OCCUPY NIGERIA PROTEST MOVEMENT: AGENDA FOR THE PRESENT TIMES [BY JAYE GASKIA]

Posted by Unknown On Sunday, January 13, 2013 0 comments

OCCUPY NIGERIA PROTEST MOVEMENT: AGENDA FOR THE PRESENT TIMES[1] [BY JAYE GASKIA]

Originally written in early February 2012, it still resonates with our situation today, in particular in the circumstance created by the the betrayal of the January Uprising then [in its abrupt call off], but also more pertinently now [in the fact that neither the labour centres nor one of its two civil society coalition allies considered the January Uprising significant enough to either be remembered, learnt from, or commemorated]. Of the four member coalition partners in the Labour Civil Society (LASCO) coalition, only one coalition, the UAD has done anything suggesting an understanding of the significance of that period in our history. Now back to the original write up below.
It is a little over 3 weeks since the abrupt and unilateral call off our our nationwide uprising by a leadership of the labour centres who seemed to have been coerced and pressured into a hurried retreat from the [unintended perhaps on the part of labour's leadership] consequences of our collective actions. For let us face it, when a awakened, increasingly conscious and aroused popular mass protest movement initiates a resistance with minimum demands such as policy reversal; if the government of the day seems either incapable or unwilling to meet such demands in the face of the growing confidence of the popular masses in revolt; it will not long be long before the mass movement will shift from a demand for policy reversal to one of changing the unwilling or incapable regime and replacing it with a new regime, able and willing to meet the demand of the popular movement.

And let there be no doubt about it, in this country, during the weekend of of 14th and 15th of January, we were at such a cross road. If our protests had continued and deepened into the following week; the regime would have had to either completely reverse itself or risk losing power! Such were the concrete choices facing the regime; such was the underlying basis of the panic within the regime, and its decision to wage a full scale psychological war on what it had discovered to be the weak link in the Labour-Civil Society Coalition prosecuting the struggle: the leadership of organised labour, the leadership of the two trade union centres - NLC & TUC! 

From the moment this weak link was discovered considerable effort was made to blackmail the coalition, and drive a wedge between the coalition partners [NLC & TUC on the labour side; and UAD & JAF, on the civil society side].

However this is not the issue at stake for now; this analysis is necessary in order to properly situate what is required to set new agenda for the current phase of our uprising.

Why did we Occupy Nigeria? Because we had become tired of ineptitude, incompetence, insensitivity, stupendous corruption and impunity in governance? The straw that broke the proverbial Carmel’s back was the unconscionable hike in the price of petrol, the impunity with which such a gravely devastating decision was taken and implemented, the complete lack of understanding of the parlous conditions of existence of the people, and the contemptuous and disdainful dismissal of popular outcries on the issue of so-called subsidy removal!

Thanks to our uprising, which is now in a reflective phase, we now know that a gigantic and monumental fraud had been taking place in the petroleum sector for a period of over half a decade; we now know that this fraud entered a qualitatively new phase in 2011.

Thanks to our uprising we can now confirm that we were right not to trust this government, that they were lying to us to push the case for fuel price hike, and that they have been lying to us since they unilaterally hiked the price of petrol on Jan 1st 2012.

So we are finding out that the national daily consumption rate for petrol is not calculated on the basis of empirical evidence, but allocated on the basis of the whims and fraudulent caprices of anyone interested in cutting their own share of the national cake! 

We now know that the list of 'fraudulently approved importers' of fuel has been growing endlessly, that briefcase corporations benefit, that established corporations claim more than actually import etc.


Interestingly too, we have also now been informed that the 1.3 trillion naira figure bandied around to justify the removal of subsidy, was supposed to include 300 billion naira for subsidy on kerosene, as well as substantial arrears for subsidy payments for 2009 & 2010. Laughably too, there is no agreement between all the different relevant MDAs on this matter with respect to daily consumption rate [is it 35 million litres per day, 49 million litres per day or the 59 million liters per day that we are actually paying for?]; and with respect to the amount paid in 2011 for the so-called subsidy [is it 1,3 trillion naira, 1.4 trillion naira, 1.7 trillion naira or over 2 trillion naira actually paid according to CBN?]. What is more, no one has been able to justify or explain why a subsidy payment bill that ranged between 300 billion naira and 600 billion naira per annum in the previous 5 years suddenly ballooned to over 2 trillion naira in 2011; or why and how daily consumption rate which purportedly averaged around 28 million liters per day in the previous 5 years suddenly mushroomed into the 59 million litres per day of 2011!

From the forgoing a few things are very obvious: First a large scale fraud, or historic and monumental proportion has been taking place in the petroleum sector under the direct watch of the petroleum minister and the indirect watch of the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy; secondly, this grand scale mega fraud - SUBSIDYGATE, has involved the NNPC, the PPPRA, and must have come under the gaze of the CBN and the Federal Ministry of Finance; Third, every significant minister/official, and ministerial department or parastatals involved in this case including the ministers of petroleum and that of finance; as well as the CBN, PPPRA, NNPC and Customs have given clearly contradictory data and information with respect to these issues; no data or information given by any one department or official has corroborated that given by others. The implication of this is that both the economic team and the role of the coordinating minister of the economy have been superfluous and redundant: no coordination of this economy has been taking place whatsoever, except perhaps in the coordination of the mega looting of the treasury.

In the light of the foregoing our previous demands must be reaffirmed; while we must now include new demands:

1. Independent and thorough going probe of processes in the petroleum sector, in particular the fuel import and subsidy payment regimes by a special task force with investigative and prosecutorial powers.

2. All those indicted in this grand scale fraud must be prosecuted and upon conviction given exemplary punishment to serve a s a deterrent to others

3. A time bound [24 months] and funded strategy to ensure self sufficiency in domestic refining capacity of petroleum products must now be put in place immediately. We must cease importation of refined petroleum products within 24 months.

4. The actual daily consumption rate of the country must be immediately determined through strict monitoring of tanker loading at depots and sales of products at filling stations across the country. Defaulters must be immediately punished.

5. The actual existing production capacity of existing refineries must be immediately ascertained. From the determination of this production capacity and actual daily consumption rate, we can work out exact quantity of products we need to be importing to meet the gap if it exists during the 24 month transition period.

THE NEW DEMANDS:

6. Both the ministers of petroleum [under whose watch these frauds have taken place] and the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy [under whose watch absolutely no coordination of the economy has taken place] should either both resign or be sacked immediately.

7. The boards and managements of both NNPC & PPPRA should be immediately dissolved and the agency & parastatals completely overhauled.

8. Independent commission of inquiry into the murders of more than 20 citizens during the protests by a special task force with powers to investigate and prosecute; and payment of compensation to the families of the murdered and injured, alongside exemplary punishment to the culprits [both those who gave the orders and those who carried out the orders.

IF WE ARE EVER GOING TO STAMP OUT IMPUNITY AND TACKLE CORRUPTION IN GOVERNANCE OF OUR COUNTRY WE MUST INSIST ON THIS DEMANDS AND BE PREPARED TO ONCE AGAIN OCCUPY NIGERIA IF THEY ARE NOT MET.

Our Revolution Continues! Its Our Country, Lets Take It Back!!


[1] Originally written in early February 2012.
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THE REAL BUT HIDDEN DRIVERS OF THE FUEL SUBSIDY REMOVAL POLICY: BY JAYE GASKIA

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The more we have challenged this regime and confronted it with counter arguments to the reasons it is proffering for the urgency with which it is determined to remove fuel subsidy; the more new facts have emerged based on logical and rational, as opposed to voodoo  analytical interpretation of official data from government and global Oil industry sources!

And from all that is emerging and that we know, it is now becoming quite glaringly clear that this regime is indeed beholden to, and unable to contain a parallel power structure, which it has sensationally referred to as the cabal or cartel. The ingrained culture of official corruption combined with the total lack of patriotism among public officials, has been and continues to be a significant factor in the apparent powerlessness of a ‘legitimate' government, when confronted by an 'illegitimate' counter power, organised in the cabal and cartel!

Let us take just one significant case study to explain this insincerity and subterfuge on the part of government; The question of domestic refining capacity, and the issue as to whether we ought to be importing refined petroleum products in the first place at all!

The regime is posturing as if we do not have installed domestic capacity to refine crude oil; this is absolutely a lie. We now know that from 1 barrel of crude oil, we can get 168 litres of refined fuel, out of which 73.05 litres is PMS [petrol]; so with installed capacity of 445,000 barrels of crude per day in the existing 4 refineries, we can conveniently refine 74.8 million litres of refined fuel per day, out of which, we can get 32.5 million litres of PMS per day. And at the 40 million litres per day imported and paid for in 2012, itself still a bloated figure, we would only need to import about 7.5 million litres per day of PMS until the 3 new Greenfield refineries come on board! So why is the regime not willing and able to pursue this cause of action? It must be because it not only aid and abets the criminality in the sector, it provides protection for the criminals, and is itself rather a major beneficiary of the corruption and treasury looting [a state crime] that is being perpetrated and perpetuated.

What is interesting about these figures is that if the four refineries were working at 100% capacity or even at 90% installed capacity, we would be able to conveniently meet daily domestic consumption of PMS from domestic refining of crude. This means we will be ale to cut out the unnecessary waste of about 85 Naira added to the 65 Naira per litre cost which arises solely because of the cost of importation. Furthermore, we now also know that the effective cost of PMS per litre if we were to include domestic cost of production [refining] plus cost of distribution, plus profit margin, comes up to only 35 Naira per litre at most. This in effect means that we should in fact be paying far less per litre for petrol than we are currently paying.

Now the government claims that they have improved refining capacity in the refineries from the below 30% they met it two years ago to between 50% and 60% capacity as of today. The government have also said that it will get the refineries up to 90% capacity utilisation by the end of 2012. The implication of the foregoing is that if we already produce at 50% of installed capacity, then we should not be importing more than 18 million litres of PMS per day, and therefore the subsidy bill should have been half of what is currently claimed. Second, it has also been confirmed that a proper audit will confirm that we in fact consume far less than 32 million litres of PMS per day, if we remove the waste that goes into smuggling across the borders and the sharp practices including round tripping which involves the oil import cartel and officials of government. Third, it also means that by the end of 2012 we can actual put a definitive stop to fuel importation, because we would have become self sufficient. So if we are to agree with the CBN governor that we can afford to continue to cover the importation costs [called subsidy] from public [that is federal funds] over the next four years, and that we would only run into severe crisis by 2015; then we can safely conclude that this subsidy can be continued for just one more year, by the end of which we would have achieved self sufficiency in domestic refining.

It is important that we have based all our analysis on what is existing [the four refineries], and have not included the implications of having additional 3 new refineries with combine capacity of 400,000 barrels of crude per day, and which the government have said can be completed in 2 years!

It therefore means that by the beginning of 2014, we would have acquired enough capacity to not only meet domestic needs but to also service the sub region with attendant additional export earnings as opposed to the present export spendings.

So why is the government presenting the facts as if we would continue to require substantial importation of refined fuel products over the next several years? Why is government insistent on continued importation, and therefore continued servicing of the cabal and cartel? Let us not forget that the removal of the subsidy those mean that importation will be stopped, or that the oil marketers/importers will not continue to import; in fact it simply means that the government wants us to individually as citizens pay the importers for this costs, such that it is no longer covered from the public purse.

From the above, it is even more pertinent that that will renew and strengthen our opposition to the proposed policy of hiking fuel prices, and insist that the Federal government of Nigeria ensures the 4 existing refineries are working at more than 90% capacity by the end of 2012, and that the 3 new refineries are completed and working at full capacity by the end of 2013. It can only do this if it confronts the cabal, tackle criminality in the sector and eliminate corruption from the sector. It will only be able to do this if we do not relent in our resistance and if we continue to increase the pressure on the regime through active mass resistance and direct action.

RETURN TO THE STREETS, RETAKE OUR COUNTRY, RECLAIM OUR HUMANITY, OCCUPY NIGERIA FOR SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION!
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Delhi gang-rape victim dies in hospital in Singapore

Posted by Unknown On Friday, December 28, 2012 0 comments

A female student gang-raped on a bus in India's capital Delhi has died at a Singapore hospital, doctors say.
The Mount Elizabeth hospital in Singapore, where the victim was being treated
The 23-year-old had arrived in Singapore on Thursday after undergoing three operations in a Delhi hospital.
The attack earlier this month triggered violent public protests in India that left one police officer dead.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was "very saddened" and promised to channel "emotions and energies" into a course of action.
Six men have been arrested and two police officers have been suspended following the 16 December attack.
A statement from the hospital said the woman "passed away peacefully" early on Saturday with her family by her side.
"The patient had remained in an extremely critical condition since admission to Mount Elizabeth Hospital," hospital chief executive Kelvin Loh said.
"She had suffered from severe organ failure following serious injuries to her body and brain. She was courageous in fighting for her life for so long against the odds but the trauma to her body was too severe for her to overcome.
"We are humbled by the privilege of being tasked to care for her in her final struggle," Mr Loh said.
A team of eight specialists had tried to keep the patient stable, but her condition continued to deteriorate over the two days she was at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, he added.
Officials from the Indian High Commission were also present when the patient passed away. The Indian home minister said the government had decided to send the victim overseas on the recommendation of her doctors.
Demonstrators shout slogans as they are surrounded by the police during a protest rally in New DelhiThe woman's case has sparked public debate as well as several days of protests across India
Arrangements are being made to take her body back to India, said Indian high commissioner to Singapore TCA Raghavan.
"The requisite formalities for sending the body are being completed. The deceased and family members to be flown out in a chartered aircraft later today," Mr Raghavan said.
In a statement issued in Delhi, Prime Minister Singh said: "It would be a true homage to her memory if we are able to channelise these emotions and energies into a constructive course of action.
"The need of the hour is a dispassionate debate and inquiry into the critical changes that are required in societal attitudes.
"Government is examining... the penal provisions that exist for such crimes and measures to enhance the safety and security of women. I hope that the entire political class and civil society will set aside narrow sectional interests... to help us all reach the end that we all desire - making India a demonstrably better and safer place for women to live in."
Rising anger
The victim and her friend had been to see a film when they boarded the bus in the Munirka area of Delhi, intending to travel to Dwarka in the south-west of the city.
Police said she was raped for nearly an hour, and both she and her companion were beaten with iron bars and thrown out of the moving bus and into the street.
On arrival at the hospital in Singapore, doctors said that as well as a "prior cardiac arrest, she also had infection of her lungs and abdomen, as well as significant brain injury".
The government has tried to halt rising public anger by announcing a series of measures intended to make Delhi safer for women.
These include more police night patrols, checks on bus drivers and their assistants, and the banning of buses with tinted windows or curtains.
The government has also said that it will post the photos, names and addresses of convicted rapists on official websites to shame them.
It has set up two committees - one looking into speeding up trials of cases involving sexual assaults on women, and the other to examine the lapses that might have led to the incident in Delhi.
But the protesters say the government's pledge to seek life sentences for the attackers is not enough - many are calling for the death penalty.
Since the Delhi incident, several cases have been highlighted of authorities failing to respond to reported rapes.
On Wednesday, a woman committed suicide in the state of Punjab, after having tried to report to police an rape which allegedly took place last month, local media reports said.
At least one police officer involved in the case has been sacked, according to local officials.
Culled The BBC
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Silvio Berlusconi 'to pay ex-wife 36m euros a year'

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Culled the BBC
Italy's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has agreed to pay 36m euros (£30m) a year to his ex-wife Veronica Lario, reports say.
Berlusconi will keep the £60m villa where the couple lived with their three children, as part of a divorce deal reportedly filed on Christmas Day.
Veronica Lario and ex-husband Silvio BerlusconiMs Lario left Berlusconi in 2009 after he was seen at the 18th birthday party of an aspiring model, Noemi Letizia.
US magazine Forbes estimated his wealth at almost $6bn (£3.7bn) in March.
The Corriere della Sera newspaper reported that Ms Lario, 56, had initially asked for £35m a year.
Her 76-year-old ex-husband reportedly offered her about £3.1m.
The couple met in a dressing room in 1980 after Berlusconi saw Ms Lario perform in a Milan theatre.
Noemi LetiziaSilvio Berlusconi gave a necklace to Noemi Letizia on her 18th birthday
They were married in 1990.
He has two other children from his first marriage and is currently engaged to 28-year-old Francesca Pascale .
Berlusconi was Italy's longest-serving post-war prime minister until he resigned in November 2011.
He says he will run for office again in 2013.
His third term in office saw slow growth and a national debt of $2.6 trillion and his government was slow to implement austerity measures in response.
Court cases
He also became embroiled in a series of financial and sex scandals.
In October 2012, he was sentenced to four years in jail by a Milan court after being convicted of tax evasion.
He is currently appealing against the decision, and commentators say it is unlikely that he will serve any time in jail.
He is also standing trial on charges of paying to have sex with an underage girl in 2010.
Her identity was later revealed as Karima El-Mahroug, widely known as Ruby Rubacuori (heart-stealer), a Moroccan nightclub dancer who was 17 years old at the time.
He is also charged with abusing his powers to get Ms Mahroug released from police custody after she was arrested for shoplifting.
Berlusconi denies the charges.
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Bleeding is commonest cause of death among pregnant women – Experts

Posted by Unknown On Wednesday, December 26, 2012 0 comments

BY VINCENT UJUMADU
AWKA- MEDICAL experts have observed that bleeding is the commonest cause of death among pregnant women in Nigeria
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