likely sins of Lamido Sanusi

Financial atrocities
The financial atrocities in the CBN under
Sanusi are simply outrageous. If this is how
government agencies steal and mismanage
public funds, then Nigeria is in more trouble
than we have ever imagined. CBN accounts
under Sanusi read like pure fiction. While
crying foul about missing money in NNPC,
Sanusi failed to account for missing monies in
CBN. Investigating the CBN in April 2013, the
Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC)
discovered that ₦38.23 billion was missing.
The money was said to have been paid to
MINT- a subsidiary of the CBN. However,
MINT accounts showed no such money was
received.
It is only in Nigeria that you can have a
Central Bank governor spend government
money anyhow at his own discretion. Sanusi did
not just spend a few thousand naira
whimsically. He did not just give away millions
of naira like Aliko Dagote. He gave away
billions. The government reveals that Sanusi
gave away nothing less than ₦163 billion in no
less than 63 “intervention projects” in
different parts of the country. Remember
this: that is more than the entire 2014 budget
of Edo State.
Just listen to this: the CBN is said to have
paid ₦38 billion to the Nigerian Security
Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC) in
2011 for printing banknotes. However this is in
excess of the total turnover of NSPMC that
same year, which was only ₦29 billion. The CBN
claims to have paid Emirate Airline ₦511
million for currency distribution nationwide in
2011 when the airline does not have a local
charter service in Nigeria. It reports ₦425
million as paid to Wing Airline, but the airline
is not even registered in Nigeria. It also claims
to have paid Associated Airline ₦1 billion for
the same purpose, but the airline did not have
up to a billion-naira turnover in 2011.
In its 2011 account under “sundries” (i.e.
unexplained expenses), Sanusi’s CBN reported
an expenditure of ₦1.1 billion. For legal and
professional fees that same year, it claimed to
have spent an amazing ₦20 billion. This is
simply mind-boggling. So mind-boggling in fact
that naïve people like me don’t believe a word
of it. These are just crooked details designed
to mask the massive corruption and graft
under Sanusi’s watch.
In 2012, ₦1.2 billion was listed as expenses on
“private guards” and “lunch for policemen.”
Wow! These policemen must have been having
caviar for lunch. Similarly, ₦1.6 billion was
spent on newspapers, books and periodicals
alone that same year. Pull another leg. Who
believes this kind of rigmarole?
Still in 2012, ₦3 billion was spent on
“promotional activities.” Pray, to whom was the
CBN doing this promoting? Where did these
promotional activities take place and to what
purpose? Was it in Nigeria or in outer space?
Which bank was CBN in competition with? Was
it the World Bank or the African Development
Bank? Was the CBN trying to attract
depositors or customers? Or was it paying
legislators so that its powers would not be
curtailed?
Nobody should condone Sanusi’s financial
recklessness. He also played Father Christmas
with Nigeria’s money. According to the
government, Sanusi’s CBN wrote-off loans to
the tune of ₦40 billion. Without board or
presidential approval, Sanusi spent ₦743
million of CBN money acquiring 7% shares of
the International Islamic Management
Corporation of Malaysia, contrary to the
provisions of the CBN Act.
Off to Kirikiri
It is a big indictment of the Jonathan
administration that this impunity was
tolerated for this long and was only addressed
after Sanusi became a political
embarrassment to the government. The billion-
naira question now is what is going to happen to
Sanusi. Will he get away with these corrupt
practices or will he be prosecuted to the full
extent of the law? My position is that we need
to chart a new course in the treatment of
corruption in Nigeria. If Sanusi is truly guilty
of these improprieties, he should be sent to
jail; for a very long time.
However, the bet is on that nothing will happen
to him beyond his dismissal from office. It
appears nothing is also going to happen to
Deziani Allison-Madueke, the Minister of
Petroleum. The missing $20 billion at NNPC
will also be swept under the carpet. All the
signs of a cover-up are already apparent. The
FRC indicted all the Deputy Governors of the
CBN along with the Governor and asked that
they all be sacked. However, not only were
they not sacked, one of them has been made
the new Acting Governor. In all likelihood, this
culture of impunity will remain for the simple
reason that it seems to go all the way to the
very highest echelons of the Nigerian
government.

Facebook buys WhatsApp for N3.1 trillion

WhatsApp Co-founder becomes a member of
Facebook’s board.
Social networking giant, Facebook, has bought
messaging app, WhatsApp, in a deal worth a
total of N3.1 trillion in cash and shares.
It is Facebook’s biggest acquisition to date
and will see WhatsApp’s Co-founder, Jan
Koum, become a member of Facebook’s board
of directors.
The deal includes N656 billion in cash and
approximately N1.9 trillion worth of Facebook
shares, plus an additional N492 billion in stock
to WhatsApp’s founders and employees at a
later date.
“We’re excited and honoured to partner with
Mark and Facebook as we continue to bring
our product to more people around the world,”
Mr. Koum said in a statement.
Mr. Koum said he plans to operate the firm
“independently and autonomously”.
In a statement announcing the deal, Facebook
founder, Mark Zuckerberg, described
WhatsApp’s services as “incredibly valuable”,
but insisted he had no plans to place
advertising on WhatsApp’s interface, saying he
did not think ads were the best way to make
money from instant messaging systems.
Mr. Zuckerberg said the quest to buy
WhatsApp was started only 11 days ago.
WhatsApp offers alternative to BlackBerry
chat and text messaging. It allows users to
send messages over internet connections,
avoiding text messaging fees. WhatsApp
claims it is currently registering one million
new users a day and has over 450 million
monthly active users. Facebook believes
WhatsApp will hit a billion users in no time.
It makes money by charging users a
subscription fee of N160 or the equivalent of
$1 per year, after offering the first year for
free.
Once the deal is finalised, Mr. Koum and co-
founder Brian Acton will become Silicon
Valley’s newest billionaires.
WhatsApp started five years ago and has 55
employees in total.

scholarship

NIGER DELTA DEVELOPMENT COMMISION (NDDC) OVERSEAS
Post-Graduate Scholarship Scheme 2014
JANUARY 30, 2014 ADMIN NO COMMENTS
DESCRIPTION
As part of our Human Resource Development initiative, NDDC
is embarking on Foreign Post-Graduate Scholarship Scheme to
equip Niger Deltans with relevant training and skills for
effective participation in the local content programme of the
current administration as well as compete globally in various
professional fields. The Scheme is for suitably qualified
applicants with relevant Bachelor’s/Master’s Degrees from
recognized Universities in the following professional
disciplines:
Engineering
Medicine (M.sc. Public Health Excluded)
Computer Science/Technology
Geology
Geosciences
Environmental Sciences
Agriculture
Applicants must have gained Post Graduate admission into a
recognized university abroad.
ELIGIBILITY ;Citizens of Niger delta states:
Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross river, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo,
Rivers.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS
First Degree with minimum of 2nd Class Lower Division for
those wishing to undertake a master’s Degree programme
and a good Master’s Degree for PhD candidates from a
recognized University.
Applicants must have gained Admission into a Post
Graduate Programme in any of the listed disciplines in a
foreign University.
Applicants who have not already enrolled in overseas’
universities are not eligible to apply.
Bond of good conduct from any of the following persons
from the applicant’s community/clan.
(Member of National Assembly,Chairman of the LGA.First class
traditional ruler.High Court Judge)
Persons with evidence of cult membership or criminal record
shall not be considered for the award.
Applicants must have completed the mandatory National Youth
Service
HOW To APPLICATION
Application must be made On-line at the Commission’s
website: ( www.nddc.gov.ng) with the following attachments:
Recent passport photograph
Local Government identification letter.
Post Graduate (PG) admission letter from Oversea
Universities.
Relevant degrees from recognized Universities.
NYSC Discharge Certificate
Select Your Preferred Program From FROM THE
MASTERS OF PH.D OPTION ON THE APPLICATION Website
Successfully completed applications will be assigned a
registration number automatically.Print the hard copy of the
on-line generated acknowledgement for ease of reference.All
shortlisted applicants will be posted on NDDC website.
(www.nddc.gov.ng)For Further Enquiries please contact :
Director, Education Health and Social Services (NDDC)
scholarship@nddc.gov.ng
Application Deadline Date
28th February, 2014
Plss inform a friend from de above state while de offer last