Be afraid; be very afraid

The podcast by the founder of Oodua People’s Congress [OPC], Late Dr. Frederick Fasehun has gone viral. CNN even carried it as “BREAKING NEWS”  “It has become difficult for me to keep quiet as the nation [Zimboda] continues to plunge deeper from one crisis to another. We all go to bed every night in fear, not knowing what our lives will be next minute.

N330bn fines: MTN pays another N165bn, as Nigeria’s telecoms subscribers hit 120m

The news is still fresh in our minds how an Army General was declared missing only for his body to be found in a well and his car in a pond just a few weeks ago. If a General of  the Zimbodian Army can suffer such a fate, how much less the average Zimbodian?

This country Zimboda is the only place that we all can call home no matter where we are or how far we may travel. But as all of us can see, this home of ours is on fire and none of us can rest or go to sleep while it burns.

As of today, many are the challenges facing this nation. Where do we begin? Is it  electricity, water, security or education – just name them? We lack them all.  Every four years, politicians come to us using poverty as a weapon to hold the people hostage, promising us these very things that we lack and we fall for their tricks and lies hook, line and sinker.

” Front page “Vanguard” newspaper November 16, 2018 : “Apprehension over N6.1 Trillion Loss To E-Fraud As Annual E-Payment Transactions Hit N97 Trillion”

” Front page “The Guardian” newspaper November 16, 2018: “Independent Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offences Commission [ICPC] Probes National Broadcasting Corporation [NBC] Boss Dr. Ishaq Moddibbo Kawu Over Alleged N2.5 Billion Digital Switchover Fraud.

” Front page “The Punch” newspaper November 16, 2018: “Carpenter Nabbed For Allegedly Raping Autistic Girl In Ondo”

“Edo Pastor Arraigned For Abducting, Sleeping With Chorister”

” Front page “The Nation” newspaper November 16, 2018: “How Bureau De Change [BDC’s] Assist Politicians To Loot, By Ibrahim Magu Acting Chairman Economic And Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC]: “These politicians transfer looted funds from government accounts to BDC’s accounts; in 10; 20 millions in about 75 transactions in one day. This is done with only paper work, no physical cash. The BDC operators now take the money to the politicians’ villages and also buy properties for them in and outside the country.”

Front page editorial “Nigerian Tribune” newspaper July 30, 2018:

“THE AUDITOR-GENERAL’S DAMNING REPORT”

“The recent report by the Auditor-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Anthony Ayine, detailing blatant violations of audit law by several government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) is the latest proof that the Muhammadu Buhari administration’s trenchant rhetoric on integrity and financial transparency is at cross-purposes with the reality. In the run-up to the March 2015 presidential election, candidate Buhari strove to set himself apart from the rest of the field by insisting that his presidency would take a dim view of corruption and financial malfeasance. While Nigerians were realistic enough not to expect a miracle, the Auditor-General’s report shows that, in certain important respects, the Buhari administration has been worse than its predecessors.

The key highlights from Mr. Ayine’s report make for grim reading, and show that MDAs’ compliance with the provisions of the Financial Regulations (FR) 3210(v) regarding submission of audited financial statements has been at its most sketchy in the first two years of the current administration. For instance, as of December 27, 2017, only 51 audited financial statements for 2016 and 149 for 2015 were submitted to the office of the Auditor-General. Furthermore, as of April this year, 109 agencies had failed to submit any financial statements beyond 2013, while 76 agencies last submitted for the 2010 financial year. A whopping 65 agencies have never submitted any accounts since the current system of fiscal reporting was inaugurated.

A defender of the Buhari administration might argue that it inherited a system which allowed agencies to get away with doing little or nothing, and that the only thing the current administration might be said to be guilty of is allowing an already decadent system to degenerate further. That may be true. But it is precisely this kind of degeneration that President Buhari pledged to stem both on the campaign trail and since taking the reins of power. The blame for this lies squarely at its doorstep. If the Buhari administration cannot make governmental bodies under its direct supervision accountable, how does it propose to combat corruption in the entire country?

At any rate, there are specific revelations in the Auditor-General’s report that put the administration itself in the crosshairs. One is the revelation that the Federal Government’s Financial Statement for 2016 contained several “undisclosed revenues, poorly disclosed expenditures, and lack of accountability from government agencies.” Second, the report alleges that, in 2016, the Federal Government “borrowed” N28 billion from the Ecological Fund “to carry out various activities that are not related to development of natural resources,” the purpose for which the fund was established.

If Mr. Ayine was clear about the regression by MDAs into old habits of non-accountability, he was clearer still about the damage it is bound to do, not only to the government accountability process, but also to public morale in general. The Buhari administration has its work cut out.

To be taken seriously as an enemy of corruption, it must respond to the Auditor-General’s report by reining in this burgeoning spirit of financial license and making MDAs comply with the law”.

Alex Otti (on CNN):

“As of December 2017, the following countries had corresponding balances to their credit in foreign reserves: China, U.S.$ 3.194 trillion; Japan U.S.$ 1.233 trillion; European Union U.S.$ 741 billion; Switzerland U.S.$ 680 billion and Saudi Arabia U.S.$ 509 billion.

According to Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO), our total external debt stock has risen from U.S.$ 10.718 billion in 2015 to U.S.$ 22.1 billion as at June 2018.

Front page headline: “Daily Trust” newspaper November 26, 2018

“Why Many Banks Are Bound To Fail In The Present Digital Age”, – Segun Agbaje, Managing Director and Chief Executive Guaranty Trust Bank Plc.

Dr. Obadiah Mailafia a Presidential Candidate: “No people in the entire history of humanity have suffered such injustice, mass genocide, and humiliations as the Africans have suffered. For over 400 years, 15 million Africans (mostly Zimbodians) were transported into the New World as chattel slaves.”

Front page of “The Nation” newspaper November 26, 2018:

“Suspected Cannabis Dealers Allegedly Injure Family Members”

“Suspected drug sellers have allegedly assaulted family members at Bolorunduro in Akure North Local Government of Ondo State, over alleged missing of drugs suspected to be Indian hemp.  The incident was said to have occurred on the family’s farm.

Sources said the hoodlums allegedly invaded a cocoa farm belonging to Augustine Christopher at Bolorunduro where they reportedly apprehended Isaac Akpan, who worked on the farm.

The suspects, who were said to be 40, reportedly invaded the farm on motorcycles with weapons and took away Akpan, accusing him of stealing their produce kept on the cocoa farm.

They allegedly threatened to kill him if he failed to produce bags of the missing cannabis.”

Front page “The Punch” newspaper November 26, 2018: “Gang Rapes 13-year-old Virgin While Unconscious” Front page headlines of “The Punch” newspaper November 15, 2018

Front page headline “Daily Trust” newspaper November 15, 2018: “Obasanjo To Politicians: Stop Using Youths As Thugs.”

Mary Lindsey: “Flattery Is Nothing But Attention Without Intention.”

Back page report “Vanguard” newspaper November 12, 2018

“Money, money everywhere and yet more debt. It is inexplicable and possibly also reckless to have doubled our debt burden in the last three years and, yet still, seek foreign loans with 7 per cent interest rate, when in fact the Central Bank of Nigeria and Zimboda ironically continues to freely auction its relatively bountiful foreign reserves for free.”

Front page report “Vanguard” newspaper November 12, 2018: “Federal Government Of Zimboda Paid N1 Trillion To DISCOs; GENCOs Without Evidence Of Electricity”

Front page report “ThisDay” newspaper November 12, 2018

“Outrage Over Search Of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s (Presidential Candidate) Private Jet By Security Agents”

Alex Otti, Back page of “ThisDay” newspaper November 12, 2018

“Opaqueness is the tool of dictators, who think to lead they must keep the led in the dark. They are incapable of standing up to be challenged or giving account to the public of their stewardship. Leadership is the process of influencing people to achieve an objective, which should be common to both the led and the leader. Actions that do not forge common objective choke the leadership ecosystem and do not encourage accountability and transparency.

Dr. Obadiah Mailafia, front page of “Nigerian Tribune” November 12, 2018

“The two countries that started off with the same initial conditions, with enormous petroleum resources at their disposal, eventually diverged. While Indonesia prospered, Nigeria (Zimboda) was bogged (down) in underdevelopment.”

Front page headline: “Daily independent” newspaper 1st October, 2018

“President Muhammadu Buhari has warned that the use of social media to stir up negative passions by some Zimbodians is a threat to the nation’s democratic development.”

Front page “The Nation” newspaper October 1, 2018:  Alhaji Femi Okunnu, SAN (85 years old) Former Federal Commissioner For Works and Housing “Zimboda has gone down the drain over the last 58 years. The aspirations of the founding fathers have been dashed; more importantly, those of us who were young persons at the time of Independence. I was at the Race Course (opposite King’s College) in Lagos when the British Flag was lowered and the Zimbodian flag was hoisted on 1st October 1960.

My opinion: dreams of Zimboda as a leading nation in the world and as a leader in Africa, politically and economically have also been dashed over the years. So we are not doing well; we are retrogressing and we have been doing so for the past 30 years.”

Exodus 32:34

“The sinner will not go unpunished no matter how long it takes”

Bashorun Randle sent this piece from Lagos