"VESTED INTEREST IS KILLING NIGERIA" - SANUSI LAMIDO SANUSI

The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said over the weekend that the huge vested interest of economic and political officeholders has been the major barrier to Nigeria realising its huge economic potential.

Speaking on the topic “Overcoming the fear of vested interest” on an occasion organised by a group of youth under the aegis of TEDx in Abuja, Sanusi said that, in 1960, Nigeria was the preferred investment destination with per capita income higher than that of countries like Japan and South Korea.

However, over 53 years later, he said, Nigeria which has always had potential is still not able to realise that potential when countries like China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Brazil have since turned the potential that they had into reality.

“In four years or so that I have been in Abuja, I have come to understand that we need to overcome the power of vested interest. And I will talk with you a little bit about my own experiences at the Central Bank and use that as a basis or template for what I think we need to do if we must change this country,” Sanusi said.

Since the discovery of oil, the Nigerian state has been exploited to serve the vested interest of the rich minority at the expense of the poor majority, he noted.

The CBN governor highlighted some instances where vested interest took precedence over public interest in the country in the banking sector, petroleum subsidy scandals, among others, and urged the youth to use these as examples of what they can do if they want to confront these vested interests and deal with them and protect the poor people of this country.

“The fundamental character of the Nigerian state is that, for decades, since we found oil it has existed not to serve the people but as a site for rent extraction to serve a tiny minority in the country’s political power. And it doesn’t matter where this group comes from – whether it is north or south or Muslim or Christian or military or civilian. The state has always been a site for rent seeking with the exception of a few years when we have had development. And this is at the heart of the problems of the country,” he stated.

He spoke on the Nigerian paradox: “A country that specialises in exporting what it does not produce and importing what it produces; one of the world’s largest producers of crude oil that does not refine petroleum products but imports refined petroleum products; the world’s largest producer of cassava that does not produce starch or ethanol. Large tomato belt yet the world’s largest importer of tomato paste. A country that from my childhood I have heard had the potential of being a world power but every day we talk about potential. Today, we still talk about the potential of Nigeria and yet China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Brazil, all of these countries have turned the potential that they had into reality. What is the one thing that we need to do to break this barrier that faces us?”

On his experience: “Shortly after I came in and when we conducted investigations, I discovered that the Nigerian banking system was infested with the same corruption of the entire system in the country: that a number of bank chief executives had taken their banks and fleeced them of depositors’ money to buy property all over the world. And just like people do in ministries, in government agencies, or whenever they have the opportunity in oil companies, the banks were themselves a site for rent seeking.

“There was one chief executive officer that took away from her bank over N200 billion, and where was this money taken? Purchase of properties. We recovered from one CEO 200 pieces of real estate in Dubai, real estate in Johannesburg, in the United States of America, apart from shares in over 100 companies and all of that was purchased with depositors’ money.

“For another CEO we got a judgment against that CEO for N142 billion stolen from the bank taken to buy shares and manipulate the shares of his own institution, and also transferred outside to purchase properties.

“Now, the first CEO we were able to convict, we recovered these assets and got a six months’ sentence and sorted it out. The second CEO, we finished our case established in Nigeria that we have a case in Nigeria, in the UK; two weeks before the closing statements were made the judge was miraculously promoted to the Federal Court of Appeal after three years of trial — at the very end of trial — because someone, a very popular religious leader with hundreds of thousands of supporters, carried him to the political authorities and the system that was supposed to protect depositors and handle criminals was used and manipulated to promote a judge so that he would not convict a thief. Now, this is an example of the kinds of things that happen in the country that prevent it from realising its full potential.

“Now, to my experience with the banking reforms, I observed the following: After the discovery of the things that happened in the banks, the most important thing was to take a critical decision that would pit us against powerful political and economic forces. We were dealing with chief executives that, in 2009, had become invincible. They were in the seat of power; they had economic power and had bought political protection. They were into political parties, they had financed elections of officers and they believed that nobody could touch them. And every time I said it was time to take action people said to me, ‘You can’t touch those people; you will be sacked’. Or, ‘You can’t touch these people; they will kill you’. And I said, you know what, we are going to take them on.

“And we took a decision to remove them, and, you know what, we removed them and nothing happened. We were going to prosecute them, put them in jail, and we put one of them in jail. We were going to recover these assets because the way the Central Bank operated in the past was such that these guys took all the money and the Central Bank said the banks have failed. The banks that we saved had N4.4 trillion in deposits. They had 8 to 10 million customers. But the government and the system had always betted on the side of the rich people. These 8 million customers — the old woman in Gboko or Yenagoa or Maiduguri who has struggled to save money for 40 to 50 years — and you wake up one day to say that the bank has failed and the money is gone. The man with his pension money in the bank, his children’s school fees, the medical bills, and you wake one day to say the bank has failed.

“When people say a bank failed, it is like seeing a man whose throat was slit and you say the man died; he didn’t die, he was killed. And those that murdered the banks have always walked free – they become senators and governors, they become captains of industry, they sit on the boards of banks and continue to be relevant in the system. Against millions of Nigerians who don’t have a voice.

“Nobody knows the number of people who have died as a result of failed banks. Because they were sick and could not pay the hospital bills, because their money was locked up in banks that had failed. Nobody knows the number of children whose parents could well afford to pay their school fees but they dropped out of schools because banks were mismanaged. Use these as examples of what you can do if you want to confront these vested interests and deal with them and protect the poor people of this country. But the banking industry is one sector in Nigeria; what is happening in other sectors?

“Take the oil industry: in 2009 this country paid N291 billion subsidy for petroleum products. By 2011, this number had jumped to N2.7 trillion. Did we start consuming 10 times the level of petrol? Did we have 10 times the number of cars? Did the population of Nigeria multiply 10 times? I do not believe these numbers. I screamed against these numbers and other people screamed and there have been investigations, and it was discovered that a lot of that money never went into fuel subsidy that was consumed by Nigerians. But people in this country had produced pieces of paper and gone to PPPRA and they stamped those papers claiming that they brought in petroleum products and actually paid them subsidy. And those pieces of paper said I brought 40,000 metric tonnes of petroleum product on so and so ship, and we discovered that that ship was nowhere near the shores of this country on the dates indicated.” - Culled from the Leadership Newspapers.

"THE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IS NOW OFFICIALLY CRIMINALIZED IN NIGERIA"

This President of Nigeria was reported to have secretly signed a bill into law that punishes the same-sex marriage with prison terms in Nigeria. Under the new law, anyone in a same-sex marriage or union would face up to 14 years in prison, with such partnerships reached overseas considered void in Nigeria. President Goodluck Jonathan signed the law because he considered it consistent with most Nigerians’ views toward homosexuality, his spokesman, Reuben Abati, told AFP.

As a Nigerian, I have a number of questions that I would like this President to answer for me:(i). Is the same-sex marriage the biggest issue that confronts Nigeria and Nigerians today in all truth, honesty and reality? (ii). What are the practical and the visible achievements of this President since 2011 that have directly added more beautiful colors to the life of the ordinary Nigerians? (iii). Are the same-sex marriage partners the ones who are directly and indirectly looting our treasury blind and mismanaging our state resources today as a country?

(iv). How is this law against the same-sex marriage in Nigeria in 2014 going to address the Nigeria's most important issues of our time (massive poverty rate, poor wages, huge unemployment amongst the youths, failing educational system, collapsing health care services, lack of social services, insecurity to life and properties, outdated state infrastructures, oil theft, Boko Haram terrorism, official corruption, lawlessness, the rule of brutality and hefty resource mismanagement)?

(v). Why has this President refused to date to make the most needed and required tough laws against the reign of official corruption, oil theft, electoral frauds, terrorism and tax evasion that are all the daily symbol, the reality and the hallmark of his inept, myopic, visionless, mediocre and heavily corrupt presidency since 2011 to date? In conclusion, President Jonathan Goodluck has now succeeded in throwing a red meat to the hungry, gullible and the religious bigots of Nigerians as a distraction while the business of the official corruption and the 2015 presidential election project go on unabated.

"THE REVEALER STANDS FIRMLY ON STELLA ODUAH'S ACADEMIC FORGERY CASE"

"THE REVEALER" was the first media organization to tell the world yesterday that the authority of St Paul's College, Lawrenceville in Virginia in the United States will officially release the academic record of Stella Oduah, the current aviation minister of Nigeria to the public. THE REVEALER had a telephone conversation today with Helen Jackson, the interim registrar of St Paul's College in Virginia that Stella Oduah claimed she got her MBA degree from in Business Administration. Ms. Jackson was in a meeting this morning with the College President when THE REVEALER first called. Ms. Helen Jackson told THE REVEALER that the college by law in the United States is allowed to release only two information to the public on this official request from this college by THE REVEALER, which are the type of degree earned by a student and the student's year of graduation from their college. Ms. Jackson officially confirmed to THE REVEALER that Stella Oduah attended the college from 1978 to 1982 and she graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with major or concentration in Accounting. She said that Stella Oduah did not have any MBA degree from their college which has no graduate programs in its 125 years old history as a Black Historical College in America.

"THE REVEALER SPOKE TO ST PAUL'S COLLEGE ON NIGERIA'S STELLA ODUAH'S SCANDAL"

THE REVEALER was on the phone this afternoon with Ms. Helen Jackson, the current registrar of St Paul College 115 College Drive, Lawrenceville, Virginia 23868 in the United States to officially verify the veracity of the story on the Sahara Reporters that claimed that Stella Oduah, the aviation minister of Nigeria lied about her MBA degree from this college. Ms. Helen Jackson told THE REVEALER that the college has never awarded any graduate degrees in its entire history and has also received numerous phone calls from concerned Nigerians in the United States and all over the world on the same subject matter. She said the college is presently browsing through their academic record office in order to locate the academic record of Stella Oduah. She promised to officially make the college findings available by tomorrow on Stella Oduah to THE REVEALER and the other interested media organizations that requested for this information. Stay tuned for the full detail.

America is not Nigeria where the truth behind the serious allegation of the academic fraud made against Stella Oduah, the Nigeria's aviation minister by the Sahara Reporters will not see the light of the day.

The United States has the freedom of information in its law book and in place which protects all information seekers. The academic records of Stella Oduah at the St Paul's College is not a classified state matter or a very sensitive matter with serious national and international security implications that must be sealed up forever from all the inquisitive members of the public. The authorities of the St Paul's College will never allow the college's reputation and integrity of over 125 years plus old HSBC institution to be tarnished by one Nigerian by the name of Stella Oduah. The Interim Academic Register of St Paul's College, Ms. Helen Jackson has promised to make the college findings on this matter available by tomorrow. We wait patiently for the final resolution of this matter by this college in a timely manner.

Stella Oduah should immediately release that MBA certificate that was awarded to her and her academic transcripts from the St Pauls's College in Virginia to the world to see. Stella Oduah can also legally authorize the Registrar of the St Paul's College to release a public statement about the conferment of the said MBA degree to her in by that college in 1983 to the press. Stella Oduah can also hire attorneys in the state of New York to file a libel suit against the Sahara Reporters in the United States court. Stella Oduah's attempts in the last two days when this story first broke out by editing this information from the Wikipedia, her Facebook Page and from the Nigeria's aviation website will not solve this ongoing scandal against her either today or in the years to come.

"THE SOCIAL MEDIA IS THE BIGGEST CHANGE AGENT OF TODAY"

The social networking sites have now provided us with the 21st century avenues for people from all the walks of life to be connected together online, to be able to interact freely and together, as well as able to share their different opinions, viewpoints, global perspectives about all the issues of this life that affect them directly or indirectly in an unrestricted environment.

The social media sites have now given the hundreds of millions of the ordinary voiceless people worldwide a meaningful voice that now reverberates everywhere as the true change agent of our day. The social media have finally succeeded in helping to break down the monopoly of the global news and information that once resided primarily in the hands of the powerful media organizations around the world. The social media have become the unofficial guarantor of the freedom of speech and association to people from all the races, nations, religions, cultures, languages, genders, sexual orientations, political ideologies and socioeconomic status in this age and time.

The social media played a major role in the Arab Spring Revolution that ended the decades of regimes of those sit-tight leaders in the Arab world and also forced the surviving Arab monarchial nations to carry out those important, overdue, much needed political reforms as well as the economic reformations. The world's remaining dictators of today are now leaving under the constant fear and the threats that are coming continuously from those social media sites. The media houses, religious bodies, corporations, institutions and government agencies around the world can no longer monopolize news and information easily today in the world that is now under the influence of the social media that will also continue to shape and to change the direction of the world.

DID KIN JONG UN FEED HIS UNCLE TO 120 DOGS? BE SKEPTICAL - NPR

If you've done much Web surfing today you've probably come across a headline such as this one from NBC News:" Kim Jong Un's executed uncle was eaten alive by 120 hungry dogs: report." We'll get to the reasons to be suspicious in a bit. First, here's the short history of that tale about the North Korean leader and his uncle, Jang Song Thaek:

Before their split: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, and his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, in February 2012. Earlier this month, Jang was executed. Before their split: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, and his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, in February 2012. Earlier this month, Jang was executed.


— On Dec. 12, the same day the world heard that Jang had just been tried and executed for alleged crimes against the state, the relatively small Hong Kong newspaper Wen Wei Po claimed Jang had been "stripped naked and thrown into a cage" to be killed and eaten by 120 dogs.

— Twelve days later, The Straits Times of Singapore pointed to the story, adding that Wen Wei Po also claimed the execution by dogs had been supervised by Kim himself and witnessed by 300 senior North Korean officials.

— Then this week, the "month-long rumors ... inexplicably re-emerged," as Japan's NK News says. Why now? It adds that "Christopher Green, international editor at The Daily NK warned that mainstream media organizations had a tendency to reprint sensationalist stories on North Korea with little regard for truth."

Ah, the truth. That brings us to the debunking.

The Washington Post's Max Fisher offers five reasons to have doubts about the story, starting with:

"The source. The story originated in a Hong Kong newspaper called Wen Wei Po, which oddly makes the claim without citing a source. With a couple of high-quality exceptions, Hong Kong media have a reputation for sensationalist and tabloidy stories that do not always turn out to be true. But, even by Hong Kong standards, Wen Wei Po is considered an unusually unreliable outlet."
Wen Wei Po is still the only news outlet with the eaten-by-dogs account of the execution.

We would add three other reasons to be skeptical:

— Too Fast? What a scoop Wen Wei Po supposedly had: Key details of how the execution was carried out appeared just a day after it supposedly happened. But one has to ask: How did a newspaper 1,500 miles away get the story so quickly, and confirm it, from inside one of the world's most secretive states? — Too Specific? Journalism's biggest fabricators in recent years have had a common approach — they dazzled readers with supposedly telling details to sell their stories. But one has to ask: Why were there precisely 120 dogs? Why had they supposedly been starved for three days in preparation? Why were there exactly 300 witnesses? Why did the execution supposedly last for one hour?

— Too Wild? North Korea has claimed it's the second-happiest country in the world. It has said the sky turned red when former leader Kim Jong Il died. Its archaeologists supposedly uncovered "the lair of a unicorn." If a story's too wild for even the North Korean propaganda machine to touch, you have to wonder about it.

The Daily NK's Green suggests approaching a story such as this by asking a question: "It might be true, but is there any evidence or common sense to suggest that it is?" - National Public Radio (NPR).

"6 MILLION AMERICANS ARE NOW ENROLLED ON THE OBAMACARE IN 2014"

The data on the Obamacare enrollment that kicked off officially on January 1, 2014 has now become the New Year gifts to the millions of the previously uninsured Americans. So far, 3.1 millions Americans have signed up for the Obamacare through the private plans and another 2.9 million Americans signed up through the Medicaid expansion program. Obamacare is now a typical example of what a government regulated capitalism and the free market system mean in all reality to Americans.

With the Obamacare in place and in full swing in 2014 in America, there is no insurance company again in America that can refuse coverage for any American that is insured under the Obamacare due to any pre-existing health conditions that may have. There is no insurance company again in America today that can now increase their health insurance premiums for those already covered by the Obamacare. There is no health insurance company in America today in 2014 that can now limit what medical cases they will cover or not to cover. There is no health care insurance company again in America that can now discriminate in their premiums or coverages based on the gender of the Americans who are now fully insured under the Obamacare.