Naija Gist

Hi there, its great to be back to the bloggosphere. A lot has been happening on the naija front lately. The ASSU strike is no longer news,but the last has not been heard of the banking brolla.

Two weeks after they were ousted by the Central Bank of Nigeria and later detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Federal Government yesterday finally arraigned the former chief executive officers and some directors of the five troubled banks, namely Okey Nwosu of FinBank Plc, Sebastian Adigwe of Afribank of Nigeria Plc, Cecilia Ibru of Oceanic Bank Plc, Bartholomew Bassey Ebong of Union Bank Plc and the chairman of the Intercontinental Bank Plc, Raymond Obieri, alongside six other directors were yesterday arraigned at the Federal High Court, Lagos. Erastus Akingbola, chief executive of Intercontinental Bank is yet to report to the EFCC and has since been declared wanted.

Meanwhile, a mild drama ensued while charges were being read to Mrs. Cecilia Ibru who clutched a bottle of energy drink prepared by her doctor as she slumped at about 5.15 p.m., a few minutes after she was ushered into the dock by the EFCC officials and her doctor.
The situation led her counsel, Mr. Niyi Akintola, to appeal to the Judge, Justice Dan Abutu, to allow her doctor assist her to take the remaining charges, a request granted by the Judge.
The accused were slammed with a cumulative 117-count charge of reckless granting of credit facilities running to several billions of naira without adequate security, contrary to the accepted practice, an offence contrary to Section 15 (1) (a) of the Failed Banks (Recovery of Debts) and Financial Malpractices in Banks Act, Cap F2, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and punishable under section 16 (1) (a) of the same Act.
Others include failure to take all reasonable steps to ensure correctness of the banks' monthly and quarterly returns to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), an offence punishable under section 50 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) Cap B3 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, failure to maintain at all times, the minimum capital adequacy ration specified by the CBN in compliance with Section 13(1) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, Cap B3 Laws of the Federation 2004 ,an offence which is contrary to Section 50(a) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, Cap, B3 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and punishable under the same section of the same Act.

Other charges against some of the non-executive directors of Intercontinental Bank Plc include receiving several thousands of the United States dollars from the bank as holiday allowances in contravention of the code of conduct for banks issued by the CBN, an offence committed contrary to section 33 (5) (b) of CBN (Establishment) Act 2007 and punishable under the same section of the same Act.
Of all the 117 count-charge, Nwosu has 11 counts, Cecilia Ibru, 25, Adigwe and two others 35, Ebong and two others 28 counts, while Ebieri and six other non-executives got 18.
All the accused persons pleaded 'Not guilty' to the charges. The prosecution was led by Mr. A. B Mamud (SAN). While Nwosu was represented by Wole Olanipekun, Philip Jimoh-Lasisi was for Adigwe and Femi Falana represented Ololo. Mr. Chris Uche (SAN) represented Ebong, while Niyi Akintola (SAN) was for Cecilia Ibru.
Meanwhile, an attempt by Nwosu's lawyer, Mr. Olanipekun, to make an oral bail application was opposed by the prosecution, which led Justice Abutu to direct counsel to the accused persons to file their written applications. He subsequently adjourned proceedings till September 4, 2009 for parties to move their bail applications, while remanding Nwosu and Adigwe to Ikoyi Prison
The Judge however in view of the health condition of Cecilia Ibru remanded her and other non-executive directors of Intercontinental Bank to the EFCC custody till Friday.
Before adjourning the matter, Justice Abutu also directed that Cecilia Ibru should have unrestricted access to her doctor.

It' s really bizzlin,if you ask me. I hope such news always don't make the headlines, I guess its goin to be livelong wait indeed. Am outta here.

Another Air Crash

It's really bizzling in Naija. We don't ever learn in this country we don't. The first air mishap of the year occurred on Saturday, when a Beechcraft 1900D plane with registration number 5NJAH left the Murtala Mohammed airport in Lagos for the Bebi airstrip in Obudu. It was said to have lost contact with the Port Harcourt airport causing panic in and around the state. Gist began to fly alleging that the Governor of Cross River State was in the ill fated flight, that the plane was returning to Obudu to convey the Governor back to Calabar,

The plane which took off at about 7:35am was supposed to have landed by 8:45am. However, the wreckage of the plane was later alleged to have been found in Ngagu a remote village in Yala Local Government Area of Cross River State, barely 24hrs after take off, reports later by the aviation authorities said the report was false . But the good news is that the Governor was not in the ill fated flight.

What exactly the problem with our aviation industry? Can't we have a year without any sort of air mishap? We hear their ramblings every day in news, telling us that there is a reform in the industry, What do these reforms really set out to achieve? The industry or their pockets? I'm really sick and tired of all this nonsense, our roads are nothing to write home about, our railway system is absolute zero. How do one move around? God help us all!

The cause of the crash has not been made public, i hope they tell us something reasonable this time.

Oil Exploitation In The Niger Delta: Gains or Pains?

On August 3, 1956, Shell D' Archy now Shell Petroleum Development Company SPDC, struck oi in commercial quantities at Oloibiri in present day Bayelsa State. The discovery sounded the death knell and the beginning of the sad fate that was to befall the entire Niger Delta region as the battle for its survival began almost immediately.

Despite ballooning income from oil, Nigeria is still ranked among the pooret countries in the world. In a report released by the Energy Information Agency of the United States Energy Department, Nigeria was said to have made $55bn from oil exports in 2007. This made the country the 4th highest revenue earner among the membes of OPEC.

The immense wealth the oil represented was there to see but not to touch. The oil companies brought pipelines and oil pollution instead of water; gas flaring instead of energy and power, and socisl dislocation instead of gainfull employment. Oil has brought figthing, deaths and pollution to our communities.

The level of neglet, the level of poverty and environmental degradaton is very clear to visitors. As a result of these, the youths have become so confused and have taken to very negative expression of their anger and frustration. This has led to the unrest in the Niger Delta, the kidnapping of expatriates, vandalization of oil installation and the illegal aquization of arms.

The issues, relating to the development of the region should have been the first priority of the oil companies. Due to the issues of environmental degredation, from oil spills and noxious fumes from gas flaring the host communities have become dependant on the oil companies because of the deterioration of the soil and rivers. The government also is not helping matters as alleged by the oil communities.

But what is clear, is that after 52 years of the discovery of black gold as crude oil is called leaves a sour taste in the mouth of the people in the oil-rich Niger Delta. The concern of the IMF about the management of the Nation's oil resources should be taken seriously. Without doubt the MD of the IMF Mr. Dominique Kahn who visited Nigeria recently, was right when he said that the country's oil revenue had not translated into better living conditions for the people.

NIGERIAN FOOTBALL FANS

In Naija, football is a religion followed by both young and old, rich and poor. Over the years our national team the Super Eagles have failed to impress us with the stylish, technical, free flowing and commited football we all have been used to. Instead we struggle to beat teams like Niger, Gabon and Benin. This downward trend continued during the last ACN.

But obviously, most football fans in Naija don't care anymore being primarily concerned about thier teams in Europe. They even prefer those matches to the boring Naija matches. I don't blame them though, why would one waste time on such boring games when one has a very good alternative.

Top European clubs have huge fan base in Naija, premiership clubs Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool. In the La-liga Real Madrid, Barca and maybe Valencia, in Seria A Milan, Juventus and Inter lead the pack.Their surveniers are readily available and are sampled regularly on match days. Why are the surveniers of Enyimba, Wikki tourist and other NFL teams not available or sampled? The NFL must work hard.

The second round of the UEFA champions league has come and gone with all its drama. Chelsea, Man U, Roma, Barca, Shalke, Fernabache, Liverpool and Arsenal all went through. Arsenal fans celebrated throughout the night as they triumphed over defending champions AC Milan. The San Siro witnessed two defeats of the two top Milan teams AC and Inter by two english teams. Inter was outclased by Liverpool while AC Milan was gunned down by Arsenal's
young guns.

This football fanatism has it's own "wahala". Very often at viewing centres arguments between fans of different clubs has led to fights, resulting in injuries from bottle stabs and so on. Well its all part of the fanatism. Some group of fans even offer membership registration and issue membership cards. However it is now perculiar for every football analyst to be a fan of a club and its very obvious during their pre-match analysis.

With all the top clubs fighting for silverware this season, lets wait and see which group of fans celebrate at the end of the season.

THE MADNESS OF THE MILITARY

I could'nt even sleep well last night, thanks to a bunch of jobless people. I woke up so upset because i was disturbed by some military brats, shooting indiscriminately and destroying properties. Its a shame that at this age and time people still think with thier feet. What started as a normal sunday groove turned out to be a bottle of beer too hot to gulp. Now they all want to trade blames.

Don't mind my ramblings. It all started late sunday night at The Krab; one of the most disgusting purb i've come across in recent times. Some guys on one table were having a birthday get-together and on the opposite table, a group of soldiers were boozing with their girls. After so many bottles, obviously, everyone got high. One of the girls from the soldiers' table excused herself to take a pee. Maybe she left everything out after peeing, which left the guys at the birthday table with no choice than to swat her butt as she passed by. When she got to her table and reported the incident to her man, that was the turning point and the beginning of the fracas.

We all know how soldiers behave, even when no provoked. They immediately got up to confront the guys at the other table for having the effrontery to touch their girfriend's ass. Things soon got out of hand, and the girl's boyfriend got stabbed in the hand, for all his troubles. The soldiers obviously didn't expect the other guys to react so viciously, and when they realized that they were outnumbered, his colleagues left to call for backup. Instead of waiting for his friends, the aggrieved soldier still pursued the other guys. Eventually, he got ambushed, beaten and then ran down with a car. His assailants didn't stop there, they even smashed his head in with a brick.
He died on the spot, just like that. He died because somebody touched his gal's ass. Was she raped? What a foolish way to die.

The dead soldier's colleagues came back last night, shooting indiscriminately, vandalizing properties belonging to innocent citizens and especially disturbing my sleep. They didn't even destroy anything at the disgusting place called "The Krab". Instead, they vandalized other points like Fiesta Fries, Little Havana, and Monique Pointe. That was an act of cowardice on the part of the soldiers. So much for military bravado.

Eqn.1: Irresponsible soldiers + bottles of beer = madness

Eqn.2: Mental madness + physical madness = social madness

I am not condoning the actions of the young men who harassed the soldier's girl and later killed him. They should be made to face the consequences of their inhuman actions. What I do not like is ithe trigger-happy nature of our soldiers and the way they always go around sniffing for trouble. I still feel that soldiers belong in the barracks, and with the total disregard which they have for the law and the lives of civilians, we would be better off if they remain in their barracks. They see civilians as being of lesser pedigree, and always try to assume a level of invincibility because of their uniforms. This nonsense must stop. The job of the military is to defend the people, and not to oppress them.

Calabar gist - Boutiques

I happened to talk to most of the people irrespective of their age i met at the the different okrika spots. Their reasons for patronising okrika clothes all centered basically around 2 issues; cost and the quality. Majority of the oldies said their reasons for patronising okrika was because of the price, they are cheaper than most new clothes while, majority of the gals and guys said they where of higher quality than most of the new stuffs.

I sort of agreed with both group though, being an okrika fan myself. The okrika stuffs are really cool if you go for the first grades, they are cheaper and of equal if not better quality than most of the stuffs sampled at the boutiques. Shopping for this clothes involves special techniqes; you need to have good sight for clothes. Should also be able to struggle if the need be, no time for dulling.

Enough of the chips, before you start looking around for me when you go shopping.

Calabar gist - Boutiques

Its another blogville, am really trying to catch up with the blogitude. One interesting thing I've noticed of late is the heavy patronage of "okrika" second hand clothes. The boutiques have been abandoned for the okrika shops. And i tell u their customer base is so large, even the boutiques don't boast of such customers in a year compared to their okrika counter parts in just a month; it's no exaggeration.

It has become a religion of sorts, their customers get to their shops as early as 6am to wait for bails to be opened at Watt , Marian and the popular Beach markets. Actually, i have been following this trend lately and i will conclude that the okrika merchants are doing very well for themselves, thanks to the heavy patronage.

One needs to ask "Why are "okrika" clothes so popular".

Some reasons will be discussed tomorrow