Are you aware that in addition to the four refineries in Nigeria – Portharcourt I and II, Warri and Kaduna, this country also had a 30 per cent interest in West African Refinery, Sierra Leone which was handed over to President Obasanjo’s government in 1999? Are you also aware that has Obasanjo so far failed to account for that national assets and its disposal, he was handed a list of assets forfeited by Abacha to the Federal Government on May 26, 1999 – in the last decree –Decree No. 53 – which was the last signed by General Abdulsalami Abubakar as Head of State, Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria? Are you also aware that other Abacha loot, returned between 1999 and May 2007, when Obasanjo was forced to step aside, remain unaccounted for and might have been re-looted? Prepare yourself for a shock – if it is still possible to be shocked in Nigeria by anything done by leaders of the PDP who had access to the corridors of power – especially the self-righteous Obasanjo. His administration established the template for looting Abacha loot. But, permit first a diversion – a necessary one.

One of the “bad” habits of professional economists is the tendency to quantify virtually everything. They develop metrics for assessing real human experiences in a manner that reveals certain truths which might be hidden from others. Like most Nigerians, it was clear to me, as a strong supporter of Buhari, long before the 2015 presidential elections that we might be electing a military-style disciplinarian.

By Dele Sobowale Read the first part here “The culprits will not go unpunished. I have been a Military Governor, Petroleum Minister, Military Head of State and headed the Petroleum Trust Fund. Never have I heard of the words “Budget padding”. President Buhari, February 25, 2016. Abuja. Part one of this series started with the […]

It is one of the axioms of management carved on stone by the management guru Peter Drucker, that nothing is more wasteful than doing diligently what should not be done at all – especially when the step to be taken is based on anger – which might not even be justified. Reading that statement credited to Buhari again, one is immediately struck with the irony involved in the historical precedents the President cited. Budgets by military governments at Federal and State levels were never debated nor were they passed to another body to approve. So, if there was padding, nobody would ever know.

Seldom does one come across an individual about whom all those who knew him in life have nothing but good things to say. Professor Ajibade Abayomi Rokosu, “IROKO”, 1940-2016, had just completed one the most amazingly blessed lives anybody can dream of and spent. When good Prof passed away, late last month, he left everybody wondering if it is possible he could pass their way again.