Nigeria Property

Friday, April 10, 2015

Germany’s Federal Security Council has approved the export of a fifth submarine to Israel.

It’s the penultimate submarine promised to Israel by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and will be handed over by the company Thyssen Krupp.

Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper revealed the approval, citing the Federal Security Council’s report to the parliamentary Economics Committee.

Germany’s Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) builds the new Air Independent Propulsion Dolphins and the decision to sell them has been criticized for two reasons. One, in that German taxpayers are shouldering a third of the cost.

Why is the tax I pay here in Germany being used to subsidise submarines for Israel?

— Dame Alun Roberts (@ciabaudo) April 10, 2015

Secondly, the vessels are reportedly capable of being equipped with nuclear weapons. Peter Roberts is an expert in sea power and naval weapons systems at the Royal United Services Institute in London and told Sputnik News that Israel will want to produce and develop nuclear capability on the new submarines. “That’s the long term aspiration”, says Roberts. “But does it have it right now? No.

“These are new batch of submarines that Israel is receiving which have a markedly increased capability on what they’d had previously in terms of range, covertness and ability to reach different parts of the world then they had previously been able to do.”

Roberts adds that the submarines have the capability to become nuclear armed, “but probably not right now.” “Several hurdles have to be overcome before it can be armed with a nuclear warhead.” He explains that the key to being able to arm the submarines with nuclear weapons is down to the delivery mechanism.

“The Israelis rely on the fact they could fire the Popeye submarine missile — a system that the Americans successfully launched in 2002. But traditionally the Israelis only keep the Harpoon anti-ship missile.”

“These are the first submarines that will be able to fire this missile, the size of the torpedo tubes allow it to be fired, they have a bigger tubes for bigger missiles. “The submarines would have the ability to launch them [missiles] — it’s the weapon itself that is the critical part and developing that weapon and navigation system for the guidance from within a submerged submarine is a further challenge.” Peter Roberts says it’s difficult to say whether the submarines are distinctly designed for nuclear weapons.

“The Israelis will want to add this to their golf bag of capability which will give them huge resilience in their nuclear forces — but they’re not there yet.”

According to an article written by Anthony Bellchambers for Global Research, the Dolphin Class nuclear powered submarines “that have already been converted by the Israeli navy to being armed with ICB nuclear missiles…has given the Israeli state ‘deep sea dominance’ that is now virtually irreversible.” Adding that German Chancellor Merkel agreed to supply Israel with the vessels “without any prior consultation with the EU.”

Why don’t the Greeks get money out of Italy… Germany is too busy giving tons of money to Israel… even very nice submarines

— We are the dead men (@marvinarevaloHH) April 8, 2015

A recent report titled ‘German Submarines — Capabilities and Potential’, written by Captain Raimund Wallner, and published by the Royal United Services Institute in London, says:

“To sum up, one may say that due to their characteristics of compactness, covertness, sustainability and high combat power, submarines made in Germany are already able to meet the majority of the demands which today’s and future scenarios pose to underwater platforms.

“They do have their price, but they extend the maritime capability spectrum of the Bundeswehr in a unique way, and thus the military options in the hands of the political leaders…

“And it is no exaggeration to claim that the German Navy today disposes of nothing less than the best non-nuclear submarines in the world.”

Newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung also reported that Germany’s Federal Security Council has consented to the export of six sonar systems to India that can be used to detect submarines and torpedoes. Spare parts to produce small-caliber ammunition have also been sent. The council also approved the delivery of 336 unarmed military trucks to Algeria.

Sputnik

Army raids criminal hideout in Rivers, arrests six

B’Haram attacks Borno villages, kills 22

Oando’s oil reserves increased by 82%, worth $1.8bn

I’m eager to see how Buhari will end corruption in Nigeria – Femi Aribisala

Controversial preacher and social critic, Dr. Femi Aribisala, in this interview with TUNDE AJAJA, insists that President Goodluck Jonathan’s defeat in the presidential election was as a result of a conspiracy against the minority South South region

Since the presidential election, we have not heard or read from you, what have you been doing?

Since the presidential election, I have been doing what I have always been doing. I have been preaching the gospel and writing articles in newspapers as usual.

Some people said you’re mourning the defeat of your preferred candidate (President Goodluck Jonathan) at the polls and that you need to reconcile yourself with the development before coming out. Is that true?

My preferred candidate did not die, so why should I mourn him? Are the 12.8 million Nigerians said to have voted for Jonathan now supposed to be in mourning? Is Jonathan the first person to lose an election? (Gen. Muhammadu) Buhari lost three times; has he been mourning for the last 12 years? Nigerians have elected Buhari in the Nigerian way; now we have to live with their choice. Since the election, I have written an analysis about how the 2015 presidential election was manipulated by the Independent National Electoral Commission. However, some newspapers have refused to publish my views. It shows you that we may be on our way back to the days of censorship of the Buhari of old. You just wait; in no time at all, people will start longing for the freedoms we enjoyed under Goodluck Jonathan.

Do you also believe that the President should be commended for conceding defeat, or was there nothing spectacular in what he did?

Nigeria is very fortunate to have a president like Goodluck Jonathan. He is truly a man of peace. The president fulfilled his pledge not to allow his ambition to lead to the death of any Nigerian. For that, he deserves our commendation and gratitude.

The last time Buhari lost the presidential election, he provoked a riot. Compare that to what has happened now with Jonathan. That is yet another reason why people like me prefer President Jonathan to Buhari any day; any time.

Why do you think President Jonathan lost the election?

Buhari prevailed as a result of INEC’s policy of voter suppression through the instrumentality of the Permanent Voter Cards. There was a deliberate disenfranchisement of the Igbo especially by the manipulation of PVC distribution and allocation to the South-East. There was also endemic failure of the card reader in the South-East and the South-South, which discouraged voters known to be Jonathan’s supporters.

INEC ensured that, far more disproportionately relative to other geopolitical zones, millions of South-East voters disappeared from the register between 2011 and 2015, in order to provide a smooth passage for a Northern presidential candidate; which turned out to be Buhari.

Between 2011 and 2015, the votes of the South-West remained virtually constant. 4.6 million people of the South-West voted in 2011: 4.2 million in 2015. But compare this with what happened in the South-East. Five million people voted in 2011: only 2.6 million in 2015. That is a drastic and contrived drop of 2.4 million.

Everybody knows the South-East voted en masse for Jonathan. Even now, the Oba of Lagos is threatening the Igbo with death in the lagoon if they vote against the All Progressives Congress in the governorship elections. Many of them were not even given their PVCs.

While Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Jigawa and Bauchi were posting humongous figures; Imo, Anambra and Abia were posting relatively disappointing figures. Jigawa used to be a part of Kano. In the 2015 election, the votes of Jigawa and Kano combined was 3.1 million; double that of Lagos which was only 1.4 million. Cell-phone video recordings show that there was widespread under-aged voting in the North.

You didn’t seem to expect that the President would lose and that General Buhari would win. How did you receive the news?

As I said, I don’t believe the president lost the election and I don’t believe General Buhari won. What I know is that the General was declared the winner, and President Jonathan graciously agreed to accept the verdict in the interest of peace. I received the news with great amusement. I don’t have any personal stake in the president’s victory. I don’t work for him and he does not pay my salary. I copied down all the figures released and analysed them. So doing, I reached the conclusion that the result of the election was bogus. Buhari had won the election long before the election. He had been programmed by INEC to win it.

What do you think would have happened if the President had won and Buhari lost?

Buhari would have declared that the election was rigged and would never have conceded defeat. His supporters would have embarked on riots and killings and there would have been mayhem all over the country. Elections are only free and fair when the APC is declared the winner.

Maybe you would have been offered a ministerial or juicy appointment if President Jonathan had won, because some people said all you were doing then was to attract attention?

Maybe PUNCH will be offered a juicy government contract now that Buhari has been declared the winner. Maybe your newspaper will now get all Federal Government adverts for the next four years. It is easy to cast aspersions on anybody who supports Jonathan. If so, what shall we say of PUNCH’s support for Buhari? Is it ever possible in Nigeria to support a candidate on principle?

Cynical Nigerians believe anyone who supports Jonathan must either be in his pay or be looking for a job. Neither allegation holds water with me. Jonathan ostensibly received 12.8 million votes; surely all these people were neither in his pay nor were they Aso Rock job-seekers.

My faith requires me to support the weak. Therefore, I will always support the minority against the tyranny of the majority. We cannot be reliant on South-South oil in Nigeria and then treat one of their sons as if he is an impostor for being president of the country. This presidential election was a vicious and malicious gang up of the majority ethnic groups against the minorities. I cannot be party to that.

In the run-up to the election, you were very critical of Gen. Buhari based on his antecedents. Now that he is the President-elect, how do you feel?

Election results don’t change history. Neither do they convert the propaganda of the campaign into truths. My criticisms of Buhari were based on what I know about him. I challenge anyone to show me anything I said about Buhari that was false. On the question of how I feel, I am saddened that many Nigerians voted the way they are said to have done. I am waiting to see how General Buhari will make the naira equal to the dollar. We will see how he will unilaterally increase the international price of oil, as he said. We are waiting to see these miracles happen.

In the election that was adjudged as free and fair, don’t you think the people rejected President Jonathan?

Truth is not determined by popular opinion. There was nothing free and fair about this election. I said this even before the election. I wrote an article in Vanguard exactly a year ago saying: “The Presidential Election Will Not Be Televised.” That is another way of saying the election will not be free and fair. Elections in Nigeria are rigged procedurally by the major parties. The best riggers win. Don’t be fooled into thinking the 2015 presidential election is any different. It is interesting that the APC spent the campaign season telling Nigerians the election would be rigged. Now it has been declared the winner, we are meant to believe the election was free and fair where it polled massive figures.

We are on the way; but we certainly have not yet reached the destination of free and fair elections in Nigeria. We will not get there until we are able to get a true population census. This business of 17 million people registering to vote in the North-West alone, more than the South-South and the South-East combined, will not produce free and fair election results.

With all you have said and written about Buhari, do you have fears that he might come after you?

That is a very interesting question. In all that you people in PUNCH said and wrote about Jonathan, were you afraid he would come after you? How come nobody asked this question in the time of Jonathan, but you are already asking it even before Buhari is sworn in?

Buhari has no power of arrest over me. Those were the days when he arrested people for telling the truth he did not want to hear. Those days are gone. I am protected from any recurrence of his tyranny by the Nigerian Constitution. Make no mistake about it; we are not going to give Buhari an easy pass. If he could criticise every government in the last 16 years, he must expect to be criticised in turn.

The President-elect needs to fasten his seat-belts. He should enjoy his honeymoon now while it lasts. I even have an egg-timer to determine how long it will take for President Olusegun Obasanjo to start attacking him. As you probably know, according to Obasanjo, the only good government in Nigeria is the one he heads.

You said you were one of those that were victimised during Buhari’s regime as a military Head of State. Some other people that received the same treatment have forgiven him. Are you thinking of forgiving him?

General Buhari sent people to arrest me because I wrote an article against his dubious policy entitled: “Counter-trading Nigeria’s Future.” They came for me on a Friday but could not find me. They left a note that I should report to their Gulag Archipelago at 33 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. However, he was overthrown on Sunday. So God saved me from his hands.

In the end, I was no more victimised than any other Nigerian who had to endure the ordeal of his tyranny. General Buhari has refused to apologise. He has refused to ask Nigerians to forgive him for his atrocities. He merely said he accepts responsibility for them. You cannot forgive a man who refuses to repent.

What if you were offered a position in this new government?

If I maintained I would never accept a government position under Goodluck Jonathan; why would I now accept one under Buhari? I will never ever serve under any government. My kingdom is not of this world.

Some people have said that the President-elect is surrounded by some people that may not mean well for his intentions, do you agree?

You must have a better view of his intentions than I have. As far as I know, birds of a feather flock together. General Buhari is neither better nor worse than the people who now congregate under APC. That is why he agreed to be their leader. Stop making excuses for him already. His intentions are the same as those of the people around him.

The President-elect is reportedly known for his anti-corruption stand and integrity, don’t you share this view?

I disagree completely. The President-elect is very good at making anti-corruption noises, but his actions contradict him. The last time he was Nigeria’s Head of State, he tried to fight corruption with corruption. Imposing retroactive decrees and killing Nigerians under them is corruption. Putting an Igbo vice-president in Kirikiri, while placing the Fulani president under palatial house arrest, is corruption.

Detaining people like Michael Ajasin in jail, even after they were discharged and acquitted by kangaroo courts, is corruption. Jailing journalists for telling the truth is corruption. Putting pressure on a judge in order to jail Fela Anikulapo Kuti is corruption. Shepherding 53 suitcases of contraband unchecked through customs during a currency change exercise is corruption. Presiding over the theft of N25bn of Petroleum Trust Fund money is corruption. Swearing an affidavit that your school-leaving certificate is with the military when it is not is corruption.

With all you have said and written about Buhari, does it mean you don’t expect anything meaningful from his government in the next four years?

I live in Nigeria. I wish Nigeria well. Therefore I hope I am wrong about General Buhari. I hope he will surprise me. But I doubt it. General Buhari did not provide any meaningful public policy programme throughout the campaign. All we got were rhetoric and platitudes. Nothing meaningful came out of his last stint in power. I doubt anything meaningful will come in the next four years. But I pray that I am wrong.

You called for his disqualification after his result/certificate controversy; do you think people shouldn’t have voted for him based on that premise?

I think he should have been disqualified based on that premise. If you fail to fulfil the requirements of an election, your name should not even be on the ballot.

There are reports now that the military said it had found Buhari’s certificate, do you agree with some people who believe that it was all Peoples Democratic Party propaganda and dirty machinery at work?

How very convenient! They suddenly found the certificate now that the election is over.

So where is it? You ask the most biased questions. A man says his certificate is with the military. The military says it does not have it. In any case, the military does not keep the certificates of its officers. So how can this be merely PDP propaganda? Why could General Buhari not retrieve his certificate from Cambridge when he went on his junket to Chatham House in London?

If the certificate is found eventually, will you retract some of your statements, especially the ones that border on his certificate?

If the certificate is eventually found, it would make no difference. He was required to provide the certificate before a particular date and he did not. He should have been disqualified. You need to make up your mind about what is true and what is false. On the one hand, you say the certificate has been found. Now you ask “if it is eventually found.” Make up your mind. Has it been found or not? Was it lost in the first place?

You also described the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, as a traitor, meanwhile he gave his reasons for defecting; don’t you think the court should be left to decide if he erred?

The court does not decide if Tambuwal was a traitor. There is no court case to that effect. I don’t need a court case to determine if Tambuwal was a traitor. I can make up my own mind on that. Tambuwal was elected as a PDP member of the House. He betrayed the electorate by defecting to the APC. He betrayed the PDP by becoming an APC Speaker in PDP clothing. You cannot re-write the history of his actions; neither can you bend the truth concerning his treachery.

Some people have accused you of being sponsored by the PDP to write against APC members. They say you have only been critical of APC members, making PDP members seem like saints. Is this true?

Some people have accused PUNCH of being sponsored by the APC to write against Jonathan. They say you have only been critical of PDP members, making APC members seem like saints. Is this true? I don’t lose any sleep over what people say. People can say what they like, that does not change the truth about me.

Are you saying you don’t agree with the majority of Nigerians who say President Jonathan under-performed?

Obviously, I don’t agree that President Jonathan has not performed. I have stated in my write-ups that the president performed, and I gave my reasons. What makes you think the outcome of a flawed election will now suddenly change my views? When the air clears, the true history of the Jonathan administration will be written.

Then how would you assess the President in the area of security and corruption?

What is the point of that now? Let us now see how General Buhari will destroy Boko Haram in a matter of days like he did Maitasine. Let us see how many days it will take him to bring back our girls. Let us see how he will end corruption when he has a legislature full of corrupt politicians who used all kinds of means to get elected. General Buhari’s vain promises will begin to haunt him in the coming weeks and months.

My sister fought in the mall, not me – Bimbo Akintola

Political titans battle in Lagos, Rivers, Kaduna, others

The last presidential and National Assembly elections showed the increasing popularity of APC in the country.

Therefore, there are indications that the governorship elections will throw up stiff competitions across the country, with some states having stiffer battles than others based on the strengths of candidates and the dynamics of the states.

Lagos

Lagos State is Nigeria’s economic capital and is expected to have one of the most keenly contested polls. The state has never been won by the PDP.

It is home to a national leader of the APC, Ashiwaju Bola Tinubu, and therefore seen as a stronghold of the party.

The two main candidates in the contest are APC’s Akinwunmi Ambode and PDP’s Jimi Agbaje. There were originally 15 governorship candidates in the state but only five are left after 10 others stepped down for Ambode.

Although, in the 2011 governorship election in the state, Agbaje lost out to the incumbent governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, who will be rounding off his second term in office by May 2015. However, his chances look brighter this time around against a fellow rookie.

Meanwhile, the contest is unpredictable as reactions from a cross section of residents in the state show that voters are almost evenly split between the two main candidates.

Adamawa

In Adamawa State, the incumbent governor, Bala Ngilari will not be participating in the election, leaving room for Senator Jibrilla Bindo of the APC and Mallam Nuhu Ribadu of the PDP, who are seen as the main contenders.

Incidentally, Ribadu was the presidential candidate of the defunct ACN in the 2011 elections after becoming famous as the pioneer Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, an anti-graft agency.

In August 2014, Ribadu defected to the PDP from APC with the intention to run for the governorship of Adamawa State. Ironically, his foremost contender, Bindo, was formally a member of the PDP who went the other way.

Ribadu may be more popular than his foremost contender but Bindo is not without political clout having won the senatorial seat for Adamawa North district under the PDP platform in 2011. Bindo is currently the Deputy Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence and Army.

The battle between these two politicians is also expected to be a close one.

Rivers

Rivers State has probably been in the news for political reasons more than any other state in the last two years and its governor, Rotimi Amaechi and the presidency are often at the centre of such reports.

Following a dispute between Amaechi and the presidency, particularly President Jonathan and his wife, Patience, there has been political tension in the state.

Although Amaechi, who has since defected from the PDP to APC, is not contesting in the governorship election, he is rooting for his party’s candidate, Dakuku Peterside. The PDP candidate, Nyesom Wike, was Amaechi’s Chief of Staff before the two fell out.

APC is the ruling party in the state but Wike, who is also a former Minister of State for Education, is expected to pose a strong challenge to Amaechi’s candidate, having had the backing of Mrs. Jonathan, who announced him as the next Rivers State Governor several times.

Mrs. Jonathan, who is also from Rivers State, has been involved in partisan politics in the state.

On the other hand, Peterside, a native of Biriye, Opobo Kingdom, is a member of House of Representatives and also the Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream).

In spite of APC being the ruling party in the state, the last Presidential and National Assembly elections showed that the PDP still has overwhelming popularity in the state.

However, like Amaechi and the governor before him, Dr. Peter Odili, Wike is also of Ikwerre ethnic nationality and this may count against him in some quarters. Some people in the state have been calling for rotational governorship as only Ikwerre persons have governed the state since this democratic dispensation commenced in 1999.

Oyo

The contest in Oyo State will also be tough with two former governors of the state, Senator Rashidi Ladoja (Accord Party) and Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala (Labour Party), vying to return to the position by scuttling APC’s Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s second term bid.

A two-time senator, who rose to become Senate leader between 2007 and 2011, Teslim Folarin of the PDP and Seyi Makinde of the Social Democratic Party are also in the race, but residents of the state are generally of the opinion that the election will be won by one of the other three candidates mentioned.

Kaduna

Alhaji Mukhtar Yero, who used to be the deputy Governor of Kaduna State, was sworn in as governor in December 2012 after the death of Governor Patrick Yakowa in an air crash.

Today, he will be contesting under the platform of the PDP against Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and staunch member of the APC.

El-Rufai and his party are becoming increasingly popular in Kaduna but running against a sitting governor in Nigeria is always a tough task. Therefore, the contest in Kaduna State is expected to be close even though Buhari won with a wide margin in the Presidential election in the state.

Sokoto

The governorship election in Sokoto State is expected to be intriguing with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal (APC) battling it out with his brother-in-law, who is also a former senator and senate leader, Ambassador Abdallah Wali (PDP).

Wali reportedly introduced Tambuwal to national politics when he appointed him as senior legislative assistant in 1999.

The two candidates are the strongest contestants in the election and it is expected that one of them becomes the state’s next governor. Although, Tambuwal enjoys the support of Governor Aliyu Wamakko, who is also an APC member, Wali has been in politics longer than Tambuwal.

The contest is also expected to be stiff.

Imo

In Imo State, the popularity of Governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha (APC) has had some question marks lately, but residents still expect a keen governorship contest in the state. Okorocha’s biggest contender is Hon. Chukwuemeka Ihedioha, who is currently the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives.

Ihedioha contested and won as a member representing Aboh-Mbasie-Ngor Okpala Federal Constituency of Imo State in 2003.

Between 2003 and 2007, he served as Chairman, House committee on Marine Transport. The two contestants stand tall above the rest but there appears to be no clear gap between them, making it another close one.

Abia

Abia State has three main candidates: Okezie Ikpeazu (PDP); Alex Otti (APGA) and Anyim Nyerere (APC).

With PDPs stronghold in Abia, Ikpeazu is seen by residents as probably the strongest of the three.

Otti, an economist, banker, investor and the immediate past Group Managing Director of Diamond Bank Plc, is however expected to give the PDP candidate a run for his money in spite of a recent setback he suffered in his party.

Earlier in the week, a faction of APGA in the state dumped Otti and instead adopted Ikpeazu, citing some internal crises in the state chapter of the party. Some political analysts say this may affect Otti’s chances but no one knows if it will be enough to cost him the governorship seat.

Nyerere, a former PDP chieftain in the state before his defection to the APC, is also expected to make the contest stiffer.

Punch