gone rouge: Merry Christmas & a Happy 2013

gone rouge: Merry Christmas & a Happy 2013: The hiatus is over! And what better period to come out of my hiding than this season of merriment! 2012 has been a very hard hard memor...

Merry Christmas & a Happy 2013

The hiatus is over! And what better period to come out of my hiding than this season of merriment! 2012 has been a very hard hard memorable year, yet we all survived. But we hope  for a better year ahead. A year where we will find economic growth globally, where the freedom to express ourselves will etch closer to true Liberty!  But also that people will not abuse this Carte-Blanche, because with absolute power come absolute responsibility as well.

in 2013 I hope for a better Europe, somewhere that immigrants will be pleased that they all chose to come and settle for a greener pasture. I hope that laws that mitigate the movement of many and the settlement of several people will be expunged from the documents that Europe claims to be its binding deed. I hope that the toil that we put to the land will pay off in 2013. I hope and pray that we all  will see not just an escape from this global mess but an end to such deception, political maneuvering and falsehood. In 2013, I hope for the best.

Happy holidays everybody! Enjoy the cold turkey the boxing day and remember the under privileged.

Nigeria: If I were Jonathan Ebele Goodluck!

The events in Nigeria are mind boggling! Security of lives and property is none existent, has never been anyway but today’s situation is appalling! Nigerians ended 2011 with tears of bombing by its own people, they moved on to starting 2012 with an insensitive, thieving government that decided to annul fuel subsidy on the first day of the year. This madness moved on to a nation-wide strike action, called Occupy Nigeria, that crippled the nation and drew worldwide concern. Several people died during this period, the Nigerian Police showed the world its true colour, I watched with excitement how they slapped, kicked and exhibited their forceful nature. The drama ended with the fuel increase remaining an increase, by virtue of the old order, the people that were representatives of the people at the meeting came out with greased palms and a clearer vision of what they would do with the kickback. Some have gone ahead to buy new cars and tied their tongues, I pray it remains so forever! 

The baton of the Arab spring passed on to Nigeria failed. Every nation where the baton was passed either succeeded (in blazing the trail of the subject: The Revolution and Change) or it is still on course. In mighty Nigeria, it went down-hill. Several reasons were given but none sounded new to me. The civilian president in charge of our nation called in the soldiers, the ones that have ruined our lives, to chase peaceful protesters off the road. Without any sense of democracy in him, JEG brandished his stupidity. It would not be a surprise, politicians in Nigerian have never had any idea of how to run public office; they all plan in groups on how to steal our money and we never do anything about it. This one chance we had, we blew it! We will never have this chance again.

Sadly, our confused president has called for dialogue with Boko Haram! The real question is, will this group come out and discuss its grievances with this man? How will they ever do that? They won’t, because the master minders of this mad group are not just the political class that stole from us but also an international group. The request is not only stupid but also absurd. These blood thirsty men have strayed and they will remain so until they get their match.

                                                                                                                  

If I were Jonathan Ebele Goodluck, I will resign now or arrest Ahmed Sanni Yerima right away. This man is roaming the streets free, passing laws in Nigeria and going behind at night to fund a group that kills with a frequency higher than Iraq.

If I were Jonathan Ebele Goodluck, I will resign right now or call in Muhammadu Buhari, Atiku Abubakar and Babagida for questioning. The money within these three men is over 50 Billion US$. With such ideal money, what else will they do than wreck havoc?

If I were Jonathan Ebele Goodluck, I will resign now because I ought to be ashamed of myself. Nothing has moved forward since this man came into power. Everything has moved backward instead. If he remains there for 8 years, Cambodia will end up more advanced than us even with all that oil.

If I were Jothan Ebele Goodluck, I will resign now because I know the perpetrators of these crimes against humanity but because we belong to the same boys club I have refused to arrest them.

If I were Jonathan Ebele Goodluck, I will resign now because this number of people that have died from this carnage shows my incompetence (not that he or any Nigerian politician cares anyway) in managing the affairs of the country.

If I were Jonathan Ebele Goodluck, I will resign now because as it seems , what awaits the nation of Nigeria is an inevitable split. The pattern of things that has happened in the month of January 2012 is not different from 1967.

Nigerians have to wake up, if this man continues in office there won’t be anyone left to govern as Boko Haram would have killed everyone in Nigeria. The police and the army have gone on an arresting spree when the attackers are still at large. Nigeria has successfully restored peace and democracy in Africa but it has failed to keep its house together. We all sit around and watch the country crumble; the Occupy Nigeria Movement is supposed to resume. Not just for reverting back to the status quo of the fuel price but also to ask Jonathan Ebele Goodluck to step aside and also for a change in Nigeria. That change will not come on a platter of gold, we will have to fight for it, forcefully!

Part 3: 2012 & the Mess called the Euro zone

Nicolas Sarkozy of France and the head of the ECB, Mario Draghi, have both down played the downgrading that sent the euro zone into panic last week. Standard & Poor even went head to downgrade the EFSF bailout fund after re-evaluating the nine euro zone nations. Quoting Marion Draghi:

“As regulators we should learn to do without ratings. Or at least we should learn to assess creditworthiness in a way in which ratings or credit rating agencies are one of the many components of our information,”

This statement made to the public is not only misleading but also deficient in sense-making as the zone had thrived enormously from the ratings of Standard & Poor in the past. Investors know that the ratings play a crucial role in how they play in the market, nations also, without a doubt, reckon that ratings give them a positive leverage in terms of raising cash. To turn around and understate the effectiveness or judgement of this rating agency of repute is simply put: stupid. The manner with which the euro zone and its leaders have gone about solving the issues of the zones is careless, uninspiring and garish. 

The fact is that, rating by which ever institution raises questions. Questions that create caution in the market by investors and also in how government develop strategies to raise funds. If nothing is done to boost investor confidence, rating will continue to fall, leading to worse situation than we all are currently facing at the moment. The worry of the euro zone, ECB and the officials of the EFSF should be Greece. This nation is far more worrisome than the downgrades. Ignoring the poor, negative signs that this country is showing will definitely bring the union and the euro crashing down faster than expected. The effects on the global economy are of greater concern than addressing a conference on issues about how to live without ratings.

The Greek government has weeks to agree to a mysterious deal with bondholders if its humongous debt will be written-down and finalized ahead of a €14.6 Billion bond redemption on March 20. If this deal does not go through, Greece will not get €130 Billion of the bailout funds required to repay the bonds. This will lead to a dishevelled default! Although negotiations are still ongoing, the only reason we have experienced this stalemate is because of the deterioration in the country’s finances since October 31, 2011. The assumptions of this deal are, to say the least, abnormal! Investors have been proposed to, to accept a 50% haircut in the value of their debt; this would help bring down Greece’s debt burden down to 120% of GDP by 2020. Evidently, this country is on the verge of a quicker collapse if the bondholders do not agree to this odd request. Its request to push for lower coupon and longer maturities on the new bonds to be offered to its existing investors, increasing the net present value to up to 70% should be more worrisome to the euro zone. Bondholders will never agree to this since it will end up triggering credit defaults swaps to offset losses. In fact a large proportion of the bondholder, hedge funds institutions, have clearly refused to take part in this deal. This should be a source of concern not just to the heads of the euro zone but also to everyone around the continent of Europe.

With these negative signs coming out of all the meetings held to salvage this country, suggestions should be for the euro zone leaders to put on their thinking caps and find a way to solve the Greece mess, rather than run after rating agencies. The euro will, with a 100% certainty, collapse, the thoughts should be for a systematic and realistic disentanglement of this experiment. To allow it fall apart will have dire consequences on Europe and the world at large, one that we all cannot afford to face again. No after what we have been through!

Part 2: 2012 & the Mess called the Euro zone

The fear of Friday 13^th caught up with the Euro zone, three of its members have been downgraded. France lost its triple A rating earlier today, confirming the rumors that it was an error late last year. Standard & Poor’s downgrading has sent a shock wave across the euro zone, perhaps assuring sceptics that the single currency is about to be buried alive without a doubt. Austria and Slovakia have also had its credit rating downgraded; sadly Italy has been downgraded further to Triple B! Out of the seventeen member state of the euro zone, nine have lost S&P credit rating assuring that the timely death of the euro is around the corner.  The nine member nations are: France, Malta, Austria, Slovakia and Slovenia to AA+. While Italy, Spain, Portugal and Cyprus are all down to BBB+, otherwise junk bonds! There is a domino effect that will finally nail the coffin of the euro, this will happen when S&P downgrades that European Central Bank (ECB). A clear reason for this is: the members’ states of the euro zone by virtue of its credit ratings gives the ECB its credit rating status, thus allowing it discharge one of its functions of defining and maintaining monetary policies for the euro zone. If 9 out of its seventeen members have difficulty selling bonds or raising funds publicly, this will drag the ECB down and will eventually lead, effectively to the annulment of, and final disintegration of the euro (zone). France was pulled down by bailing nations such as Greece; Germany is next, its rating, by its position of a fore runner trying to save the euro, will be downgraded. When this happens, the end of the euro and the euro zone will be next.

How the negotiations to rework the Greek debt have been conducted by the people in Brussels shows the confusion and the enormity of the task at hand. The truth is that the debt cannot be negotiated, not now, if the euro zone had allowed Greece default when all this nonsense started, perhaps this problem could have been contained. Clearly, it will not be solved, not with the way money has been thrown at the issue by different institutions. Greece, euro zone leaders and its main creditors actually agreed to a 50% cut in Greece’s debt, this negotiation is unrealistic and unethical. The question is who bears the brunt on this debt cancellation? Greece also owes over €100 Billions to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), other euro zone members and the ECB; if this request is extended to these institutions, how will Greece be punished for its behaviour thereby deterring other nations from engaging in such an act in the future? In fact, with the way the negotiations are going, members of the euro zone have been conned into bearing more burden just to bail out Greece, this is clearing why France has sunk, and several nations in the zone will follow in the next 1 month.

Financial analysts have called the restructuring plan this cancerous nation called Greece: a revolutionary bond exchange. In brief, the plan suggests that private creditors return their bonds getting a new one with half the face value of the original. This half-price bond will mature in the future (many years to come, no specific time has been stated); the idea is investors will do this not because the idea is the smartest but because half-priced bond is better that a worthless bond issued by Greece. Although the details of this exchange are still unknown, one key question about the plan is: what is the interest rate on the new bond? If this plan goes through, by the end of 2014 Greece’s debt will be €435 Billion, two-third of this amount will be held by public entities, i.e. euro zone governments. With all this mess going on, the ECB has clearly stated that it will not record losses estimated at €40 Billion on the Greek bonds that it currently holds. One starts to wonder if the members of the euro zone have any idea what they are doing and proposing or are they just working assiduously toward the untangling of the zone. Time will tell surely!.

Nigeria: Check...1-2-3...Check!!!!

Apparently, Nigerians are still stupid; killing themselves over pot-bellied politicians will not solve anything. In fact it will only make this thieving, shameless, whore-mongering class richer! If you doubt this, take a look at years before now. During Babagindas’ regime – the butcher that stole 12 Billion US$ windfall, one wonders where IMF was then -; the Abacha and Obasanjo, the politicians that sang the governments song got political post. This allowed them steal with so much gusto!, enriching themselves, family and friends, empowering them to run for offices where they lack no skill to run. No wonder nothing works in Nigeria. Bureaus are run by half-witted, nincompoops, with vague or supposedly no clue how to solve issues. Even with this glaring evidence on ground, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has the guts to suggest that the government cuts the fuel subsidy. Its reason - it costs the country 6 Billion US$ per annum! Has the IMF taken time out to evaluate the government in Nigerian or compare the government with that of nations around the world to see if the cost-cutting strategy is supposed to start where it did on the 1 January 2012.

A proper illustration will be between Nigeria and two western nations i.e. Britain and the United States of America; we unceasingly compare ourselves with west so how else shall we make this correlation. The US President has 2 aircrafts with a staggering hourly rate of 181,757 US$. These aircrafts cost nothing less than 400 Million US$ depending on the specification. The Nigerian President can boastfully say he has 9 of these aircrafts; the assumption clearly is that that running cost will be no different from that of the American President. The holding cost of these aircrafts is at least 3.6 Billion US$, while the service cost is 1,635,813 US$ per hour. In fact, immodestly, the President has even voted more funds to the purchase of an extra aircraft. Further, Goodluck Jonathan recently voted 300 Million Naira (1,851,851.85 US$) to purchase two more cars to his fleet of 23 cars, bringing it to a lewd total of 25 cars, whereas David Cameron has just two official cars. Jonathan boldly claims that he needs bomb and bullet proof cars and that’s what this money is for! Instead of arresting his friends that sponsor Boko Haram, he is fortifying himself from harm, while the common man is left to die like animals on a daily basis!

Whereas a senator in the America earns 6,000 US$ per month, this amount is commensurate to that of a director of the country’s state department, a medical doctor with at least 20 years of working experience, a teacher with 25 years experience, a Nigerian senator earns 245 Million Naira (1,512,345.68 US$) this is 20,416,666.67 Naira per month (126,028.81 US$). This amount can cover the salaries of several head of institutions in Nigerian and move us towards a better tomorrow. With the size of the senate and house of representative, Nigeria will be bankrupt in the next 10 years. Politicians have taken political offices to be a career and a full time job; sadly, they do nothing but sleep during senate session, use meaningless words during debates, speak incorrect English and spend their evening roaming the streets in the Nigeria deceiving little girls to visit their hotel rooms. Why not start the cost cutting from here? Why allow millions suffer while this less than 0.5% enjoy our wealth?

The last few days has seen killings and reprisal killings, this was how it all started in 1967. During that time, the matter was left unattended to, sadly it turned into a civil war. We are boldly walking towards that path today. Looking at Jonathan, he is confused and neck deep in the problems of Nigerian, this has brought his incompetence to fore, since he cannot make up his mind or pass policies that will benefit Nigerian, he should resign! The chaos in the country is shocking, watching Nigerians run on the streets wailing and shouting over this subsidy issue is simply put- uncalled for! This clumsiness extends to the international institutions advising Jonathan; I hope the IMF has Accountants, Actuarial scientist and Financial analysts that can look for cost cutting measures that make sense and not this crap that they suggested to the confused Nigerian President!. 

Nigerian Numbers

Nigeria has started 2012 on an awful note. The occupy Nigeria movement that start in 2011 to fight socio-economic inequalities has found its way to Nigeria. Mass protest follows the removal of the fuel subsidy, the only thing that the masses can truly say they benefit as Nigerians. If you look at the history Nigeria, at no point in time will the masses state categorically that they gain anything from the country except this subsidy. Jonathan has the nerve to abolish it on the grounds of cutting cost! Several numbers have been flying about since December 2011, immediately the senate started to investigate the digits, I smelt doom. But I also thought that as a President, Jonathan will use both his head and heart. I was wrong! This man used neither. He just started the year with what several people have referred to as the Greek Gift!

The black gold that has been a blessing to countries such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Kuwait etc has turned out to be a curse on Nigeria. Multinational oil companies come to Nigeria to take everyone and everything for a ride! Some of the nasty things they do in Nigeria can never be done in the home country, yet we all keep quiet and watch. Our silence has brought us to this stage. The general strike startes on Monday 9 January 2012, I hope Nigerians won’t come up with the same excuse that they have for the last 50 years. I have to feed my family! The Government and labor will sort it out! They all the same, we are the one ‘suffering! If we do this again, we will continue to suffer. The mass protest should continue. Occupy Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, and Port-Harcourt! Occupy the whole place and let them understand finally that we have a voice! The only reason they act like this is because our votes never counted! They got into power by their machineries but claim we voted for them. This pattern has gone on for many years. I hope we will vote in 2015 and demand that our votes count, ask question from office holders, occupy the streets if we find them wanting in any area of government. We must stand up and unite, against these thieves and their terrorist group called Boko Haram!

When Bill Clinton said years ago, while Obasanjo was canvassing for our debt cancellation, that Nigeria has no business being poor, not with all that oil! A lot of people did not like that statement. In fairness, he only said the truth, we are the 10 largest oil producing nation in the world, yet we export crude oil and import it’s by products. It does not make any economic sense. We have done this shameless act for close to 14 years now and several multinational oil companies partake in this crime against humanity and no one could say anything. These same companies go back to their bases to talk about ethics in business and social responsibility. These cheating, pretentious organizations have worked with the politicians to milk us dry for years. They have ruined our land, exploited Nigeria and we do not even know the numbers. Nigeria produces 2,221,000 barrels of oil per day, ahead of the UK, Algeria, Angola, Libya, and Qatar, yet these nations fair better than us in every area. Why is the Nigerian story always different? Can’t these politicians see public funds and not steal it? Everything that we own has gone to the dogs; excess crude oil account that boasted of 23 Billion US$ in 2007 has developed wings and the account scraped! A foreign reserve account that was 80 Billion US$ in 2007 now has 30 Billion US$; where did it all go? We cannot see anything in the form of social infrastructure! Except flashy cars owned by these same pot bellied thieves! The numbers are large and staggering to the ear and eyes! If Greece, Italy or Ireland has what we have the euro zone financial crisis could have been averted. What we have is in private pockets; taken with force as if it’s their right to do so!

If the thieving politicians had built the refineries we would never have wasted 8 Billion US$ per year on subsiding fuel. The math clearly shows that the money goes back to the politicians anyway, if it’s not in the way of 10%, it comes to their crony companies and the bogus multinational organizations. The IMF will never suggest what will benefit the people; it is Jonathan’s duty to restore the country by building the refinery and then abolishing the fuel subsidy. But he can’t, he won’t, no politician will. The business of fuel importation is so lucrative now that it will never go away! This trade will continue forever. What baffles me most is how some rich people have become richer just sitting down on their pot belly. Over the years they have amassed so much that they have enough to give to Boko Haram to cause mayhem. No wonder the country is in such turmoil fermented by our own people. The numbers below are shocking, according to the senate committee, Nigeria has spent since – N3.655 trillion, since 2006. Some of the people catering away this money are: 

1. Oando Nigeria Plc – N228.508 Billion
2. Obat – N85 Billion
3. Enak Oil & Gas – N19.684 Billion
4. Folawiyo Oil -  N113.3 Billion
5. IPMAN Investment Limited – N10.9 Billion
6. ACON -  N24.1 Billion
7. Atoi Oil – N64 Billion
8. Capital Oil – 22.4 Billion
9. AZ Oil  - N18.613 Billion
10. Dozil Oil  - N3.375 Billion
11. Fort Oil – N8.582 Billion
12. Bovas & Co Nigeria Limited – N5.685 Billion
13. MRS – N224.818 Billion
14. Emac Oil – N19.2 Billion
15. D. Jones Oil – N14.8 Billion

The committee also named several construction companies that also benefited from this windfall; one begins to wonder a few things here: 1) none of the amounts were in Millions, just the astonishing Billions of Naira. and for what, if I might ask? 2) What has a construction company got to do with oil refining and importation? 3) Couldn't we have built a refinery with this money or what we had in the excess crude oil account? Well, Nigeria we Hail thee! The masses, its your turn to fight for justice, for yourselves and the future of your children! Occupy Nigeria!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nigeria: Finding Peace in 2012

On 27 December 2011, I wrote an article, in which I pointed out a few measures that President Goodluck Jonathan should embark on in 2012 regarding Boko Haram. Delightfully, one of the proposed steps has been taken. Sealing the Nigerian borders with Chad, Niger and Cameron is a great step towards the right direction. It seems that Mr. President is listening and his acolytes are shopping widely for suggestions. However, this measure must be followed by a persistent, focused and unrelenting effort by every arm of government in Nigeria. As citizens of the country, we are also responsible for the security and peace of the nation. What we know, see and hear must be share with the authorities. If they decide not to do anything, our conscience is clear, for at least we did out part. Several mediums exist today for spreading news, i.e. the internet, social media and networking site, news agencies even have special numbers that can be called for news. With the advancement in technology, smart phones, today play a very crucial role in exposing unstable societies such as Nigeria. We should start to use these mediums very efficiently and effectively to assist the government fight the war against terrorism. These tools are useful, if people think that their comments, posts, and videos have no impact, they are wrong! These channels work, we have to be persistent in it use. 

Aside from declaring a state-of-emergency in some northern states, the President has to take a critical look at other areas. The top most issue on the agenda of the government should be how to invalidate Boko Haram in 2012. Belonging to the group or any of its kind should be regarded as a crime against humanity. A sin graver that being caught trafficking drugs. The same measure with which the members are condemned should also be extended to their sponsors in low and high places, within and outside government; citizens and foreigners alike. Goodluck Jonathan has to exhibit seriousness towards addressing this new contagion in Nigeria. The sooner he starts, the quicker Nigerians will join in this fight. The steps required are:

1. If the government claims it does not know the financiers of Boko Haram in Nigeria, it should call in the governor of Niger State Mu'azu Aliyu Babangida for questioning. On December 27, 2011 he was quoted as saying the following:

"We know highly placed people up there as sponsors of the sect and it is time for Mr. President, security agents and all of us to go after the sponsors of the Boko Haram now. This is a pure act of terrorism and not religious." 

Further light should be shed on this sweeping statement. It is impossible that the media in Nigeria has not made a follow up on this statement. The State Security Service (SSS), the Nigerian Police Force and the Joint Task Force (JTF), must have heard him make this statement, the immunity that protects the office of the governor should not deter them from calling him in for questioning. The people that he alludes the whole country of knowing should be named for the safety Nigerians.

2. Ahmed Sanni Yerima should be arrested. This man can not cover himself under the powers of the senate and pretend to be a law abiding Nigerian. He is a crook, a terrorist in disguise, a financier of crimes against humanity and he should be brought to justice. No one has to point at him before this arrest is carried out. Allowing him walk around freely, making decision in the senate is like allowing Osama Bin Laden walk into every meeting of the United States of America. This man being in government is a treat to the safety of the nation, he has a constant stream of information that he uses to equip his army, this is evident in how the carry out their activities.The sooner this man is arrested and locked up, the better for Nigerians.

3. International assistance will do us no good. We can fight this plague ourselves. Bringing in the West will only escalate the issue beyond redemption which will lead to a state of no return for Nigeria. Nigeria has been instrumental to peace and ending wars in African for over 50 years, that experience should be put to use to fight this ruthless bunch. The West has been involved in fighting wars all over the world, but peace has never returned to all of the nations they entered. We should not allow Nigeria be one of these countries!

4. Government should not hold back funds. There should be a speedy release of funds to fight this group, the best hands should be hired. We need strategist, intelligence officers and men from the private sector. If we play politics with this fight, the group will catch the government napping.

5. The president should start to spit fire. All this gentle talk which a hand in his pocket and a smile on his face will not faze these miserable lot. Tough talking and action will do the job. 

Hoping that the government will listen again to these pointers or some, I am wishing everyone a wonderful, safe, healthy and prosperous 2012. May God keep us all.