Comments By Choice

BBC Africa-- “The authorities in Nigeria say as many as 15,000 oil militants active in the Niger Delta surrendered under the two-month amnesty which expired on Sunday. The official in charge of the scheme said 5,000 weapons and 18 gunboats had also been handed in by the militants.”
– 5K weapons, 15K militants, hmm…something is smelly a little like fish here. What kind of self respecting militant does not have a weapon? So how were they terrorizing people, by jumping out of the bush naked?

BBC Africa-- “A container full of arms and ammunition has been seized by Nigerian customs officers in Lagos harbour. One person has been arrested and officials are searching for the owner of the arms” – Did the person that was arrested came attached to the container? And how does advertising the seizure help them catch the owner?

BBC Africa- – “Nigeria's top economic body, the National Economic Council, has approved a government decision to spend $2bn (£1.25bn) from its oil windfall fund. But there is criticism over how it plans to spend the money. Economic stimulus packages in other countries have targeted infrastructure projects, job creation, and tax cuts for small businesses. Nigeria's government says it will spend half the cash on clearing the debts of federal government contractors.” – Ladies and gentlemen, the more you look, the less you see, please observe carefully as we attempt to make this money disappear.

Businessdayonline – “Demand for foreign exchange is plummeting at the Wholesale Dutch Auction System (WDAS), sending alarm signals on further depression in the economy. When $100 million was offered at WDAS by the Central Bank of Nigerian (CBN) on Monday, October 5, 2009, only $15.32 million was sold, representing a short fall of 84.68 percent. Experts say the situation is a direct fall out of near complete freezing of credit by banks to corporate organisations and individuals in the last few months. Before the credit crunch hit the financial system, the amount of foreign exchange sold was usually higher than what the apex bank offered. For instance, on August 8 2009, the CBN offered $200 million, but ended up selling $357.75 million.” – Oh boy if na joke make una stop am o! wetin be sey I no fit borrow money from bank take buy money from the same bank? But seriously how is it possible to sell more money than you have?

The Times Of Nigeria- – “The Senate Thursday reacted to allegations that it was attempting to cover up the role played by some chieftains of the PDP in a =N=300 billion road contract by instructing the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions to investigate the allegations.” – This is how you know this is big time. When a committee is set up to investigate the fact, that the previous committee is trying to cover the actions of (probably) another committee. This looks like a closed case to me.

The Financial Standard- - "Average loss on the Nigerian stock market stood at about 30 per cent in the third quarter, equivalent to a loss of about N2 trillion by investors within the nine-month period. Against the background of full-year return of -45.77 per cent in 2008, the third quarter performance indicates that the value of an average investment made since 2008 has nearly been fully eroded by the recession.” – Omo, clear road for jaga jaga. When Iroko tree wan fall, e no dey ask floor wether e don ready.

The PM News- - "The global economic crisis is taking its toll on most Nigerian airlines with the revelation that passenger traffic on domestic and regional routes has dropped by about 40 percent, causing huge losses of revenue to the indebted airlines. P.M.News gathered that some Nigerian airlines are unable to pay the salaries of their staff including pilots and engineers who are key to the safety of the aircraft. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) last month set up a committee to investigate the allegations but has not come out with the findings. “We will make it public. Those who are paying and those not paying,” Dr. Harold Demuren, NCAA boss told journalists.But Demuren has been accused of applying double standards in dealing with erring airlines. For instance, he has been accused of looking the other way each time, Bellview, an airline on the brink of collapse, is concerned.Recently, about two hundred passengers of Bellview airlines travelling to London were stranded at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, for several days, Demuren did not intervene until some properties at MMIA were damaged by the angry passengers." – The power God will not let an unpaid pilot fly you anywhere in Jesus name, Amen, nor let an angry airline mechanic service your plane.