FG tasked on Youth skill acquisition

 

The federal government has been called upon to refocus its attention on job creation if its current transformation agenda must be achieved and be meaningful to the people.

The  Society for Youth Research in Nigeria (SYRN) in a press statement signed by its executive director,  Mr Olawale  Rasheed to  mark the International Youth Day celebration also urged government to encourage skill training in youth for the success  of its investment in power, agriculture, road revival and infrastructure.

The group observed that as the world celebrates International Youth Day there is urgent need for government to address the unemployment challenge through massive training and retraining of unemployed graduates and other categories of youth as government alone cannot employ millions of youth across the nation.

It said the National Youth Service Corps must expand its Agricultural Entrepreneurial Programme for some corps members.   “the success recorded in the implementation of the programme can provide useful lessons for skill training in other sectors of the economy” it said.

The group posited that government at all levels should introduce a systematic skill acquisition programme for youth with a scheme for seed capital provision through the community banks. “Such skills should include trade skills after which the trained youth can set themselves up and even employed one or two young persons” it said

While commending government on its ‘You Win’ Programme, NYRN said the general feeling among youth development experts is that the project is not on a scale that can address the mass joblessness facing the youth.

However, it asked government to imbibe the Indian experience in mass re-skilling of about three hundred million unemployed Indians through a programme embarked upon by the Indian government and is today regarded as a shining example in youth sector internationally and which has served as a foundation for its growing prosperity.

Via Sunday Trust

Fuel subsidy fraud: FG, PDP panic as suspects threaten to expose deals

• Governors wade in to give suspects ‘soft landing’ • Proceeds allegedly used for 2011 polls • How PPPRA receptionist, firm director got into trouble

There is an uneasy calm within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over threat by some of the fuel subsidy fraud suspects to open up in court on what the cash was used for.

Some of the suspects are bemoaning their fate, wondering why they are being prosecuted as they were allegedly used as fronts to source funds for the 2011 general elections

It was learnt that some of the suspects allegedly spent the cash to sponsor governorship elections in some states.

Uncomfortable with the development, some PDP governors have waded into the travails of the embattled suspects. The governors have assured the suspects of what an insider described as “soft-landing”. They have also promised to fund the litigation cost of the suspects by hiring for them crack defence counsels.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has so far arraigned 25 suspects (in two batches) in connection with alleged fuel subsidy fraud.

The first batch comprises seven companies and 13 individuals in relation to N13, 403,504,083billion.

 The second group comprises five suspects.

Although the arraignment of the suspects was a bold statement by the government that there will be no sacred cows, the trial is causing some disquiet in the ruling PDP. The Presidency is said to be particularly bothered by the turn of events.

A reliable source, who spoke in confidence, said: “Some of these suspects were used as fronts by some businessmen, party bigwigs and a few government officials. In fact, there is a Sierra-Leonean among them and a confidant of a PDP chieftain went to secure bail for him.

“The only excuse the confidant gave is that the suspect is a friend to one of their children. But most people could read between the lines.  I think the Sierra Leonean was just being protected to avoid opening of the can of worms.”

Though the source was convinced that a substantial part of the subsidy funds was used to fund the 2011 elections, he said this was without the knowledge of the Presidency. When the President got to know the magnitude of the subsidy fraud, he decided to take the bull by the horns, irrespective of whose ox is gored, he said. 

“A syndicate within the oil sector came together to pool funds for the 2011 election to ensure that the PDP retained its firm grip of power. In fact, two or three of the suspects are known to some PDP governors as fronts in view of the roles they played in their election. The biggest challenge confronting these influential people borders on threats by some of the suspects to open up in court,” he said. 

 To opposition parties, however, the Presidency cannot claim not to know that the subsidy cash was being diverted to unworthy causes by people close to the PDP whose members were in charge of either the PPPRA or other agencies of the oil industry.

 The Nation learnt that PDP chieftains are so worried about the backlash the trial of these suspects could have on the fortunes of their party in 2015 because some of them were innocent businessmen before they dabbled into politics to feather their business nest and became polluted.

“One of the suspects was alleged to have complained bitterly on why he had to be arraigned by the same PDP administration he had assisted to retain power in some states.

“The suspect also queried why he had to be singled out among other directors of his companies while others were shielded.

“Some governors have been trying to wade into the complaints by some of the suspects and how to ensure soft-landing for them. They seem not to know how to go about it, considering the fact that the subsidy scam has generated so much interest, including that of the international community. This has forced the governors   to opt for Plan B by looking for crack defence team to handle the matter.

“Nobody could say whether the choice of crack lawyers would assuage the threats of these highly-placed suspects to open up or not when proper trial begins, “ he said.

A governor said: “There is no doubt that some of the suspects are known in power corridors unless we are all pretending. It is, however, courageous of the government to put them on trial to show to all that closeness does not amount to fraudulent acts.”

Fresh facts have, however, emerged on how a staff of the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Fakuade Babafemi Ebenezer, and a director with Akintola Williams Deloite accounting firm,   Ezekiel Olaleye Ejidele, got into trouble over the fuel subsidy scandal.

According to findings, while Ebenezer was a Facility Receptionist/Clerk for PPPRA where products are discharged, Ejidele was in charge of audit. Both suspects operated with officials of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and other agencies at the ports where products were discharged.

EFCC sources said they were arraigned for allegedly signing some papers indicating that some products were discharged whereas investigation proved the contrary.

It was, however, learnt that some oil chiefs are asking why some other officials involved in the management of The Petroleum Subsidy Fund (PSF) who also authenticated documents by suppliers have not been arraigned

A former Commissioner of Police said the conspiracy over subsidy fund fraud could be deeper than what the media are reporting

He said:  “The PSF management is a chain. Besides the PPPRA, others involved are the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank, the DPR, Budget Office, Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF), and Oil Marketing Trading Companies.”

“All these so-called forged documents passed through many desks before payments were effected to the marketers. Where are those who managed these desks when the fraud was perpetrated?

“The principles of Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) are such that no single oil marketer could perpetrate fraud or divert funds without the collaboration of some people or desk officers in government.”

Via The Nation

Investors lost 10% of revenues to insecurity, corruption in Nigeria –World Bank

Investors in Nigeria lost 10 per cent of their revenues to poor quality infrastructure, crime, insecurity, and corruption in 2011, the World Bank has said in its report for the year.

The revelation is the outcome of an assessment conducted by the World Bank on the country’s investment climate in 26 states for the 2011 fiscal period.
The assessment reviewed the experiences of over 3,000 business owners in the affected states with a focus on challenges associated with their businesses.
The World Bank assessment complements a similar study in 2007 that covered 11 other Nigerian states.
The report was launched in Abuja by the World Bank Country Director, Ms Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, in company with the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, and the Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi.
The Lead Private Sector Development Specialist, World Bank, Mr. Michael Wong, said the 10 per cent revenue loss recorded in Nigeria was twice as high as what obtained in South Africa, Brazil, Russia and Indonesia.
He said the study revealed that entrepreneurs’ biggest problem was epileptic power supply while access to finance and corruption followed in that order.
For instance, he said manufacturing firms lost about 4.3 per cent of their sales proceeds to power outage while companies operating in the services sector lost about 6.3 per cent to epileptic power supply.
The report, according to Wong, shows that companies in the manufacturing sector lost 2.3 per cent of their revenue while those in the service sector lost about 2.2 per cent to corruption.
He said, “The poor performance of Nigerian firms reflects many factors. This study focuses on constraints in the business climate and the serious costs they impose on Nigerian firms.
“Taken together, the total indirect costs of poor quality infrastructure, crime and security, and corruption amount to over 10 per cent of sales for Nigerian firms. This is twice as high as in South Africa, Brazil, Russia and Indonesia.
“Nigerian businesses’ biggest reported problem is the unreliable power supply. About 83 per cent of all managers surveyed considered electricity outages to be a serious problem-more than any other constraint.
“Firms of all sizes, in all states and sectors, report average power outages equivalent to eight hours per day. The average firm reported that outages cost them money equivalent to more than four per cent of sales. No comparator country experiences such severe business losses related to the power supply.”
The report also listed tax rates, cost of finance, micro economic environment, transport, tax administration and access to land as other areas that posed serious problems to entrepreneurs in the country.
The report also said that only 15 per cent of Nigerian entrepreneurs were women, adding that the figure was the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa.
It also revealed that more than half of manufacturing firms in Nigeria did not employ women, noting that nearly 70 per cent of small firms with loans had to pledge their personal assets as collateral.
The 202 page report said, “Five other areas of the investment climate were rated as serious problems by at least one-third of firms—tax rates and tax administration, the macroeconomic environment, corruption, and transportation.
“Manufacturing firms reported paying an average of 3.2 per cent of their sales in bribes – second only to electricity outages among the costs measured by the study.
“Large and foreign-owned firms were more likely than others to rate corruption an important constraint, although as many as one-third of microenterprises also affirm that informal payments/gifts are commonplace. Losses of goods during transit emerged as an important cost, especially for exporters and larger firms.”
But Aganga said the Federal Government had identified the grey areas raised in the report and had begun the process of addressing them.
He said that President Goodluck Jonathan was addressing the problem of power supply and that before the end of the first quarter of 2013, the country would start experiencing at least 16 hours of uninterrupted power supply.
He, however, said that despite the harsh investment climate, Nigeria still remained the preferred investment destination in the world.

via Punch

Noise Of Revolt: In Nigeria, The gods are dead – Jonah Ayodele

“This is undisputedly the best time to live in Nigeria. As the country rides into animal savagery and as its people wallow in the somber mourning of their evaporating future, one could be lured to conclude that the good old gods have finally made it to their ancestral grave. If the good old gods, Awolowo, Azikiwe and Balewa were to come back today to see the trail of deserters, the thick wall of perfidy, the surging hypocritic disciples who shout their names in vain, the estrangement among their true followers and the stark diminution in the power and status of regional progressive groups, they would probably observe with great sadness and characteristic forthrightness. Sadly, these gods are dead.
I have an usual aggressive appetite to abuse protocols when I am addressing political vultures back in Nigeria. I always do that not because I am a political activist of sort, and I don’t hope to become any soon. I always do that because the person who steals my blood to fill his pocket without considering that my blood will drain away from his pocket does not deserve my respect. But because this is a gathering of Nigerians in a foreign land, I stand to revive the spirit of protocols.
Illustrious members of the High Table and the Table not so high, distinguished assemblage of intellectual warriors whose umblical cords were buried on our troubled fatherland, notable and budding philosophers of great influence, highly reverred daughters and sons of Nigeria. It is my pleasure to be invited as one of the guest speakers in this interactive session put together by Nigerians in Johannesburg. I thank you all for putting the issue of Nigeria’s lost intellectual heritage on the front burner of discourse again. I am sure that the gods themselves would have nodded in satisfaction at the act of aeronautical daring that have carried me here today and that will take me back to Nigeria where I have to resume at work in less than 24 hours. In all, it means I have less than 28 hours to spend on a soil that has produced notable heroes of Madiba’s status while we are still in search of ours.
But how did I end up here? How did I get to philosophize in a strange land? How did a Chemical Engineering graduate like me from a University built with cocoa funds in the heart of Ile Ife get to be noticed by my intellectual gangsterism, muscle-flexing in the midst of great minds like you? How did Nigeria get to this stage? What did we do wrong? When did our handshake go beyond our elbow? How did we make an unripe mango look like apple? How come we often display our extravagant social lunacy around? Why do we keep running into discomforting irrelevance? Why do we celebrate excessive illogicalities? When did we miss the art of balancing and moderation? And why did our creativity go awry? How come we keep talking of the good old days and not good nowadays?
Finding answers to some of the above questions may not require any stretch of thought, since we are a witness to a great national unease, of human eruptions on a revolutionary scale and scope, of a fierce contention between man and a capitalist machine that no longer recognizes even it’s own, of a trans-societal struggle to bring to heels a world in which inequity and inequality among classes and tribes have assumed a staggering and idiotic proportion. As for me, I am a product of such ironic society, so blessed and so poor. While you ran away to another black man’s land, I stayed back to fight on your behalf.
To appreciate the present drama called Nigeria, we must look back to the defining moment deployed by the dead gods in its heroic possibilities. This must be done not in anger, but in hope, with a view of unravelling when and how our shoes refused to fit our legs; and with the hope of bringing the magic of the past to bear on the misses of the moment. These dead gods are notable chapters in our history, titans that contended with other titanic figures. Their greatness was defined by the greatness of the historical circumstances that threw them up, the greatness of the expectations, and, of course, the greatness of many historical personages that gave them a run for their intellect, often in open confrontation. It is an embarrassment of human riches; a genetic scandal that these gods could be so stupendously endowed.
Since these gods died, we have struggled to get a grip of ourselves, with blood soaked proboscis of Boko Haram promoting our departure to proceed apace. Since the demise of these gods, we have lost our intellectual productivity to mental laziness, such that we are now blessed with a president whose sense of judgment has forced us to question the quality of his academic claims. We are now bogged down at the level of clearing the intellectual debris of misconceptions we inflicted on ourselves, imagine when we said we voted a man, not his party. There is a big hole in our sense of philosophy. Without a good sense of philosophy, we may as well be prepared to wallow in this chamber of sorrow for a long time.
My penchant for devouring books has revealed to me that a country will continue to move without leaving a spot if its people are mentally sick, with zero ability to philosophize problems and think far beyond out of the box. But what we have in our hands are a people blessed with the memory of goat, they often antagonize intellectual output they can learn from. The trio of Awolowo, Azikiwe and Balewa engaged philosophy till themselves transformed into gods of philosophy.
By philosophizing, I do not mean stringing together witticisms and wise-sayings into a coherent worldview. I am talking of the capacity for conceptual formulation and rigorous abstractions; the ability for sustained intellection and logical speculation. So can the current crop of Nigerian leaders philosophize? With the reigning imbroglio in our current political peculiar mess, one may be forced to agree with Thomas Jefferson, a founding father and third president of America, when he noted about black men that “It appears to me that in memory they are equal to whites: in reason much inferior, as I think one could scarcely be found capable of tracing and comprehending the investigation of Euclid; and that in imagination they are dull, tasteless and anomalous”.
Now that our people are conquered and subjugated, we must place advertorials that we are in need of new gods since our good old gods have finally made it back to their ancestral graveyard. We are in dire need of gods, anointed messiahs that will be thrown up by our unfolding History 101. These gods may not be blessed with the gift of garb, they may be challenged in the faculty of eloquence and elocution. All we need are gods whose sense of philosophy will enable them to connect with the rage of the inarticulate masses in all their elemental portent. All we need the gods to say is to say nothing, we will join in.
Can you be the gods we are craving for? Can you be the Balewa of our time? Who among you is ready to masquerade Awolowo’s philosophy? Can any of you take the challenge that threw Azikiwe up? Who can be the commander of the angry Nigerian mob and it’s fatalistic foot soldiers? Who among you can go back home and become the mediating elites for the angry faithful mob since the direct rule of the masses is mobocracy not democracy? Or are we going to wait till the centre collapses and things fall apart?
If the gods are not among you, you need not worry yourself to force it. I know they will be eslewhere on the globe, for when the gods are ripe for worship, they will demand for sacrifice, sacrifice in form of votes. I hope to also be a part of such intellectual revolution, when intellectual gangsterism will not be seen as cerebral flamboyancy. Even when the gods are dead, the gods are still alive elsewhere.
Thank you.”
Being a text of speech by Jonah Ayodele Obajeun, delivered at the Soweto Gathering of Young Nigerian Thinkers in Johannesburg, November 12, 2011.

Jonah Ayodele Obajeun. Blogs @ www.obajeun.com.

Police can’t find $620,000 bribe cash

Faruk and Femi

Where is the $620,000 bribe collected by House of Representatives member Farouk Lawan from businessman Femi Otedola?

The puzzle remained unresolved at the weekend, the government is set to file charges against the lawmaker. 

Lawan was the chairman of the House adhoc committee on fuel subsidy probe. Also to be charged is the clerk of the committee, Mr. Borniface Emenalo.

The trial of the suspects may start without the cash as the government is bent on going ahead with the arraignment in the light of the weight of evidence at its disposal.

The Federal Government may file the charges this week, barring last-minute hitches.

The Anti-Corruption Network yesterday asked the government to also arraign Otedola, who said he handed Lawan the cash in a sting operation arraigned by security agents. Lawan accepted collecting the money but refused to surrender it, saying it is proof of Otedola’s pressure on him to remove the oil magnet’s company from the list of those indicted in the subsidy probe.

According to a source, the Special Task Force (STF) which investigated the case submitted its report to the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke (SAN), without any trace of the bribe cash.

The source, however, claimed that “the evidence the police made available to the AGF were enough to sustain the prosecution of the suspects”.

The source added: “The STF team tried to locate the bribe sum, which is vital to the trial of the suspects, but it could not because of vested interests in the matter. This is a high-profile case with high-profile intrigues.

“But hope is not lost as there are other evidence ancillary to the fact that the bribe was given and taken.

“The prosecution may have to rely on some clips and statements made on oath by some of those interrogated. The STF did a good job and the investigation was far-reaching although without the bribe cash.

“With this investigation, you will appreciate that the Police did a thorough job.”

Asked if the police could determine whether the bribery was a sting operation or not, the source added: “A sister agency was involved and we presented the raw facts to the AGF which I cannot divulge.

“There are so many angles to this case; you have to wait for the trial to begin.”

A source said yesterday: “All hands are on deck to file charges against Lawan and Emenalo, pending the return of the lawmaker from the lesser Hajj.

“The two suspects may be arraigned before a high court by the government prosecutor this week.”

A source in the defence team said: “We are ready for the trial, let them go and file charges.”

Another source said: “As long as a sting operation could not be established by the police, the whole case will become flat.”

The Executive Secretary of Anti-Corruption Network, Mr. Dino Melaye, said the government should put Otedola on trial for the court to decide the guilty.

Melaye, a former member of the House of Representatives, said: “From what we have seen and heard, they have exempted the name of Mr. Femi Otedola from the list of those to be prosecuted.

“We are insisting that the three actors in the bribery saga (Otedola, Lawan and Emenalo) should be put on trial. The government should let the court determine whoever is guilty.

“Anything short of that, we are going to mobilise Nigerians against the trial of Lawan and Emenalo.”

Responding to a question, Melaye said the Network will resist plans to make Otedola a witness because “from police findings, they cannot call it a sting operation for lack of evidence.”

“If the government does not prosecute Otedola, it would amount to an attempt to water-down the case and acquit him.

“Nigerians are interested in this matter. Let the three suspects face trial and the proceedings of the court will enable them to have full insight into what transpired.

The choice of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), as counsel for the state is completely unacceptable because he is the one standing in defence of ex-Speaker Dimeji Bankole and a Judge in the case of an alleged N6billion fraud.

“So, there is actually a conflict of interest. A man who is standing against the state cannot at the same time prosecute for the state. You cannot approbate and reprobate at the same time. And public interest should be considered in this matter.”

Melaye said: “We will stage a protest. We have a stake in this matter.”

But a source said: “The truth of the matter is that Chief Awomolo withdrew from the defence team of the former Speaker. The Network should have done its homework very well.

“Also, Awomolo has been handling landmark cases for the Federal Government, including being a counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). He has a reputation that no one can tarnish at all.”

ASARI DOKUBO’S RANTINGS

Recently, Chief Edwin Clark, the self-acclaimed leader of the Ijaw nation and ex militant Chief, Asari Dokubo, was in the news. These men, who are leaders in their own right, made comments unworthy of the positions they occupy in the society. To say that I am disappointed is to obviously state the least. To start with, Chief Edwin Clark is a man who has acquired a reputation for himself in the country, having served as a Federal Commissioner for Information and considering his age of over 80 years, earns him the status of an Elder Statesman. This accounts for one’s consternation about views about the events in the Nigerian polity. One is sometimes inclined to believe that his recent comments are induced by ageing.

Chief Clark recently pointed accusing fingers at General Ibrahim Babangida and some northern leaders as those sponsoring the dreaded Boko Haram sect. How he came by that conclusion remains a mystery. The current situation in the country is one that all hands to be on deck. So, if Chief Edwin Clark does not have anything to say, let him just look the other way and allow men with genuinely love Nigeria, to seek way solve the problem we currently face as a nation. Chief Clark should be reminded that such statements are capable of ruining the reputation he has earned for himself. Need I remind the revered Elder Statesman that while the Niger Delta was on fire, when he and other leaders in the region were visibly handicapped and incapable of bringing a lasting solution, it was a Northerner who brought the peace they currently enjoy?

Asari Dokubo in his own statement threatened fire and brimstone against the north. One wonders how Asari thinks. The question to ask him is; is it the entire north that is Boko Haram, or is it every northerner that is supports of the sect? Anyway such statements are not unexpected from people who have allowed ethnicity and politics to becloud their judgment and sense of reasoning. When he and other militants were kidnapping and killing innocent citizens in the Niger Delta, who threatened war against the people of the Niger Delta? If Nigeria were a nation where things work, men like Asari Dokubo would have been behind bars from crimes he committed against innocent people. Unfortunately we are not, that is why men like him still move about freely and even have the effrontery to threaten war against a particular section of the country.

The general feeling and belief among some members of the Niger Delta region is that certain people from the north are against the Presidency of President Goodluck Jonathan. Therefore they are creating confusion in the polity to label him a weakling and a failed leader. Whenever I hear such argument, I am always quick to remind people that BoKo Haram did not start from the time of Goodluck Jonathan. The insurgency started during the time of Late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. President Goodluk Jonathan merely inherited it and just like his predecessor, found it tasking to solve. So, that argument is not tenable. Besides, such an argument can only come from people who have a parochial mindset, and hardly mean well for Nigeria.

The so called leaders of the north have not fared any better. They seem to have all gone to sleep while their house is on fire. Maybe their view is, as long as I am not personally affected then everything is okay. However they cannot pretend that everything is okay in the north, when things are anything but okay. Recently, the governor of a northern State paid a visit to victims of an attack in a hospital putting on a bullet proof vest. This shows that they are not unaware of the daunting security challenges present in the region. As leaders, the general wellbeing of the people should be their primary concern. If these northern leaders had acted promptly when the situation was a bit controllable, it wouldn’t have enjoyed this sporadic spread and men like Asari Dokubo would not have had the opportunity to descend to the level of insult and finger pointing.

The current security situation is a national one and not just a northern problem. Therefore all well-meaning Nigerians must all arise to the task, so as to find a lasting solution to the current problem our dear country is faced with. Finger pointing and inflammatory remarks like those of Chief Edwin Clark and Asari Dokubo will only aggravate the situation. Let me state unequivocally that the unity of Nigeria is a settled and foregone issue and the blood of those who fought to keep this country together shall not be in vain. Anybody who seeks the breakup of Nigeria does not mean well for her and we must collectively resist such move. Our strength shall be our unity; we cannot conquer this security challenge with a divided house. God bless Nigeria.

                                                                                Frank O. ijege, frankijege@yahoo.com  

Terrorists in mass importation of rocket launchers | PUNCH

05 Aug, 2012

TOYOSI OGUNSEYE
Terrorists behind the rash of bombings in the North have a game-changer, as they plan to replace the Improvised Explosive Devices with rocket launchers and rocket-propelled grenades, investigation revealed on Friday.
Consequently, massive importations of these high-calibre weapons are currently on.
RPGs are explosive projectile weapons used by insurgents to attack or destroy targets from long distances, while rocket launchers are devices that are used to propel missiles or explosives from long ranges.
It was gathered that their planned adoption of this new strategy would help them evade arrests by security agents.
A security operative said these weapons could be shot from long distances, thereby giving attackers sufficient time to escape, just as they could cause great havoc on their targets.
Many of the rocket launchers, our correspondent gathered, were smuggled into the country across the porous borders in the North.
Confirming that massive rocket launchers are in the country illegally, spokesman of the police, Frank Mba, in an exclusive interview, described it as a “worrisome development.”
He said, “We are aware of the presence of rocket launchers and I assure you that we are not sleeping.
“I cannot give you details of all we are doing, but I can authoritatively say we are doing all we can to cut off their supply chain.”
Mba further said the country was receiving immense international support from Economic Community of West African states and beyond.
“I can tell you that all the Joint Task Force discoveries were made possible through international support; they were not by chance. The discoveries were made possible through deliberate, conscious intelligence gathering from outside the country.
“To tell you how far our international cooperation has reached, the Inspector-General of Niger Republic was in Nigeria a few days ago where he had fruitful meeting with our IG, Mohammed Abubakar.
“Also, the hierarchy of the INTERPOL, the world’s largest police organisation, have been having meeting with us in the past few weeks.
“This shows that even though we are worried, the good news is that the support from home and abroad is helping us face these security challenges.”
The Nigerian Immigration Service had earlier told SUNDAY PUNCH that the number of unapproved routes into the country were not known, making it extremely difficult for security agencies to track illegal aliens moving in and out of the country.
The NIS Public Relations Officer, Mr. Joachim Olumba, had said, “One fact that is undeniable is that our borders are porous. And many people think it is because security agents collect money and allow people to enter the country without proper documentation.
“But the problem is basically the fact that the structure of our borders makes effective policing absolutely difficult.
“We are talking about over 4000km land borders and over 800km borders along the ocean. In some places, these border areas are mountainous; in some places, they are in the jungle. There are countless illegal routes into the country,” he said.
An anti-terrorism official with the Nigeria Police Force told our correspondent that the attempt to use rocket weapons by terrorists was the latest challenge security operatives were battling with.
He said, “We are not in war. Why are these people bringing rocket launchers into this country? Rocket launchers are used in only wars! What do they want to turn Nigeria into? We are still contending with Improvised Explosive Devices and now this.
“Unfortunately, there are too many porous and illegal borders in this country. In Adamawa alone, there are about 25 illegal routes into Nigeria from neighbouring countries.
“They have been sneaking the rockets in and even though we don’t have a figure, it is quite substantial. And when they can’t bring the rockets in through the border, they may connive with unscrupulous officials at the border to bring them in through the ports.
“The use of rocket grenades and launchers allows them run away before we get there. Some of the launchers can go as far as 900m.”
Speaking on the source of the military weapons, the highly-placed source said “extremist Arab countries” were supplying the weapons to terrorists in Nigeria.
“It is no longer news that the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb have penetrated this country and we can easily tell where these rockets are coming from.
“We don’t have the sophistication to manufacture these war weapons. Iran, Yemen, Syria, Libya and others are suppliers.”
Just last Monday, 10 RPGs and other sophisticated weapons were recovered at the Nigeria-Chad boundary in Borno State by the Joint-Task Force.
JTF spokesman, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa, had said the weapons were recovered following a gun battle which left some gunmen dead in Daban Masara border town.
The following day, JTF on Operation Restore Order, said it intercepted more rocket launchers, rocket bombs and AK 47 rifles being transported by suspected terrorists to Maiduguri, capital of Borno State.
Two suspected terrorists who accompanied the arms were killed in the Monguno Local Government Area of the state.
Musa said the arms were concealed in a blue Toyota Hilux vehicle going towards Maiduguri.
“The arms included eight rocket launchers, 10 rocket bombs, 10 rocket chargers, two AK 47 rifles and 13 magazines,” he said.
Similarly, on April 5, 2012, security operatives seized 51 rocket launchers in a house in Barunde area of Gombe metropolis.
Director of SSS in Gombe State, Mr. Bitrus Asha, who conducted journalists round the ‘factory’ said, “Apart from the rocket launchers, 48 bags of fertiliser, sulphuric acid and cortex items were recovered. Other items recovered were detonators, remote control devices, different types of chemicals, six containers for preparation of IEDs and other items.”
The weapons have also found their way to the South-West as rocket launchers were recovered from a robbery gang in April.
Operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Lagos, said two rocket launchers; a grenade and a General Multipurpose Machine Gun were among the arms recovered from the gang that specialised in bank raids.
A combined team of security operatives had in October 2010, intercepted 13 containers laden with arms and ammunition including rocket launchers, cartridges and hand grenades at the A P Moller Terminals in Apapa.
The Apapa Area Customs Controller then, Abdulkadir Azerema, had said the contents of the containers were not declared before they were intercepted.
The first container that was opened by the various security agencies that carried out examinations discovered 24 crates of rocket launchers and other weapon of mass destruction.
The containers with numbers 7869612, 7827707, 7868370, 7869356, 7870064, 7866819, 7868318, 7868771, 7866676, 9478240, 7868431, 1301980 and 7869464, were suspected to have been shipped from Iran.
The Federal Government later arrested and arraigned an Iranian, Azim Aghajani, and three Nigerians, for arms trafficking before an Abuja Chief Magistrate Court in November, 2010.
Nigeria reported the seizure of the shipment to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions against Iran.
According to the United States Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism 2011, the Boko Haram insurgent group killed 590 people last year.
At a briefing last Tuesday, Coordinator, Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Daniel Benjamin, said Africa experienced 978 terrorist attacks, with Nigeria alone accounting for about 20 per cent.
The report said Boko Haram was more vicious in 2011 than in 2010.

 

NIGERIA AND THE CHALLENGES OF DEVELOPMENT

Nigeria is indeed a blessed nation, rich in land mass, human and natural resources. Nigerians wherever they are, are always among the best in whatever they do. However, the standard of living and quality of life of most Nigerians in the midst of these plenty is what this article is all about. Why do Nigerians live in abject penury and want, when the country is richly blessed? A pensive look at the irony of the Nigerian state will reveal that a lot of reasons account for this. However, these reasons will be streamlined to three main issues.

The first reason that readily comes to mind is the vexed issue of corruption. The problem of corruption has been one that has been with us since the days of independence. Corruption accounts for the poor facilities we have and other anomalies eminent in the Nigerian polity. It creeps into the system when those who are saddled with the responsibility of running the affairs of this country become greedy and self-centered. They therefore accumulate wealth for themselves against the interest of the generality of the people. Successive governments have made attempt at curbing the growth of the scourge of corruption, but these efforts seem to have yielded little result. The current government of President Jonathan seems to be at home with this scourge. This is because corruption thrives while the government looks the other way. There are a lot of examples to buttress this point. The Halliburton’s case, and so many other misnomer abound that one will not want to mention here. No nation can develop as long as corruption continues to be a clog on its wheel of progress. As long as we continue to dignify and celebrate corruption, it will continue to thrive and the younger generation will also take to corruption. I wonder what those who celebrated the release of Chief Bode George, a man who was convicted for corruption and recently the birthday of Chief James Ibori, who is serving a prison term for corruption, seek to achieve.

The second issue that comes to mind is the problem of unemployment. This is an issue that is also eating daily into the Nigerian fabric. Millions of energetic youths who possess the capacity roam the streets daily in search for jobs that barely exist. Thousands graduate yearly but, there is hardly any job waiting for them. Those who gain employment these days are those who have “long legs”. If your leg is “short”, then you’ll have to travel the length and breadth of this country to attend one job interview or the other without any hope of securing such job because somebody somewhere has submitted a list containing his/ her candidates. These youths become frustrated and thus, become tools and mercenaries in the hands of those who want to use them to cause confusion in the polity. They grab this opportunity because they see it as an avenue to get back a system that has given them nothing but frustrations. They therefore become a security threat to the society. On my own, I have personally interacted with several youths who are either cobblers or okada riders, who are graduates and have undergone the mandatory NYSC. How bad!

Closely following the problem of unemployment is the issue of insecurity. There has been an upsurge in Insecurity of lives and properties in Nigeria. The reason for this is not may not be far-fetched. Injustice in the system has been the reason for the growing rate of insecurity in Nigeria. We live in a country where the rich grow richer while the poor get poorer. The inequality ratio in this country is just too wide. Let me hastily state that, this insecurity situation is not limited to Boko Haram alone. The insecurity situation may persist until the injustices in the system are corrected. I am in no way justifying the current spate of killings going on in the country, but our system has to work. When you have too many people crying on empty stomach, what do you expect? Need I say a hungry man is an angry man?

Finally, let me conclude by saying that unless and until we checkmate the growth of corruption, we cannot have industries, good facilities adequate hospitals, good roads and other basic amenities that will enhance the standard of living of Nigerians. It will also create millions of job spaces for our teeming population of youths, who will be gainfully engaged and will therefore have little or no time to become a malaise to the society. God bless Nigeria.

                                                                                  Frank O. ijege

                                                                                 frankijege@yahoo.co