I am writing this piece strictly as Joe Igbokwe and I am speaking strictly for myself only. I was born in 1956 in Nnewi, Anambra State. It means that I was 10 years old when the crisis that led to the civil war started in 1966. I saw it all and witnessed the evils of civil war. Women became whores, girls became mothers, lizards became meat, every leaf of any plant became vegetables, one meal a day became a luxury, food without salt became the norm etc.
Civil war does not start overnight. It comes as a result of provocation, humiliation and disgrace of fellow human beings. It comes as a result of arrogance, impunity and selfishness.
Now hear this: An Igboman from Adazi Nnukwu in Anambra State was killed by Boko Haram in Mubi and the kinsmen gathered to plan how to take the corpse home. The same Boko Haram people returned and killed 11 of those that gathered to mourn their loved one. As plans were in top gear to move the bodies to the East, government officials seized the bodies to avoid a reprisal attack. Just imagine what would have happened in Onitsha if the 12 bodies were seen as gifts from the North in any of the motor parks. Now what will you call this? Are they telling Igbo that they have monopoly of violence? Are they telling Igbo that they cannot fight? Are they telling all Igbo men that they are all women? Have they forgotten about the civil war they called POLICE ACTION which lasted for three years? This is provocation and anger is choking me.
I want to appeal to Northern leaders to rise up now to avert a civil war. Every bonafide leader in the North must stand up to save the North from itself. The Northern Nigeria is now a war zone soaked with the blood of hundreds of innocent men and women. The Northern Nigeria is now a disaster zone, a no-go area, the land that devours its inhabitants, Thomas Hobbes State of Nature where life is brutish, nasty and short, the land without focus, direction, hope or future, the land of murderers!
I wrote the books: Igbos: 25 Years After Biafra in 1995, Heroes of Democracy in 1999 and jointly wrote 2007: The IBB Option in 2004. They are all war Books just to show you that I have seen it all to know that war means destruction of lives and property. It has led to disintegration of nations. Civil War is imminent in Nigeria but God forbid!
Boko Haram is all about politics not religion and there is a limit to this politics of stupidity. When former President Obasanjo came to power it was Sharia politics and today I do not know what has become of it. As soon as Dr Goodluck Jonathan became the President, the Boko Haram madness came on board. My take is that if General Buhari had won the 2011 Presidential elections, Boko Haram would not have surfaced to continue to terrorize Nigerians today. But the truth remains that if South South crude oil has been good for Nigeria for 62 years, their son, President Goodluck Jonathan should be good for Nigeria as well.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The Kano State chapter of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo has urged governors of the five states in the Southeast to evacuate their indigenes in the North.
The group, in a statement, said this has become necessary since the Boko Harm insurgent group appears bent on destroying the country.
It said: “There is no gainsaying the fact that our people are now are living with naked fear and apprehension. Though there are few of us who may like to stay and defend ourselves, the majority of us, particularly, women and children, numbering over three million are jostling to leave the North (Kano), because unfolding events indicate that the North (Kano) is no longer safe for easterners.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo Kano, thereby, calls on the governors of the Eastern States and Igbo speaking States in the Southsouth to provide means of transportation with adequate security to evacuate our brethren who would want to leave because human life is precious and should be protected as such.â€
The statement, by its president, Chief Tobias Idika, reads: “In about a month ago, the dreaded Islamic terrorist gang called Boko Haram issued a threat message ordering all Southerners to vacate the North or face annihilation. Though the three day ultimatum they gave had elapsed with some pockets of attacks in Borno, Niger, Yobe States etc. Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Kano foresaw the wreckage that took place in Kano on Friday.
“If we can recall, Kano was the first base of Boko Haram insurgence following their first onslaught in April 2007 when the Boko Haram elements invaded Kano through the Panshekara axis and engaged security agencies in a series of attacks that claimed lives and government properties.
“Since then, they have continued to put an eye on Kano with malicious concentration on non-natives. Ohanaeze Ndigbo Kano can also state without fear of contradiction that the January 20, 2012 attack on Kano remains the only biggest coordinated attack by the Islamic terrorist group where about nine locations were bombed and lives (including one Mr. Ibe, an insurance broker was killed) and property lost!
“In this light, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Kano is convinced that there is a planned Jihad on non-natives in Kano, particularly, the Igbos. Security report reaching us indicates that there is a serious plot by the Islamic terrorist group to invade Sabon Gari Kano, an enclave pre-dominantly dominated by the Igbos.
“We are also aware that this Islamic group serving the interest of some Islamic clerics, Northern traditional rulers and ruthless politicians, have a big plan to bomb churches, public places, hotels and selected private homes within Sabon Gari Kano.
“For the fact that in the January 20 attack on Kano, even journalists were not spared with the killing of the Channels reporter, Eneche Akogwu, by the Boko Haram terrorists, means that nobody’s live is protected in Kano. Ohanaeze Ndigbo Kano, with a deep heart, uses this opportunity to commiserate with the National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Muhammed Garba and all journalists in Nigeria. The killing of Eneche Akogwu brings to two innocent journalists who have fallen victim to the wicked attack and agenda of the Islamic Boko Haram in recent times.â€
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Members of a suspected Boko Haram sect this morning killed about 13 people in various attacks targeted at police, soldiers, a hotel and a bank in Bauchi State.
A source told SaharaReporters that a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) was among those killed in Tafawa Balewa LGA along with two lance corporals of the Nigerian Army killed at an army checkpoint in Katagun and about 10 unarmed civilians.
Some of the victims met their death in a police station and military checkpoint in Bununu District of Tafawa Balewa local government. The state police command through its commissioner, Ikechukwu Aduba, confirmed the incident.
He said about five suspects have been captured by the combined team of army and police men who engaged the attackers in an exchange of gunfire. The commissioner stated that the security team recovered a number of assembled bombs as well as other weapons. Two churches one of them an ECWA church-were attacked in Fadaman Mada and Railway Quarters in Bauchi Township early Sunday morning, but there was no loss of lives or injuries.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The Seriki Hausawa of Lagos State, Alhaji Aminu Idris Yaro has expressed sadness over the nonchalant attitudes of Nigerians towards the activities of the dreaded sect, Boko Haram leading to the death of many people and destruction of property worth billions of naira. The Seriki, who doubles as the Chairman of the Arewa Traditional Council in the state wondered why people refused to hit the street the way they did against fuel subsidy recently.
According to him, it was a painful realization that people put their comfort far above the collective comfort of the Nigerian masses as was demonstrated recently by the protesters against the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government. “In Nigeria when subsidy was removed on petroleum, people protested and shut down every activity and some patriots even died during the protests.
But when hundreds of people were killed by sects using bombs, nobody stages protest or condemned it because it didn’t happen in their vicinity, none of their relatives are affected or because they are afraid to speak and get bombed too,†the monarch queried. He asked rhetorically further: “Where is Occupy Nigeria? Where is El-Rufai? Where is Pastor Tunde Bakare? Where are the Celebrities, artistes and musicians?
Where are the Opposition Parties? Where are Nigerians? Were they all in the blast that rocked Kano city? Why is everyone keeping mute now? Or is Kano State not part of Nigeria? Is this not a more serious issue for all Nigerians to wear black rags and truly ‘occupy Nigeria’ with peaceful protest against mass killings of innocent ones?
Do we have energy and strength only on subsidy removal issues? Everyone seems to be afraid now. What a big shame?â€
While expressing grief, Yaro could not understand why, “when hundreds of people were killed senselessly in the past few months, all toothless bulldogs can’t even bark any more let alone bite because money is not involved for them to fight for,†warning Nigerians to be guided not to be used by self seeking opposition, but join hands together to build a great and united Nigeria.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Child Trafficking in the Eastern part of Nigeria is a lucrative trade. In Nigeria, human trafficking ranks the third most common crime after financial fraud and drug trafficking. At least 10 children are sold every day across the country, according to the UN. Globally, the traffickers earn $33 billion yearly.
In Nigeria, the traffickers are seldom caught, and even when they are, they easily buy their way out. It is rampant in Nigeria but prevalent in the Eastern part of the country, especially child trafficking.
In Surulere Lagos, a childless Yoruba lady, married for five years, facing family discomforts, was told by her lady friend of a baby factory in Aba, Abia state.
The lady went to Aba, met the owners of the baby market and was asked to pay N2m for a male child. She was also given some medicines which made her look pregnant. Her husband thought she was pregnant. Towards the time of delivery, she told her husband she was travelling abroad to have the baby. But she went to Aba where a baby boy was handed over to her after paying the full amount. She returned to Lagos and lives with her husband with the child. The man thinks the boy is his.
Lagos baby factories
Why did she go to far away Aba? In Janet Fajemigbesin Street, in Amuwo Odofin, behind old Durbar Hotel-near Festac, Lagos, teen ladies charge N150,000 and N200,000 per baby. Twins sell for N450,000. They boys who impregnate the girls are paid N10,000 to N20,000. In Lekki, one Mrs. Theresa Marques, 84, owner of an orphanage sold babies for N100,000, N200,000.
Babies rescued from the Aba illegal clinic Her home served as a baby factory. A medical doctor was also arrested at the Maternity. He was caught in a private room in the hospital with a young lady half naked. He himself was scantily dressed. The woman allegedly harboured young men and women who engaged in sex in order to produce children for her orphanage which were then sold. In 2005, a Lagos-based orphanage suspected of ties to child trafficking network was shut down.
So, aware of these problems, the Lagos lady preferred the Aba market, even though such factory was close to her in Surulere. Babies there were said to be brought from the East, especially, Aba. So, off to Aba she went.
Abia baby factories
Welcome to the booming child trafficking business in the South East, reputed as the largest in Nigeria. To prove this, last May 28, the police raided one of the baby markets, at No 3, Anyamele Street, Off No 10 Nicholas Road , By Brass Junction, Aba, the commercial nerve centre in Abia state. There is no sign-post here but it has a high-rise iron, black gate.
The police command had rescued about 32 teenage expectant mothers from the clinic known as The Cross Foundation, where teenage girls were kept until they were delivered of their babies. The police said the babies were sold and their mothers discharged after being paid N25,000 or N30,000 depending on the sex of the baby.
The second clinic raided there was Double Research Clinic and Laboratory at Iheoji Mgboko in Obingwa LGA, run by one Mr. John Onyemachi, a lab scientist. In all 41, ladies were rescued by the police through the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). Mr. Soji Alabi, the Public Relations Officer of the Abia State NSCDC said they arrest owners of such illegal maternity homes in Abia regularly.
“It is something that has been on-going over the years. Every community in Abia State is known to have one or so of such ‘baby factories’ as they are called. Teenage girls who get pregnant out of wedlock head there to get rid of their babies. Some of these so-called maternity homes even have agents who go about hunting for young girls to exploit.â€
The case of The Cross Foundation is interesting as it helps to unearth the child trafficking network in the South East.
In 2007, proprietor of the The Cross Foundation, Dr Hycinth Orikara, 1988 University of Nigeria, Nsukka graduate, began his illegal business in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. He relocated to Aba after a botched prosecution following an earlier trial for similar crime.
In 2007, Orikara had been arrested for a similar crime alongside one Mrs Ayodele Okeke at 10 Woji Street, Port Harcourt in Rivers State. Note her name. Then his business was recommending pregnant girls to Ayodele. The police charged Orikara to court for child trafficking and running an illegal clinic but did not have a solid case against him and consequently lost the matter in court. The medical doctor was set free and he went to Aba to continue his illegal business.
Last year alone, more than six of such illegal homes were sealed and more than 100 such victims rescued in Aba. Some pastors are involved too. Some of the Orikara girls confessed that they had just been delivered of their babies and that they did not know what became of the infants. The National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP) spokesperson, Mr. Arinze Orakuwe, said, “At the moment Abia and Imo states have the highest numbers of such illegal homes in the country.â€
Enugu, Ebonyi baby factories
In 2008, Enugu state was thought to be the baby factory headquarters in Nigeria until last May when Aba took over. In May 2008, 20 teenage girls were rescued by the police in Enugu. Neighbours had long found something bizarre about the two storey building where there was virtually no activity during the day. The doctor in charge reportedly lured teenagers with unwanted pregnancies by offering to help with abortion.
They would be locked up there until they gave birth, whereupon they would be forced to give up their babies for N20,000. The babies would then be sold to buyers for N300,000 and N450,000 each, according to a state agency fighting human trafficking in Nigeria, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP). More arests were amde in Udi street and Abakiliki in Ebonyi State.
How pregnant mothers are sourced
The practice of delivering pregnant mothers takes varying forms. One is where desperate teenagers with unplanned pregnancies, fearing ostracism by society, get lured to a clinic and are forced to turn over their babies. The girls are intimidated so much that many of them can hardly relate their experience freely. But one brave victim, 18, recounted her week-long ordeal when she was trapped inside one of the clinics days before it was raided by police.
“The moment I stepped in there, I was given an injection, I passed out and next thing I woke up and realised I had been raped,†the girl, who was five months pregnant at the time of her ordeal said.
When she asked if she could telephone her family to let them know of her whereabouts, the doctor slapped her on the face. She was shoved into a room where 19 other girls were kept; all had been through a similar experience. She said the doctor raped her again the following day. A week later police swooped on the clinic.
Another category of young women, driven by deep poverty, lease out their wombs and volunteer themselves, as regularly as is biologically possible, to produce babies for sale.
“When we raided the hospital, we found four women who had been staying at the clinic for up to three years, to breed babies,†NSDCS boss for Enugu state commandant Desmond Agu said
The doctor, whom police named, “had been inviting boys to come and impregnate girls,†said Agu.
This was just one of around a dozen centres — masquerading as maternity clinics, foster homes, orphanages or shelters for homeless pregnant girls — unearthed in 2008 where babies were swapped for cash, said the NAPTITP boss.
The police had also swooped on a so-called foster home, not far from the Enugu police headquarters, where seven teenage pregnant girls and five workers were rounded up, in May, residents said.
Child Trafficking in Port Harcourt, Rivers
Saturday Vanguard has been on the trail of Mrs Precious Ogbonna, a Christian pastor who claimed she gave birth to seven children in 11 months in Owerri, Imo state.
The newspaper, to locate the truth of such strange delivery, had the DNA of the children conducted and the result was that the lady is not the mother of the children. But based on the above details, it is easy to understand that Mrs Ogbonna is not the end of the story. Indeed, the information she provided that she delivered five of the babies in Port Harcourt indicates the length of her network.
According to the story, Precious was delivered in a house located in Ohonda close, Rukpakulsi, Port Harcourt, where a black iron gate, as tall as the building, hides activities there. Run by one Nurse Blessing, detained by the Owerri police, following the Precious revelation, the Port Harcourt clinic is known in the neighbourhood as where babies are delivered.
Earlier, officials of the Rivers State Ministry of Social Welfare uncovered a Home in Sagana Street in the Mile One, Diobu, Port Harcourt. Here, after delivery, the young mothers’ babies were sold fee N20,000 and N50,000 based on the agreed terms. A woman who owned the child trafficking home was handed over to the police for further interrogation. Five pregnant girls were rescued from the home by welfare officials during the early morning raid. The alleged baby trafficking takes place inside a supposed Welfare Home for disabled persons there. The lid was blown off the child trafficking ring by a girl who felt cheated in the deal she allegedly had with the head of the home.
The Nurse Blessing network Imo
A lady told Saturday Vanguard that Nurse Blessing had been doing the business for years now. She charges between N300, 000 and N500,000 for each delivery. “We also gathered that Nurse Blessing got her tutelage from a popular woman in Okigwe; Imo state who treats all kinds of spiritually attacked pregnancies for N1million. The Okigwe woman we gathered had trained several women in the business and Nurse Blessing is one of them,†a source said.
Nurse Blessing was said to deliver pregnant women by massaging, and using warm water on the women’s belly. Is it possible that there is a link between Dr Orikara, Precious and Mrs Ayodele Omosuyi (Okeke?) in Okigwe, Imo state? One Ayodele was earlier linked with the doctor in Port Harcourt, remember.
The Okigwe place the Port Harcourt source referred to is in Ugwuaku, Okigwe, Imo State. Here, the Ayodele Omosuyi Natural Clinic is said to be a refuge for those seeking babies. Its walls, like those in Aba, Port Harcourt and Enugu, are high enough to hide a hugely thriving baby factory, where women, pretending to be heavily pregnant, are delivered of their ‘babies’ at a high cost.
Here, twins go for about N1 million, male babies N500,000, females between N350,000 and N450,000. She takes cash, not cheque. The owner of the baby factory is Mrs. Ayodele Omosuyi, popularly known as Iyawo in the community. It is close to Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, also close to Aba.
The police were allegedly aware of her trade but did nothing until NAPTIP, using soldiers stormed the place. Decayed human bodies that had turned into skeletons were among the things allegedly discovered during the raid. NAPTIP suspects that some of the children and even adults might have been used for rituals at the clinic. It is said that people from all places with exotic cars, some with Federal Government number plates, among other numbers, visit the woman, described as very powerful.
How Ayodele performs her delivery
An Okigwe resident had narrated what he heard from one of her patrons. “She confessed to me that she was in trouble. She said her sister-in-law, who had been scheming for her to be chased away from the family due to her inability to have a baby, suddenly changed after she visited Iyawo.
“She said after taking the substance given to her she started noticing something growing in her womb and that her baby actually moved to the admiration of her sister-in-law and other members of her family. She, however, confessed that it was just that once; that nothing happened again until she visited Iyawo again.
“When it was nine months and time for her to be delivered of her baby, Iyawo had to postpone the delivery date by four months to enable her complete the N1 million fee she was charged for twins.â€
How Nurse Blessing, Ayodele operate
Ayodele’s arrest was due to operatives of the State Security Services (SSS) who arrested some women who flew to Enugu, only to return days after with newborn babies. The women were handed over to the NAPTIP, where they revealed how the suspect (Mrs. Omosuyi) assisted them to get the babies. NAPTIP said Ayodele had agents that are paid for each pregnant girl brought to the clinic. The girls are paid between N70,000 and N90,000 after delivery, depending on the sex of the baby.
While girls who successfully deliver are given a token, those who lose their babies are reportedly forced to serve Ayodele for a long time. During this period, male adults were paid to impregnate the girls, who are not allowed to leave the clinic. Four pregnant teenage girls were found during the raid and handed over to NAPTIP. A woman from Switzerland, who is married to a Cameroonian, was also found at the clinic. She claimed that her sister had got her children through the same source.
It was said that the woman administers certain substance on her patients that form a sort of tumour in the womb of the ‘expectant’ mothers, making them believe they were pregnant. The women warned not to go to any hospital or undergo ultra-sound or any sort of scan as they could lose the ‘pregnancy’ or ‘baby’ in the process. This sounds like Mrs Ogbonna’s story as well.
When it is time for ‘delivery,’ another substance is administered on the woman, which gives a false impression of labour. Part of the sex organ is cut as well as the growing tumour to discharge the necessary blood and make it look as though there was actual delivery. A baby is then sneaked in and made to cry. The woman is also made to believe she had been delivered of a baby.
Buying or selling of babies is illegal in Nigeria and can carry a 14-year jail term.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The series of bombings and gunning down of southerners in northern Nigeria is such an unfortunate situation. The northerners who are behind all this have totally miscalculated in their permutations about the future of Nigeria. One of their aims obviously is to make Nigeria ungovernable for GEJ with the aim of regaining power by or before 2015. They have failed because their actions have further polarized and empowered the Nigerian electorate to the extent that by 2015, it will be near impossible for a muslim northerner to win the elections and become president. I am certain that the electorate will speak very powerfully and in a determined manner come 2015, if Nigeria still exists as an entity at that time.
After all this deliberate massacre, no southern christian in his right mind will vote for a muslim northerner in 2015, no matter how sane and humble he may appear. Also, I see this as a grand political ploy to remove southerners who are mostly Christians from the north so that they can have a field day at rigging elections in favor of a muslim northerner come 2015.
I foresee mass entry of their muslim brothers from those neighboring countries in the north to fill in the void created towards 2015. Politics is a chess game and we have calculated their moves for 2015. They will have a rude awakening when they are checkmated. Power has shifted and wealth is shifting. I also see morbid greed at play. Those people are very lazy and want to reap where they have not sown. they want to just inherit the fruits of the sweat of our brothers for the last forty years just like that. I have come to understand from the Jos experience that this is very typical of them, to kill and inherit the spoils of “war”. Finally, their agenda of islamizing Nigeria by hook or crook is just a big, silly joke. They will have a rude awakening soon enough on that.
Now the million $$$ questions are this, “What happens next when all the Igbos leave the north? How will they cope with the economic void created? Have they forgotten that tens of millions of them benefit directly and indirectly from the presence of Igbo businesses in the north? Who will take care of all those northerners who will loose their source of income?” As far as I can discern, they have shot themselves in the foot and their evil will definitely implode upon them soonest or in the long run. I foresee them suffering beyond their wildest imagination and regretting their actions. Then what? Will they then migrate down to Igboland to beg for alms on our streets and seek petty jobs. They know better than try that silly stunt. Most likely, they will flood into Yorubaland and become a total nuisance.
The only good thing that may go for them is if they receive their desired Islamic state from the northern states and receive massive financial input from the oil rich islamic Arab nations. They are their brothers. Something tells me that the wind is also blowing from that direction
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
This question has been agitating my mind since the Xmas bombing that targeted Ndigbo at Madalla, Niger State and the zero reaction of our so called Igbo leaders. Not even one governor summoned the courage to speak out against the massacre of our people by Northern Nigeria terrorists. No member of the national assembly spoke up until January 12th when Senator Uche Chukwumerije angrily confronted the Nigeria state and declared that “Ndigbo will go to the United Nations to protect them if nothing is done”. It is on record that only members of Igboville were sufficiently concerned to organize a rally and deliver a protest letter to British Prime Minister, David Cameron, at 10 Downing street on 13th of January 2012. It could be said that this pioneering effort of members of Igboville woke up some of our politicians to speak up. Even then, it was tongue in check.
Why did they all keep quiet?
I have long observed 3 broad categorizations of Igbo-born politicians.
1. The North leaning group who will stop at nothing to impress their “slave masters”. They will rationalize every anti-Igbo action from the North and end up making Ndigbo look like the aggressors. This group will never stop blaming Ndigbo for the “mistake of voting Jonathan” in the last election. For them, Ndigbo are suffering the consequences of making wrong electoral choices. It is all about ‘I told you’ and not about the survival of the Igbo nation. Amazingly, most of our heroes and leaders of the 1985-2007 are in this group. They are mostly our best brains and most made sacrifices during the war of annihilation called the Biafran war. My guess is that having been defeated by the Hausa/Fulani power brokers, they want to survive politically by aligning with the victors, at all cost. Most of them were more interested in the “occupy for subsidy” campaigns than the “occupy to save Igbos championed by Igboville. No member of this group raised his/her voice against the genocide in the North. To date.
2. There is the Yoruba leaning “boy boy” of Igbo origin. Most of them live in Lagos and are enamored by the media platform provided for them by the Yoruba. While acting unconcerned about the massacre of Igbos in the North, they were ready to join “Occupy Lagos” and protest against subsidy removal. It doesn’t matter to them if subsidy removal will benefit Ndigbo on a long term basis. As long as they see their pictures in newspapers and are allowed to participate in live discussions programs on AIT and Channels, udo di. I watched in bewilderment as one of them spent over 30 minutes debating subsidy nonsense but never mentioned for a second the ongoing massacre of Igbos in the North. Amazingly, while this “Igbo leader” was vehemently defending the need to “occupy for subsidy” the rider on AIT was “5 Christians killed in Damaturu by Boko Haram”. I hope his children never gets to see the recorded version of that media interaction. May be a little more shameful will be those who after the NLC/TUC have called off their riots, went to Ojota to “occupy” and reassure their slave masters that they are “loyal”. One after the other, they shamelessly mounted the podium to fight a proxy battle but non mentioned the massacre of Ndigbo that was ongoing in the North as they hugged the klieglights. Tufiakwa!
3. There is this third group of new slaves called Igbo leaders. They were busy issuing statements on “Igbo support for fuel subsidy removal” with half hearted, tongue-in-check condemnation of the genocide against Igbos in Northern Nigeria. They are the new Ijaw slaves who are hell bent on impressing the incumbent President for “ratu ratu” purposes. Most are in Ohaneze while others call themselves governors and “elected representatives of Ndigbo”. Oga adikwa egwu! Only God knows how otherwise good Igbo sons and daughters freely became enslaved by Ijaws simply because they have produced the President. History will flog this group if our people that are willing to leave the North are not evacuated immediately.
Was there a 4th group?
Yes there was. These are the ones I choose to call Igbo bu Igbo. Most members of Igboville are in this group. Some of them voted Jonathan, others Buhari, in the last elections. They voted because of who they perceived, at the time, to represent the best interest of Ndigbo. Their only loyalty is to Ndigbo. If the Pro-North group will best protect Ndigbo, all well and good for them. If the Pro-West group will fight for Ndigbo, they will back them. For them, no permanent friends or permanent enemies, just permanent Igbo interests. They will demonstrate in London, Dublin, Helsinki and South Africa without minding who is for or against. They will force through Igbo interest articles in the various media houses where they work, even if the editor or publisher says no. They will stand up and contribute hard earned money to evacuate Ndigbo from Maiduguri even when they believe it was wrong ab initio for those Igbos not to have evacuated from the North before now. They are the “onye aghana nwanneya” Igbos. The only Igbo politician that shares their vision appears to be Senator Uche Chukwumerije. He is a member of Ohaneze, a supporter of the incumbent President, worked with the North in the past, yet brave enough to say “enough of killing Ndigbo”. When men and women of “timber and plywood” were hiding behind political correctness, he chose to be “politically incorrect” so as to save Igbo lives. I doff my heart for Senator Uche Chukwumerije and wish to personally encourage him to step into the shoes of our great Ikemba without fear or favor.
Come to think of it, have we really benefited from our support for Goodluck Jonathan? Can we point to any project, policy or appointments that specially favored Ndigbo because Jonathan is President? Story for another.
Today, let us contribute to evacuate our kinsmen from the North. It is a task that must be done TODAY. Kanyi gba oso taa, echi anyi guo mile,
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
EVIDENCE THAT CHANCELLOR OSBORNE AND PRIME MINISTER CAMERON ARE AWARE OF, AND PARTY TO, AN ATTEMPT TO MURDER A BLACK MAN AS PART OF AN ENTERPRISE OF INVENTION ROBBERY AND ATTEMPTED ENSLAVEMENT.
It is a given fact that you cannot impose a twelve year long criminal blockade and sabotage of every aspect of a person’s life and endeavour, as has been done to me, unless you intend, and attempt, to kill or drive them to suicide.
I have been the target of just such a blockade which begun during the Premiership of Tony Blair. My letter of 1st February 2007 to Margaret Hodge MP, documents and substantiates a phase of that criminal blockade during which private and public organisations engaged in a coordinated enterprise to ‘strip’ me of everything that I owned. That same letter of 1st February 2007 substantiates how successive employers refused to pay me monies which they accepted I had earned and they owed to me, whilst in the same breath informing me that they valued my services and did not want me to leave, and at the same time also threatening me that I would be ill-advised to terminate my employment with them – I did of course terminate and found that each subsequent employer made sure to pay me less than the one before.
The outcome of that desperation to force me into a state of dependence is that I have, through a sequence of events that was deliberately and unlawfully initiated and facilitated by Gordon Brown, been deliberately placed in circumstance in which I am without money, without accommodation, and without means of sustaining myself or rebuilding my life – all because British politicians want something from me, have nothing to offer in return, and so have laid a criminal siege on my life in attempt, by deceit and coercion, to force me into handing them what they want and surrendering rights to what they have already stolen from me.
Communications with British Government Officials in endeavour to gain address and redress: I attach previously emailed copy of my open letter of 13th December 2011 to Prime Minister David Cameron. In it I raised: (a) the British Governments duty to effect cessation of a twelve-year long criminal campaign which, begun by the Government of Tony Blair and facilitated by Mr Blair himself, has been used to molest my person, rob me of three lucrative inventions (map-based Satellite Navigation, automatic number-plate recognition systems, and a hand-held Mini-cab operating system) and used to facilitate further attempts to rob me of a fourth and published invention (“Manipulator Apparatus and Drive Elements Therefore – WO2006082369“) which provides means of performing the automated manufacture of garments and lampshades: organisations connected to the Office of Mayor of London, the DTI, and the London Olympics, sabotaged my attempts to commercialise that invention and did so for the sole reason of stopping me. Events, and information provided to me, confirm that the same organisations used the same invention, without my knowledge or participation, to fraudulently obtain EU grant funding. (b) the British government, in satisfaction of its duty of care, to pay me damages which are due to me as a result of a criminally intended and criminally orchestrated detention, under section 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983. During his term as Prime Minister, Mr Gordon Brown committed a criminal offence in order to have me unlawfully subjected to that detention and did so as part of attempts to coerce from me control of the above mentioned fourth and published manufacturing invention. I raised the issue of payment because, as confirmed by my letter of 1st February 2007 to Margaret Hodge MP, an established trend of the criminal campaign that has been waged against me is of the determined sabotage and blockade of my every attempt to gain payment of the financial damages that are due to me because of the many acts of damage which have been deliberately inflicted to my person. (c) the Cameron Government, in satisfaction of its statutory obligations to, to provide me means of placing this case and its facts, before a British court of law, for adjudication under British law.
The sequence and nature of incidents that have been contrived to damage me confirm that one of the many irrefutable objectives of that criminal campaign has been to use financial deprivation as means of forcing me into a state of complete dependence on British politicians and those that are answerable to them as part of effort to coerce me into handing over control of my private affairs: the only motivation being entirely financial.
Proven Ministerial Knowledge and consequential statutory duty to resolve: Given the provable fact that Government Ministers know of this case, having in some cases been involved in facilitating the damage that has been inflicted on me, the history and facts of this case show this to have been little more than a vendetta against my person and motivated by intent to rob me and desire to prevent me from recovering inventions that have already been stolen from me. That vendetta has now placed me in circumstance which threatens my life.
Regarding assertion that Government Ministers know about and have been involved in facilitating the wanton criminal damage that has been inflicted on me, I attach the following to this email: (1) Copy of my letter of 13th December 2011 to Prime Minister Cameron, with addendum which includes copy of my letter of 19th December 2007 to David Cameron when he was Leader of the Opposition, my letter of 22nd November 2007 to Mr Chancellor Osborne, Mr Osborne‘s letter to me of 30th November 2007, my letters of 18th January and 2nd December 2008 to Mr David Burrowes. . The letter of 19th December 2007, which I wrote to David Cameron when he was Leader of the Opposition, refers to facts which confirm that, as Leader of the Opposition, he discussed my case with Mr Osborne and with David Burrowes MP. The outcome of those discussions was that decision was taken which, against my interest and logically as part of a deal with Gordon Brown, resulted in the refusal by David Burrowes to honour his commitment to obtain answers from Mr Brown about my allegations of Mr Brown’s criminal harassment of my person – as Leader of the Opposition, David Cameron, gave up a clear need to remove the Government of the day on grounds of its abuse of office and must have done so on anticipation of ‘profit‘- that profit is consistent with the attempts to coerce me into handing over shares/ownership of my fourth and published invention. (2) Copies of my emails, to and from Chancellor Osborne, during the month of December 2011 (13th, 14th, 22nd, 29th, and 30th December 2011). Those emails, along with my further emails of 3rd and 5th January 2012, confirm that Chancellor Osborne’s Office and staff are well aware of this case and of the present circumstance which it has been used to force on me. Mr Osborne is not entitled to, on the one hand breach protocol in order to use his ministerial and shadow ministerial position to facilitate a crime and then take refuge behind non-applicable aspects of the protocols of Office when duty calls and payment falls due – especially when he does so at somebody else’s personal risk and cost.
The attached copy of my email of 15th December 2011 to Chancellor Osborne’s Parliamentary assistant (Lisa M Buckland) followed telephone conversation which I held with her on that day during which conversation she provided me with her own email address and asked that I forward the information to her at her own email address and that she would bring the matter to Chancellor Osborne’s personal attention. On 22nd December 2011 I again sent email to Chancellor Osborne’s Parliamentary and ministerial email accounts and copied Mr Gordon Brown into those emails. I have not received any response from Mr Brown and have only received acknowledgements from Chancellor Osborne’s office. No response has come from 10 Downing Street.
Connection between Gordon Brown and the Cameron leadership: The attached documents, and emails to Chancellor Osborne, relay and substantiate facts which confirm that, in 2007/8, Prime Minister Cameron and his Chancellor (Mr Osborne) were both aware of, and personally involved in, this case; that they discussed it in detail with David Burrowes MP and with the then Prime Minister, Mr Gordon Brown; that the outcome of those discussions was decision by Messrs Cameron and Osborne to abandon their statutory duties to raise question about Mr Brown’s abuse of Prime Ministerial office, and the blockade (by David Burrowes) of my attempt to gain answer from Mr Brown to my allegations of his criminal harassment of my person which I had raised with David Burrowes MP and Ministerial address of this case. These public officers clearly did not do so pursuant to their statutory responsibilities and duties since the matter concerned criminal offences and the abuse of office.
In November 2007 I raised with David Burrowes the fact that I was the target of a criminal campaign of harassment that was being waged against my person by Gordon Brown. In the same November 2007 Mr Brown abandoned his plans to call a general election: my contention is that Mr Brown had not, at that time reached agreement with your party regarding this case and abandoned those election plans out of concern that your party make this case an election issue. In January 2008 David Burrowes then wrote to me deceiving me with declaration his intent to gain for me responses from three government Ministers, of which one was Gordon Brown. Events suggest that David Burrowes did so partly in threat to Gordon Brown – since Burrowes’ referel of this case to Gordon Brown would have forced Mr Brown to do what he did not want to do which is resolve this case. Events suggest that following Burrowes’ letter of 14 January 2008, that by February 2008 David Cameron had struck a deal with Gordon Brown. Notwithstanding whether or not it was Burrowes’ intention to inform me of a deal between yourselves and Gordon Brown, the fact that your collective communications and confirm that such a deal did take place.
I maintain that it was in honour of that deal that Gordon Brown, a seasoned political campaigner and renowned control addict who had not let an inappropriate word slip during his ten years at the Treasury, sabotaged his own 2010 general election campaign in order to effectively put your party back in the position that it would have been in in 2007, had it called him to account in respect of this case when I first raised it with David Burrowes.
Those discussions (between Chancellor Osborne, Prime Minister Cameron, and David Burrowes) which brought about the above-mentioned deal do not support current attempt, by the Chancellor and his Parliamentary Office, to take refuge behind protocol: as per facts contained in my letter of 19th December 2007 to David Cameron, Mr Osborne broke protocol in 2007/8 by engaging in detailed discussion of a constituent’s [my] affairs with that constituent’s MP and did so without having first obtained that constituent’s permission and, being a member of the Shadow Government, then used that constituent’s personal affairs as foundation for a party political ‘trade’ that was in breach of British law.
Connection between Mr Brown and the criminally orchestrated detention under the Mental Health Act: Irrespective of whatever back room political dealings ook place between Mr Brown and Mr Cameron, facts and subsequent events confirm that the result of that ‘trade’ between Mr Cameron and then Prime Minister Brown was my subjection to the criminally orchestrated and unlawful detention, under section 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983, to which then Prime Minister Brown committed a criminal act to achieve: Mr Brown handed, to Enfield Council, law compliant and Data Protection Act protected letters which I had written to him regarding his statutory and public duties. Enfield Council then untenably used the same letters as part of excuse on which I was detained under the Mental Health Act: Enfield Council was unable to identify what in the letters satisfied the definition of a mental disorder within the definition of section 1 of the Mental Health Act.
Enfield Council, in attempt to protect Mr Brown, claimed to have been provided those letters by a fictitious organisation called FTAC – FTAC cannot exist, not least because the manner in which it is claimed to operate would require that each government minister be a qualified and practicing psychiatrist in order that said minister stand any prospect of carrying out the impossible task of discerning, from a letter, that its author suffers from a mental disorder within the definition of section 1 of the Mental Health Act. Evidence of Gordon Brown’s criminal culpability, and legal reasons why FTAC cannot exist, are provided in document which can be downloaded from this link: [https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B5vlPoH38tfUYmM3NjUzMDctYmE1Ni00OTAzLTlhNWItZGYwN2VjNmU3NWFk] and at [http://basseyutip.wordpress.com]. The same document deals with the more evil aspects of the inhumane and criminal campaign that has been waged against me.
Connection between the criminally orchestrated detention and my present circumstance: The foregoing facts, followed by Enfield Council’s refusal to pay me the damages that were due to me, and that Council’s decision to then evict me, confirm that the present circumstance, of pennilessness and homelessness, into which I have been deliberately placed and which threatens my life was pre-planned. As confirmed by facts, that were relayed in my letter of 12th November 2007 to Gordon Brown, that sequence of deliberately damaging incidents, relentlessly visited upon one man over a twelve year period, must be viewed as intended, and in attempt, to secure my death.
Absence of tenable and lawful reason or logic: To date, and in respect of my person, every rule and law in the book has been broken, ignored, or evaded, and every aspect of due process trampled on – by successive British Prime Ministers and their administrations. To date no individual, or organisation, has been able to provide a tenable or lawful reason, justification, or cause, for this criminal campaign that has been waged against my person – although it is well known that it is part of attempt by British politicians to manipulate and control me into providing specific performance in delivery of agreements which they entered into, in respect of my property, knowing that they did so without my knowledge or prior consent, to my disadvantage, and in deliberate contravention of my wishes and rights.
That absence of reason and logic is evidenced by the fact that I have yet to lose an argument on points of law or governing principle. Yet, on each occasion when the politicians and statutory authorities have lost the argument – even on grounds which they themselves put forward – they have simply abandoned the conversation (as did Gordon Brown MP; former MPs Joan Ryan, Andrew MacKinlay and Tony McNulty; David Burrowes MP, the OPHSO, DVLA, Margaret Hodge MP, Enfield Council, BEH-MHT, Metropolitan Police, University of East London, Companies House, St Ann’s Hospital, and every firm of solicitors that has represented me), effectively declared “so whatâ€, and made untenable demand that we hold the same discussion all over again, presumably in hope that they might, the second time round, manage to get the outcome that they want.
Having repeatedly made clear that I have no desire or intention of involvement with any political party, or in the business of government and government policy, it becomes logical that the sole reason for the criminal campaign against me is money – what British politicians actually want is an outcome which enables them to rob me: it is the reason why David Cameron, Chancellor Osborne, and Gordon Brown, to this date remain unable to respond directly to the facts and serious allegations that are set out in my letter of 13th December 2011 to Prime Minister Cameron.
I have stated that the twelve year long criminal campaign of robbery that has been waged against me was begun by Tony Blair, during his term as British Prime Minister. I believe it pertinent that: (3) Evidence suggests the criminal campaign against me to be the brain-child of Tony Blair who has a vested interset in the continuation of this criminal campaign: (a) in 2005/6 the OPHSO, having reached a finding of maladministration in my favour against the DVLA, then proceeded to break the law, and due process, in order to frustrate and sabotage my receipt of payment of the damages that were due to me; the OPHSO would not have done so without being subjected to political influence. The OPHSO would have sought, through consultation with the highest political office in the land, to establish the authenticity of that political influence – Tony Blair was the holder of that office at that time. (b) statements and fact that are relayed in my letter of 7th August 2007 to Mr Jack Straw at the MoJ and letter of 20th February 2007 from 10 Downing Street, confirm Tony Blair’s personal knowledge of, and deliberate facilitation of, the criminal campaign that has been waged against me. Examination of the timing, sequence of events and incidents, and the identities of those that have been involved, leads me to conclude that this criminal campaign against me has been the brain child of Tony Blair, and that the three lucrative inventions that have been stolen from me are likely in his hands, or else in hands close to his. (c) beginning in 2007 the Blair government evaded address of this case and, through Margaret Hodge and others, was closely connected to the numerous attempts to rob me of said fourth and published invention. Between 2007 and 2009 the Blair and Brown governments did all they could to magnify the quantum of liability which results from this case and I suggest did so in a Blair-ite hedge of their options: the intention (confirmed by the repeated interference with my legal representation and attempts to push me into dependence on my disowned paternal relatives) was that Labour Ministers would, through my disowned nearest relative, purloin a share of my damages and thereby ensure that they were ‘compensated’ in the event that I recovered the three inventions that were stolen from me during the Blair Premiership. It is, in part, pursuant to that criminal reason that Enfield Council deliberately breached its duty to consult the person “appearing†to be the nearest relative. (4) it has repeatedly been asserted that I need a “support structureâ€. Events suggest this to be reason why I have found myself constantly under attack and subjected to constant and unlawful government sponsored interference in, and sabotage of, my private life and affairs: intended to force me into needing an ‘army’ if I am to be able to fight back and survive. Those who have made that suggestion deliberately evaded the fact that every incident that makes up the unprovoked criminal campaign that has been waged against me is one in which the organisations that are intended to provide citizens with that support structure have, in my case and without reason, turned in attempt to rob or damage me. Contention that I need a support structure is intended to entrap me into having a support structure with a composition that is determined, and thus controlled, by the perpetrators of the criminal campaign against me – the objective being to place spies in my life and is evidenced by the repeated third party interference in my affairs including interference with my legal representation. That makes this case one of intent to murder.
(5) The following are significant facts and worthy of note: (a) This case has provably come to the direct and personal knowledge of three Prime Ministers – Tony Blair who marched the country into a war that it did not want, Gordon Brown who “summoned” the world for a ‘financial crisis’, and David Cameron. Yet each of these Prime Ministers has so far feigned inability to address this single case on its legal merit – even though dealing with it falls within their statutory duties and responsibilities. Is this case bigger than the Iraq war and the ‘global financial crises or is it that the sums involved are too large for politicians to ‘let go’? (b) Given that I do not constitute an unlawful threat and sought to contribute to the British economy, one must question why successive Prime Ministers , and their administrations, have adopted this unofficial and unlawful policy towards my person when all concerned claim to want the same thing. I suggest the answer to lie in the inventions that have already been stolen from me, and want of control of any further inventions that I might have – as means of controlling and containing me. I believe it is clear that I will not, in respect of my property and rights, honour any agreements that have not been negotiated by me or with my personal, prior, and specific, consent. (c) Mr Gordon Brown MP is personally responsible by virtue of his collusion with Enfield Council and others to have me subjected to a criminally orchestrated and unlawful detention of my person under the Mental Health Act; an act of collusion which attempt was made to conceal through false claim of the existence of a fictitious entity called FTAC. By virtue of his unlawful collusion with Enfield Council and others to have that criminally orchestrated unlawful detention inflicted on me, in law Mr Brown is deemed to be aware of and party to every unlawful act which Enfield Council and the BEH-MHT inflicted on me. (d) James Rolfe of Enfield Council is personally responsible by virtue of his refusal, contrary to section 16(2)(a) of the Theft Act 1968, to pay me damages properly due to me in respect of a duly proven case that Enfield Council subjected me to a criminally orchestrated and unlawful detention of my person and by reason of his eviction of my person into circumstances which he accepted constituted his engagement in a “murderous enterpriseâ€. (e) Chancellor George Osborne is personally responsible by virtue of the fact that, being a Minister of State, he has personal knowledge of this case – having previously been personally involved in facilitating the events which have placed me in my present circumstance. The attached documents confirm that you knew of this criminal campaign against my person and, despite the damage which it caused to efforts to contribute to the UK economy and loss which it also posed to the taxpayer, decided to ignore it and facilitated continuation of that criminal campaign. I contend that he did so for personal gain. (f) Prime Minister David Cameron is personally responsible by virtue, as confirmed by my letter to him of 19th December 2007, of the fact that he was himself aware of this case during his term as Leader of the Opposition, was aware that it involved criminal allegations of abuse of the highest government office in the land by his predecessor in office, but elected to use it for his own personal political betterment and to that end refused to act when the potential quantum of damages was much lower.
Conclusion: The foregoing fact confirm this to be the de facto covert attempt to murder a black man, of African birth and parentage and holder of a British passport, in order to stop him from regaining inventions that have been stolen from him and in continuing attempt to rob/coerce same into handing over control of a fourth and published invention for satisfaction of the personal wants of named politicians. It is a criminal campaign which satisfies the description of a racist hate crime, and is motivated entirely by greed and personal gratification: David Cameron currently holds me hostage, I suggest as part of the agreement which he reached with Gordon Brown in 2007/8, to coerce from me control and use of my invention and the financial benefits that might accrue from it. That is against British law and will not happen. For cogent reasons of safety, I will not issue human rights proceedings prior to being paid by the British government.
Nonetheless, and irrespective of what has gone before, statutory responsibility for the consequences of this case fall on Prime Minister David Cameron, Chancellor George Osborne, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and James Rolfe of Enfield Council.
Duty to resolve and pay: The British Government has a statutory and moral duty to pay me in respect of the damage that has been wantonly and unlawfully inflicted on me by its agents, officials, and Prime Ministers. That duty is magnified by the fact that officials and agents of the British government have unlawfully, and criminally, interfered in my affairs in order to prevent me from achieving a lawful resolution.
I am, as I made known to Chancellor Osborne’s office, without money and without accommodation.
You cannot impose a twelve year long unlawful and criminal blockade and sabotage of every aspect of a person’s life and endeavour, as has been done to me, unless you intend, and attempt, to kill or drive that person to suicide. Equally, you do not obtain something by deceit and coercion unless you fully intend to retain it – by deceit and coercion!
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
(codewit.com) It seems the lucrative returns in the Nigerian music industry have gotten the attention of the people in the movie industry. Most popular Nigerian actors and actresses are venturing into the music industry to add to their
portfolio as entertainers. This time top Nollywood actress Tonto Dike has partnered with Kas for the production of her two new singles titled Iyawo and Do me. I reserve my comments and urge you to download the songs below and give it your own rating.
Other top goons in Nigerian films that have had a previous romance with music include Omotola, Genevieve, Nkem Owoh Jim Iyke and Patience Ozokwor.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The unfolding charade of musical chairs within the Jonathan administration over the oil subsidy removal debacle unleashed by the President of the federal republic of Nigeria on new years day upon the common people of Nigeria appears on a never ending spin. This is as the house of representative committee [adhoc] charged with investigating the management of the oil subsidy funds and chaired by Hon Farouk Lawan has begun to remove the veil over the sharp practices within the oil sector managers of the Jonathan cabinet.
On Tuesday, January 17, 2012, the Petroleum Resources Minister, Mrs Allison Madueke appeared before the adhoc committee. During her exchanges with the committee, she made clear that the N1.3trillion paid out last year for oil subsidy was authorized by the finance ministry. The Petroleum made the claim repeatedly to the committee while admitting that she was not aware of the volumes of petrol consumed domestically in the country, or the volumes of refined product produced by Nigerian refineries – under her ministry’s care.
However the Finance Minister, Mrs Okonjo Iweala’s appearance before the adhoc committee today [Thursday] contradicts the Petroleum Minister’s claims as untrue. The finance minister began her presentation by clarifying the process of payment authorization laid down by the operating protocol.
She listed seven [7] steps in the procedure – 1) Selection and Registration of oil marketers/importers by NNPC/Petroleum Ministry – 2) Submission of selected importers to PPPRA for approval – 3) Certification of Imported products by appropriate partners [eyewitness checks at the ports] -4) Inspection of Import documents by PPPRA – 5) Checks by PPPRA – forwards to finance ministry – 6) Finance Ministry forwards to Auditor [for an audit] – 7) It is then forwarded to Accountant General for payment. The entire process is allowed 30days.
“We [finance ministry] have no role in selecting importers or marketers†added the finance minister.
The Finance Minister clarified that the actual amount paid for oil subsidy last year was not N1.3trillion but N1.43trillion – comprising of 35million liters of petrol and 10millin liters of kerosene. “Some of it is arrears. There may be more payments remainingâ€, she added.
“The N1.43trillion was deducted at source by the NNPC before it enters the nation’s account†stated Mrs Okonjo Iweala as she added that “we tried to change the system while I was the Finance Minister under General Obasanjo but today the subsidy is withdrawn from the source. We will change it. We have told NNPC that we would prefer that they don’t deduct at sourceâ€.
It was understood that the NNPC withdraws monies directly from the national revenue stream before it is paid into or recorded in the national accounts – without authorization or consultation from the Finance Ministry or any ministry. The current procedure is NNPC deducts money and then informs the finance ministry of the amount deducted.
Within the parastatals in the finance ministry, there appear a tin-ch of impropriety in the manner they prepared the 2011 budget allocation for oil subsidy provision. The sum of N245billion was allocated in the 2011 budget for subsidy payment and N630billion was allocated for the previous year’s budget [2010]. But N1.43trillion was paid out in subsidy for 2011.
The Director General of the Federal Budgeting Office, under questioning as to the wide discrepancy in the amount budgeted and the actual amount paid out, indicated that there were several causative factors. He pointed to the increased volumes of petrol and kerosine ‘imported’, fluctuating exchange rate, price of crude oil, and the politics of oil subsidy removal -as the reasons for the “under provisionâ€. He explained that the Budget office was briefed on the government’s policy on oil subsidy – that the subsidy program will be scraped – for this reason they believed that oil subsidy will be done aware with by the March of 2011 – so they chose to present a budgeted amount of N245billion in the appropriation bill to the national assembly for approval.
“We would have never put N1.43trillion in the fiscal frame work for 2011. We know it would not pass†stated the Director General.
The Chairman of the adhoc committee, Hon Lawan further impressed on the Budget Chief on any available evidence from the federal government indicating that it was about to do away with oil subsidy by March 2011. The Budget Chief answered that there was no documentary evidence indicating such. “The political economy of oil subsidy did not allow for a documentary evidence†stated the Budget Chief – who could not provide answers to why the finance ministry paid the sum of N647.6billion to PPPRA marketers when only N245billion was budgeted for in the 2011 budget.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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