Graft in Nigeria: Coalition Gives Jonathan 30 Days to Sack Oil Minister, Try Officials

A coalition of concerned civil society groups in Nigeria, who last May initiated and launched a campaign-End Impunity Now (EIN)- has given President Goodluck Jonathan's Administration a 30-day ultimatum to yield his big axe against corrupt officials in the country's petroleum industry or risk another wild cat mass protest.

The coalition said they are appalled by "the grandiose scale that systemic corruption has assumed in the country; alarmed at the increasingly detrimental and devastating impact of this unchecked systemic corruption on the conditions of existence of citizens, as well as on the state of the national economy; and convinced that the share scale and scope, as well as the catastrophic impact of this endemic systemic corruption is no longer sustainable, and is therefore categorically unacceptable".

Spokespersons of the EIN, Messrs David Ugolor, and Jaye Gaskia, in an online statement to AkanimoReports on Wednesday, said they are demanding for the sack and sanction of Petroleum Resources Minister, Mrs. Dazieni Allison-Madueke as well as the sacking, investigation and prosecution of the boards and managements of all implicated agencies particularly NNPC, DPR, PPMC, and PPPRA.

They insisted that they want the oil minister fired and sanction because she bears direct oversight responsibility for the mess. They are also demanding accelerated prosecution and conviction of indicted marketers and the officials that collaborated with them. The first thing to do is to produce and disseminate publicly a list of all indicted marketers and officials and the amount involved for each.

Government "must determine within a maximum of a month, and through verifiable means, of the actual Daily Consumption Rate [DCR] for petrol for the country; its Combined Daily Production Rate [DPR] from domestic refineries.

"In this regard we note that while the country paid for an average of 59 million liters per day of petrol in imports in 2011, it is speculated that it has also been paying for an average of 40 million liters per day in imports in the course of 2012. Not only were these figures arrived at without any scientific basis and at the whims of marketers; they raise the question of an embedded ‘legitimate’ fraud involving an average of 19 million liters per day in imported petrol throughout 2011".

The coalition said they will continue to hold the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the economy responsible because of her indirect oversight functions, adding, "we continue to also demand for her resignation and for appropriate sanctions".

Back in June, on the road to the second in a sequence of Anti-Corruption National Days of Action [ the first of which was held on April 23, 2012, with the second being held on June 28, 2012], EIN had addressed a press conference and had stated as follows among others;

"We are worried and disturbed by the scale of the rot in the system, which continues to allow criminal acts to go unpunished, the brazen looting of the treasury to go on unabated, while the constitution of the Federal Republic is routinely violated and breached without consequence.

"We are worried and concerned enough as patriotic citizens of our Country to reach the conclusion that something drastic, immediate, and far reaching must be urgently done to end all forms of impunity in the governance of our country, and begin the process of salvaging Nigeria.

"We declare without fear or favour that EIN; we insist that because of the endemic nature and systemic character of corruption in the country that this process of ending impunity begins immediately with the tackling of corruption".

They had gone on to make some key demands including: sacking of the boards and management of the institutions of government implicated in the mind boggling monumental fraud in the management of the fuel subsidy regime for 2011, a fraud which as at the time of the various probes amounted to over N1.7 trillion, and just about 45% of the 2011 federal budget. "We had been clear about the fact that the Federal Ministry of petroleum resources and its minister, as well as the NNPC, DPR, PPMC, PPPRA, bore direct and greatest responsibility in the monumental fraud", the coalition said.

They had also stated clearly that given the manifestation of the complete lack of coordination in the economy and among relevant agencies and institutions with respect to the management of the subsidy fund, combined with the fact that monies were signed and paid out from the federation account without the knowledge or authorization of the minister of finance, who is also the coordinating minister of the economy, that her office bore indirect responsibility for the fraud and barefaced looting of the economy. We had thus demanded the sacking of all officials so implicated, and the trial of those with cases to answer. Additionally we had demanded that all subsidy thieves and those who aided and abetted them should be speedily brought to trial and looted funds recovered.

The mass protest they called to press for these demands on June 28, was met with a show of force by the regime, with the deployment of over 400 armed riot police, with several dozen undercover agents as well as two surveillance helicopters! This by a regime that professes to be serious about fighting corruption is worrisome.

The Present Situation

Nine months after the January Uprising, which was triggered by the rot in the petroleum sector that had made the regime to hike petrol prices; no significant trials have been conducted to any reasonable extent, nor has any significant convictions been gotten.

"We do not even know what the true extent and scale of the fraud was, and how much of the looted funds, if any has been recovered and from whom! And if funds have been recovered, why have those from whom it was recovered not been tried or convicted?

"Instead the pursuit of the subsidy fraud has been undertaken hesitantly, and as if without conviction! A few cases have been taken to court, with charges dropped and refilled, bails granted etc, all amounting to motion without movement. There has been an evident absence of sincerity on the part of the regime to take this to its logical conclusion.

"The clearest evidence of this is that no significant cases have been taken to court yet, the regime had also entered into a ‘no prosecution, no refund’ deal with some indicted marketers before a Federal High Court, only the board of NNPC has been sent on early retirement, with the retention of the chair of the board, the minister, and no investigation of filing of charges against those retired; fundamentally, no single official has been indicted, investigated or taken to court. Yet it is inconceivable that such a scale of fraud would have occurred, with marketers already indicted and implicated, and with all of these happening without the active knowledge and collaboration of some officials.

"What can be deduced from all of these is that this regime lacks the gut and courage to tackle the menace of corruption, and this baffling situation, leaves room for several speculations, the most realistic of which is the assumption that perhaps the regime is both unwilling and incapable of fighting corruption with vigor because as a regime, it is itself entangled and enmeshed in the web of the corruption that is undermining the very foundation of nationhood.

"The most glaring indication that this deduction is true, is the release in the last few days of the report of the Ribadu committee, and government’s lackadaisical and unserious, even disdainful response to it: which is to set up another committee that will review the report of the committee? We have had enough of committees, what is conspicuous by its absence, is any real and concrete action towards implementation of the reports of committees in which huge, but undisclosed amounts of money have been invested! This 'committocracy', seems to us another means of oiling the wheels of corruption, while enabling exposed thieves to cover their tracks!", EIN said.

Dimensions of Corruption and Its Impact

EIN says they remain convinced that the endemic and systemic nature that corruption has now assumed is a major driver of poverty, gross unemployment, particularly of youth, and the associated unprecedented level and dimension of insecurity in the country.

According to them, "a nation that budgets no more than 30% of its resources for capital expenditure, and that never exceeds 60% performance and budget implication, and for which the level of corruption reaches on the average 40 to 45% of its annual federal budget, is incapable of laying the foundations for sustainable infrastructural development let alone meeting the basic needs of the citizenry, and providing basic services.

"It is why there are littered across this country close to 12,000 abandoned infrastructural projects, costing N7.7 trillion, with over N2.2 trillion already paid in mobilisation fees. It is little wonder that the cost of doing business is unsustainably high, capacity utilisation remains perennially low [under 40%], and poverty rate continues to hover above 69% of the population.

"Take the current flood disaster for example; not only was the flood foretold, the scale of the disaster was also foreseen, yet governments at all levels were caught unprepared! This state of unpreparedness can be directly linked to the misappropriation and fraudulent practices implicated in the management of over N400 billion in ecological funds over the previous decade.

"Furthermore, it is our conviction that there is a direct reciprocal relationship between the spike in subsidy fraud and the spike in crude oil theft".

The Basis of the Subsidy Fraud

Continuing, EIN said, "subsidy fraud has its basis in the following, and unless these are addressed, the country will continue to remain captive to the cabal looting our treasury. These are; the fact that we import refined products; the fact that the naira is floated and declines against the dollar; the fact that there has been no scientific mechanism put in place to determine actual daily consumption rate of petrol; and the fact that our refineries are working at below average capacity, and the actual daily production rate for petrol for each refinery is shrouded in misery.

"If we knew the combined daily petrol production rate from our refineries, and also determine the precise daily consumption rate for petrol, we would be able to determine precisely the quantity to be imported and over what period of time. Besides as we improve and increase domestic production capacity, the quantity imported daily would also be declining.
"The major driver of the corruption however, is the impunity that ensures that no one gets caught, and if unfortunately you get caught, no one gets punished".
The Ribadu Committee Report

This is one of the committees set up in the wake of the January uprising, as part of the response of the regime, in the wave of the avalanche of committees, was the Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force, under the chairmanship of Nuhu Ribadu to investigate revenue inflows in the petroleum sector.

The committee, it is now known has concluded its assignment and handed over its report to relevant authorities.

In its findings the committee has further substantiated the claims of massive, unprecedented, endemic, systemic and historic levels of fraud, corruption and impunity in the petroleum sector!

According to the Ribadu committee, this nation has lost over the last 10 years, approximately $29 billion to price fixing and contract scams involving oil and gas corporations. Additionally, Nigeria is owed over $3.00 billion in royalty arrears by oil and gas corporations; while she loses $6.00 billion per annum, at a theft rate of 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day to crude oil theft!

This means that over the last 10 years, Nigeria would have lost a minimum of $60 billion to crude oil theft alone

The implication of the extent of the fraud and corruption that has been exposed in the petroleum sector by the various committees is that in the last 10 years alone, and in just the petroleum sector, "Nigeria has lost the total sum of a minimum of $8.00 billion (the oil subsidy fraud for 2011 alone) + $3.00 billion + $29 billion + $60 billion, amounting to $100 billion or over N16.8 trillion; the equivalent of four annual federal budgets", EIN said.

This, however, means that an amount equal to the total budget for four years has been stolen over a 10 year period. For the coalition, "we can only imagine what the total sum of these grand thefts would have been if we add to this extra-budgetary theft, funds embezzled from the actual appropriation acts over that period.

"We can only imagine what our country has lost in provisioning of adequate basic services and infrastructures; in employment generation, and poverty reduction, if these sums had been available and used for these purposes instead of being stolen".

Irked, EIN pledged, "we shall continue to organise and mobilise popular resistance to corruption, as well as popular action to compel that corruption is frontally tackled.

"In this regard, we serve notice, that if our demands are not met, if there is no convincing movement in the fight against corruption, we shall once again be compelled to call for nationwide mass actions towards the end of November 2012".

......AKANIMO REPORTS/SCOOP MEDIA PRESS RELEASE

EFCC probes VC over contract award

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has begun investigations into the tenure of the Vice Chancellor of the Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Prof. Francis Idike, who has been accused of running the university “like a personal fiefdom and whimsical expenditure of funds”.

Also, the university’s chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU-EBSU), says it would protest any attempt to breach due process in the appointment of a new vice chancellor to succeed Idike whose tenure elapses on November 4, 2012.

A source at the EFCC told The Guardian that the commission was investigating allegations of inflation of contracts during his tenure (November 2009-2012). He stressed that the commission has got leads to unwholesome financial dealings in the university.

“It was based on the nature of the discoveries that we have written to the vice chancellor asking him to furnish us with certain documents relating to some contracts, procurements as well as certified true copies of all payment vouchers and E-payment mandates raised for the payment of such contracts,” the source added.

The source further disclosed that some of the documents demanded from Idike included certified true copies of all documents relating to advertisement, bidding, award and acceptance letters of all contracts from 2009 to date, adding that by the time the commission finishes its probe, Nigerians would change their impression about the fight against graft in the country.

Although attempts to reach the VC failed, a worker in his office admitted that the EFCC’s letter asking for documents for investigation activities was received by the institution.

The letter addressed to Idike was signed by Paul Timibushi for the Head of Operations, South East zone, Enugu, and dated October 4, 2012 with reference number CR/3000/EFCC/EN/BF/TB/VOL. 6/389.

The letter entitled, ‘Investigation Activities: Request for Documents’, reads in part: “This commission is investigating a case in which the need to obtain certain information from you has become imperative. In view of the above, you are kindly requested to provide the following list of all contracts/procurements (completed and ongoing) executed by the university from 2009 to date.

“Certified true copies of all documents relating to advertisement, bidding, award and acceptance letters of all contracts from 2009 to date and of all vouchers/E-payment mandates raised for the payment of such contracts”.

Meanwhile, ASUU-EBSU has condemned insinuations in some quarters that Idike, who retired four years ago at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu campus, would be reappointed after his first four years in office ends next month, saying that such a move would not augur well for the institution. Chairman of ASUU-EBSU, Prof. Emeka Nwakpu, noted that the alleged move by the Governing Council of the institution to reappoint Idike was wrong, saying that the EBSU Law of 2011 has not yet taken effect.

“You have to appoint before you reappoint; no one has been appointed under that law, let alone reappointed. We have an amended law in place since May 2011. Nobody has been appointed on the basis of that law, so why should they be talking about reappointment? The law has not appointed anybody and so it cannot reappoint. The EBSU Law was passed by Ebonyi State House of Assembly,” he contended, adding that the union would soon make a categorical statement on the matter.

......LEO SOBECHI, ABAKLIKI/GUARDIAN NIGERIA

Gov. Okorocha Orders Closure Of Nudity Clubs In Imo

Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo has ordered the immediate closure of nudity clubs in the state, describing their existence as ``strange and devilish’’.

Okorocha, who gave the order in Owerri on Wednesday at the end of the meeting of the state Security Council, said that the operation of nudity clubs debased Igbo culture.

He said that such clubs had compounded the eroding morality of the youths and warned that the government would no longer condone their destructive activities.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that many nudity clubs are operating in the state capital.

The governor also banned under-age persons would henceforth be barred from attending night clubs in the state and warned that any club found admitting such persons or selling alcoholic drinks to them would be closed down permanently.

The governor also ordered the demolition of a house in Oru East Local Government Area and a filling station in Mbaitoli Local Government Area allegedly owned by kidnappers.

Okorocha warned that government was determined to stamp out kidnapping in the state.

He also warned owners of uncompleted buildings in the state to clean and secure them to avoid their being used as hideouts by criminals.

The governor decried the upsurge of secret cults in some secondary schools in the state and warned student cult members that government was poised to deal with them.

He expressed concern over the increase in child trafficking in the state and said that government had taken steps with the security agencies to check the trend.

......LEADERSHIP NEWSPAPER

Tullow Shares Rise After News Of Second Oil Find In Kenya

Visitors tour the oil rig at Ngamia 1 in Turkana where Tullow discovered oil. The firm said in a statement on Wednesday that drilling is on-going and an “announcement of the drilling result is expected in early to mid-November after target depth has been achieved and necessary sampling and analysis has been completed.” Photo/FILE Nation Media Group

*Mwendia Nyaga, another analyst, said Kenya is headed for rapid growth in the upstream oil and gas sector and should get ready to embrace the success and the potential advantages that it will present. “This is exciting news for Kenya. Any investment in the right infrastructure is justified,” added Mr Nyaga on telephone.

*The Twiga South-1 structure is the second prospect to be tested as part of a multi-well drilling campaign in Kenya and Ethiopia.

*It is the first discovery in block 13T following the Ngamia-1 discovery early this year in Block 10BB.Twiga-1, on Block 13T, is about 30 kilometres west of Ngamia-1.

British explorer Tullow Oil’s discovery of oil in a second Kenyan well pushed the firm’s shares among the top gainers on the FTSE 100 index.

Tullow Oil’s shares rose by 3.7 per cent outperforming the index which grew by 0.3 per cent while the shares of Africa Oil, Tullow’s 50 per cent partner in the Twiga South-1 well also jumped by a similar margin at the Canadian Stock Exchange.

The gains came as Tullow Oil confirmed an exclusive report in Wednesday’s edition of the Business Daily that it had discovered oil at the well, six months after another at the Ngamia-1 well in Turkana. See: Tullow strikes oil in second Northern Kenya operation

“Tullow Oil Plc announces that the Twiga South-1 exploration well in onshore Kenya Block 13T has successfully encountered oil. An announcement of the drilling result is expected in early to mid-November after target depth has been achieved and necessary sampling and analysis has been completed,” the company said in a statement.

Kenya energy officials greeted the news with hope that the discovery, indicated as 30 metres of net pay (depth) by sources, would move the country towards possible commercial production.

“They have discovered some quantities of oil but whose net pay is yet to be assessed. This is significant development for our country,” said Energy permanent secretary Patrick Nyoike.

“This is encouraging progress towards commercial oil confirmation , especially if Twiga-1 ends up being as prolific as Ngamia-1,” said Mr George Wachira, an industry consultant.

Mwendia Nyaga, another analyst, said Kenya is headed for rapid growth in the upstream oil and gas sector and should get ready to embrace the success and the potential advantages that it will present. “This is exciting news for Kenya. Any investment in the right infrastructure is justified,” added Mr Nyaga on telephone.

The Twiga South-1 structure is the second prospect to be tested as part of a multi-well drilling campaign in Kenya and Ethiopia.

It is the first discovery in block 13T following the Ngamia-1 discovery early this year in Block 10BB.Twiga-1, on Block 13T, is about 30 kilometres west of Ngamia-1.

It is understood the oil was encountered at 2,337m against a target depth of 3,114m.

Tullow struck substantial deposits of between 104 metres and 143 metres of net pay at Ngamia-1 at a total depth of 2,340 meters, the largest ever discovery in a single well by Tullow oil in Africa.

......Zeddy Sambu/Business Daily Africa

In Somalia, a comedian critical of Al Shabab is assassinated

Warsame Shire Awale was known for pillorying Al Shabab, Somalia’s Al Qaeda-allied Islamist militants, in radio plays and poems.

BY MIKE PFLANZ/CSM

One of Somalia’s best-loved broadcast comedians and playwrights has died after an apparent assassination shooting, making him the 18th media figure killed in the country this year.

Two young men armed with pistols forced their way into Warsame Shire Awale’s home in Mogadishu and shot him several times as he sat talking to his wife in their garden. He was taken to a hospital but died from his wounds late on Monday.

Mr. Awale was the 18th reporter or broadcaster to be killed in Somalia in 2012, making the country the second most dangerous for journalists in the world this year after Syria.

Awale, 60, was known for pillorying Al Shabab, Somalia’s Al Qaeda-allied Islamist militants, in radio plays and poems, and it is suspected that his assassination was ordered by the group’s radical leadership.

"He was sitting in the garden and I was next to him, we were chatting when suddenly two men armed with pistols came and shot my husband and then they ran off,” Fowziyo Farah, Awale’s wife, tells the Christian Science Monitor. “Really my husband was a nice man, they targeted him for no reason. He never had any threats made against him before. I call on the government to capture the perpetrators.” Another recent killing

Two days ago, Mohamed Mohamud Turyare, a journalist and producer with Radio Shabelle, died as a result of wounds inflicted on Oct. 21 when he was shot in a similar attack.

“I strongly condemn the targeted and persistent assault on Somalia’s media professionals,” said Augustine Mahiga, Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative for Somalia and the most senior United Nations official in the country. “The world is concerned that none of these murders have resulted in conclusive arrests, investigations, and due process or convictions of suspects.”

Awale may have become a target because of comments he made on air about gunmen attacking civilians, the National Union of Somali Journalists said.

He had performed with the band of the Somali Police Force and had reportedly urged people to join their ranks as they struggle to keep order in the face of violent attacks by Al Shabab.

Tom Rhodes, East Africa consultant for the New York City-based Committee to Protect Journalists, echoed calls for greater government action to safeguard journalists’ lives.

"This has been the deadliest year for Somali journalists ever recorded by CPJ,” he said. “This record fatality rate underlines the urgency with which authorities must act to secure conditions in Somalia, especially in the capital."

Osman Gure, director of Radio Kulmiye, where Awale worked, says he spoke to his colleague less than two hours before he was killed and that they were preparing a new play for the radio station.

Mr. Gure blames Al Shabab for the killing, even though a militant spokesman denied that his men were behind the shooting.

“These are assaults against the freedom of the Somali media,” Gure says. “I believe they killed him for expressing his views. They are against any active person who is taking part in the development of the country.”

Senegal launches warrant of arrest for Wade’s son

The Senegalese government has launched an international warrant of arrest against ex-President Abdoulaye Wade’s son in connection with hundreds of millions of dollars he allegedly swindled during his father’s regime.

A leading independent daily L’Observateur reported that the special prosecutor at the newly-established court against illicit wealth Alioune Ndao launched the warrant of arrest on Tuesday evening against Karim Wade.

Mr Karim Wade who is alleged to be residing in Europe is believed to have swindled millions of dollars when he served intermittently as minister of international cooperation, air transport, infrastructure and energy between 2009 and 2012.

Three months ago with the advent of the new regime, Karim Wade faced a preliminary hearing before the court concerning the alleged ill-gotten wealth he amassed from these ministries as well as from funds provided by the Islamic world to facilitate the hosting of a conference by Senegal.

The source said the hearings on 3 and 5 July 2012 led the investigators to discover that Karim Wade held an accounts at one local and another at a regional bank in the tune of $15 million (Sh1.3bn).

The military investigators alleged that Karim Wade had fraudulently acquired the money when he served as minister of air transport.

But the youthful former minister told the investigators that the amount was offered to him by his father, ex-President Wade who is on retirement in Senegal.

Senegal’s justice minister has meanwhile insisted that Karim Wade would have to express himself clearly over that money when he faces the special court upon his arrest or will face jail terms.

The former minister is also accused of several other financial malpractices for which he is expected to be quizzed including the possession of a private jet which he used for several years.

......TAMBA MATHEW/DAILY NATION KENYA

Los Angeles Lakers New Attitude

The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Dallas Mavericks 99-91 in its 2012-2013 season opener at the Staples Center Tuesday, October 30, 2012.

In Sudan blast, signs of Iran and Israel's rivalry

KS_Newton -- CAIRO (AP) — A suspected Israeli airstrike against a weapons factory in Khartoum last week points to a possible escalation in a hidden front of the rivalry between Israel and Iran: The arms pipeline through Sudan to Islamic militants on Israel's borders. Mystery still surrounds the blast, which killed four people. But analysts say the incident could indicate Iran is trying to send more advanced weapons via Sudan to Hamas in the Gaza Strip or Hezbollah in Lebanon — and that Israel has become more determined to stop it at a time of increased tensions over Iran's nuclear program.

Consensus has built among Israeli and Arab military analysts that the explosion just after midnight last Wednesday at the Yarmouk factory was indeed an Israeli airstrike as Sudan has claimed. Israel says it neither confirms nor denies being behind it. Sudan, in turn, denied on Monday that Iran had any connection to the factory's production.

In a show of support for the two countries' alliance, two Iranian warships — a helicopter carrier and destroyer that had been conducting anti-piracy patrols off East Africa's coast — docked this week at Sudan's main Red Sea port. The Iranian commanders were holding talks with Sudanese officers as part of the countries' "exchange of amicable relations," Sudan's military spokesman said.

Sudan's Foreign Ministry dismissed allegations of an Iranian connection to the Yarmouk facility, saying "Iran does not need to manufacture weapons in Sudan, be it for itself or for its allies." Experts say that Sudan's value to Iran is not in its modest weapons production capabilities, but in its vast desert expanses that provide cover for weapons convoys bound for Gaza through Egypt's lawless Sinai Peninsula. Israel has long contended that Iran uses the route to supply Hamas. It appears to have struck the supply line at least once before, when a convoy in a remote part of Sudan was blasted by explosions in 2009 — though Israel never admitted to the attack.

The question now is: What would prompt Israel to conduct a bolder strike hitting a Sudanese government facility in the heart of the capital Khartoum? The target may have been 40 shipping containers that satellite images show were stacked in the factory compound days before the explosion. Post-explosion imagery released Saturday by the Satellite Sentinel Project, a U.S. monitoring group, show six 52-foot-wide craters all centered at the spot where the containers had been, the blast's epicenter. The group said the craters were consistent with an airstrike and that whatever it hit was a "highly volatile cargo," causing a powerful explosion that destroyed at least two structures in the compound and sent ordnance flying into nearby neighborhoods.

What was in the containers remains unknown — leaving observers to speculate. Retired Israeli Brigadier General Shlomo Brom, a military expert, said there is a "strong possibility" that Israel had identified an "imminent threat" within the factory. Brom, a research associate at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, said the containers could have been part of Iran's efforts to smuggle "a new category of weapons" to Gaza. The weapons could be "something with air defense capability ... or could very well belong to the category of rockets and missiles, but just larger, stronger, and longer range," he said.

Gen. Sameh Seif Elyazal, a former Egyptian army general, said his understanding was that a strike was carried out against short-range missiles being assembled in the factory "under Iranian supervision," bound for the Hamas and Hezbollah militant groups. He said that his analysis was based on "private conversations with Israeli officials" that had been conveyed to him through others. He did not elaborate. Elyazal said Iranian-made weapons smuggled through Sudan reach Hamas militants in Gaza and Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon. "Iran wants to put Israel under pressure from the north, through Hezbollah and from the east through Gaza," he said. Iran has long backed Hamas, which took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

Iran's relations with Hamas have been strained after the Palestinian militant group this year cut its ties with Syria — Tehran's biggest Arab ally — over that country's bloody civil war. Iran has since cut back some aid to the group, but a senior Hamas leader visited Tehran last month and Hamas officials say the group's military wing in particular continues to receive funding from Iran. Iran "has sought alternate routes" for its arms shipments to Hamas after Israel cracked down on maritime lanes direct to Gaza that Tehran previously used, said Michael Eisenstadt, Director of the Military and Security Studies Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The Sudan route "complicates matters for Israel," he said.

Hezbollah is another possible destination. But despite the civil war, Syria is believed to remain the primary route for Tehran to supply its powerful Shiite guerrilla ally in Lebanon. Iranian arms shipments gain added significance amid the dispute of Iran's nuclear program, which Israel and the U.S. contend is aimed at producing a bomb.

Israel has held out the possibility of attacking Iranian nuclear facilities. Iran denies any intention to build a bomb and has warned it will retaliate for any Israeli attack — raising fears Hezbollah, Hamas or other Iranian-backed militant groups would carry out strikes on Israel. Speaking to Israel Radio after the Wednesday explosion in Khartoum, Israeli Vice Premier Moshe Yaalon said "there's no doubt that there is an axis of weapons from Iran via Sudan that reaches us, and not just us."

The contentions surrounding last week's explosion also point to the close ties between Iran and Sudan, dating back to the 1989 coup that brought President Omar al-Bashir to power, when Iran's Revolutionary Guard helped supply him weapons. Though wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged atrocities in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, al-Bashir visited Tehran most recently in August for a Nonaligned Movement summit.

Iran has made significant investments in water and engineering projects in Sudan. China is the main arms source for Sudan's government. But Iran, which signed a military relations deal with Khartoum in 2008, is also a supplier. Notably, Khartoum appears to receive Iranian drones to use in its multiple domestic wars against rebel groups, said Jonah Leff, who monitors Sudan for the Small Arms Survey. Rebels shot down two such drones, in 2008 and in March this year.

An Iranian role at the Yarmouk facility remains uncertain. The facility, which opened in 1996, was touted by Sudan as a source of pride, showing its weapons manufacturing capabilities. Still, the factory only produces ammunition. Leff said there is no evidence Iranian weapons are being assembled there, suggesting it was beyond the facility's capabilities. But, he said, workers from Yarmouk have traveled to Iran for training.

There have also been reports of Iranian experts residing at Yarmouk, said Hani Raslan, an expert on Sudan at the Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo. Raslan also said he suspects the strike was aimed at weakening the Iranian arms smuggling network. Fawaz A. Gerges, who heads the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics, says the strike has its symbolic aspect as well, allowing Israel to "flex its muscle and capacity and will to strike." "Regardless of what particular weapons were destroyed, Israel sent a message to Sudan and to Iran," Gerges said.

Sovereign Wealth Fund: One Right Step for Nigeria

Angola has just established a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) shortly after Nigeria’s $1billion SWF. Goddy Egene writes that Angola’s move shows that Nigeria took the right decision in the first place.

President Goodluck Jonathan’s signing of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) bill into law in 2011 marked a positive step towards the establishment of the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) in Nigeria.

A SWF has proven to be a veritable form of investment for the future, especially for countries that depend largely on commodities and raw materials such as oil and other mineral resources as their main source of revenue like Nigeria.

Although the law has been signed since last year, the Board to manage the SWF was only constituted recently. The delay in the full take-off of the fund has been due to opposition from some state governors who had contested the establishment of the fund.

The Opposition

Some of the governors, who foresaw the Excess Crude Account (ECA) as a regular source of funds, believe that the establishment of SWF would affect the ECA and thus deny them access to funds.

However, defending the SWF, the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, declared that the fund would save money for future generations, fund infrastructure and defend the economy against commodity price shocks. She added that SWF would make Nigeria more attractive for investors.

Angola’s $5bn SWF

But while Nigeria is still slow to commence the operations of the SWF, Angola, Africa’s second-biggest oil producer, is starting its SWF with $5 billion in assets to ease the impact of commodity price volatility that prompted an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan three years ago.

Known as The Fundo Soberano de Angola (FSDEA), it is to be managed by a three-member board led by Armando Manuel, an adviser on economic issues to President Jose Eduardo dos Santos.

According to Manuel, FSDEA investments would include financial securities and stakes in infrastructure and hospitality projects and other industries that may exhibit strong growth in sub-Saharan Africa.

“It is an evolution of the resources fund that had been proposed using 100,000 barrels of oil a day and it’s from this perspective we hope the fund will grow,” he said.

Before Nigeria and now Angola, three other African countries had established SWFs. The countries are Mauritania, Equatorial Guinea and Algeria.

History of SWFs
In general, the first SWF in the world was established in Kuwait in 1953, as a means of helping to stabilise the economy from fluctuating oil prices. In 1956, the Gilbert Islands (now Kiribati), established the revenue equalisation reserve fund to manage profits from phosphate mining.

After Kuwait and Kiribati, the next major SWFs were created in the 1970s, in the wake of the oil stock. But the most recent wave of SWFs’ establishment started in the 1990s with the Norwegian government’s pension fund-global in 1990, after which the trend has continued till today. And within the last five years, some countries such as China, Iran, Russia, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates, have established their own SWFs.

However, the world’s biggest SWF is operated by Norway and has $582.9 billion under management at the end of 2011, according to the Sovereign Investment Lab at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy.

Analysts believe that the Nigeria SWF should swing into action without further delay, considering the tortuous journey and the benefits derivable from the fund.

Aganga’s Role

The establishment of the SWF in Nigeria is actually the brain-child of former Minister of Finance and current Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga.

The SWF is based on the Santiago Principle-with three investment baskets – the Nigeria Infrastructure Fund; the Future Generations Fund and the Stabilisation Fund.

With the benefit of hindsight and convinced by the urgent need of the country for a “special buffer” to jump-start its economic regeneration, Aganga initiated a research into the workability of a SWF in the Nigerian environment.

He used international research experts and under his watch, the framework for the establishment of the SWF was designed before he posted to the ministry of trade and investment, which was newly created.

Explaining the concept of how the fund would work under the Santiago Principle, Aganga, at that time, said the Infrastructure Fund would be used in bridging the nation’s infrastructure gap by investing in the development of critical infrastructure across the country.

“Notably, 10 per cent of this fund will be devoted to agriculture and regional government-sponsored development projects that will promote economic development in under-served sectors or regions in Nigeria,” he said.

On the Future Generations Fund, Aganga said it would be used to build an inter-generational savings base by investing in longer term assets that generate returns to accumulate wealth for future generations of Nigerians.

On the other hand, the Stabilisation Fund, he explained, would be used to protect the country’s budget by providing a stable, last-resort source of finance during periods of fiscal deficit.

Benefits of SWF

“However, the Stabilisation Fund will ensure the smooth functioning of government and delivery of key services during periods where revenues from petroleum sales are less than the level anticipated and approved by the National Assembly,” he said.

According to Aganga, with the establishment of the SWF, Nigeria will join other OPEC states and more than 50 other natural-resource-rich countries, which together manage over $3 trillion in sovereign assets, in having a national savings plan for managing natural resource wealth.

Speaking on efforts to convince the governors, he said, “We actually took our time to make sure that we did everything that we needed to do. I actually made representations to the governors at the National Economic Council at least four times. Each time we discussed it, we looked at areas where we needed to be flexible.

“We looked at their concerns and we structured it in a way to accommodate all the concerns. They had input into it. And when we decided to set up the fund and set aside $1 billion, we went round every governor for a yes or no answer, and the consensus was ‘set up the fund, set aside $1 billion,” he added.

Despite the initial opposition by the governor’s forum, some of the governors commended the establishment of the SWF, saying it was a brilliant idea.

For instance, the Governor of Niger State, Aliyu Babangida, had said the SWF would aid sustainable growth and development in Nigeria.

“The Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, is the founder and father of SWF in Nigeria. He is one of those few patriotic and visionary Nigerians, who is very passionate about the economic transformation of this country.

“His appointment by President Jonathan, first as the Minister of Finance, and now as Minister of Trade and investment, has resulted in the introduction of policies and reforms that have helped to put Nigeria on a sound footing to attract local and Foreign Direct Investment across all sectors of the economy. Had it been that we established the Sovereign Wealth Fund 50 years ago, we would have gone very far,” he said.

With the board and management in place, the SWF is set to begin operations.

Need to Patronise Domestic Markets

However, stockbrokers have said the domestic market should be considered when the decision to invest the fund would be made. According to the President of Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Mr. Ariyo Olushekun, the fund should be well-utilised, especially the future generation aspect of the fund.

“The fund should be invested in the Nigerian market. It does not make sense for Nigeria to take funds out of its own economy and deposit such funds with investment banks abroad or for them to be invested abroad, because that would mean that they will be using the fund to develop such economies.

“We should use our savings and our reserves to develop our own economy. In any case, we have heard of countries that even lost major part of their funds in the process of sending the funds abroad,” he said.

He cited Libya, he said, reported to have lost about 80 per cent of its SWF to foreign markets. “We do not want to do that here in Nigeria, therefore, we should use our funds here to develop our economy,” he declared.

......THIS DAY

Man [Abiola Akintunde Mathews] pleads guilty to manslaughter in stabbing

17-year-old Mariak Jok died on September 6, 2009 after stabbed by Abiola Akintunde Mathews

They both came to Canada hoping for a better life. But a chance meeting on a downtown Winnipeg street — fuelled by alcohol and some heated words — would result in both their dreams being dashed.

Abiola Akintunde Matthews, 37, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the September 2009 stabbing death of 17-year-old Michael Mariak Jok.

Matthews returned to court Tuesday for sentencing and faces deportation back to Africa upon his release from prison. The Crown is seeking a 12-year prison term, while defence lawyer Josh Weinstein has asked for seven years.

Queen’s Bench Justice Karen Simonsen has reserved her decision until later this year.

"I am deeply sorry for your loss, from the bottom of my heart," Matthews told the victim’s family in court Tuesday. "I know I caused much pain for your family. I really feel what happened every day, taking the life of a young man."

The tragic incident began when Matthews and a friend were driving through the neighbourhood when they spotted Jok and a group of his friends walking down the street, court was told. There was no apparent prior history between the two men.

Matthews’ friend shouted a crude remark towards some young women in the group. That prompted an angry Jok to walk up to their vehicle and pour out a bottle of beer he was carrying on the car. He also threw the empty bottle towards Matthews, who responded by getting out of the car carrying a knife.

One of Jok’s friends then took off his belt and began swinging it, striking Matthews who slashed him in the cheek with his knife. Jok then lunged towards Matthews, shoving him. Matthews responded by stabbing Jok once in the throat, causing massive blood loss that caused his death.

Matthews fled the scene but later confessed his crime to a friend, who reported it to police several days later.

Matthews has been in custody since his arrest and is expected to be given double-time credit of more than six years because it pre-dates legislative changes outlawing the practice.

Jok was a Grade 12 student at Miles Macdonell Collegiate who came to Canada in 2004. Family members say he spent his early life in Ethiopia and dreamed of attending university in Canaday. The teen attended a youth group at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church and was an avid soccer and basketball player.

"We came here to make a life," said a friend, Matthew Joseph, 20. "He was too young to die at this early age."

.....Mike McCintyre/Winnipeg Free Press

African Development Bank Group : African leaders urged to invest in jobs, infrastructure and protecting development gains

Opening an unprecedented gathering of experts in Kigali, present and former African Heads of State urged business, community and political leaders to help turn the continent's impressive growth into economic opportunities for ordinary citizens.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame, inaugurating the country's first African Economic Conference, said, "In Rwanda, we understand that politics and economics go hand in hand and we have made a conscious and deliberate choice of inclusive development based on our political reality. By and large, they have produced positive results. Growth has been consistent and poverty levels considerably reduced by 12 per cent from 56.9 per cent to 44 per cent in five years."

Organized each year by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the title for this year's African Economic Conference will be "Inclusive and Sustainable Development in an Age of Economic Uncertainty".

Africa has weathered the economic crisis and achieved considerable advances in the area of poverty reduction and human development. However, the region is still home to high levels of poverty, hunger, unemployment and inequality in political voice and access to resources.

"Over the first decade of this century, with the exception of 2008, Africa experienced exceptional economic performance and growth in GDP per capita," said Helen Clark, the UNDP Administrator. "But there is a way to go in many countries to translate that growth into higher human development.

Deliberate policy measures and targeted investments are needed to make growth not just fast, but also inclusive and sustainable."

Participants on the opening day said that the key issue for the continent was to shift from commodity-based to innovative, diversified economies at a time when foreign direct investment, aid and remittances were drying up.

Donald Kaberuka, the President of the African Development Bank, underscored the need for long-term solutions. He suggested that Africa's growth should include doing research on solutions on how African countries could internally finance their development, and learning from what has gone wrong globally to redesign their policies.

Africa must invest in quality education in order to stop children from inheriting poverty from generation to generation, said Kaberuka.

"This is how you stop children from inheriting living conditions of debt, and once you do that you have stopped the transmission of poverty," he told an opening session.

"Inclusive development must include equity, equality, popular participation not only in politics but also in the economy itself and then of course there must be transparency, and all those things that make the governed believe and have confidence in those who govern them," added the Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo.

Participants at the conference also said that protecting communities from food and fuel price volatility, climate change and political instability required putting in place bold measures for social protection, including insurance, credit and employment schemes.

The African Economic Conference is organized as a series of open thematic debates, combined with sessions that review policy research from across the continent. The conference provides a uniquely open forum for political leaders, academics and emerging talent from the continent to discuss solutions to Africa's pressing development issues.

......NEWS 4 TRADERS