The EFCC officials, acting on a tip-off about some suspected fraudsters residing in an estate in the Lugbe area, invaded their compound and in the process, caused a commotion that woke the 26-year-old, making his heart pound rapidly.

Confused and disoriented, Marcel peeked through his curtains, saw an EFCC van parked outside and heard the law enforcement officials moving into his neighbour’s apartment.

With a sense of urgency, the Imo State indigene picked up the phone he had been using for over two years to scam unsuspecting people and rushed to the restroom.

“My hands were shaking but my brain was working like a clock. An idea came into my head to wrap my phone in a nylon bag and that’s what I quickly did. A voice in my mind told me to hide the phone in the toilet tank, but another voice told me they would find it and I would be busted.

“I decided to dip the phone in the toilet bowl and shove it in the connecting pipe. That phone is what I used for ‘bombing and grinding’ and if EFCC finds it, I’m done,” Marcel confessed to Saturday PUNCH.

In Nigeria, Internet fraudsters, aka Yahoo boys or G-boys, are known to make a living by defrauding people online and offline.

Two of the slogans used by members of this criminal network are “bombing” which means finding a victim online and “grinding” which refers to chatting with a victim. These victims are often called “clients” or “magas.”

Before Marcel could fully comprehend what was happening to his neighbour – whom he claimed to be a G-boy – the door to his room was flung open with a force that sent it slamming against the wall.

Several EFCC officers stormed in, their flashlights sliced through the darkness that permeated Marcel’s room. One of the officers stepped forward, and with a stern expression, he said, “We are EFCC, stay where you are.”

As the young man sat there, frozen in a mixture of fear and bewilderment, the officers began their meticulous search. They rifled through his drawers, upended his mattress, and scattered his belongings across the floor.

“Show me your phone,” one of the officers shouted, his tone brooking no argument. Marcel told our correspondent that he denied having a phone as he had recently lost it.

He said, “I don’t think they believed my lie. One of them quickly pointed at my charger which was still plugged into an electric socket and told me ‘Is that not the charger to your phone? What are you charging with it?’

“As I tried to lie, I felt a slap across my face which made me see stars and planets. I started to cry, begging them that I was not a Yahoo boy and that I was just a shoemaker. I showed them the set of sandals I recently made, and they took it and flung it to a corner of the room. It was then I knew it was over for me.

“They started to rummage through my room, searched my drawers, and threw down all the boxes on top of my wardrobe. My room looked like a tornado had swept through it. Then one of them went into the restroom. From where I was seated, I could see him looking through the toilet tank and checking the toilet bowl but didn’t see my phone. Eventually, they all left my room.”

After an hour, when the EFCC enforcement officers had left, Marcel borrowed a phone from one of his neighbours and called his mother, Bridget, who resided in Lagos.

Bridget, a fervent member of a popular Pentecostal church is aware of her son’s involvement in Internet fraud. She had been functioning as a spiritual adviser who prayed for Marcel’s protection from the authorities.

Marcel added, “My mother was almost weeping on the phone. She thought I had been arrested because she had a dream earlier that month that EFCC arrested me and she warned me. She prays for me and I believe so much in her prayers. I believe it was what saved me from being arrested on that day.

“Most of the G-guys living in our flat and estate were arrested, they even arrested some innocent people. One teenage boy who came to stay temporarily with his aunt was one of those arrested. I’m very sure that if they had seen my phone, I would have been caught because it is my hustle pack.”

‘Nigerian princes’

In the early 2000s, a phrase known as ‘Yahoo boys’ was coined to describe young, financially driven persons who utilised Yahoo.com’s email accounts to execute phishing scams, also known as ‘Yahoo Yahoo’ or ‘419 fraud’ in the Nigerian slogan. 

According to Infosecurity Magazine, Internet fraudsters are the original ‘Nigerian Princes,’ who have shifted in recent years to conduct elderly fraud, fake job scams, and romance scams.

Meta clampdown

In its Q1 2024 Adversarial Threat Report on Wednesday, Meta Platforms Incorporated, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, announced that it removed 63,000 accounts associated with the notorious ‘Yahoo boys’ scammers.

The accounts, deleted over the past few weeks, were used for financial sextortion scams and distribution of blackmail scripts.

Meta reported that a smaller network of 2,500 accounts, linked to around 20 individuals, primarily targeted adult men in the United States using fake identities.

Findings by Saturday PUNCH showed that Nigerian Internet fraudsters operate in different ways ranging from fake job scams to business email compromise and transnational fraudulent schemes.

A notable example is 40-year-old Ramon Abbas, also known by his Instagram handle, Ray Hushpuppi, who was sentenced to 135 months in United States federal prison sometime in November 2022.

A prolific international fraudster, Abbas laundered tens of millions of dollars through a series of online scams and flaunted his luxurious, crime-funded lifestyle on social media till his arrest in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in June 2020.

 Tainted luxury life

In Nigeria, G-boys are often known to flaunt their luxurious, crime-funded lifestyles on social media. They often show off their luxury cars, posh houses, sultry mistresses, and dainty feasts in expensive hotels, clubs, or resorts.

They are mostly bejewelled from head to toe, adorned in designer clothes, and spend money lavishly with their friends – an activity that is called “balling” within their circles.

Other slang used by Internet fraudsters include ‘gbenusi,’ a Yoruba word that is used to connote celebrating or throwing a big party after a successful deal, ‘sana wole’ which means beginning a party with fireworks, and ‘picker,’ a code-word for someone who helps in opening foreign bank accounts and receive money, then helps them forward such money to Nigeria.

EFCC incessant raids

Earlier this month, the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, disclosed that several international companies had shut down their Nigerian operations following massive theft of their finances through local wire fraud.

According to a statement by the commission’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, the EFCC chairman noted that in 2022, over $500m was lost due to the activities of Internet fraudsters.

He said, “The alarming statistics continued with Nigerian banks losing over N8bn to electronic transfer fraud in the first nine months of 2022.”

Acting based on intelligence reports of Yahoo boys who lodge in hotels and lavish money at nightclubs, EFCC operatives have been raiding hotels to arrest cybercrime suspects.

In June, EFCC officers, in the early hours of Saturday, raided two hotels and event centres located in the Alagbaka area of Akure, the Ondo State capital, and arrested over 50 suspects including a soon-to-be groom who was celebrating his bachelor’s eve at one of the targeted clubs.

The anti-corruption agency also allegedly seized numerous vehicles, laptops, high-end smart phones, and other items during the operation.

On March 11, operatives of the Lagos Zonal Command of EFCC also arrested 45 suspected Internet fraudsters in the Ikorodu area of Lagos, following an intelligence report on the activities of an organised cybercrime syndicate network, operating in that axis of the state.

Items recovered from them at the point of arrest included exotic vehicles, sophisticated mobile devices, and laptops.

Similarly, in February this year, EFCC operatives arrested 36 suspected Internet fraudsters in the Gbokoniyin and Yetedo areas of Abeokuta, Ogun State.

In the same month, officials of the anti-graft agency also arrested 14 suspected fraudsters at a ‘Yahoo Academy’ (believed to be a training centre for soon-to-be Internet fraudsters) in Makurdi, Benue State.

Similarly, in July 2021, about 30 suspects were also arrested by EFCC operatives during a raid on the Parktonian Hotel in the Lekki area of Lagos State.

Concealing identities

However, to hide from the eagle eyes of the anti-cybercrime institution, our correspondent gathered that many suspected Yahoo boys have resorted to adopting different tactics to conceal their illegal professional identities.

Some tactics include modifying their public appearances and living a modest lifestyle, a strategy at variance with the stereotypical ways of affluence funded with the proceeds from their fraudulent activities.

When our correspondent reached out to several suspected G-boys, all except a few vehemently declined to speak about their involvement for fear of being hunted down by the EFCC.

Deceitful tactics

During a conversation with a suspected fraudster, identified simply as Olalekan at an eatery in Ibadan, Oyo State, this reporter observed that he looked nothing like the stereotypical image of a Yahoo boy.

The graduate of a public university in Kwara State, who was dressed in a grey flowing robe known as Jalabiya, sported a punk hairstyle and a full-grown beard, while a silver wristwatch adorned his wrist.

A string of prayer beads hung awkwardly from Olalekan’s pocket, and he clutched an Android phone.

“I have to be careful now,” he told our correspondent as he munched on his food. “I was arrested four years ago whilst still in school. I was in my finals but had joined the G-boys because the peer pressure was too much. EFCC officials raided our off-campus hostels one early morning and I was among the G-boys they arrested.

“They seized all our cars, gadgets, and phones and packed all of us to their station. It wasn’t easy there at all. They looked into all of our phones and e-wallets to see something incriminating to link us with cybercrimes.

“They caught me red-handed and I was charged to court and had my photo posted on the EFCC’s Instagram account. They seized my car and laptops and I paid a fine of N800,000.”

After his release, Olalekan said he stayed away from cyber fraud for a while, but according to him, he could not adjust to living as a common citizen.

“Now I dress like a Muslim cleric and use my clean phone when I go out during the day and that protects me from the watch of suspicious security operatives. They all know how we typically look, so I disguise myself so I don’t end up in their net again,” he said.

Fraudulent doctor

In the case of an Ogun State-based suspected Yahoo boy who preferred to be identified as Isaiah, he was introduced to cyber fraud in 2019.

He said, “The street is not smiling; you hustle so your charger doesn’t blow. Most of my neighbours here are not aware of what I do. I hang a lab coat in my car when I go out and I have an ID card to present, so everyone calls me a doctor. But that is a format and only my guys know the update.”

Narrating the ordeal of one of his friends, Isaiah suggested that some compromised security operatives help them recover their seized property but only under the condition of parting with a humongous sum of money.

Isaiah recounted, “One of my close friends, a confirmed G-guy, came in from Kenya in 2022. He rented an apartment here in Ogun State and the house was furnished with N15m. He lived with his sister and grandmother.

“When these EFCC guys came for him, they dried him up of almost N58m, he was reduced to zero. We had to contribute money for him to return to Kenya. He felt insecure because some policemen also raided his house.

“He did a shady deal with them so they didn’t take him to the office and they released him. He returned to Kenya last year and since then we have not heard from him.”

Isaiah further stated that some cybercrime suspects posed as movie producers and set up foundations, and non-governmental organisations that they used as fronts for money laundering.

“When the EFCC asks for the details, they will point to this and that projects in so and so place and tell them that these are where they make their money, but it’s all a format,” he added.

Hiding in plain sight

An Abuja-based cybercrime suspect who gave his name as Charles, in a voice note sent to Saturday PUNCH, narrated how he was arrested by EFCC operatives in 2022.

He said, “I served here in Abuja and rented an apartment at Lugbe. The choice of this location was deliberate because the word on the streets is that the EFCC usually raids the big areas like Maitama, Asokoro, and Katampe, among other areas where flashy G-boys live.

“The day these guys busted me, they seized my car and everything I had, including all my home gadgets. They asked for the receipt of all these things. I can’t lie to you my brother, a total of N21m was taken from me.

“When I was released, my bank account was reduced to zero, including my Bitcoins wallet. But I found a way to liaise with them to get my vehicle back. They have informants. I know who gave them information about my moves and I was able to track him. It was my landlord’s son who is also a Yahoo guy. They’ve nabbed him too.”

Explaining how Internet fraudsters disguise to evade being detected by the EFCC, Charles said some of the fraudulent suspects secured government employment to conceal their criminal identities.

He said, “Some guys hide under the guise of having government jobs, especially the type of work that enables them to wear uniforms. Some are into big business ventures and some pass them off as family businesses.

“We are in a country where the system doesn’t challenge you for the source of the income you use in starting a business. So you can create a business as a front to protect yourself. Some guys also hide under forex trading and they will tell you they are into crypto.

“Some of these guys parading themselves as tech guys are in our community. And I’m not talking about those boys collecting gift cards or into romance scams, I’m referring to the higher levels like hacking mail, spamming, rendering fake services, and fake investments. They will approach you as investors and insurance gurus and from there they swindle you.

“Some pose as content creators to the public. You will also find big men and children from wealthy homes in the circle too, and there are times you will need their help when you get caught because they have connections. There are different updates involved in this game.”

Cryptocurrency fraudsters

In an interview with Saturday PUNCH, a Crypto trader, Damilola Afolayan, lamented how cyber fraudsters adopted crypto trading as a disguise for their illicit activities.

He said, “They pose as legitimate traders of crypto coins on social media, claiming to buy Bitcoins and other coins at attractive rates. This deceptive behaviour is meant to present them not as Yahoo boys but as crypto traders.

“While the allure of quick gains through cybercrime may seem enticing, the risks and consequences associated with such activities can have lasting repercussions on individuals and society.

“Instead of falling prey to the temptations of fraudulent schemes, I urge these individuals to consider redirecting their skills and ingenuity towards the world of cryptocurrency.”

Afolayan said cryptocurrency offers a decentralised and transparent financial ecosystem where innovation and creativity are celebrated.

“By leveraging their technical prowess and entrepreneurial spirit in the crypto space, former Internet fraudsters can find a legitimate outlet for their ambitions and aspirations,” he added.

Rites for protection

Our correspondent, while carrying out discrete investigations, also discovered that many Yahoo boys seek solace in personal prayers, and protection rites performed by their parents, girlfriends, wives, or religious clerics, who are well aware of their source of income.

Several sources who confided in our correspondent revealed that while physical associations of Yahoo boys exist, there are also virtual ones, whose parents created groups on WhatsApp.

“In these groups, you find parents of G-Boys who call themselves Iya awon omo ologo, meaning parents of glorious children, and they all come together to seek spiritual assistance, strategise, and organise parties to support their children involved in cybercrimes,” a source told Saturday PUNCH.

Also speaking, Michael Hassan, who was acquainted with several cyber criminals, pointed out that most of these Yahoo guys are either involved in voodoo themselves or have their mothers or wives performing the rituals for them.

He added, “I used to have a friend who has been a G-boy since 2012 and he shuttles between Malaysia and Nigeria. One day in 2017, he came around and I visited him in his family house.

“That day we held a welcome party for him and I handled the cooking for the party. While in the market, his mother called to inform me that they had bought chicken for him and that I should just get pepper and other things.

“At home, he was called into the room by his mother while gisting with us and after a while, I wanted to ask him for the chicken his mother was talking about and to also charge my phone in his room.

“As I approached the room, I just felt the urge to peek through and I saw his mum circling the chicken around his head while he knelt. I was surprised. His mother killed the chicken and brought it to me in the kitchen. They eventually served everyone except me. I made up an excuse not to eat it.”

An economist, Oluwaseun Wusu, told our correspondent that economic hardship and the desire for a fast life pushed many youths into cybercrime.

Wusu said, “The major reason for the increase in fraudulent practices is unemployment. I know a guy who stayed for three or four years without a job and resorted to becoming a Yahoo boy. Again, there is economic hardship.

“For instance, during Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, one dollar was N140, but as of 2022, it was N162. Now we have a dollar at N1,520. Additionally, most of our guys don’t want to start small; they want to use the iPhone 14 Promax. Some celebrities are also involved and they use ladies for money laundering.”

Worship centres fingered

Highlighting the influence of religion, Wusu said, “Many Yahoo boys tend to flock to white garment churches, but it should be pointed out that these churches are owned by individuals and are not often officially registered.

“The same applies to these non-uniformed churches and many of them incorporate African traditional rites into their worship. As a member of Cherubim and Seraphim Church, we have strict rules and regulations and these tend to curb the influx of Yahoo boys into our gatherings.”

A member of a white garment church, Sola Omilani, while speaking with Saturday PUNCH, said the claim that G-boys love attending white garment churches is true.

He said, “Many of our clerics perform certain rituals for these guys. Although I think most of these clerics are simply scamming the scammers. I also believe that these clerics merely exploit the desperation of these G-boys and give them fake soaps. These guys inherently believe in voodoo, so they are easily exploited.

“Many of these G-boys perform rituals for protection, yet they still get arrested by the EFCC. Additionally, some G-boys use fetish soaps and flaunt spiritual objects that they believe would protect them from the authorities. I know this because I have friends who are into Internet fraud.”

However, a Lagos-based white garment prophet, Taiwo Lasisi, told our correspondent that the claim that G-boys frequent the church cannot be substantiated.

He said, “There are different people who come to the church and one can’t easily tell who they are. You can’t be going to each member to start asking their occupation. In the church, we will see good and bad people and we embrace all. Our church is not judgemental.

“What usually influences people to join our church is our white garment; the way we sing, and dance, and how we love to be adorned with jewellery. Some people might not be Yahoo boys but with the way they are attired and spend money to fund God’s work, some people would tend to insinuate that they are Yahoo boys.

“We don’t encourage unethical actions, but we welcome people as long as they are our brothers in the faith. We must not alienate people even if they are not clean because they came to meet God for salvation.”

The EFCC spokesman, Mr Dele Oyewale in a phone interview with Saturday PUNCH, noted that the strategies deployed by Internet fraudsters are well known to the agency.

“These disguising tactics by Yahoo boys are well known. It is impersonation and identity theft. That is why they are charged in court.

“This is why if you read many of the charges against them in court, you will find, impersonation, identity theft, and obtaining money under pretenses as part of the charges levied against them. Some of them will pose as engineers, but they will be secretly involved in cyber fraud,” Oyewale said.

[Punch]

I am in London, hopefully on my way, in the next few days, to Paris, the host city of the 2024 Olympiad. I am very excited about visiting Paris again after two previous experiences that are significant chapters in my life. 

48 years ago, my flight to my first Olympic Games experience started in a city people used to say, in those days, was so beautiful and romantic that after seeing Paris, you can die happily!

It happened in the month of June. I was only a few weeks away from graduating from The Polytechnic, Ibadan. Through the Oyo State Sports Council, the National Sports Commission contacted the office of the Rector of The Polytechnic, seeking my release to come to Lagos and proceed immediately to join the national football team, the Green Eagles, that were on tour of Europe preparing for the 1976 Olympic Games. 

Coming completely from the Blue, it may be the most pleasant shock of my life. It was a quantum leap into uncharted frontiers of fate and fame. The Olympics were for gods, yet here was I, from nowhere, about to become one!

I had to submit an incomplete final project to my supervisor in the Mechanical Engineering department with the offer to return and defend the project after the national assignment. It was a most unusual situation for everyone. 

Meanwhile, the list of Nigeria’s contingent was with the International Olympic Committee, IOC, and had been released to the public. A scintillating performance by me in the quarter-final of that year’s Africa Cup Winners Cup for Shooting Stars FC at the National Stadium, Lagos, made Dr. Isaac Akioye, Director of the National Sports Commission, NSC, in charge of Nigerian sports, to send an urgent request to the IOC to replace the name of an already registered player with mine.

That’s how, as in a dramatic scene straight out of Hollywood, I found myself on a flight to Europe for the first time, to join the Green Eagles, already touring, training and playing international friendly matches in Greece, Germany, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia in final preparation for the Olympic Games. 

At the end of the tour, some 10 days to the opening ceremony of Montreal ’76, the entire Nigerian contingent of athletes in various sports were assembled in Hotel Ibis, in Paris. 

That was my first ‘taste’ of Paris. That’s where my 1976 Olympic story took off. 

Of course, the rest of that story is now unforgettable history highlighted by the boycott of the Games by 28 African countries led by Nigeria and Tanzania, and several other equally historic consequences birthed through the decades till now. 

I never got to visit Paris again until the France ’98 FIFA World Cup. 

I was present when the Super Eagles put up their best performance at the championship, trouncing Spain by 3-2. Some friends and I spent the entire night walking the streets of Paris on a drinking binge. 

A few days later, on the streets of Paris, I also endured the agony that followed Nigeria’s painful loss to Denmark that ended my short-lived second romance with Paris.

That was 26 years ago. 

I have not been back there since then.

It is now Friday July 26, 2024. I am heading back to Paris to witness a new ‘episode’ of the biggest multi-sports event on the planet. I am excited about the prospects of Nigerian athletes at the Games. The country’s 88-athlete contingent is brimming with talent, confidence, determination and a positive spirit. 

I am eager to embed with them, particularly those in athletics where I think more of Nigeria’s haul of medals will likely come from. 

I look forward to playing an unofficial role as an official Sports Ambassador of Nigeria, and sports diplomat of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, NIIA. I intend to add my humble voice to encourage, inspire and motivate the athletes to run faster, jump higher, throw farther and fight harder than they have ever done for their Fatherland. 

Beyond that, I shall feed my journalistic impulses, and share personal experiences with audiences on my different platforms (print, radio, and social media) with unique sights and sounds of Paris 

Once again, I have arrived in London. I love the City. It is, in my humble opinion, one of the best destinations for social and cultural interaction in the world, a melting pot of everything. The city accommodates a little bit of every community on earth. 

Interestingly, I have not visited London in almost 5 years, not since the Covid 19 pandemic struck and disturbed the equilibrium of the world. I became one of its victims. I not only contracted it mildly but also lost my UK residential status when I chose to hibernate in the ‘safe’ environment of the secluded hills of Wasimi, rather than be involved in the long, uncertain, expensive and complicated protocols that traveling to the UK during that period required. 

It has been a nightmare since the end of ‘Covid’ trying to get any kind of respite to re-enter the UK. Even the present visit is possible only by the intervention of the top echelon of the British High Commission. 

So, I am here now, at the banks of River Thames, working out the logistics of entering Paris at this time. The city is filled to the brim with visitors – the almost 20,000-strong army of athletes, technical officials, and the media. Plus, of course, the millions of summer-time tourists and sports fans that are descending right now on the city. 

By the next time you are reading or hearing from me, I would have crossed the English Channel in a ‘bullet train’, the Eurostar, that travels at speeds of over 300 km/h deep through the famous underwater tunnels of the Channel. 

I cannot wait to catch up with Tobi Amusan, Ese Brume, Odunayo Adekuoroye, Aruna Quadri, Esther Onyema, Funke Oshinaike, Opeyori Anuoluwapo, and so on, to share ‘communion’ of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

•They are beneficiaries of subsidy payments and also working against the revival of other refineries so that fuel importation will continue
•Read between the lines and take action

STAKEHOLDERS of the South-South have called on President Bola Tinubu to fish out and penalize the petrol barons operating underground to upset the working of refineries in the country, including the recently established Dangote Refinery. 

They said the showdown between Dangote, and the oil industry regulators was a collusion masterminded by the oil industry mafia, urging the President to read between the lines.

Unmask the saboteurs —Ambakaderimo, South-South leader

The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Communities’ Development Committee of the Niger Delta, Joseph Ambakaderimo, said: “The breeze is blowing and the rump of the chicken will be exposed”.
“For some of us, the actions taken so far against the Dangote group are deliberate because certainly, the Dangote Refinery came as a disruption, which some vested interests did not see coming.

“It exposes why our refineries have remained comatose, people are feeding fat from the wrong things going there. The government is encouraged to identify and punish those involved in this sabotage of our refineries.”

Tinubu, NASS, govs should stop the mafia —Inwalomhe, JRC

The Executive Director of Justice Research Centre (JRC), Donald Inwalomhe, who spoke in Benin City, the capital of Edo State, said it was obvious that the beneficiaries of the subsidy regime have ganged up to frustrate the Dangote Refinery’s access to crude oil.

“The subsidy billionaires benefitting from subsidy in Nigeria are the mafia within the Nigerian oil industry working against Dangote. They worked for the refineries in Warri and Port Harcourt to collapse so that they would continue to get billions of naira from the subsidy for imported petroleum products.

“They are the ones equally working against the modular refineries that have been completed, they want subsidy to continue, which is why they are denying Dangote crude oil and telling the federal government to continue to import petroleum products.

“That is the challenge we are facing as we speak today. The petroleum industry in the South-South has collapsed, if you go to Warri, the Warri Refinery is like a ghost town since the refinery is no longer functioning. They are like a drug cartel in the petroleum industry, we can call them petroleum barons, who do not want our refineries to work.

“We call on the state governors, all the members of the state Houses of Assembly across Nigeria, and members of the National Assembly, which is the Senate and the House of Representatives to rally around Dangote, and ensure that the Dangote Refinery works. All other modular refineries should be encouraged to start operations.

“Look at Edo state, for instance, we have two modular refineries that are not working, one is in Ologbo built by the Chinese and Edo State government, and another one in Orhionmwon. Both of them are completed but they are not working, if they go into production and add their output to the one coming from Dangote, it will help to solve the issue of importation of petroleum products.

”Our governors should work with President Tinubu to ensure the Dangote Refinery works. The subsidy mafias have destroyed the economy of the South-South, they are making sure that both Warri and Port Harcourt refineries remain dormant.”

This‘s a conspiracy – Gbemre, NDPC

Coordinator of the Niger Delta Peace Coalition, NDPC, Zik Gbemre, in his reaction, said: “This is another conspiracy to fool Nigerians to accept greedy stakeholders’ trumped-up industry challenges to induce continued hikes in fuel prices.”

“The regulators were involved in approvals through the construction to the hurried commissioning. Why are they having issues at the time that Dangote Refinery is putting out products? Remember that this is a refinery the regulators passed as the best in Africa and beyond.

Mr. President should sort out the issue —Jonjon, ex-IYC president

A former president of the Ijaw Youth Congress, IYC, Dr. Onyienfie Jonjon posited that the misunderstanding between Dangote and the regulators was about economic interest.

His words: “Dangote cannot operate without the NNPCL, and NNPCL cannot do without Dangote. The oil cabal does not want Dangote to succeed, and the government still pays subsidies. If Dangote comes full stream, how will the cabal continue to enjoy the subsidy that they are getting?

He suggested that as the Minister of Petroleum, President Tinubu should summon a meeting of NNPCL, and Dangote Refinery to iron out whatever crisis they are having.

”While we do not support monopoly in any guise and form, knowing the impact the Dangote Refinery would have on the Nigeria economy, certain concessions should be made so that we can have a win-win situation for both the investors and Nigerians.

“We urge both parties to put the interest of the country and its people first, and look for amicable ways to resolve this lingering issue.”

More than meets the eye —Idi, NNYM scribe

The Secretary of the Ndokwa National Youth Movement, NNYM, in Delta State, Presley Idi, said, “We find the outburst by the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) chief executive, Adamu Farouk, against the Dangote Refinery, shocking, surprising and uncalled for.”

“While we believe there is more to the outburst than meets the eye, it was shocking to hear and this has certainly created bad waves for Nigeria globally, which is not needed this time.

“We think that the issues of product quality of the Dangote Refinery made by Farouk could have been resolved without coming to the press. There is power tussle behind the scenes, and it is sad because the common men bear the brunt.”

Diversionary tactic —Saviour, COMPPART

A human rights activist in Akwa Ibom State and executive director of COMPPART Foundation for Justice and Peace Building, Mr Saviour Akpan, described the friction between Aliko Dangote and the regulators as a diversionary tactic.

Akpan advised Nigerians to do the right thing by asking questions, instead of pointing fingers or buck-passing.

“They deliberately brought their face-off to the public domain to divert our attention so that Nigerians will not ask questions. So they should keep quiet.

”Unfortunately, we run a system that has failed and one of the outcomes of the failed system is what we see today. So, they should stop disturbing our ears. Let everybody do what is right, let us begin to ask questions and speak truth to power.

”Let all of us, including myself, stop buck-passing and finger-pointing. We have had enough of suffering in this country. It is all diversionary tactics on the part of economics and policymakers. There is something that they do not want us to hear or ask questions about”

Explore dialogue —Wills, Ijaw think-tank group

Co-Convener of Embassara Foundation, an Ijaw think-tank for good governance, Iniruo Wills said: “They should robustly explore and enforce the dispute resolution mechanisms embedded in their various contractual agreements and in the law. Was there no proper business plan? Was there no thorough due diligence and documentation, legal and technical? Were there no feedstock commitments locked in way ahead of the plant completion?

”Even promoters of modular refineries know that one of the preliminary requirements to be in place with legal enforceability is feedstock commitment, let alone a mega refinery like Dangote’s.

”Some would go further to make advance off-taker arrangements, though more as a business safeguard than a regulatory requirement. Nigerians are generally perplexed at the ongoing grand comedy.”

FG should probe operators —Akene, ex-commissioner

A former commissioner in Bayelsa State, Surv Furoebi Akene, asserted: “The Nigerian petroleum industry is a big scam. Some of us have raised these issues of high-level insincerity, fraud, oppression, and economic sabotage amongst the Nigerian oil industry players, and consortium in connivance with external forces and agents over the years.”

“The exchange between the Dangote Refinery, the regulators, and their collaborators is not unexpected. They know that the success of Dangote Refinery will expose their intrigues and deliberate efforts to ensure that the government-owned refineries did not work.

“This will stop their lucrative exploit of enriching themselves over the years at the expense of the Nigerian State. If the Federal Government is not culpable, they should probe the activities of the operators of the nation’s refineries, and other related and regulatory agencies for the past decades, and bring those found wanting to book according to the laws of the land.

“Let the blackmail against Dangote Refinery stop, and genuine regulations made for the refinery to operate effectively and efficiently. The actions of these people should be finally curtailed for the industry to work in this country.”

Brickbat good for the oil industry —Oritsetimeyin, stakeholder

A stakeholder in Warri, Delta State, Festus Oritsetimeyin, said: It is good for the oil and gas business sector. We are getting to know hidden things, we are getting to see that people can kill business initiatives that will profit the nation because of personal interest, and greed.”

“In May last year, we read that former president, Muhammadu Buhari, commissioned the refinery, now, we are hearing that the refinery has not been licensed. So the beef is exposing some many hidden deals.”

[Vanguard]

Dangote Petroleum Refinery has denied reselling shipments of crude oil from the United States (US) and Nigeria.

On Wednesday, Reuters reported three sources said the Dangote refinery was reselling due to technical problems at the refiner.

When questioned about the offers and talk circulating in the market regarding the refinery’s operational problems impacting the crude distillation unit, the publication said an executive at Dangote refinery said the unit is operating.

According to the sources, among the grades being offered were cargoes of US West Texas Intermediary (WTI) Midland crude and Nigerian Escravos and Forcados crude.

The plant has been importing several crude cargoes a month, traders said, adding that such resale by refineries is rare but not unknown.

However, in a statement addressing the claim, Anthony Chiejina, chief branding and communication officer, Dangote Group, said the report was incorrect.

“Our attention has been drawn to a misleading report on our crude distillation unit and also that we are offering crude for re-sale,” Chiejina said.

“This is outright falsehood as we are not authorised to sell any crude we buy from Nigeria!

“Also, our CDU is working and in perfect condition.

“We advise that you ignore these false narratives being peddled by those bent on the importation of dirty fuels into the country.”

On June 4, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, said some international oil companies (IOCs) were struggling to supply crude to his refinery.

Speaking on Arise TV on July 15, Gbenga Komolafe, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), described the claim as “erroneous” as the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) has provisions that guide willing buyer-willing seller transactions.

On July 17, the management of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) insisted that IOCs are frustrating its request to purchase crude feedstock for the Dangote refinery.

The next day, Farouk Ahmed, CEO of Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), said local refineries, including the Dangote refinery, were producing inferior products compared to the ones imported into the country.

However, on July 20, Dangote refuted claims that petroleum products from his refinery are substandard.

[TheCable]

Geometric Power Ltd, Nigeria’s leading electric power integrated group, has described the death yesterday in Abuja of a foremost elder statesman, Chief Emmanuel C. Iwuanyanwu, as unexpected and shocking.

“He was one of our staunchest supporters”, the company said today in a statement quoting its founder and chairman, Professor Bart Nnaji, as saying.

“Iwuanyanwu, 82, and a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), was extremely proud of the work we are doing at Geometric Power Ltd by fellow Nigerian engineers”.

Continued the former Minister of Power who has also been the Minister of Science and Technology:

“Though he planned to attend in person the commissioning last February 26 of the Aba Independent Power Project comprising a 188-megawatt power plant in the Osisioma Industrial Layout of Aba and the Aba Power Electric Company by Vice President Kashim Shettima on behalf of President Bola Tinubu, he couldn’t eventually make it due to an unforeseen development.

“Just before the commissioning, Dr Iwuanyanwu had granted a major interview to a team of journalists where he spoke eloquently, persuasively and passionately on the project's significance”.

It is understood that Iwuanyanwu had in the interview pledged to consult the Geometric Power group and the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) that provides power to the five Southeastern states with a view to working out an arrangement on how to make the area attain constant, reliable and affordable electricity.

 “Though he was the president general of Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Iwuanyanwu did not possess a tunnel vision, but rather a national one”, Nnaji declared, adding that the Champion newspaper publisher, a knight of the Anglican Church, had no difficulty giving his daughter to the famous Muslim Aritsekola family of Ibadan in Oyo State because of his broad-mindedness.

Professor Nnaji recalled that Iwuanyanwu was honoured in all parts of the country like “ the late Chief Moshood Abiola with all kinds of titles for his profound contributions to national unity, peace and development, and so justifiably sought to become Nigeria’s president in the Third Republic”.

The former Minister remarked that “Chief Iwuanyanwu excelled in road construction through his Hardel and Enic company, in aviation through his Oriental Airlines, in sports through his Iwuanyanwu Nationale Football Club which won various prestigious competitions, as well as in publishing through the Champion newspapers.

“We are proud that he also excelled in insurance, public relations, property development, philanthropy, and community development.

“No one should forget that Chief Iwuanyanwu was the chairman of the Imo State Airport Committee that raised funds for building Sam Mbakwe Airport, the first airport in Nigeria’s history built by a state government.

“An appreciative nation honoured him with different high national awards, and Nigeria should continue to honour his memory as a foremost nationalist and developer of the Nigerian nation”.

Dr. Nwadiuto Iheakanwa

Group Managing Director

Champion Newspapers

39, Awonoyi Elemo Street,

Ajao Estate

 Lagos

CONDOLENCES

It is with great sadness that we received the news yesterday , of the death of your father, frontline businessman , publisher and an esteemed member of our Association, Chief (Dr.) Emmanuel Iwumanyanwu, the Ahaejiagmba Ndigbo.

He was aged 82.

An engineer by training, Chief Iwunyanwu bestrode the business world leaving an indelible mark in aviation, insurance , road construction, sports and newspapering.

His venture into the newpaper business with the emergence of Champion Newspapers on October 1, 1988, changed the dynamics of newspapering in the country.

The paper pioneered colour printing among Nigerian newspapers and was among the first  to set the stage for simultaneous printing, as the paper rolled out from presses in Lagos and Owerri, giving  readers in the east the experince of reading  same news with their Lagos/western counterparts.

Chief Iwuanyanwu was a sports enthusiast and for a very long time,  his football club Iwuanyanwu Nationale,  rode the crest of competitive  football locally and challenged for thropies on the continent.

A collosus of no mean repute, his passage has created a deep void in the nation's socio-development  landscape.

We are consoled by  the enviable legacies he left as a solid  politician, frontline businessman and a patriot .

On behalf of the Executive Council of our esteemed Association, we commiserate with you  and your  entire family .

We pray that the Almighty God,  will console and uphold each and everyone of you

Once again,  our condolences.

Signed

Kabiru A. Yusuf

President

I was shocked to learn that the Nigerian Senate is planning to establish a federal agency for the conduct of local government elections. The bill, sponsored by Senator Sani Musa (All Progressives Congress, Niger East), is titled, “Local Government Independent Electoral Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2024 (SB. 531).” It passed the first reading at the plenary on Thursday, July 18, 2024.

The draft bill read in part, “To establish the National Independent Local Government Electoral Commission responsible for conducting elections to the office of the local government chairman and councillors, and any other matter thereof to do with local government as a third tier of government. The National Independent Local Government Electoral Commission is hereby established as an autonomous body mandated to organise, oversee, and conduct elections for the offices of local government chairman and councillors across all states.”

The proposed legislation listed the functions and powers of NILGEC to include the conduct of free, fair, and transparent elections for local government chairmen and councillors. Other functions are “to prepare and maintain an accurate and up-to-date voter register; to ensure voter education and public awareness regarding the electoral process; to set and enforce electoral guidelines and regulations for local government elections; to recruit and train electoral officers and staff for efficient election management; to monitor and supervise all electoral activities and processes; and to investigate and adjudicate electoral disputes and grievances.”

The bill indicated that NILGEC shall consist of a chairperson and six commissioners, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. It read, “The chairperson and commissioners shall serve for a term of five years, renewable once.” On its independence and autonomy, it stated that “NILGEC shall operate independently, free from external influence and interference. The commission shall have its own budget, approved by the National Assembly, to ensure financial independence.”

On the electoral offences and penalties, it explained that NILGEC should define and enforce penalties for electoral offences, including but not limited to voter fraud, ballot stuffing, and electoral violence. Offenders shall be prosecuted and punished in accordance with the laws of the land. NILGEC shall collaborate with other relevant government agencies, security forces, and civil society organisations to ensure a secure and credible electoral process. This bill is coming barely a week after the Supreme Court granted autonomy to the local governments.

There are several things wrong with this initiative. First, there are existing State Independent Electoral Commissions established by section 197(b) of the 1999 Constitution. Qualification of members of the SIEC is contained in section 200 (1)(a) which states that “no persons shall be qualified for appointment as a member of any of the bodies (i.e. State Executive Bodies) aforesaid if  he is not qualified or if he is disqualified for election as a member of a House of Assembly provided that a member of any of the said bodies shall not be required to belong to a political party and, in the case of the State independent Electoral Commission, he shall not be a member of a political party.” Some of the aforementioned functions listed for the proposed NILGEC are already being performed by SIECs in the last 25 years.

Related News LG autonomy will enhance security, human rights –AGF FG delays direct payment to LGs as AGF awaits S'Court ruling details Perils of LG Electoral Commission

It is true that there are serious concerns that the quality of elections being conducted by SIECs does not largely reflect the wishes of the people in the LGs who see the polls as mere coronation of the preferred candidates of the governors in the state. Be that as it may, the solution to the challenges of credible elections at the LG level is not to have another centralised body established for the sole purpose of conducting LG elections as currently being proposed by the National Assembly. The antidote lies in strengthening the SIECs the same way the Independent National Electoral Commission was strengthened in the 2010 constitutional amendments and the legislation that birthed the 2010 Electoral Act. What is necessary is for SIECs to be granted administrative and financial autonomy like INEC.

It is important to note that Nigeria is a federation and should not be run like a unitary system which is antithetical to the spirit and letter of federalism. As I submitted on Monday, July 22, 2024, on Law FM 103.9, Lagos; in a federation, power is decentralised and not the other way round. Because of the unpleasant experiences Nigeria had in the First Republic, the framers of the 1979 Constitution decided to centralise political parties and security, among others. Today, many of the national parties will fare better if they limit their operation to the states or LGs. In a similar fashion, having realised our folly of centralising policing and security, we are now reconsidering the establishment of state police. We have the State High Court, State Civil Service Commission, and State Road Traffic Agencies. Even correctional centres have been moved from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent legislative list; it does no harm to leave SIECs and just ensure that they have the requisite administrative and financial autonomy.

To my mind, the proposed NILGEC will be a drain on the country’s meagre resources. To be efficient, the new commission will have to run a parallel structure with what INEC currently has. That is, they will have to have offices in the Federal Capital Territory, the 36 states and 768 local government areas. That is if INEC will have to continue to conduct polls to the six Abuja Area Councils; otherwise, this new body will also have to establish a separate Abuja office. All the itemised functions of NILGEC are already being performed by INEC. It would therefore have been more reasonable to propose to scrap SIECs and transfer their functions to INEC. That is what the Justice Muhammadu Uwais Presidential Committee on Electoral Reform of 2008 recommended.

It doesn’t make sense at all to want to implement Steve Oronsaye’s report on the merger of Ministries, Departments and Agencies and at the same time create another huge bureaucracy like NILGEC. It is also for a similar reason that I am against the recent establishment of the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development.

If there is no executive interference from the governors and there is administrative and financial autonomy that ensures that SIECs are well resourced, we will start to see a marked improvement in the conduct of local government elections.  NILGEC is a misadventure. The National Assembly should assist SIECs to wrestle their administrative and financial autonomy from the governors by amending the relevant sections of the Nigerian Constitution to effect this.

It cannot come as a surprise that many negative forces have risen and are training their arrows to fire at Aliko Dangote. Some are already firing from their arsenals. It is enheartening, however, that many powerful voices have also emerged to form a solid rampart of defence around him, not just to ward off the arrows, but to give him necessary and deserved encouragement. In the words of Akinwumi Adesina, Dangote is “a jewel of industrialization in Nigeria.” Adesina went on: “We cannot and must not undermine, disparage or kill local industries, talk less of one that is of this scale…It is more than simply delivering the cheapest product to the market. It is about domestic supply security, driving (and yes, protecting) globally competitive industries, maximizing forward and backward linkages in the local economy, job creation, reducing forex expenses and shoring up the Naira.”

Adesina should know: he is the president of African Development Bank (AfDB). Femi Otedola has spoken in the same vein. As a leading investor himself, he should know where the shoe pinches industrialists—the risks, the pressure they bear. Former Vice-President, Atiku has reacted also. Atiku in his twitter handle states: “The conflict between Aliko Dangote and NMDPRA is troubling. The Dangote Refinery, our nation’s largest private investment, is crucial for Nigeria’s energy and economic stability, and NNPCL’s investment underscores its importance. If we neglect this, we risk deterring vital foreign direct investment. No investor will trust a nation that undermines its key assets. Protecting significant investments like Dangote’s is essential to attract FDI and drive our economic growth.”

When the intrigues against Dangote were brewing, I wrote on a major platform as follows: “I pray that Dangote will not be dispirited with all the negative commentaries. He should regard people ventilating all manner of opinions as natural. We cannot all see the same things the same way. Vision and attitudes are governed by the radiance or dimming of the inner light of each individual. How can Dangote be a monopoly in an environment that will soon witness the roaring back of three other refineries in our land? We have been told Port Harcourt will come on stream before long; together with Kaduna before December. Warri is also being fixed. Certainly these will compete with him and we will have choice.

“We should summon courage and support Dangote and other entrepreneurs in our midst who are doing great things. As our fathers are wont to say: Oko se e ro ni alagbede npoko ta! If it were so easy, the blacksmith would not be content with just producing hoes, he would head for the bush to farm himself! I salute Dangote’s courage, his industry any day. Was he the only one who had contacts in high places? What did the others do with theirs? Dangote is doing the Blackman proud!”

Femi Otedola states: “In Nigeria we have our own titans, and it is imperative that we recognize and support them. Aliko Dangote has broken every boundary in worldwide business and industry. His contributions are not just a testament to his brilliance but a beacon of what is possible when vision meets opportunity. Supporting local champions like Dangote is crucial for our national development and economic independence. Let us continue to foster and support these visionaries who drive our nation’s progress.”

I was later to observe that with every passing day the conspiracies thickened. What they passed as Dangote’s transgressions began to lengthen. As is in character in matters of this nature, there is exhibition of a warped sense of entitlement. Aliko Dangote must do his business, run his industries according to our own vision and the wish of his detractors, not according to rules and regulations of the land. These are demands we do not make on the four public refineries. The last time there was turn-around maintenance with celebratory results was during Obasanjo’s Administration—to my recollection. And Obasanjo vacated the throne 17 years ago. Dangote put the humongous amount sunk into rehabilitating the public refineries at $4tr (US Dollars), the figures flying in the public space is by far more and we have not gotten result.

I recall former Special Assistant to Obasanjo on Petroleum Matters, Funsho Kupolokun, before he succeeded Gaius Obaseki as Group Managing Director of NNPC, going round newspaper houses. His mission to editors as Obasanjo’s salesman was to support the Obasanjo Administration’s thinking to end fuel subsidy. The subsidy in the end could only be reduced to prevent disruption to the economy and social life of the citizenry. It is Bola Tinubu who has had the courage to bite the bullet. Commendable as his step was, however, the timing was reckless. It has ended in creating more problems than he set out to solve. It was not thoroughly thought out. Internal capacity to fill the supply gap was not ready. Everyone started to ask: What were the alternatives? What he ought to have done was to breathlessly pursue the roaring back of the public refineries into activity by kicking the officials in the groin even if it would entail, in his accustomed Lagos boy rascality, moving the Villa to Port Harcourt temporarily, and twice or so a week personally going to Kaduna, taking Mele Kyari with him. At the same time, he would be sending subtle pressure notes to Dangote: ‘Aliko, where are we? Alhaji, what’s up? When are the machines going to roar for commercial production?’ Those with proclivity to being compromised even after the President has personally demonstrated commitment would be replaced by Europeans and Chinese. Any European found compromised to sabotage the President’s effort, of course, knows the consequences back home. He would go through due process of the rule of law, no doubt, but would eventually pay severely for tarnishing the image of his country. Of course, if a Chinese he would be recalled home, and the penalty is death! By now we would have gotten result.

Dangote paid $100million (US Dollars) to the Lagos State Government to acquire the land on which the refinery in Lagos is built. All hope is pinned on his refinery to come to the nation’s rescue. And Buhari could not wait. He hastily commissioned the refinery that could not be said to be ready. No one is sharing in the attendant risks of setting up the refinery, the obvious being the technology that is triggering movement away from fossil fuel to gas-powered auto-mobiles and solar energy to replace diesel in manufacturing firms. Even if the threats seem far and slow in coming, the potentiality is staring us in the face. As we now know he has not received a dime, not even for the vaunted NNPCL purported investment formerly put at 20 percent, later 7percent. NNPCL has not paid for any equity in the refinery.

What we get from that sector is demarketing that the product from the refinery is sub-standard, which has been proven by Dangote to be false. Already, part of the value chain of the Dangote refinery is employment of 30, 000 hands. It has the potential of 100, 000 in the long-run. Is this the kind of person the nation can afford to disparage? Yet, we do not shrink in efforts to frustrate him and splash dirt on his character and linen by drawing up a litany of transgressions! As our fathers would say, Eni ti o se obe ate a ni ki Sango ko pa a; eni ti ko se rara nko? Translated roughly, We pray the god of thunder to strike down the woman who has prepared a tasteless soup. What then do we ask should happen to the one who did not prepare any whatsoever when the household is assailed by hunger?

As Otedola states: “Aliko Dangote is also the largest private sector employer of labour in the country, and his companies are among the largest taxpayers. In fact, the Dangote group often pays more in taxes than the top banks combined. If not for him, we would be importing cement. His contributions extend beyond industrial facilities to critical infrastructure having built major roads such as Apapa Oshodi-Oworonsoki Express Road, Wharf Road, and the Obajana-Kabba Road.”

Otedola adds: “Countries in the nascent stages of industrialization require visionary leaders. This is why it’s no surprise that the United States was built by the vision and tenacity of a few remarkable individuals.” He lists them and goes on to say“…These men left the world without these assets but left behind a legacy that has kept their country thriving generation after generation. Their contributions were immortalized not in the material wealth they amassed but in the enduring institutions and industries they established. These visionaries were also supported by their government, which recognized the importance of fostering local champions.”

What many working to frustrate Aliko Dangote and pull him down largely out of envy may wish to know is that the table of the Lord is heavily laden for everyone and each human being only approaches it according to his ability. What determines the ability? It is the immutable Laws of Nature and how much compliance have we made as individuals. Obviously a great many are oblivious of the fact that this world, nay, Creation is governed and that there are consequences for every activity be it thoughts, speeches or actions of every human being. Stephen Lampe, in his invaluable book, The Primordial Laws of Creation, puts it more glaringly: “We human beings are equal before the Primordial Laws. But this does not translate into equality in circumstances or conditions of all individuals because individuals do not obey the Laws to the same extent; their unequal extents of adjustments to the Laws result in unequal outcomes.”

The mysteries of equal endowments may be coming from a previous earth-life, not just in materials terms, even in music, in the arts. Those in whom these traits manifest early are referred to as prodigies. For our conditions to change, as I have said a few times in these pages, we must seek knowledge and adjust accordingly. Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has debunked any special favours to Dangote. Emir Lamido Sanusi said: “Aliko Dangote did not fix the price at which the CBN got dollars. Everyone who got dollars from the CBN got dollars at same rate if they bought on the same day. So we cannot blame him for buying dollars at a rate the CBN itself decided to sell to its customers.”

He spoke about Dangote from his knowledge and records as a former Governor of Central Bank. What favours were endued Dangote that were denied others? Did Aliko also receive favours from about 30 African countries where he has established cement firms? In any case if the government sees him as a great asset to the country and it gives him necessary assistance by way of reduced duties for imported machinery or spare parts for his plants, what is wrong with that? Is there anyone in a similar situation whose application for such was turned down? Lamido Sanusi went on, in his characteristic bluntness, putting his fingers on what many have suspected is the crux of the matter, on what is believed to be the cause of antagonism to Dangote from certain quarters: His refinery permanently ending the prospect of the return of fuel importation and the attendant subsidy under whatever guise. “By the way, how much forex did Dangote buy from the CBN at this subsidized rate?” Lamido Sanusi asked. “How much forex did NNPC take from the Federation account in the same year in the name of running and turning around its dead refineries?”

“If any Nigerian came to me as a Central Bank Governor with a project like this refinery I would recognize immediately its potential impact on the economy and give it all the support needed. Let our views on forex policies not becloud our sense of priorities… To my mind, giving dollars for construction of a refinery is better than rice importation and, indeed, almost every other enterprise apart from education and health, given the impact on the macro. It is a very rich argument from an entity that had taken billions of dollars in the name of turnaround maintenance and had not produced a drop of product from four refineries because it is more profitable to continue extracting rent in the name of subsidy…NNPC and its spinoffs have lost any right to talk until they fix the mess they have thrown us into.”
Omo t’o ba gbe’pa la a gbe! You lift a child who signals he wants to be carried by raising his arms! Even if Dangote had sought special support from the government, for our collective good, why should he be denied the help? This should remind us of the Parable of the Talents, (Matthew 25: 14-30). Addressing His Disciples, the Lord Jesus Christ said “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to him who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” The Lord was drawing attention to the immutable Laws of Nature in activity, in this case the Law of Movement. This teaches us that when we bury our talents there are consequences. There are complaints and recriminations; there is envy; there is ill-will. He who uses them flourishes and harvests multiple results.

Where are we all coming from that we find ourselves at different stations in life? In the Work, In the Light of Truth, The Grail Message by Abd-ru-shin, it is stated: “Only at the beginning of every matter is man free to resolve, free to decide where the Omnipotent Power flowing through him is to be guided, in what direction. He must then bear the consequences arising from the Power that was set in motion in the direction willed by him.”

More from It: “This free decision has at some time or other preceded every reciprocal action, thus every fate! With a first volition man has each time produced or created something in which he himself has to live afterwards, sooner or later. When this will happen, however, varies greatly. It can still be in the same earth-life in which his first volition made the beginning for it, but it can equally well happen in the Ethereal World when the gross material body has been laid aside, or later still in yet another gross material earth-life.”

It is further stated: “The variations are not important here, they do not free man from the consequences. He carries the connecting threads with him continually, until he is redeemed from them, that is to say, ‘detached’ through the final effect that ensues through the Law of Reciprocal Action.

“The one who forms is bound to his own work, even if he has intended it for others!” This calls for deep reflection. Indeed, we will find as Cassius says to his friend Brutus: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings.” Nigeria is a free market economy the only system that provides the environment for the unfolding of talents and abilities. The sky, as they say, is wide enough for all birds to fly and demonstrate their dexterity. Dangote is an exemplar of hard work, a multi-tasked fellow and who excels in all. He is one who undoubtedly listens to stirrings within him—to his intuition!

Otedola says a lot more about Aliko Dangote that a great many do not know about him. Hear him: “My brother, the Visionary, has built the largest single train refinery in the world, not in Kano, but in Lagos State. He is the owner of the second-largest sugar refinery in the world, also in Lagos State, and the largest cement factory in the world, not in Kano, but Kogi State. Additionally, he has established one of the second-largest fertilizer plants in the world, soon to surpass the biggest one in Qatar, also in Lagos State that already exports globally.”
The least all men of goodwill can do and which is expected of them is to give Aliko Dangote encouragement. He should not hand over the refinery to NNPCL that cannot run its own four refineries. All men of character and goodwill should form a wall of defence around him, a titan, yet disarmingly simple, and a jewel. Dangote, a pride of the Black race!

It cannot come as a surprise that many negative forces have risen and are training their arrows to fire at Aliko Dangote. Some are already firing from their arsenals. It is enheartening, however, that many powerful voices have also emerged to form a solid rampart of defence around him, not just to ward off the arrows, but to give him necessary and deserved encouragement. In the words of Akinwumi Adesina, Dangote is “a jewel of industrialization in Nigeria.” Adesina went on: “We cannot and must not undermine, disparage or kill local industries, talk less of one that is of this scale…It is more than simply delivering the cheapest product to the market. It is about domestic supply security, driving (and yes, protecting) globally competitive industries, maximizing forward and backward linkages in the local economy, job creation, reducing forex expenses and shoring up the Naira.”

Adesina should know: he is the president of African Development Bank (AfDB). Femi Otedola has spoken in the same vein. As a leading investor himself, he should know where the shoe pinches industrialists—the risks, the pressure they bear. Former Vice-President, Atiku has reacted also. Atiku in his twitter handle states: “The conflict between Aliko Dangote and NMDPRA is troubling. The Dangote Refinery, our nation’s largest private investment, is crucial for Nigeria’s energy and economic stability, and NNPCL’s investment underscores its importance. If we neglect this, we risk deterring vital foreign direct investment. No investor will trust a nation that undermines its key assets. Protecting significant investments like Dangote’s is essential to attract FDI and drive our economic growth.”

When the intrigues against Dangote were brewing, I wrote on a major platform as follows: “I pray that Dangote will not be dispirited with all the negative commentaries. He should regard people ventilating all manner of opinions as natural. We cannot all see the same things the same way. Vision and attitudes are governed by the radiance or dimming of the inner light of each individual. How can Dangote be a monopoly in an environment that will soon witness the roaring back of three other refineries in our land? We have been told Port Harcourt will come on stream before long; together with Kaduna before December. Warri is also being fixed. Certainly these will compete with him and we will have choice.

“We should summon courage and support Dangote and other entrepreneurs in our midst who are doing great things. As our fathers are wont to say: Oko se e ro ni alagbede npoko ta! If it were so easy, the blacksmith would not be content with just producing hoes, he would head for the bush to farm himself! I salute Dangote’s courage, his industry any day. Was he the only one who had contacts in high places? What did the others do with theirs? Dangote is doing the Blackman proud!”

Femi Otedola states: “In Nigeria we have our own titans, and it is imperative that we recognize and support them. Aliko Dangote has broken every boundary in worldwide business and industry. His contributions are not just a testament to his brilliance but a beacon of what is possible when vision meets opportunity. Supporting local champions like Dangote is crucial for our national development and economic independence. Let us continue to foster and support these visionaries who drive our nation’s progress.”

I was later to observe that with every passing day the conspiracies thickened. What they passed as Dangote’s transgressions began to lengthen. As is in character in matters of this nature, there is exhibition of a warped sense of entitlement. Aliko Dangote must do his business, run his industries according to our own vision and the wish of his detractors, not according to rules and regulations of the land. These are demands we do not make on the four public refineries. The last time there was turn-around maintenance with celebratory results was during Obasanjo’s Administration—to my recollection. And Obasanjo vacated the throne 17 years ago. Dangote put the humongous amount sunk into rehabilitating the public refineries at $4tr (US Dollars), the figures flying in the public space is by far more and we have not gotten result.

I recall former Special Assistant to Obasanjo on Petroleum Matters, Funsho Kupolokun, before he succeeded Gaius Obaseki as Group Managing Director of NNPC, going round newspaper houses. His mission to editors as Obasanjo’s salesman was to support the Obasanjo Administration’s thinking to end fuel subsidy. The subsidy in the end could only be reduced to prevent disruption to the economy and social life of the citizenry. It is Bola Tinubu who has had the courage to bite the bullet. Commendable as his step was, however, the timing was reckless. It has ended in creating more problems than he set out to solve. It was not thoroughly thought out. Internal capacity to fill the supply gap was not ready. Everyone started to ask: What were the alternatives? What he ought to have done was to breathlessly pursue the roaring back of the public refineries into activity by kicking the officials in the groin even if it would entail, in his accustomed Lagos boy rascality, moving the Villa to Port Harcourt temporarily, and twice or so a week personally going to Kaduna, taking Mele Kyari with him. At the same time, he would be sending subtle pressure notes to Dangote: ‘Aliko, where are we? Alhaji, what’s up? When are the machines going to roar for commercial production?’ Those with proclivity to being compromised even after the President has personally demonstrated commitment would be replaced by Europeans and Chinese. Any European found compromised to sabotage the President’s effort, of course, knows the consequences back home. He would go through due process of the rule of law, no doubt, but would eventually pay severely for tarnishing the image of his country. Of course, if a Chinese he would be recalled home, and the penalty is death! By now we would have gotten result.

Dangote paid $100million (US Dollars) to the Lagos State Government to acquire the land on which the refinery in Lagos is built. All hope is pinned on his refinery to come to the nation’s rescue. And Buhari could not wait. He hastily commissioned the refinery that could not be said to be ready. No one is sharing in the attendant risks of setting up the refinery, the obvious being the technology that is triggering movement away from fossil fuel to gas-powered auto-mobiles and solar energy to replace diesel in manufacturing firms. Even if the threats seem far and slow in coming, the potentiality is staring us in the face. As we now know he has not received a dime, not even for the vaunted NNPCL purported investment formerly put at 20 percent, later 7percent. NNPCL has not paid for any equity in the refinery.

What we get from that sector is demarketing that the product from the refinery is sub-standard, which has been proven by Dangote to be false. Already, part of the value chain of the Dangote refinery is employment of 30, 000 hands. It has the potential of 100, 000 in the long-run. Is this the kind of person the nation can afford to disparage? Yet, we do not shrink in efforts to frustrate him and splash dirt on his character and linen by drawing up a litany of transgressions! As our fathers would say, Eni ti o se obe ate a ni ki Sango ko pa a; eni ti ko se rara nko? Translated roughly, We pray the god of thunder to strike down the woman who has prepared a tasteless soup. What then do we ask should happen to the one who did not prepare any whatsoever when the household is assailed by hunger?

As Otedola states: “Aliko Dangote is also the largest private sector employer of labour in the country, and his companies are among the largest taxpayers. In fact, the Dangote group often pays more in taxes than the top banks combined. If not for him, we would be importing cement. His contributions extend beyond industrial facilities to critical infrastructure having built major roads such as Apapa Oshodi-Oworonsoki Express Road, Wharf Road, and the Obajana-Kabba Road.”

Otedola adds: “Countries in the nascent stages of industrialization require visionary leaders. This is why it’s no surprise that the United States was built by the vision and tenacity of a few remarkable individuals.” He lists them and goes on to say“…These men left the world without these assets but left behind a legacy that has kept their country thriving generation after generation. Their contributions were immortalized not in the material wealth they amassed but in the enduring institutions and industries they established. These visionaries were also supported by their government, which recognized the importance of fostering local champions.”

What many working to frustrate Aliko Dangote and pull him down largely out of envy may wish to know is that the table of the Lord is heavily laden for everyone and each human being only approaches it according to his ability. What determines the ability? It is the immutable Laws of Nature and how much compliance have we made as individuals. Obviously a great many are oblivious of the fact that this world, nay, Creation is governed and that there are consequences for every activity be it thoughts, speeches or actions of every human being. Stephen Lampe, in his invaluable book, The Primordial Laws of Creation, puts it more glaringly: “We human beings are equal before the Primordial Laws. But this does not translate into equality in circumstances or conditions of all individuals because individuals do not obey the Laws to the same extent; their unequal extents of adjustments to the Laws result in unequal outcomes.”

The mysteries of equal endowments may be coming from a previous earth-life, not just in materials terms, even in music, in the arts. Those in whom these traits manifest early are referred to as prodigies. For our conditions to change, as I have said a few times in these pages, we must seek knowledge and adjust accordingly. Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has debunked any special favours to Dangote. Emir Lamido Sanusi said: “Aliko Dangote did not fix the price at which the CBN got dollars. Everyone who got dollars from the CBN got dollars at same rate if they bought on the same day. So we cannot blame him for buying dollars at a rate the CBN itself decided to sell to its customers.”

He spoke about Dangote from his knowledge and records as a former Governor of Central Bank. What favours were endued Dangote that were denied others? Did Aliko also receive favours from about 30 African countries where he has established cement firms? In any case if the government sees him as a great asset to the country and it gives him necessary assistance by way of reduced duties for imported machinery or spare parts for his plants, what is wrong with that? Is there anyone in a similar situation whose application for such was turned down? Lamido Sanusi went on, in his characteristic bluntness, putting his fingers on what many have suspected is the crux of the matter, on what is believed to be the cause of antagonism to Dangote from certain quarters: His refinery permanently ending the prospect of the return of fuel importation and the attendant subsidy under whatever guise. “By the way, how much forex did Dangote buy from the CBN at this subsidized rate?” Lamido Sanusi asked. “How much forex did NNPC take from the Federation account in the same year in the name of running and turning around its dead refineries?”

“If any Nigerian came to me as a Central Bank Governor with a project like this refinery I would recognize immediately its potential impact on the economy and give it all the support needed. Let our views on forex policies not becloud our sense of priorities… To my mind, giving dollars for construction of a refinery is better than rice importation and, indeed, almost every other enterprise apart from education and health, given the impact on the macro. It is a very rich argument from an entity that had taken billions of dollars in the name of turnaround maintenance and had not produced a drop of product from four refineries because it is more profitable to continue extracting rent in the name of subsidy…NNPC and its spinoffs have lost any right to talk until they fix the mess they have thrown us into.”
Omo t’o ba gbe’pa la a gbe! You lift a child who signals he wants to be carried by raising his arms! Even if Dangote had sought special support from the government, for our collective good, why should he be denied the help? This should remind us of the Parable of the Talents, (Matthew 25: 14-30). Addressing His Disciples, the Lord Jesus Christ said “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to him who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” The Lord was drawing attention to the immutable Laws of Nature in activity, in this case the Law of Movement. This teaches us that when we bury our talents there are consequences. There are complaints and recriminations; there is envy; there is ill-will. He who uses them flourishes and harvests multiple results.

Where are we all coming from that we find ourselves at different stations in life? In the Work, In the Light of Truth, The Grail Message by Abd-ru-shin, it is stated: “Only at the beginning of every matter is man free to resolve, free to decide where the Omnipotent Power flowing through him is to be guided, in what direction. He must then bear the consequences arising from the Power that was set in motion in the direction willed by him.”

More from It: “This free decision has at some time or other preceded every reciprocal action, thus every fate! With a first volition man has each time produced or created something in which he himself has to live afterwards, sooner or later. When this will happen, however, varies greatly. It can still be in the same earth-life in which his first volition made the beginning for it, but it can equally well happen in the Ethereal World when the gross material body has been laid aside, or later still in yet another gross material earth-life.”

It is further stated: “The variations are not important here, they do not free man from the consequences. He carries the connecting threads with him continually, until he is redeemed from them, that is to say, ‘detached’ through the final effect that ensues through the Law of Reciprocal Action.

“The one who forms is bound to his own work, even if he has intended it for others!” This calls for deep reflection. Indeed, we will find as Cassius says to his friend Brutus: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings.” Nigeria is a free market economy the only system that provides the environment for the unfolding of talents and abilities. The sky, as they say, is wide enough for all birds to fly and demonstrate their dexterity. Dangote is an exemplar of hard work, a multi-tasked fellow and who excels in all. He is one who undoubtedly listens to stirrings within him—to his intuition!

Otedola says a lot more about Aliko Dangote that a great many do not know about him. Hear him: “My brother, the Visionary, has built the largest single train refinery in the world, not in Kano, but in Lagos State. He is the owner of the second-largest sugar refinery in the world, also in Lagos State, and the largest cement factory in the world, not in Kano, but Kogi State. Additionally, he has established one of the second-largest fertilizer plants in the world, soon to surpass the biggest one in Qatar, also in Lagos State that already exports globally.”
The least all men of goodwill can do and which is expected of them is to give Aliko Dangote encouragement. He should not hand over the refinery to NNPCL that cannot run its own four refineries. All men of character and goodwill should form a wall of defence around him, a titan, yet disarmingly simple, and a jewel. Dangote, a pride of the Black race!

The brouhaha is a symptom of the deeper problems of Nigeria’s political economy. It demonstrates how the Nigerian state and its government has failed to create a real economy that works for all Nigerians by lifting millions from poverty to prosperity, but instead has promoted vested interests of various kinds in the name of the “private sector” and “business.” Dangote is far less the issue, in reality, than is the Nigerian government and its track record.

Amidst the controversies over Aliko Dangote’s massive refinery and the stand-off between him and the Nigerian government, let’s not lose sight of the real issues. The brouhaha is a symptom of the deeper problems of Nigeria’s political economy. It demonstrates how the Nigerian state and its government has failed to create a real economy that works for all Nigerians by lifting millions from poverty to prosperity, but instead has promoted vested interests of various kinds in the name of the “private sector” and “business.” Dangote is far less the issue, in reality, than is the Nigerian government and its track record. Because whatever anyone accuses Dangote of, assuming that those allegations were even to be true in the first place, could not be so if the Nigerian government was awake to its responsibilities. This is an opportunity to return to the fundamental questions about our economy, and seek solutions.

Can we? Will we? It would surprise me if the Dangote refinery saga – in which Dangote alleges an intent within the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, oil regulators, and the international oil companies to sabotage his refinery by refusing to supply it with crude oil, while the government oil regulators accuse Dangote of seeking to monopolise the oil refining market, in violation of the national oil company’s pre-existing contractual obligations with other customers — results in any real solutions to the fundamental problems of economic governance in Nigeria. These challenges, as is evident, are corruption and rent-seeking, incompetence, and intellectual emptiness when it comes to economic management. This last issue of intellectual vapidity in the management of Nigeria’s economy has been pronounced and dominant over the past 10 years. These factors are the real reasons 133 million Nigerians live in multidimensional poverty. And that figure is certainly outdated because it was established well before the cost of living crisis that has pushed tens of millions more into poverty in the past year since President Bola Tinubu’s administration entered into office.

We love drama in Nigeria – effervescent controversies that appear as if they will bring down the roof on the house but only serve, ultimately, as part of a daily diet of distractions from addressing the underlying challenges of the Nigerian state. They keep our tongues wagging over chilled bottles of beer, wine or in WhatsApp chat groups populated by millions who increasingly can afford neither beer nor wine. The Federal Government and the NNPC – the “prize” public corporation of Nigeria’s political economy – have for years allowed our national refineries to lie defunct, despite the billions of dollars allocated over decades for the repairs and rehabilitation of the same refineries. Now, they turn around to accuse Dangote of monopolistic tendencies after he built one of the largest refineries in the world in Lagos. If that allegation is remotely true, who has allowed it? Where has the government been? Where is the serious thinking, policy and its implementation, and the political will for Nigeria and its citizens to achieve real prosperity? I respect Dangote’s grit and achievements, and his refinery certainly has important potential implications for the Nigerian economy. But, let’s get it straight: Dangote’s wealth is personal to him. It hasn’t made Nigerians broadly rich on any significant scale. Moreover, the question is pertinent: Is that his responsibility?

Who will take us seriously when our business environment, despite its potential, is evidently awash with political and other risks, and the “market” is increasingly impoverished? In any case, foreign investment is no magic wand for our economic problems if the essential conditions of infrastructure, in particular electricity, and skilled human capital are absent.

The controversy over the Dangote Refinery is a national and global embarrassment for our country. It shows us up to the world as unserious at a time our public officials traverse the world seeking “foreign investment.” Who will take us seriously when our business environment, despite its potential, is evidently awash with political and other risks, and the “market” is increasingly impoverished? In any case, foreign investment is no magic wand for our economic problems if the essential conditions of infrastructure, in particular electricity, and skilled human capital are absent.

The heart of the matter is that a succession of Nigerian governments, including the current one, have been unable to do either of two things. Thay have failed to stimulate, through effective economic policy, a set of strategic oligopolies across sectors, under which smaller businesses and supply chains connected to such giant corporations can thrive, creating a successful national economy as in South Korea. Even such oligopolies ought to be subject to “close marking,” so they understand that they are strategic agents of the national economic interest, not that they have put the government in their pocket – as Daewoo’s founder in South Korea discovered when he was jailed for 10 years, for embezzlement and accounting fraud in 2006. Neither has the government, on the other hand, been able to facilitate a truly competitive, level playing field for business in Nigeria, so that wealth creation can be more democratic.

This is a deeply unfortunate outcome of what passes for governance, including its economic aspect, in Nigeria. Capitalism and free markets have faced criticisms, most of them valid. It is an undisputed fact, however, and one supported by historical evidence, that for all its weaknesses, capitalism remains the greatest creator of wealth that the world has seen. It is what helped China – after it abandoned economic socialism – lift 700 million people from poverty into the middle class in 40 years. It is what has lifted millions from poverty into a comfortable life in Brazil, South Korea, Malaysia, and Vietnam. This is because the capitalist system accords most with the basic human instinct to strive and thrive.

…for capitalism to be transformative of broad societies, certain conditions are necessary. Else, what happens, as in the case in Nigeria and most African countries, is the wealth of a tiny few but the poverty of the many. In order words capitalism, to have been successful for any country – socialism having certifiably failed – must create the wealth of nations and not simply that of a small elite. This is the whole argument about inclusive, broad based growth versus mere GDP growth…

But for capitalism to be transformative of broad societies, certain conditions are necessary. Else, what happens, as in the case in Nigeria and most African countries, is the wealth of a tiny few but the poverty of the many. In order words capitalism, to have been successful for any country – socialism having certifiably failed – must create the wealth of nations and not simply that of a small elite. This is the whole argument about inclusive, broad based growth versus mere GDP growth, which economic thinking in Nigeria and much of Africa erroneously worships.To achieve this outcome, we need a competent state – a government that has a deep philosophical understanding of the kinds of capitalism – entrepreneurial, welfarist, crony, or “state” a la the Chinese model – and makes conscious choices between these models or combinations of them.

Such a government must understand the right balance between the role of the state and that of the market. The state cannot be the market. No market can thrive and create wealth without the steady, measured hand of a competent – but not overbearing – state. And the government must understand, and apply that understanding to policy, the fundamental conditions for capitalist success. These are: full property rights, an innovation ecosystem that pipes useful inventions into the market, and across-the-board access to capital.

Finally, the economy cannot prosper without an enabled business environment. This condition includes a secure environment, infrastructure, especially electricity, avoidance of multiple taxation, efficient port and customs, respect for contracts and the rule of law, keeping a lid on corruption, and ensuring a level playing field that avoids distortionary monopolies through effective competition policy. Microsoft and Google are major tech corporations. But they are not allowed to run their competitors out of town. In 2023, the United States government successfully brought antitrust cases against both corporations for violations of competition law in the American market. That’s how capable states function to regulate their markets and give everyone a fair chance.

Kingsley Moghalu, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, is the chairman of Africa Private Sector Summit (APSS).