June 1, 2007: The recent wave of hasty sales of government shares and interests in various business entities in Nigeria by the out-gone Olusegun Obasanjo administration is raising a lot of furor not only within the country but also amongst economy watchers worldwide. More worrisome is the fact that these shady transactions do not appear to have followed due process as the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the organ set up by law to privatize public enterprises, seem not to have been appropriately positioned to carry out these transactions in the national interest.

The National Association of Seadogs (NAS) queries this late hour rush by the ex-President to sell off these assets literally days before he handed over (May 29, 2007) to an in-coming administration. The fact that beneficiaries of these transactions are cronies and acolytes of now former President Obasanjo (in picture) directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly as well as the ludicrously low prices at which these lucrative deals were concluded at the twilight of the last administration seems to supply the motivation.

It is our view that these transactions are shady and faulty on several fronts. One, they were not conducted by the BPE and apparently did not follow due process by not conforming to competitive open bidding. Secondly, these assets were grossly undervalued. Thirdly, all the stakeholders (employees, creditors and minority shareholders) were not consulted before the transactions were consummated. We wish to highlight a roll call of these transactions as follows:

-- The Port Harcourt Refinery was sold to Blue Star Oil at the cost of $561 million. Blue Star is a subsidiary of Dangote Group of Companies, an organization owned by one of the biggest financiers of the ruling party the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The Chairman of Zenon Oil, Mr. Femi Otedola (son of a past governor of Lagos State), is another big financier of the ruling PDP.

-- The Onigbolo Cement Company was grabbed by the Dangote Group at a ridiculous sum of $1.78 billion.

-- The National Arts Theatre was almost sold but a deafening uproar made the auctioneers settle in the mean time for an arrangement whereby private companies would operate the national edifice at the cost of N35.8 billion.

-- The Lagos International Trade Fair Complex went to a company called Aulic Nigeria Limited for N40 billion.

-- The Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) went to a relatively unknown business group called BHS International for N9.5 billion.

-- Another company with federal government substantial investment, Ayip-Eku Oil Palm Company was sold to Wingsong M-House Palm Oil Investment Limited for N527million.

-- The sale of the Kaduna Refinery could not go through initially because the only bidder then, the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation's offer of $102 million was said to be less than the expected amount for the sale. The Dangote Group is still in line.

-- The Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited was sold to Global Steel Holdings Ltd (GSHL) in what can be best called national tragedy. Global Steel Holdings Ltd is believed to be owned by Obasanjo's first son, Gbenga, with Liyel Imoke current Governor of Cross Rivers state as down the line partner.

-- The Egbin Power Plc went to Korea Power Corporation (KEPC) at $280 million.The Musa Yar'Adua government is said to have revoked this particular sale.

Apparently President Olusegun Obasanjo did not only sell the aforementioned federal government assets, he also granted hundreds of lucrative Mining Leases and Exploration Licenses. On May 23, a spokesman of the solid minerals ministry confirmed in a statement that the former president had granted 50 Mining Leases and 952 Exploration Licenses to international and local firms. Majority of these Leases and Licenses from all indications went to individuals and entities with ties to President Obasanjo and the ruling PDP.

A Deregulation Law, which was hurriedly passed to accommodate the new Solid Mining Regulations, was explained, as "an attempt to attract much needed private investment to develop the neglected sector." The National Association of Seadogs (NAS) can confirm that Nigeria, the world's eighth biggest oil exporter, has commercial deposits of over 34 mineral resources including gold, tin, tantalite, kaolin and barites.

As an organisation we are aligned and agree with the former Chairman of House of Representatives' Committee on Budget, Farouk Lawan, that these transactions were all mischievous and "in bad faith... Such major decisions should be left to the incoming administration, so that due process is followed and it is done in the overall interests of the country... hurried sale of the country's largest oil refinery, a cement factory, 18 oil exploration contracts and up to 1,000 mining concessions, among other assets, in two weeks is unprecedented and smacks off suspicion of foul play, and therefore should be reviewed by Yar'Adua".

Chairman of Senate committee on Downstream Petroleum, Senator David Brigidi while expressing surprise at the 'last minute' increase in the pump price of petrol, insisted that Due Process was not followed and that the management of the Petroleum Product Prices Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), the federal department responsible for fuel pricing, was not qualified to effect a unilateral increase without the consent of representatives of the board including Labour.

Nigerians are generally puzzled, alarmed and shocked by the ex- president's last minute parting-gifts of N75 per liter fuel hike, up from N65, increase in the Value Added Tax (VAT) from 5 per cent to 10 per cent on all goods and services commencing from the week his successor, Musa Yar 'Adua would assume office. The latest fuel increase was Obasanjo's sixth in his eight years rule. While the pump price of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly known as petrol stood at N75, Dual Purpose Kerosene DPK was moved from N50 per liter to N60 per liter. Depot price of PMS at the NNPC depot is now N67.50k, N10 up from the previous N57.51 while the same product will sell for N71.50 at the private fuel depots.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) denounced the last minute fuel increase by former President, describing it as a "wicked parting-gift from an insensitive government." vowing to reject and resist the new prices and called for the immediate reversal to the old pump by the new government.

At his inauguration as President, President Musa Yar'Adua promised to prove to Nigerians that the trust they reposed in him by "electing" him president was not misplaced. Nigeria now awaits his reaction to this affront to our collective sensibilities and hope that the new administration would have the resolve to dismantle the legacy of institutionalized corruption which President Obasanjo had deposited at the doorstep of the Presidency. Nothing short of swift revocation of this last minute sweet deals and reversal of these fuel and tax hikes will satisfy the Nigerian people. The revocation of the sale of the Egbin Power station by President Yar'Adua on his first day in office is a welcome development.

NAS joins the organized labour and the plurality of Nigerians in demanding that the Yar'Adua administration makes a bold and decisive move to checkmate other last minute efforts by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo and his cohorts to plunder the nation's precious assets. Only such a selfless and patriotic move will endear the new President and his administration to Nigerians, and, set in motion the right climate to heal the painful wounds inflicted by the April 2007 electoral fraud.
The National Association of Seadogs (NAS) was founded as the Pyrates Confraternity (PC) in 1952 at the then University College, Ibadan. Their original 7 founding fathers are Wole Soyinka (now Nobel laureatte for Literature), Ralph Okpara, Pius Oleghe, Ikpehare Aig-Imoukhuede, Nathaniel Oyelola, Olumuyiwa Awe and Sylvanus U. Egbuche.

Africa Action's report, "Six Months Since 1706: The International Failure to Protect Darfur" is available at http://www.africaaction.org

Nii Akuetteh, Executive Director of Africa Action, said today, "The failure of the international community to follow through on Resolution 1706 has left the people of Darfur without protection and with little hope. A robust UN force is needed immediately to stop the violence and enforce a cease-fire, to protect civilians and humanitarian operations, and to create conditions conducive to a comprehensive peace process. This is an essential first step towards stabilizing the situation on the ground and protecting the vulnerable in the immediate term, and the failure to aggressively pursue this goal is unacceptable."

Africa Action's new report notes that, while the Government of Sudan continues to refuse the implementation of Resolution 1706, subsequent discussions of a "hybrid" AU/UN force have not finalized agreement on the force's size, mandate and command and control, or on a timeline for deployment. The organization emphasizes that a three-phased UN support package for the African Union (AU), currently in its early stages, must quickly proceed to the deployment of a 20,000-strong UN peacekeeping force with a robust protection mandate. Ann-Louise Colgan, Director of Policy Analysis & Communications at Africa Action, said today, "Six months ago, the UN Security Council declared its intent to protect Darfur, yet it has allowed the Sudanese government to continue the genocide and to block the international response. Rather than following Resolution 1706 with resolute action to implement it, the U.S. and other international powers have permitted it to be debated and delayed, even as the violence has escalated on the ground."

The European Parliament on Thursday (May 24, 2007) urged the EU to withhold all financial aid to the Nigerian government until the African country holds new elections. "EU aid to Nigeria should not be given to federal or state structures until new, credible elections have been held," the European Parliament said in a non-binding resolution. Such resolutions are often issued to pressure EU member states and the executive Commission in Brussels.

The EU said last month's state and federal elections in Nigeria, won by the governing party, fell short of basic standards and could not be considered credible, free and fair. The EU has earmarked nearly 500-million euro (about R4,7-billion) over the last five years for different projects in Nigeria, most of them focused on good governance, health and water supply and sanitation. Meanwhile, a coalition of Opposition Presidential Candidates asked Senate President Ken Nnamani to assume executive powers on May 29, when Obasanjo's term is up, and to disband the national election commission.

Why Bush should focus on

Many Nigerians still feel disappointed that a man (Obasanjo) who had gained so much from Nigeria would cling so tightly to power, even against the popular will of the people, moreso with age, energy and fresh ideas for a new era not on his side.

Also, USAfricaonline.com review of Nigeria's recent history show that President Obasanjo seems to be moving rapidly into the zone of ill-repute of his former military colleagues who, like him, refused to leave office when it was time to go. Gen. yakubu Gowon in 1975; Gen. Ibrahim Babangida in 1993; Gen. Sani Abacha in1995, 1996, 1997, 1998. More baffling many Nigerians we interviewed recall is the lessons of the excesses of the late Gen. Abach who jailed Obasanjo while the former schemed to remain in power. For the special report by USAfrica multimedia networks' Publisher Chido Nwangwu, click on 3rd term.

His globalist underpinnings and outlook are truly reflective of the true essence of his Igbo world-view, his Igbo upbringing and disposition. Igbos and Jews share (with a few other other cultures) this pan-global disposition to issues of art, life, commerce, juridical pursuits, and quest to be republicanist in terms of the vitality of the individual/self. In Achebe's works, the centrality of Chi (God) attains an additional clarity in the Igbo cosmology... it is a world which prefers a quasi-capitalistic business attitude while taking due cognizance of the usefulness of the whole, the community. I've studied, lived and tried to better understand, essentially, the rigor and towering moral certainties which Achebe have employed in most of his works and his world. I know, among other reasons, because I share the same ancestry with him. Permit me to attempt a brief sentence, with that Achebean simplicty and clarity. Here, folks, what the world has known since 1958: Achebe is good! Eagle on the Iroko, may your Lineage endure! There has never been one like you!
Ugo n'abo, chukwu gozie gi oo!. Chido Nwangwu, recipient of the Journalism Excellence award (1997), is Founder and Publisher of USAfricaonline.com (first African-owned U.S.-based professional newspaper to be published on the internet), USAfrica The Newspaper, CLASS magazine and The Black Business Journal. He has served as an adviser to the Mayor of Houston on international business (Africa) and appears as an analyst on CNN, VOA, NPR, CBS News, NBC and ABC news affiliates.

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Nelson Mandela, Tribute to the world's political superstar and Lion of Africa   Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's burden mounts with murder charges, trials Why Bush should focus on dangers facing Nigeria's return to democracy and Obasanjo's slipperyslide TRIBUTE A KING FOR ALL TIMES: Why Martin Luther King's legacy and vision are relevant into 21st century. DIPLOMACY Walter Carrington: African-American diplomat who put principles above self for Nigeria (USAfrica's founder Chido Nwangwu with Ambassador Carrington at the U.S. embassy, Nigeria) DEMOCRACY'S WARRIOR Out of Africa. …The cock that crows in the morning belongs to one household but his voice is the property of the neighborhood. -- Chinua Achebe, Anthills of the Savannah. An editor carries on his crusade against public corruption and press censorship in his native Nigeria and other African countries. By John Suval. The Economics of Elections in Nigeria HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY How far, how deep will Nigeria's human rights commission go? Rtd. Gen. Babangida trip as emissary for Nigeria's Obasanjo to Sudan raises curiosity, questions about what next in power play? 110 minutes with Hakeem Olajuwon Nigerian stabbed to death in his bathroom in Houston. Since 1958, Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" set a standard of artistic excellence, and more. By Douglas Killam Why Chinua Achebe, the Eagle on the Iroko, is Africa's writer of the century. By Chido Nwangwu(First written on March 1, 2002, for USAfrica, updated for Prof. Achebe's 74th Birthday tribute on November 16, 2004, and published in CLASS magazine same month): Africa's most acclaimed and fluent writer of the English Language, the most translated writer of Black heritage in the world, broadcaster extraordinaire, social conscience of millions, cultural custodian and elevator, chronicler and essayist, goodwill ambassador and man of progressive rock-ribbed principles, the Eagle on the Iroko, Ugo n'abo Professor Chinua Achebe, has recently been selected by a distinguished jury of scholars and critics (from 13 countries of African life and literature) as the writer of the Best book (Things Fall Apart, 1958) written in the twentieth century regarding Africa. Reasonably, Achebe's message has been neither dimmed nor dulled by time and clime. He's our pathfinder, the intellectual godfather of millions of Africans and lovers of the fine art of good writing. Achebe's cultural contexts are, at once, pan-African, globalist and local; hence, his literary contextualizations soar beyond the confines of Umuofia and any Igbo or Nigerian setting of his creative imagination or historical recall. His globalist underpinnings and outlook are truly reflective of the true essence of his Igbo world-view, his Igbo upbringing and disposition. Igbos and Jews share (with a few other other cultures) this pan-global disposition to issues of art, life, commerce, juridical pursuits, and quest to be republicanist in terms of the vitality of the individual/self. In Achebe's works, the centrality of Chi (God) attains an additional clarity in the Igbo cosmology... it is a world which prefers a quasi-capitalistic business attitude while taking due cognizance of the usefulness of the whole, the community. I've studied, lived and tried to better understand, essentially, the rigor and towering moral certainties which Achebe have employed in most of his works and his world. I know, among other reasons, because I share the same ancestry with him. Permit me to attempt a brief sentence, with that Achebean simplicty and clarity. Here, folks, what the world has known since 1958: Achebe is good! Eagle on the Iroko, may your Lineage endure! There has never been one like you! Ugo n'abo, chukwu gozie gi oo!. Chido Nwangwu, recipient of the Journalism Excellence award (1997), is Founder and Publisher of USAfricaonline.com (first African-owned U.S.-based professional newspaper to be published on the internet), USAfrica The Newspaper, CLASS magazine and The Black Business Journal. He has served as an adviser to the Mayor of Houston on international business (Africa) and appears as an analyst on CNN, VOA, NPR, CBS News, NBC and ABC news affiliates. This USAfricaonline.com commentary is copyrighted. Archiving on any other web site or newspaper is unauthorized except with a Written Approval by USAfricaonline.com Founder.

DEBATE: How Black intellectuals let Africa down, and western stereoptypes complicate the rest. By Cedrick Ngalande at the USC, Los Angeles Africa suffers the scourge of the virus. This life and pain of Kgomotso Mahlangu, a five-month-old AIDS patient (above) in a hospital in the Kalafong township near Pretoria, South Africa, on October 26, 1999, brings a certain, frightening reality to the sweeping and devastating destruction of human beings who form the core of any definition of a country's future, its national security, actual and potential economic development and internal markets. 22 million Africans HIV-infected, ill with AIDS while African leaders ignore disaster-in-waiting In a special report a few hours after the history-making nomination, USAfricaonline.com Founder and Publisher Chido Nwangwu places Powell within the trajectory of history and into his unfolding clout and relevance in an essay titled 'Why Colin Powell brings gravitas, credibility and star power to Bush presidency.' Powell named Secretary State by G.W. Bush; bipartisan commendations follow. AFRICA AND THE U.S. ELECTIONS Beyond U.S. electoral shenanigans, rewards and dynamics of a democratic republic hold lessons for African politics. CONTINENTAL AGENDA Bush's position on Africa is "ill-advised." The position stated by Republican presidential aspirant and Governor of Texas, George Bush where he said that "Africa will not be an area of priority" in his presidency has been questioned by USAfricaonline.com Publisher Chido Nwangwu. He added that Bush's "pre-election position was neither validated by the economic exchanges nor geo-strategic interests of our two continents." These views were stated during an interview CNN's anchor Bernard Shaw and senior analyst Jeff Greenfield had with Mr. Nwangwu on Saturday November 18, 2000 during a special edition of 'Inside Politics 2000.' Nwangwu, adviser to the Mayor of Houston (the 4th largest city in the U.S., and immigrant home to thousands of Africans) argued further that "the issues of the heritage interests of 35 million African-Americans in Africa, the volume and value of oil business between between the U.S and Nigeria and the horrendous AIDS crisis in Africa do not lend any basis for Governor Bush's ill-advised position which removes Africa from fair consideration" were he to be elected president. By Al Johnson Johnnie Cochran will soon learn that defending Abacha's loot is not as simple as his O.J Simpson's case. By Chido Nwangwu Should Africa debates begin and end at The New York Times and The Washington Post? No Cheryl Mills' first class defense of Clinton and her detractors' game  It's wrong to stereotype Nigerians as Drug Dealers Private initiative, free market forces, and more democratization are Keys to prosperity in Africa Apple announces Titanium, "killer apps" and other ground-breaking products for 2001. iTunes makes a record 500,000 downloads. Steve Jobs extends digital magic CLASS is the social events, heritage excellence and style magazine for Africans in north America, described by The New York Times as the magazine for affluent Africans in America. It is published by professional journalists and leading mulitmedia leaders and pioneers.