  has lived up to the expectations of Nigerians by consistently maintaining its global leadership role. Indeed, the agency has been classed among topmost medicine regulatory agencies worldwide
The DG’s exceptional leadership qualities has translated into concrete achievements that is being felt  both   in Nigeria and abroad, as counterfeited pharmaceutical products as well as other regulated products of the agency worth several billions of naira are being intercepted annually and destroyed  all over the country by the agency. This has certainly helped to  stem the tide of fake drugs in the country.
        At NAFDAC, Dr Orhi’s efforts is paying off as the agency is better equipped with high class  Infrastructures and highly trained personnel to man Nigeria’s gateway laboratories and other operational ultra-modern facilities and infrastructures of the agency. These efforts has yielded high dividends, going by series of interceptions and operational excellence being recorded regularly by the agency.
        Remarkably, Dr Orhi  has been able to provide various technological innovations like the Truscan test machines, mobile authentication service (i.e. GSM text message), the black eye machine test, usage of mini-laboratories for the purpose of achieving speedy evaluation of medicines, clearance, etc.
       The Mass Authentication Service (MAS) Truscan technology enables consumers to enter twelve digit numbers and send same to a dedicated number via sms that equally responds via same sms. Nigeria is the first country to deploy this technology strictly for the detection of fake or counterfeit drugs. This device was  hitherto used in the US by pharmaceutical companies to verify the quality of their active ingredients.
    Dr. Paul Botwev Orhii’s achievements has attracted acknowledgments in the form of awards from home and abroad for his uncommon courage in the war against fake drugs.
      His   recent election as the Vice Chairman of the International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Task-Force (IMPACT) is an eloquent testimony of t his  leadership role in the global fight against drug counterfeiting.

James Ibori's Loot

Former Delta State Governor, James Ibori, acquired a fortune exceeding £250m before the long arms of the law caught up with him. Some few years before he became governor and one of Nigeria’s most influential influential and richest politician, Chief Ibori worked as a cashier for Wickes, on a salary of £5,000-a-year.

     While the people of oil-rich Delta state languished in impoverishment, the former governor wasted no time spending his new-found wealth on luxury homes, top-of-the-range automobiles etc.
     All these came to an end when James Ibori stood in the dock of London’s Southwark Court admitting to the whole world that  he  had indeed stolen tens of millions of pounds from Delta state were he reigned as governor for eight years. He was brought to trial in UK because the bulk of his stolen money was laundered through his London office.
     Ibori’s crimes was aided by some of his  family members, including his wife Theresa, sister Christine Ibori-Ibie, his mistress Udoamaka Oniugbo, and Mayfair lawyer Bhadresh Gohil.
        Investigations revealed that Ibori  had  acquired  six choice properties in London alone, including a six-bedroom house with indoor pool in Hampstead for £2.2m and a flat opposite the nearby Abbey Road recording studios.
       He has a property in Dorset and a £3.2m edifice in South Africa. This is just a few among the lot. James Ibori parades the latest state of the art  cars, among them:  a fleet of armoured Range Rovers costing £600,000 and a £120,000 Bentley, a £300,000Mercedes, which he immediately shipped to South Africa.He  also owned a £12m private jet and spends about £126,000 a month on his credit cards. At one time,  the convicted former governor ran up a £15,000 bill for a two-day stay at the Lanesborough hotel in London.
          It would be recalled that Ibori was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in December 2007, but two years later a court in Asaba, Delta state dismissed the charges for lack of evidence. But when the case was reopened by Nigerian authorities in April 2010, Ibori fled to Dubai where he was detained at the request of the Metropolitan Police and extradited to the UK last April.
       The UK court where Ibori was arraigned was packed full with people who came to witness the proceeding. James Ibori,  appeared in the dock to  answer for his offences of fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. The prosecutor, Sasha Wass told the court Ibori concealed his UK criminal record, which would have excluded him from office in Nigeria.      
       His wife, his mistress and his sister were all jailed for five years each for money laundering offences following earlier trials. His  London-based lawyer,  Gohil, 46,was jailed for seven years for his role in the scam. Attempts will be made to confiscate as much of Ibori’s money and assets as possible so that they can be returned to Nigeria.

The Looting of Nigeria

By Moses George

The activities of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) on the privatization and commercialization of federal government owned public enterprises in Nigeria from 1999 to date were opened up with the inauguration of a seven-man ad-hoc probe committee headed by Senator Ahmed Lawan (ANPP, Yobe North). Other members of the committee were Senators  Babafemi Ojudu (ACN, Ekiti), Alli Ndume (PDP, Borno), Philip Aduda (PDP, FCT), Infeayi Okowa (PDP, Delta), Hope Uzodima (PDP, Imo) and Mohammed Magoro  (PDP, Kebbi).
               The whole scenario started sequel to a motion sponsored by Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan (ANPP, Yobe North) and adopted by the Senate pursuant to its resolution No. S/Res/004/01/11 passed on 19th July, 2011. Senator Lawan and 25 other senators had sought to open a comprehensive investigation of the privatization and commercialization of government companies undertaken by BPE since 2000. Lawan had argued that privatized or commercialized government companies had failed with huge consequences on the nations economy.
         Privatization is a phenomenon that is a necessary concomitant to the principle of liberalization. What this involves is the transfer of control in terms of ownership and management from the government to private investors. The principle of privatization has come to be embraced as a way of eliminating inefficiency in the public enterprises sector. The phenomenon gained worldwide support following the privatization of British Telecom in 1984 under the Telecommunications Act. Several other privatizations took place in that country. Soon,  other countries, particularly, in Africa embarked on the practice.
               Nigeria was not left out of the frenzy as it  embraced privatization as a cardinal principle of the state's economic policy. Since the oil boom years in the 1970s, Nigeria has developed a large public sector investing over100 billion dollars from that period to 2005 and getting as meager 0.5 percent annually as returns.  Unfortunately, as the years rolled by, these establishments suffered recession. As a result of this, in 1988, the federal Military Government under a programme of privatisation and commercialization embarked on a major reform of its public enterprises.
                 Privatization was formally introduced in Nigeria by the Privatization and Commercialization Act of 1988, which later set up the Technical Committee on Privatization and Commercialization (TCPC) chaired by Dr. Hamza Zayyad (who died on March 12, 2002)  with a mandate to privatize 111 public enterprises and commercialize 34 others. In 1993, having privatized 88 out of the 111 enterprises listed in the decree, the TCPC concluded its assignment and submitted a final report. Based on the recommendation of the TCPC, the Federal Military Government promulgated the Bureau for Public Enterprises Act of 1993, which repealed the 1988 Act and set up the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) to implement the privatization program in Nigeria.
      In 1999, the Federal Government enacted the Public Enterprise (Privatization and Commercialization) Act, which created the National Council on Privatization chaired by the Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
         A Decree promulgated in July 1988 specified a total of 110 enterprises to be privatized and another 35 to be wholly or partially commercialized. Before that Decree came into being, a total of 36 public enterprises were privatized through public offers in the privatization exercise that took place then. Among them are the four biggest banks in Nigeria which were formerly under government control and ownership.
                  However, investigations conducted by National Mail has revealed facts that the Nigeria’s Privatization and Commercializations programme, from 1999 by the Bureau of Public Enterprises, has  some rather serious issues that undermined the scheme. The ongoing privatisation process in the country, has  certainly not attained the expectations of Nigerians. It is disheartening that some companies that had been privatized for over 10 years have not been working as almost all of them are moribund .
        Vice president  Namadi Sambo - who heads the National Council on Privatization, said 80 per cent of sold government companies have failed. He attributed this ugly trend to lapses in the privatisation process.  Senator Abdul Ningi from Bauchi state, on the other hand, described the whole process as the biggest fraud the nation has witnessed.
      It is pathetic to know that from 1970 to 1999, the Federal government invested over $100 billion in building enterprises, but earned only 0.5% return on its investments. These companies were costing the government a whopping N265 billion annually to maintain. While a total of 146 billion was realized from the  sales of over 122 privatized companies under review. That is more than a hundred times their market value.
         One of the major impediments against the initiative, is the issue of high profile  impropriety of directors and management of the privatisation scheme, in collaboration with highly placed personalities in the society. 
          With the facts emerging  from the sales and concessions of public enterprises, compared with their actual value and collateral investment made by years of public funding, one has no doubt to the fact that  Nigeria has  indeed been pillaged  by unscrupulous elements for far too long. 
                 The Nigerian public have been taken for a ride in the whole  scheme as politicians connived with wealthy businessmen both at home and abroad to loot the nation’s common wealth in the name of privatization.
     The privatization process, according to the former Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Dr. Julius Bala, lacked transparency and accountability between 1999 and 2003.
            Accusing fingers are being pointed at different directions as Nigeria  makes efforts to get to the root of the matter. Without any doubt, the entire process was infested with high profile corruption involving the BPE executives on one hand, top government functionaries and businessmen on the other hand.
          A former Deputy Director of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Mr. Charles Osuji, was said to have collected bribe from Globalcom Chairman, Mike Adenuga for Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, after the sale of National Oil. Osuji, who was   eventually dismissal from the BPE by Rl-Rufai claimed that his boss actually directed him to get the undisclosed sum from Adenuga.
       In his reaction, Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai admitted that Osuji first brought a N25m Zenith Bank cheque to him.    He said after he ordered Osuji to return the money to Adenuga, who had already acquired National Oil, Osuji subsequently returned with $100,000 cash which he did not accept. El-Rufai further claimed to have reported the matter to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who as Vice President was the Chairman of the National Council on Privatization, and also to the then Attorney General, late Bola Ige. Both of them ordered that Osuji should be prosecuted. But he said that he couldn't  prosecuted Osuji because Ige died shortly after that, but the NCP directed that he should be dismissed.
      The Ajaokuta Steel Plant is the largest integrated steel complex in black Africa. The steel complex, built by a Russian firm, was Inaugurated on September 16, 1979.  The complex was initially expected to produce 1.5m tones of long steel products per annum. Its capacity was, however, expanded to between 3.6m and 6m tonnes.
       Obviously from all indications, the steel company has not met its objectives. To turn around the company and make it attain its production capacity, the Federal Government decided to invite investors to run the place profitably.
.                  Some corrupt  Nigerian businessmen saw an ‘opportunity’ and brought in  Indian investors as fronts. A concession agreement  was hurriedly put in place in May 2007.The Indian firm, Global Infrastructures Limited paid about $300m for a steel complex that was valued at  about $5billion.
              According to the Minister of mines and steel development, Architect Mohammed Musa Sada, former President Olusegun Obasanjo was the one who approved the concession of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex to Global Infrastructure Limited against due process.
            Cases of corrupt  Indian businessmen  kept coming up every now and then. These class of entrepreneurs come to Nigeria with nothing, but their briefcases. Their equally corrupt Nigerian partners lead them to our banks to take loans and use our assets as collaterals.
                      It is only in Nigeria that such is practiced. In other countries where there has been privatization, an investor  brings in capital to refuel the economy. But that is not what they do here. This practice  has made Nigeria vulnerable to corrupt foreign investors  who collaborate with their Nigerians partners to steal billion of dollars and ferry them to be lodged in foreign accounts leaving the nation dry and broke.
           The federal government spends  N3.6 billion annually on the wages a the moribund Ajaokuta Steel Complex, that is about N300 million monthly, while only N650 million is required to bring the company up to a production level where it can generate enough funds to sustain itself.
            Investigations revealed that the concession of the company to  Global Infrastructure Limited  was an arrangement of some corrupt Nigeria to to use the gigantic project as a vehicle to steal public funds. This becomes even more glaring against the background of the fact that the Indian firm lack the technical capacity to manage the complex.
          The   firm had to had re engage about 50 Russians and Ukrainian experts, who built it. As if that is not enough, the Indian company has reportedly stripped the complex  of all valuable equipments and machineries. Alarmed, he federal government decided to the cancel the deal.
             Former President Olusegun Obasanjo  reportedly  breached due process in the sale of some public assets, especially, the multi- billion dollars Ajaokuta Steel complex. The former Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Nasir El-Rufai. Mallam El-Rufai who supervised the privatization of 23 of the 122 enterprises that have been privatized to date (about 18% of the total), accused the former president of overbearing interference. He said that he repeatedly disagreed with Obasanjo when he made moves to dictate to him. He said he also disagreed with Atiku Abubakar when he (Rufai) insisted that the laws must be followed, even as he said that former President Obasanjo also blocked the successful privatization of Nigeria Airways following the stories he received from former Minister of Aviation, Chief Kema Chikwe.
          Another public enterprise that has suffered similar fate is the  Aluminum Smelter Company at Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom State. The company which was worth $3.2 billion was auctioned to a Russian Company for $250 million. Curiously, the Russian  firm was asked to pay only $130 million. The balance of $120 million to  was said be used to dredge the Imo River for the company to ferry its equipments. Up till the time of writing this report, work on that project is yet to commence many years after the ‘sale’. where did all that money go ?
     The case of the risk giant NICON, reportedly acquired illegally by businessman Jimoh Ibrahim’s Global Fleet at over N18 billion is worrisome. Curiously, even the 5 per cent equity holding of the federal government was sold in  that deal thereby contravening the Public Enterprise Act 1999.
        The brazenly fraudulent manner in which the National Insurance Corporation of Nigeria (NICON) was sold, and the asset-stripping that followed should  stir every responsible government towards taking concrete legal actions against those involved.
          But Barrister Ibrahim   dismissed this allegation, saying he injected N17.5 billion and met no money in NICON’s account when he acquired the company.
        However, allegations by KPMG and Assurance Acquisition Limited (AAL) disclosed that the Global Fleet chief used forged documents to acquire. It claimed that Ibrahim withdrew 20 million pounds from NICON’s foreign account in London and stripped the company of N6.37 billion.
      The funds were categorized into; Investment in NICON Investment Limited, N2.484 billion proceeds from closure of HSBC Bank 1-Day call and Euro currency accounts, N1.739 billion, balance in the Oceanic Bank Plc domiciliary Account, N1.623 billion, investment in NICON Airways Limited, N350 million. Expenses incurred on behalf of NICON Airways Limited, N192 million; erstwhile GMD’s drawings, N12.9 million; expenses incurred on behalf of NICON properties Ltd, N12.5 million; expenses incurred on behalf of NICON investment Ltd, N10.2 million and liquidation of placement with NICON Investment Ltd, N51 million.
         
        These revelations and many more that are unfolding paint a grim picture of the reality of the corruption among politicians and public office holders in Nigeria. The question is: what can be done about it? Does the government of President Jonathan possess the political will, to deal with this national tragedy?
       The probe by the Senate is timely because it is shedding some light into the massive pillage of Nigeria’s national patrimony by officials that were sworn to protect it.
         It is also suggestive that it is time the government revisited the argument that the private sector does better in the management of utilities and businesses. Argument for this review is strengthened against the backdrop of the inability of practically all those who benefitted from the auction of various government companies have failed to  make any one of them successful. The extent of collusion between those in  positions of authority and a band of well-connected speculators in shattering the prospect of having a veritable private sector that can support growth and development is astonishing.
         Nigeria is witnessing a situation where its common wealth has fallen into the hands of privileged few who are gradually establishing a strong economic base that may that  could bring the entire nation on its knees before them..
    According to Dr Harold Chukwuma, a public comensator,  “ we know these people. We even fondly call them the new kids on the block. It is this same guys that are being used by our politicians to loot this country. Now that we now what transpired, relevant government agency should go after  them  and  get all that they have stolen back. Concerning the Senate probe panel, I wish that for the first time         something tangible should emerge from this probe by the Senate in order to send the right signals to those who may wish to take the nation for such a nasty ride in the future. It is also important that such inquiry is extended to other sectors of the economy with a view to recovering the enormous looting that some privileged members of the society have perpetrated against Nigeria. Those who stole the nation’s wealth must be shamed in public”.
            As  Nigerians wait to see appropriate action taken  against those who  created financial empires with stolen money, this administration should demonstrate some muscle in dealing with these issues. Nigeria should be a sacred cow and any person who connived to steal its wealth should not

Prince Abubakar Audu Speaks on His Vision For Kogi State

Prince Abubakar Audu is a household name, especially, in  the political landscape of Kogi state. He rode to power as Executive of Kogi State in 1993.  He was reelected again and again. His aggressive infrastructural development efforts set the state on a fast pedestal of development.  Prince Abubakar Audu, who recently stepped into the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, where he is contesting for governorship is  a very  influential politician with a strong political base. A lot of people see him  as the strongest contender for the governorship position. One advantage he seem to be enjoying is  that lots of Kogites appreciate his efforts when he was in Lugard House and they want him back again  to continue with what they describe as his legendary development of the state. In this interview, Prince Abubakar Audu Spoke  with Editor Moses George on his plans to salvage Kogi State whom he described,  as his baby. Excerpts:

Thank you Your Excellency. Lots of people would want to know why you are so keen on being reelected as governor of Kogi State.
Thank you very much Moses George. Well to start with, it is the people of Kogi state that are agitating for me to come back and as far as I am concern, the voice of the people is the voice of God. Whatever my people see me as being fit to do, by the grace of God I will readily make myself available to them. There has been so many questions regarding whether I am going to come back or not. Some say I am too old, some say I should support somebody else… my simple answer has been, if you find somebody more competent than me, produce him and I'll be too glad to support him. The question is not me choosing somebody. It is rather the question of somebody competing with me and whoever it pleases God to emerge at the end of the day would have it. But the people ought to judge between  us. For those who are of the opinion that I should sponsor somebody else… I don't know what prompted them to say that because I am 62 years old, whereas Ibrahim Idris is 67 or 68. He has done 8 years as governor and he is on the ninth year contrary to the stipulations in the 1999 constitution. The authors of that constitution never contemplated that any person holding the position of governor should have more than 2 terms of 4 years each, bringing the total to 8 years and he is doing 9 years. In my own case. I did only 4 years. Besides that, he has also made his son to go to the Federal House of Representatives against the people's wish and desire. He made it possible for his son to go to the House. Ibrahim Idris has failed but people do not reason from that perspective. Since he has failed woefully, why should they accept his son?  Somebody who has failed woefully, why should he be given that opportunity? Well, people say that I should sponsor somebody else. But am I constitutionally unfit? No. Don't I have the mental capacity? I do. Don't I have the intellectual capacity? I do. Am I not physically fit? I am. So why should anybody say that I should not contest. The kind of contacts I have, only few people in Nigeria have that kind of connections and it manifested in my administration. That time, our net monthly take home from the statutory allocation was between three to four hundred million and with that, we were able to provide numerous infrastructures for our people in Kogi state. We constructed a total of about 9,000 kilometers of road network across the state….surface dressing, asphalt overlay….we established the polytechnic at Lokoja and the university at Ayangba. We established the largest cement factory in Africa, which is the Obajana cement. We built a five star hotel; we dualized roads, upgraded secondary schools and some other tertiary institutions. Anpka used to be an Advanced Teachers College, but we converted it to a college of education with the intention to make it a degree awarding institution. The list of what we did while in office is endless. The facts are on the ground for anybody to see. But sadly, all these infrastructures that my administration put in place between 1999 to 2003 have been totally devastated. As I speak with you now, Kogi is a failed state according to the Central Bank's Economic Bulletin. My baby is sick! Kogi state is my baby. If my baby is sick, it is my responsibility to nurse the baby back to health. It is only an irresponsible father that will abandon the baby when it is sick. I have the formula. I have demonstrated it before and I did it very successfully. I have been tested and trusted. So the question of how can you do it again does not arise. Like I said earlier, when the statutory allocation was very minimal at 400 million naira, because crude oil was selling at 12 dollars per barrel and you will appreciate that Nigeria is a mono product country that relies absolutely on crude oil. Between 2004 and 2011, crude oil was selling at over 100 dollars. The net take home for Kogi state, this is also in the Economic Bulletin, at a time, it is 5 billion naira and more. With excess crude, the state was getting 18 billion naira and yet, the administration has nothing on the ground to show for the huge amount it was getting monthly. Ibrahim Idris' administration has not initiated any project and completed it. The president has been going to other states to commission projects. But in the case of Kogi state, he comes on project inspection, work in progress. I will give you an instance: I started the modern Lokoja stadium. Up till now Ibro could not complete it. When Mr. President went there, he did not go to commission the project. He went on project inspection. The Gananja road for instance, that is the road that link up Lokoja with Ajaokuta, I built it, but after several years of usage it became imperative that the road should be resurface. After resurfacing it with asphalt overlay, he brought in the president to commission it. What he did was just to rehabilitate that road and for that, he had to invite the president to commission it. It is ridiculous. We have commissioned several projects without fanfare. What else? Is it the hospital that he built and calls it a specialist hospital?
Can you compare that with the diagnostic hospital that I built in Ayingba? In the case of what he built at Lokoja and calls it a specialist hospital, three different people have commissioned it so far. Firstly, it was commissioned by David Mark, the President of the Senate, then Chief Olusegun Obasanjo also came to commission the same project. Lastly, President Jonathan also commissioned it. It is a big shame. Is it the Government House that I built which was classified then as the best in the country? The whole place now lacks mantainace.  The walls are dirty. They've not been able to white-wash the structure with paint for a period of 8 years. Go to the Lugard House, it is now a complete rumple, a mumbo-jumble. When I came in 1992. It was a ramshackle, completely dilapidated. After Lugard vacated the place in 1902, it was not put to use again. The whole building  was collapsing. It became an abode for dangerous reptiles. Because of the great sense of history that I had, I renovated the place. Today, it is a beautiful edifice. Look at the Glass House. Look at the Government lodged I built at Kabba, Idah and so on, they  have all depreciated due to lack of maintenance. In Abuja here, I heard that the Government Lodge has just been renovated at an astronomical amount.
Since you are saying that the administration of Alhaji Ibrahim Idris has failed. What exactly are you planning to do when eventually you become governor?
What I did between 1999 and 2003, was to initiate a scheme where unemployed youths were placed on some kind of monthly allowances through our youths empowerment programme. As a matter of fact, it was as a result of the choking level of unemployment in the state that made me to initiate the Obajana cement project. According to the agreement we entered into with foreign investors, Obajana cement factory would employ 15,000 workers. We also had a written agreement that out of that number, 13,000 workers must be indigenes of Kogi state, while the remaining 2,000 could come from anywhere in Nigeria. I don't think that Idris and his team have taken the trouble of studying the agreement. By the grace of God, when I return back to office, I am going to dust up that agreement and ensure that the right thing is done. The right thing is getting 13,000 jobless young men employed in Obajana cement factory. That would certainly reduce the pressure on the government. I also have plans to apply to the federal government to grant concessions for us to run the Ajaokuta Steel Company. When the steel company becomes operational, it will be producing billets for local use and iron rods for exports. That was the plan I had when I built the road from Lokoja to Ajaokuta. There are several byproducts of Ajaokuta Steel that will feed small scale industries and stimulate the economy. That will also reduce the pressure on the labour market. We have plans to boost agriculture. We wanted to bring in farmers from Zimbabwe and South Africa to embark on large mechanized farming. Our ultimate goal is to make Kogi state have enough to feed the entire nation as well as for export. When that is achieved, it will again go a long way to reduce the pressure on the labour market. Such initiatives will provide our youths with so many opportunities.
The Sally Tibot staff audit in Kogi state laid off a large numbers of workers. Most of these people, we are told have not been able to find any other source of livelihood. In specific terms, Your Excellency, what exactly are you going to do with regards to these workers when you are re elected?
First and foremost. I will make sure that all those workers that were retrenched are reinstated. I will also ensure regularity in the payment of salaries and emoluments like I did between 1999 to 2003. When I came in 1999, there were salary arrears of 7 months that the military administrator was unable to settle. Within the period of 3 months, I settled everything in line with my campaign promises, Now that we have very comfortable accruals in  the form of statutory allocations from the federation accounts; I should be able to ensure that salaries and arrears are paid promptly. We will ensure that promotions are cash backed. When you make promotions without any financial benefits attached to it, then it has no meaning. This is what is happening now in Kogi state. Pensioners are not paid. We will ensure that all this unhealthy developments are put behind us. For them to even admit that the authentic staff list was the one that took place between when the state was created up to 2003 from 2004 up to date was seen to be obnoxious and full of irregularities. As far as I am concerned, that is self indictment. How on earth can a state exist for 8 years without employing one single staff. Are you doing justice to the economy? Are you doing justice to our young school leavers? Are you doing justice to the labour market? Are you doing justice to economic stimulation? No. The answer is no!  I can assure you Moses George that more staff will be recruited and engaged in productive sectors. There are so many jobs for young people to do. But unfortunately, the only way the   administration of Ibrahim Idris deems fit to engage young men  is to recruit them, train them, arm them and ask them to kill during elections. They engage them as thugs. It is very unfortunate, it is very dehumanizing. No sensible administration will so dehumanize its own people. You see, you train up your son even to the level of obtaining masters degree, but the next thing he does is to become a thug. That is what has been happening in Kogi State and we are going to ensure that all these stops as soon as we come into office.
How exactly do you intend to transform these boys you talked about into useful members of the society?
What I am going to do is to get them engaged in gainful employment. The 13,000 or thereabout vacancies in Obajana Cement that I told you about earlier on, will absorb these boys. We will send a lot of them to abroad, like what happened to the Niger-Delta boys. We will send our own boys abroad too to get some good education there. By the time they are through with their education, thuggery will become unattractive to them and other boys around. I can assure you that political thuggery in Kogi state will become a thing of the past.
The issue of women empowerment is so important that most people, especially, women will want to know what is in the offing for them when you take office as governor of Kogi state?
I believe in the 35 percent affirmative action. But most importantly, because the women of Kogi state are enterprising, we will encourage their sense of productivity by getting them engaged in small scale industries. We will encourage them to form themselves into cooperative societies so that they can access some facilities that will enable them improve their trades. As a matter of fact, we do have a comprehensive blue-print for women development. I can assure you that our women will be given a better deal that will usher them into buoyancy.
Since you left office, one will assume that you must have reflected on all what transpired while you were governor in Kogi state. What will you do differently when you get back into office?
I have done it before differently. When I get back, it will be a complete re-enactment of what I did before and we will also try to improve on it. During my administration, Kogi was the fastest developing state in Nigeria. When all the 36 governors were assessed, we were number one in terms of performance in various sectors, especially with regards to infrastructural provisions. Our performance is going be to  more advanced. I have reflected on the problems that our people are confronted with and by the grace of God, we have the solutions on our hands.  My administration, like I mentioned earlier was able to put so  much on  the ground for the benefit of our people despite the meager resource at our disposal at that time. When I get to  Lugard by the grace of God, I shall ensure that our state is lifted  to greater height of social and economic advancement. Our people certainly deserve more than what they are getting now. And to get them out of this valley of underdevelopment, we decided to yield to their agitation for us to take reigns of power so as to use it as an instrument to provide them with respite.
Thank you your excellency for your time.
It being nice speaking with you Moses Geo

Mercy Johnson: The Ultimate Screen Goddess

Mercy Johnson Ozioma, from a family of seven children.  is an Igbirra from Okene in Kogi State. The curvy actress  made her acting debut in the movie, "The Maid" in which  she played  the role of a possessed house help. Her performance in that movie shot her into the limelight. She has since appeared in over 60 movies.        What many would consider a misfortune became a blessing: Her inability to pass her JAMB exams brought her into  the Nigerian movie industry (Nollywood). 
While she was growing up, things were pretty though. She had difficulties paying her school fees most times. At a point, she actually worked as a house maid to survive.
Recently, amidst controversies, she got married to her hearth throb, Prince Odianosen Okojie at  Christ Embassy in Lagos. The star studded event is still the talk of the town.
              Johnson  has won  several awards, among them, the 2009 African Film Award for best supporting actress.

How Corruption Defines Our Lifesyle

Lots of Nigerians are compelled to accept corruption as the commonest feature of life in  the country. If you ask me, I’ll tell you that they are right, especially, in view of the stories that made headlines in the past  weeks and months.
       Take a look at the case involving a permanent secretary in a federal ministry who was caught with a staggering amount of over N2 billion cash in his possession. The permanent secretary and other senior officials were members of a syndicate that had been stealing pension funds of over N3 billion every month. This criminal group of senior civil servants reportedly collected pensions of more than 70,000 non-existing retired workers. 
        It is indeed disturbing that while N28 billion that belonged to the police pension fund was found to be lodged in an unidentified account, more than 44,000 workers who retired between 1968 and 1975 were found to have been denied their pension benefits.One of the members of this corrupt syndicate  was reported to own about 550 accounts in one bank.  That raises a fundamental question whether Nigerian banks are complicit in cases of corruption. Again, if you ask me, I’d say they seem to be.
        Don't blame me for thinking that way: How could one person  operate such a large number of accounts without raising the suspicion of the bank’s senior management? I smell a rat here. What about you?
        Is not laughable that Nigeria, a country blemished by corruption should received a  grant of   98 million euros from European Union to aid it  fight corruption  and to strengthen its campaign against drug trafficking? Well, somebody says that the  grant’ resembles a Greek gift. It is like offering a dog a piece of bone to help the dog to fight its addiction to bones’ In a country where corruption has become an approved way of life, the grant from the European Union may well  be embezzled by a group of tough-talkingofficials.
Corruption in Nigeria is like a genetic disease. Most public officers are consistently devising and activating schemes to steal.