The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Outrageous!

  • Uproar over ‘outrageous fee’

    Students of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, gathered on the campus to protest what they called “outrageous fee” in the university.

    President of the Students’ Union Government (SUG), Olusegun Ifade, said the fees were unaffordable for students, noting that the welfare of students must be paramount.

    The students complained that the new fees were introduced to keep them out of school. “The same outrageous amount I paid in 100-Level is the same I paid in 200-Level and they want me to pay the same in 300-Level,” said an angry Law student.

    Speaking to CAMPUSLIFE, Olusegun said: “Students’ Union Government rejects the outrageous fee in and we view it as anti-education. So far, we are engaging in wider consultation on how to achieve a downward review of the exorbitant fees. The Ogun State Government, since 2011, has been reluctant in reducing the fees, thereby forcing hundreds of students to drop out of school every year.”

    He continued: “We hope the state government will not wait to see students occupy Oke Mosan and the streets of Ogun before yielding to our demands. Let it be known also that apart from school fees reduction, we also demand proper funding of our university. It is surprising that since 2011, no single capital project has been initiated in the university.”

  • CLO to power company: your bills are outrageous

    The Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) in Akwa Ibom State has challenged what it called “crazy bills” distributed to electricity consumers in the state.

    Speaking with our correspondent at the weekend, CLO state Chairman, Clifford Thomas, said the bill regime of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company was one of the “most outrageous injustice against Nigerians.”

    He noted that the billing system was either an act of sabotage by the former operators, who wanted to make the new operators look like they were incompetent, especially when viewed against the backdrop that there was steady deterioration in the quantum of electricity generated and distributed to consumers; or, the new company was not only incompetent, but also exploiting consumers as extreme capitalists.

    Thomas said: “It is wrong for the electricity company to fix unjustified bills without holding a public forum where consumers meet them to understand what is happening.

    “How did they arrive at these funny bills, which further impoverish the people and defeat one of the main objectives of the government?

    “Can you imagine that occupants of a small bungalow of four rooms, who enjoy less than three hours of electricity in a day, are made to pay as much as about N7,000 monthly? In our baseline survey on this matter, we stumbled on lots of revelations and they were very shocking revelations. Electricity consumers are not only being exploited unnecessarily, it is also a huge fraud and we are ready to fight it until justice is done.”

    There have been complaints from consumers, who are struggling under the weight of these bills. Consumers in Uyo and major towns are affected, but the problem appears to be in mostly urban areas and not in rural areas.

    A resident in Uyo, who gave her name as Mrs. Mfon Bassey, told The Nation that she lived in a two bedroom bungalow and was first given a bill of N4,000 last month, which she paid and this month was given a bill of N6,000, which she had vowed to resist.

     

    A worker of the electricity company, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told our correspondent that the tariffs were estimated, since there were no meters to evaluate the rate of consumption.

     

  • N600 billion census budget outrageous

    The chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Festus Odimegwu said recently that he would need N600 billion to conduct the next census. This is at a time when the Federal Government through its act of omission or commission has shut down all state and federal universities in the country because it cannot find N87 billion being demanded by the teachers. It would not surprise me if this same Federal Government finds N600 billion to give to the census body when you cannot ride on any Nigerian road without running into huge craters and gutters. At the end of each census, we come up with spurious numbers that are not believed by anybody or believable at all. What is apparent in Nigeria is not always real, it is the case of the more you see, the less it counts. At election times, small states produce more votes than states that are much bigger and much more populous if only to get their preferred candidate elected.

    Apart from the census of 1956 which put Nigeria’s population at 32 million, all other censuses have been marred by forgeries. During enumeration of people, it is not uncommon for villages to contribute money to give to enumerators in order to boost their population figures and yet we call this a census. Enumeration of any kind in Nigeria is totally without integrity. When states are asked to come up with the number of school aged children, the figures given sometimes outstrip the population of the entire state. Any exercise requiring figures in Nigeria is usually manipulated because of the financial implications of figures in Nigeria. Would it not be better to save N600 billion and just get statisticians to give us projected population of Nigeria based on a baseline of 1952 and rate of increase at 3% per year or something of that sort rather than the spurious figures bandied around dishonestly by NPC?

    Nobody can swear on the figures of Nigeria’s population. Today, we are told that we are about 170 million but I do not believe it. I personally do not believe that Nigeria is more than 100 million; the remaining 70 million are ghosts as far as I am concerned. The idea of population count every 10 years should be jettisoned and replaced by population count every two decades. The money saved should be used for development of infrastructure of the country. Imagine what N600 billion can do in the development of Nigeria. Odimegwu and his NPC should be asked to go on holidays and come back 20 years after the last census and give us the chance to use the money saved to develop the country. Census is about people and about development. Arbitrary figures are of no importance whatsoever to the development of Nigeria and if we need to take the next census, we should do it scientifically by calling in experts from the UN to do area mapping of Nigeria and to point out the centres of concentration of people through settlement pattern and then project the overall population of our country. This can be done through area photography without the arduous, primitive enumeration and money guzzling system Nigeria revels in.

    We know that elections are around the corner and people are looking for money for election, but we can’t be fooled all the time. The figure of N600 billion for counting Nigerians, many of whom are poor, despairing and despondent such that they would take the money rather than being counted, if given the option is outrageous. There are so many outlandish things going on at the centre in Abuja; recently, the Nigerian Space Authority or something of that sort says it is planning to send Nigerian astronauts into space by 2020. When I read this in the paper, I just laughed that what a country! And I asked myself – how is that important to the ordinary men and even to men who are not ordinary? What direct benefit will sending an astronaut into space bring to Nigeria? Are we going to reinvent the wheel?

    Countries that are sending people into space are already developed and have the basic requirement of decent living for their people. Why would a country whose people still defecate in the bushes or in open space and whose people have no potable water to drink or electricity to light their homes and power their businesses, decent educational and health facilities, efficient transportation system be planning to engage in the expensive venture of space exploration when the Russians and the Americans, the two leading nations in this area are deemphasising state participation while encouraging the private sector to take over these expensive ventures?

    We make fools of ourselves by pretending to be a big power when in fact we are not. We should cut our coat according to our cloth and face the reality of underdevelopment and try to overcome it. This is the challenge we face, the challenge of husbanding our resources and embarking on rapid development, transformation and industrialising our country while we still have the resources accruing from hydro-carbon exploitation. Our mono-cultural economy cannot be sustained forever and in fact cannot be sustained for too long, we have only about 30 years to transform this economy or die. Future generations of Nigeria will not forgive us if we do not embark on the process of transformation right now. Unfortunately, there is too much politicking in the land, too much talk about election in 2015 when in fact nobody knows who would be around tomorrow. We need to do the first thing first, let those who are in government right now discharge their responsibilities to the electorate, fulfil the promises on which they were elected and let the future take care of itself. Nigerians are a long-suffering people and I admire them for that and there is even wisdom in being long-suffering because revolutions do not always pan out. It is better to be long-suffering and to hope for evolutionary changes rather than wish or engineer sudden changes. But sometimes herd instincts and mob mentality can push a people to the edge of a precipice when they feel that the situation is hopeless. We are getting to this point in Nigeria where the more we spend on power generation, the less power we get. For the past 14 years, power generation in Nigeria has not increased past 4000 megawatts and yet, billions of dollars have been spent on this sector without any appreciable change in our power generation situation. Electricity generation is not rocket science, other third world countries and indeed other African countries like our neighbour Ghana have managed to stabilise their power sector to the extent that generators are not as everywhere in Ghana as they are in Nigeria. Would it not be wonderful if the present regime can tell us categorically when every home in Nigeria will have power 24 hours every day? This is something that is taken for granted in most countries of the world even in countries where the frigid weather should militate against this. If we have a government that can guarantee regular supply of water and electricity, then we would know that we are gradually coming out of the stone-age in which we have been consigned by previous administrations. The needs of Nigerians are not many and not outrageous or outlandish. What we require are basic needs for decent human living and we hope and pray that one day, a government would come that would be able to deliver on this simple needs rather than giving us outrageous budgetary figures on space exploration and demographic enumeration.

  • EAGLES’ 42-MAN LIST: Your list is outrageous, NFF tells Keshi

    EAGLES’ 42-MAN LIST: Your list is outrageous, NFF tells Keshi

    THE Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has ordered the Super Eagles’ Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, to cut down on the list of 42 players invited preparatory for the World Cup qualification match against Malawi next month.

    Keshi had yesterday released a list of 24 home based and 18 foreign based players to prosecute the crucial final match of the first qualification round slated for Calabar, September 7.

    According to a statement made available to NationSport yesterday, and signed by the Head Media, Ademola Olajire, the NFF said the focus should primarily be to earn for Nigeria a 2014 FIFA World Cup finals ticket, before the business of full preparation for the 2014 Nations Cup.

    And rising from its meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, the NFF Technical and Development Committee told Coach Keshi to come up with a 23-man list for the World Cup cracker against the Cranes, instead of the outrageous 42- man list submitted.

    Keshi has been told that there would be no elaborate camp for 24 home-based players, earlier scheduled to arrive in Abuja on Sunday, as only five will of them will make the final cut for the match in Calabar.

    Chairman of the NFF Technical and Development Committee, Barrister Chris Green, explained: “We must be very pragmatic and take it one step at a time. The 2014 FIFA World Cup ticket is very, very important to Nigeria and Nigerians. Yes, we have qualified for the African Nations Championship, for the first time ever, and we very much appreciate it.

    “But there are three very crucial 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches that we must prosecute successfully to qualify for Brazil before we can start the build-up to the African Nations Championship.

    Keshi is expected to harmonise his list and submit a reviewed document to the NFF before the end of the week.

    Meanwhile, Keshi has explained the rationale behind inviting 24 home-based professionals when only five of them will eventually join the 18 overseas-based stars for the big game against Malawi, as well as for the international friendly against the Etalons of Burkina Faso in Kaduna on Tuesday, 10th September. The Big Boss is already planning ahead as he said the exercise will allow him discover more players for next year’s Africa Nations Championships (CHAN) to be staged in South Africa; a place that is fast becoming a good hunting ground for the Eagles’ gaffer.

    -We are calling up 24 home boys in order to be able to identify new players for the 2014 African Nations Championship, for which we have already qualified, said Keshi.

    The home based Eagles secured a berth in CHAN 2014 after beating their Ivorian counterparts to one of the tickets up for grab.

    However, recent developments suggest that some key members of the local squad might become ineligible for the tournament proper as they are close to sealing various deals with some interested foreign club sides.

  • NEITI’s Report: PPPRA debunks ‘outrageous’ claims

    The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has debunked the audit report of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), which said the agency should remit N4.423 billion to the Federal Government.

    PPPRA’s Executive Secretary Reginald Stanley told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja yesterday that NEITI’s report “is steeped in inaccuracies and gross misrepresentation of facts”.

    He added: “The report has a glaring potential to mislead the public and further cast aspersions on the activities of the PPPRA as a key administrator of the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF),” Stanley said.

    On July 29, NEITI released its 2009-2011 audit report on the oil and gas sector. It recommended that the PPPRA should remit N4.423 billion, arising from what it called an “over-recovery” collected to the Federation Account for the period in review.

    The report also ordered other establishments to refund some money to the Federal Government.

    “The PPPRA wishes to state unequivocally that the statement credited to the NEITI chairman is misleading and a gross misrepresentation of facts.

    “We note with dismay NEITI’s admission that it had no absolute control of its sources of data as they were derived information and data provided through its own independent auditors as well as companies doing business in the sector.

    “Such over-reliance on secondary data must have accounted for the glaringly flawed computations presented in the report,” the agency said.

    Stanley explained that the N4.423 billion “over-recovery” that the PPPRA was asked to remit was not correct.

    According to him, only the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has an outstanding payment of about N3.98 billion to be paid into the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) account.

    “The total over-recovery advised for the nine marketers in 2008-2009 amounted to N14,073,783,779.74; the total amount paid to the account with CBN was N6,966,185,316.65, with the sum of N3,126,587,419.98 net-off by the Federal Ministry of Finance.”

    He explained that “the PPPRA does not disburse or ‘warehouse’ subsidy funds as suggested by the report,” stating that the agency only processed documents submitted by marketers for subsidy payments.

    “PPPRA merely verifies and processes import subsidy documents as submitted by marketers, while forwarding same to the Federal Ministry of Finance, which is statutorily charged with the responsibility of approving payments under the PSF scheme.”

    The executive secretary said there was need for NEITI to meticulously cross-check its facts and figures with relevant agencies before making such report public.

    He said it was instructive to note NEITI’s admission of the fact that it had no absolute control of its sources of data, adding: “such a possibly deficient source must have accounted for the glaringly subjective computations presented in the report’’.

    The PPPRA chief said the agency was alarmed to discover that most observations and clarifications earlier made were ignored and not reflected in the final report released to the public.

    “We wish to advise that NEITI takes a second look at our initial observations and clarifications, while reconciling its figures with those of both the PSF and Federation Accounts.”

    Stanley affirmed that there was no discrepancy in PPPRA’s records and the CBN, where the PSF account was domiciled.

    He said the responsibility of payment shifted from PPPRA to the Ministry of Finance, following the introduction of the Sovereign Debt Statement and the Sovereign Debt Note in 2009.

     

     

     

  • A most outrageous judgment

    A most outrageous judgment

    SIR: The option of fine of N750, 000 for a criminal crime of N23 billion fraud by Justice Mohammed Talba of the FCT high court against John Yakubu Yusufu of the office of the Police Pension Funds is worrisome.

    Yusufu is one of the eight civil servants accused of diverting about N32.8 billion.  Certainly, this sentence does not weigh balance with the offence committed.

    We all must realise that corruption is a monster that should be fought by all and sundry in this country. The message from Justice Talba is that corruption pays. If you must steal, steal handsomely.

    It is quite unfortunate that people still steal public funds with impunity without stiff penalty under the laws whereas somebody will steal a handset for instance and would be sent to jail for 10 years with hard labour.

    As in the case under reference, imagine the feelings of the Nigerian public especially the affected pensioners who have greatly suffered and some even died while waiting for their pittance pension after many years of meritorious service to the nation before their retirement.

    It is injustice! No doubt, our laws are defective just as our judiciary is questionable. There is an urgent need to amend the laws in such a way that the punishment will always be commensurate with the offence committed and in all other areas where amendment is necessary. The judiciary should also step up effort in the fight against economic and financial crimes or else…….

     

    • Alani Ayo

    Abuja.

  • Outrageous!

    Outrageous!

    •Justice Mohammed Talba’s sentence causes national uproar for its absurdity

    Corruption pays and the higher the magnitude of the malfeasance, the better for the perpetrator. This seems to be the maxim Justice Talba of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court sought to propound last Monday in a ruling that has stirred indignation nationwide.

    In sentencing Mr. John Yakubu Yusuf, the deputy director in the Police Pension Office who was found guilty of colluding with others to steal over N27 billion, Justice Talba chose the most lenient of options. He sentenced Yusuf to two years imprisonment with an option of N750,000.00 fine. He is also to forfeit 32 houses in the FCT and Gombe as well as N325million that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said were proceeds from the crime. The convict, according to newspaper reports, briskly paid the fine from the booth of his car and went home a free man.

    Apparently discomfited by the public outrage that trailed what is clearly judicial impunity, the culprit was re-arrested by the EFCC. According to the agency, he is being arraigned over non-declaration of all his assets and liability, particularly his negligence to note his interest in a company known as SY-A Global Services Limited.

    The perfidy of the light sentence handed to Yusuf by Justice Talba was brought to the fore by a similar sentencing the following day (Tuesday) at the Oyo State High Court where Justice Mashood Abass sentenced the Provost of the Federal Co-operative College, Ibadan, Mrs. Ruth Aweto and the bursar, Mr. Adekanye Komolafe to four years imprisonment each, without the option of fine.

    Their offence: they were found guilty of deceiving the Federal Government by presenting 41 casual staff as permanent staff of the college, with annual emolument of about N7million instead of N3.6million. In essence, they made a dubious gain of only N3.4 million over one year.

    Justice Talba’s action must have set a precedent, albeit a pernicious one, in the annals of convictions in Nigeria’s pension scam. Understandably, sentencing is at the discretion of the judge but the rule of the thumb is to match a sentence against the gravity of an offence. It is therefore, a sheer parody of justice to ask a convict who has admitted to stealing billions of naira to pay just a token fine and go home. It is particularly worrisome when the stolen money is the life-time savings and toil of workers who are denied the enjoyment of such savings in their old age.

    It is common knowledge that in recent years, many aged and ailing pensioners die on verification queues across the country in the bid to get their pensions while many go for years without any pay. It is because of unscrupulous people like Yusuf who would rather covet the pooled funds that the pension system has been dysfunctional and murky. One would expect the justice to have handed down a punishment almost commensurate with the offence of the felon to serve as a deterrent to others. To have allowed Yusuf to go home almost unscathed, Justice Talba leaves all right-thinking people suspicious that there must be much more to the judgment.

    How come Justice Talba gave no thought to the import of his pronouncement on the society? His sentencing endorses corruption at its most bizarre level. His message: steal big enough, get light sentence. It is salutary that the EFCC has re-arraigned this callous felon; we hope that he would get his just dessert at the end of the day. The Nigeria Judicial Council (NJC) should immediately review the ruling to save the face of Nigeria’s judiciary.