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The armoured car scandal at Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA is still raising dust and spreading rapidly at an unprecedented scale. The vigour with which proponents of the ‘Sack Oduah’ mantra are going about their vindictive campaign raises a series of questions bordering on Nigeria’s anti-corruption institution; its antecedents, the motive for the ‘sack Oduah’ crusade, and the credibility of these latter day crusaders. Basically, Nigeria’s anti-corruption institution is like a three-pronged fork pointing at three different directions. The duo of Economic & Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC as one reinforced prong of the institution operate according to the dictates of the executive. In other words, they work expressly for the President of Nigeria. In similar vein, the adhoc probe panels of the National Assembly, NASS occasionally set in motion by exigencies of time is the second prong, and it works in principle ...

Until Wiki Leaks came along, the Pentagon Papers published by New York Times was for the past four decades the largest leak of classified documents in American history. Though Barack Obama had promised Americans the most transparent administration in history, the vigour with which he has pursued leakers since the floating of Julian Assange’s infamous outfit clearly indicates that moles and all forms of espionage are a formidable threat to any administration. In fact, by 2011, Obama and his Justice Department had pressed criminal charges against five suspected leakers under the Espionage Act, more than all other administrations combines, including Nixon’s. Like oil spillage and flooding, information ebbs and flows are beyond the power of rulers. Princess Stella Oduah, Nigeria’s Minister for Aviation, faced with the filthy tide of document leaks that is generating severe criticisms from civil society organisations and the media coupled with the onerous task of fishing out th...

Since 2005, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Aviation has had no fewer that six Ministers. Three of them lasted less than a year. The self-serving Femi Fani-Kayode who was dismissed in 2007 managed a grande total of 209 days. Particularly dispiriting about Fani-kayode’s dismissal is that it looked as if it marked the beginning of something new in the ministry. He became the first minister of aviation to be arrested, detained, and arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. His tenure had turned out to be tainted by scandal and allegations of fraud. Much of the responsibility for the mess belongs to Fani-Kayode. The man who lays claim to being the most successful aviation minister for Nigeria since 2002 had shown a breathtaking lack of leadership. Although there was no record of plane crash during his stint at the ministry, which he attributes to hard work and prayers, the ministry’s greatest undoing has been over Fani-kayode’s own murky financial affairs whi...

Category: News Published on Monday, 30 September 2013 14:04 Written by BUSINESSDAY Hits: 115 The Federal Government plan to unveil a new national carrier on Tuesday to commemorate the country’s 53th independence anniversary, has come under criticism from industry watchers. The development is being viewed as a step back to the dark ages, in view of the current global sentiments towards divestments. BusinessDay learnt that the new airline would come out of the merger of Aero Contractors and Air Nigeria airlines, which are indebted to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON). This is coming on the heels of refusal of some international airlines to partner with the local airlines due to the enduring crisis in the sector and unavailability of a credible partner with such credentials. Bismarck Rewane, chief executive, Financial Derivatives company in the recent release from the Lagos Business School Breakfast mee...

The Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA needs a new approach to crowd control within its ports premises. Crowd control is critical to NPA’s compliance with the International Ships and Ports Facility Security, ISPS code, which ultimate goal is to rid the ports of miscreants and every other conceivable threat to security at the ports. Speaking during a project inspection tour in Lagos in August, the Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen disclosed that the Federal Government is working to fast-track the completion of the 450-capacity Trailer Park at Tin-Can Island that would span from Coconut Bridge to Liverpool Bridge. When completed, the park is expected to provide accommodation for the many trucks that are now lining the length of the expressway and blocking access to the ports and other installations around Tin-Can Island. This is laudable as it is a giant step in the Federal Government’s long-drawn combat with traffic holdups in the Island. But trucks are not the only resources th...