News From Nigeria
OUR RELIGIOUS ALBATROSS BY DR AUSTIN ORETTE
If we aspire to be a multi-religious and multi-ethnic society, we have to remove religion from the centrality of our politics. We must decentralize governance.
We have too many religious holidays and none of the religions is indigenous. Religion should have no place in our public lives.
The minds of our people have been seriously poisoned and corroded by religion. If we want to change our situation, we have to change the way we think. How can we think when the minds of the majority of our people have been corroded by religion?
What is happening in Nigeria is akin to mass psychosis. How do we extricate our nation from this? I am tempted to say let us pray. There goes my brain. Religion short circuits any thought process and leads to arrested development. What is the point of thinking when God is in charge? This leads to fatalism that is prevalent in Nigeria.
The present way and verve which Nigeria embraces religion is destructive to a society that is struggling to render service to its people in a pluralistic society. If Religion is such a good thing, the benefits will have been everywhere by now and the colonizers will never give it to us for free.
In order to create docility, they forced the Chinese to consume the real opium which was medicinal in China at that time. The Chinese leaders saw the harm it was doing to the people and they picked up arms. This led to the Opium wars that led to the loss of Hong Kong and Macao.
Africa had no opium and the colonizers discovered religion could be more addictive than opium and they cultivated it as it was cheaper than the real opium.
Docility has always been the endpoint of slavery and colonialism. Nigerians are more docile and self-destructive than any group of people I know. They worship and nurture those who steal and vandalize their commonwealth and without a blink lynch a person who steals a loaf of bread to ward off starvation. This level of cognitive dissonance is only seen amongst drug addicts.
When I hear of foreign aid, I squirm at the thought of adding foreign priests and pastors to these orgies of abuse of Africans.
The most religious geographies in Nigeria are the most violent and destructive to the body politics of Nigeria. Religion is not about love. It is about power. Since rulers around the world adopted religion to fortify their legitimacy, religion has always been a tool of power.
Every religion started with the founder having some private revelation. These revelations were not corroborated by a third party or done in the glare of the public. Someone said he saw God and we believed him. The king believed him and the king adopted the religion and the king became God and no one can criticize the king because the king is God.
In the prescientific world of yore, anything could be a miracle. Most early religious people directed their ire at the rulers. The wily rulers simply adopted the religion and usurped God’s power. The conundrum I continue to find is that none of the so-called founders actually set out to start a religion. These religions started many years after they were dead.
Moses criticized pharaoh and Jesus condemned the High Priests who were working in tandem with the Roman government in the occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people.
In today’s world, the Pope who is preaching Jesus will be on the side of Rome. Mohammad was not loved by the rulers of his time. Early prophets told the truth. Nathan told David about his lust. Nigerian prophets of today would collect their tithes and personally get rid of Uriah.
Why should the king bother with such little people like Uriah? Every great prophet was anti-establishment. The prophets of today, especially in Nigeria are the establishment. Whatever they say is not of God but from their selfish desires to covet what belongs to others. This is why religion is at the root of all corruption in Nigeria.
For Nigeria to be whole, we must excise religion from all our public interaction. Those who want sharia should find another country.
Nigeria is an African Country. It has no relationship with Saudi Arabia. Any organization that condones the killing of Nigerians like those being ministered to by the likes of Gumi should be outlawed.
Our aspiration is to run a country with objective scientific principles that are objective and verifiable. Any religious gobbledygook must be rejected.
Religion has not developed in any country in the world. The poorest nations in the World are overwhelmingly religious. In Bangladesh, the average religious holiday is about 2 weeks.
The two regions that have religious extremism in Nigeria are the North and the South-East. If there is goodness in religion, we will see it in these regions.
What do we see? In the South East, we see violence, kidnappings, ritual killings and fake manufacturing of drinks and drugs that the good Christians there produced for their neighbors.
Every morning in Aba, Onitsha and the environs, the good Christians wake up early to prepare a poison that will be unknowingly consumed by their neighbors for a fee. Did Jesus teach that? In the North, violence, human trafficking, child abuse, child marriages and religious killings, raping and kidnappings that numbs the mind. This is what religion breeds.
Every Friday morning in Kano, Kaduna and Sokoto, the “good” Muslims lay their praying mats on the road oblivious to traffic and start praying. The road is blocked and others cannot engage in their activities of daily living. At the end, they rise up and sacrifice Deborah Samson to their Allah. Any person who challenges this barbaric behavior is subjected to vigilante justice. Is this what Mohammed taught them? Jesus actually referred to this kind of people as the Pharisees. Why do I have to know you are praying? Why is it necessary to obstruct my movement because you are praying? This is nothing but an exercise of power.
Religion is the devil but the priest has been able to convince their gullible and ignorant followers that the opposite is true. Most of the religionists in Nigeria will say they love God but will not blink as they kill their fellow man in the name of God.
From what is happening in Nigeria, it will be difficult for any of these religious gooks to convince me that they are not working for the devil. At times like this, I am beginning to think of Tom Payne, my Idol. If God is capable of these atrocities, then the devil has nothing else to do. The devil should join the Church or mosque and do what the devil does best: Destruction.
What I try to emphasize in my writing is that at this time in our history, we have to learn to live together as black people. If we aspire to become the hope of the Black World, we must learn to have allegiance to each other. It is difficult to do so now because the colonizers left their Trojan horses of religion which we have fashioned into Molotov cocktails to haul at each other every now and then.
We must learn to love each other. We don’t have to like each other but we can develop the capacity to evolve a society where our laws prevent us from hurting each other. The religions that are creating these divisions are imported and are tools the colonizer used to make us pliant for servitude.
We need to learn how to remove these barriers that were created by those who came into our land for conquest. This needs the art of diplomacy and time. We have to understand we need each other to survive. Things will change when we start seeing ourselves in each other.
Europe lived through a period where they were intolerant of each other and the continent is gradually resuming some semblance of civility towards each other. The world war was actually intertribal and religious wars. Kosovo is still almost a war zone with animosities but life is getting better.
This is where I fault the proponents of Biafra. The quickness in which they want to resolve issues with violence or war is akin to people who have no experience with the devastation war brings. They are quick to issue ultimatums and engage in kinetic actions that will rally an opponent against them. This bellicosity and lack of diplomacy is due to the fact their societies never engaged in many wars as a nation, where serious thought is given to the consequences of losing. They made this mistake in the Nigerian civil war and they are at it again.
The Oyo Empire was one of the bloodiest empires in West Africa. The fall of the Oyo Empire led to the wholesale enslavement of the Yoruba people. The Yoruba people are the largest enslaved tribe in Africa. From Brazil to Suriname Cuba, the Yoruba language and religion are the norm. This devastation had an effect on the Oyo Empire and they learned from it.
This is the reason why the Yoruba people are very diplomatic about thorny issues. They have been accused of being tricky. They learned a lot from their history and a Yoruba man will never beat his chest to a man who has an AK 47 pointing to his chest. If a Yoruba man decides to go to war, I will not have many questions to ask before I join because I know he has deliberated about everything and he has no other choice and I know he will win because he also understands the opposition.
When Nnamdi Kanu threatens a Buhari who is a President, Kanu assumes that Buhari is an idiot because of Igbo man’s arrogance and limited education. Where is Kanu today? Buhari could have eliminated Kanu in Nairobi if that was his mission. His mission was to arrest and prosecute him. Notwithstanding his theatrics, Nnamdi should thank Buhari for not murdering him in Nairobi or through a calculated plane crash. He should learn that a good leader is not a blood thirsty vagabond who issues orders to kill people at will. He should respect our courts and follow the due process of trial.
Those who are asking America to invade Nigeria have the same infantile thinking. They think Trump will drop the bombs, the Muslims will disappear and they will have their Biafra and everything is over. This naivety led to the colossal failure of Ojukwu and the Igbos still call him the people general.
Please turn the page. It is titled the “Day After “ For some reasons, the Biafrans don’t know that their book of dreams has a next page. Ojukwu forgot that page too. “After Biafra lost, they blamed everyone but themselves. The people who rejected the advice of Nnamdi Azikiwe, a seasoned statesman for the bellicosity of a renegade now tell us it was other people’s fault.
Warriors don’t brag about battles. They don’t even show us their scars. They leave that for amateurs who have never seen widows and orphans. Hitler tried it the second time and the results were the same and more devastating. It is not necessary to repeat a class if all lessons are learned.
My submission is that we should learn diplomacy. The making of a nation requires this. Those who negotiate on behalf of their people should always avoid the temptation to think their adversary is an idiot.
America has not given us creative leaders lately. They have become used to antiseptic wars. Donald Trump coming to Africa to save Christian sounds like a 419 proposition for the racist religious right of America. He doesn’t need to spend much effort to destroy Nigeria or kill those causing the problem.
Let’s be more creative. He should tell Nigeria he is dropping 20 billion dollars in Lokoja for Christians and Muslims to share equally. He should then sit and wait. All the Muslims and Christians will arrive with their swords and AK 47. There will be a holy war as each side tries to claim this loot. The only ones who will be left alive are Nigerians who didn’t believe the story and those who have not been converted or sent away by their priests because they are not real Muslims or Christians. The Catholics will ask for confessions before any one is allowed to join the broil. By morning, America can walk in and take the rare earths and minerals without firing a shot . They can collect their money from the pockets of all the dead Christians and Muslims who were engaged in a jihad.
Where are the good Christians in Nigeria? They have been raptured. Where are the Muslims? They are in paradise with their 72 virgins. Religion has always been a lie, a big lie. Religion is an intoxicant invented by men of power. This intoxicant is the greatest purveyor of violence and cruelty in our world. The exceptions don’t make the rules. Prove me wrong.
What is so holy about a war that God has to take sides? If America defeats Nigeria tomorrow, does it mean America was right and God was on their side? No, they have better intelligence and technology. God wasn’t the referee.
DR AUSTIN ORETTE WRITES FROM HOUSTON, TEXAS
FG, NLC ON WARPATH OVER NATIONAL THEATRE UNVEILING
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Monday vowed to deplore every lawful tool at its disposal, including full mobilization, protests, and industrial action to return staff to the rehabilitated National Theatre and restore dignified working conditions.
‘’The NLC wishes to let you know that this is not just about physical working conditions but about our workers dignity, rights and the preservation of Nigeria’s cultural heritage’’.
The NLC also demanded a public and transparent resolution of the crisis.
‘’Following the recent global media coverage of this matter, the Federal Government appointed a new Board Chairman, Mr. Disun Holloway, presumably to address longstanding issues. Regrettably, over three months after his appointment, he has yet to engage directly with staff or address their welfare. Rather, his tenure has been marked by secrecy, exclusion, and complete disregard for the plight of workers, who are left to operate in open-air conditions- literally- under trees. He enters and exits the premises through the back door, conducts closed door meetings with the General Manager/ CEO of the National Theatre, (Mrs. Tola Akerele), Central Bank Officials and members of The Banker’s Committee while excluding the most affected stakeholders, the staff’’.
In a letter to the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment, the union urged the Federal Government to initiate open, inclusive stakeholders’ engagement regarding the use and administration of the National Theatre.
‘’I write to formally remind you of our earlier correspondence dated 21st May 2025 on the deeply degrading and unacceptable working conditions under which staff of the National Theatre, Lagos, have been forced to operate for an extended period. It is surprising that after 4 months of receipt of our correspondence, nothing has been done to improve workers welfare and working conditions’’.
The letter signed by NLC Chairman, Lagos State, Comrade Funmi Agnes Sessi called for transparency in the management of the facility, protection of jobs and keeping the commitment made by former Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who assured no job losses post-rehabilitation.
‘’The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) stands with the workers of the National Theatre in defending the future of the iconic edifice’’.
Titled: ‘’Deplorable working conditions at the National Theatre’’ the union said despite deep frustrations, the staff demonstrated commendable restraint and pursued due process, including: notification of the Office of the Governor of Lagos State via official correspondence, reaching out to the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, informing the Inspector General of Police and Lagos State Commissioner of Police, engaging with the Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism, and Creative Economy and contacting the Central Bank of Nigeria
‘’Our efforts have yielded no tangible improvements, and the General Manager/CEO of the National Theatre remains either unwilling or unable to act’’.
The statement emphasized legal violations.
‘’The NLC wishes to remind you that the ongoing situation constitutes a clear violation of both international and national labour standards, including ILO Convention No. 190 and Nigeria Labour Act, Section 17.
“Every worker has the right to a safe and suitable working environment once they have presented themselves for duty.”
According to NLC, The National Theatre is a National Symbol and taxpayer-funded monument, not the private property of individuals or corporations.
‘’We will not allow it to be quietly handed over under the guise of Corporate Social Responsibility or any other veiled privatization tactics’’.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
FG, NLC on warpath over National Theatre
15th September, 2025
The Honourable Minister,
Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment
2nd Floor Federal Secretariat Complex,
Phase 1, Shehu Shagari Way,
FCT, Abuja.
RE: DEPLORABLE WORKING CONDITIONS AT THE NATIONAL THEATRE
I write to formally remind you of our earlier correspondence dated 21st May 2025 on the deeply degrading and unacceptable working conditions under which staff of the National Theatre, Lagos, have been forced to operate for an extended period.
It is surprising that after 4 months of receipt of our correspondence, nothing has been done to improve workers welfare and working conditions.
Following the recent global media coverage of this matter, the Federal Government appointed a new Board Chairman, Mr. Disun Holloway, presumably to address these longstanding issues.
Regrettably, over three (3) months after his appointment, he has yet to engage directly with staff or address our welfare rather, his tenure has been marked by secrecy, exclusion, and complete disregard for the plight of workers, who are left to operate in open-air conditions- literally- under trees.
He enters and exits the premises through the back door, conducts closed door meetings with the General Manager/ CEO of the National Theatre, (Mrs Tola Akerele), Central Bank Officials and members of The Banker’s Committee while excluding the most affected stakeholders- the staff.
OUR PATIENCE HAS LIMITS
Despite deep frustrations, the staff has demonstrated commendable restraint and pursued due process, including:
All of the above efforts have yielded no tangible improvements, and the General Manager/CEO of the National Theatre remains either unwilling or unable to act.
LEGAL VIOLATIONS
The NLC wishes to remind you that the ongoing situation constitutes a clear violation of both international and national labour standards, including: ILO Convention No. 190
Nigeria Labour Act, Section 17, which states:
“Every worker has the right to a safe and suitable working environment once they have presented themselves for duty.”
These rights have been consistently and grossly violated.
THE NATIONAL THEATRE: A MONUMENT FOR THE PEOPLE
The National Theatre is a National Symbol and taxpayer-funded monument, not the private property of individuals or corporations.
We will not allow it to be quietly handed over under the guise of Corporate Social Responsibility or any other veiled privatization tactics.
OUR DEMANDS
We are left with no choice but to issue a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to:
1 immediately return staff to the rehabilitated National Theatre and restore dignified working conditions.
3 Ensure transparency in the management of the facility.
OUR RESOLVE
The NLC wishes to let you know that this is not just about physical working conditions but about our workers dignity, rights and the preservation of Nigeria’s cultural heritage.
We are prepared to deplore every lawful tool at our disposal, including full mobilization, protests, and industrial action.
The NLC Demands a public and transparent resolution of this crisis, and Stands with the workers of the National Theatre in defending the future of the iconic edifice.
Enough is Enough.
Comrade Funmi Agnes Sessi
NLC Chairman, Lagos State
CC:
HONOURABLE MINISTER, MINISTRY OF ARTS, CULTURE & CREATIVE ECONOMY
DIRECTOR, TRADE UNION SERVICES & INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS.
THE GOVERNOR, CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA.
COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, LAGOS STATE.
GM/CEO NATIONAL THEATRE
NEC NATIONAL ABUJA.
AUCPTRE
RATTAWU
It takes time to form a country. It takes patience and dedication to change attitudes. When people from disparate places and cultures are brought together to form a Nation, it is never easy. In the long run, the tears and toil are worth it because the interactions lead to expansion of consciousness which drives human progress.
The journey of nationhood is not for timid souls. It was never easy for countries like India and China to rise. These countries have more divisions, ethnic, religious cleavages and groupings than we can ever imagine. The main thing that worked for them was that they never gave upstart military officers the chance to upend their civilian administration and throw their country into a fratricide war.
In times of distress, there are people in Nigeria who still look to the military for solutions. This is shameful. The military caused our problems. How did we arrive at this place where a lot of Nigerians still think the military have solutions to our problem? Are these folks’ victims of Military Induced Mental Retardation (MIMR) (pronounced Mama)? These people still think this way despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. This is the reason why the various legislative bodies have not seen it fit to abrogate the decrees of the military that ruled Nigeria on behalf of a certain group of people. This mentality is dangerous to our body politics. This is why a lot of these politicians pay courtesy visits to these soldiers of fortune that turned Nigeria into the Pariah nation.
MIMR is the reason the Nigerian lawyers don’t know their role in a democratic society. MIMR is the reason why we don’t have legal reforms. In a constitution that guarantees freedom of movement, the Nigerian is harassed daily on the highways by state agents.
Are we at war? Why is our freedom restricted? No lawyer has taken the government to court for this constitutional violation. This is pathetic. We need serious legal reforms. The method of appointing judges is very antiquated. We need to know the character of those who will be judges. Knowledge of jurisprudence should not be the only criteria. During the military years, the Nigerian lawyer played the role of stenographer for military decrees, and the judges took their decisions from the soldiers. Now they are playing almost the same role as politicians who have no idea why they were elected. They have abandoned the practice of law to become jesters at the feet of reckless politicians and conveyors of injustice at our courts. Our courts harbor judges who suffocate justice under their robes and consider military decrees of bygone era as a guild post for our state of jurisprudence.
All over the country, you see governors and other politicians seizing and damaging people’s properties without just compensation and there is no lawyer in sight to argue on behalf of the afflicted. A Dangote truck will damage and incinerate people on the highways, and no case is brought on behalf of the victims. The Nigerian Armed Forces go into a village for security duties and destroy the village, no justice for the victims. The governor pays a courtesy visit to the commander in chief. No lawyer files a lawsuit on behalf of the victim. The officer who issued the command to murder sleeping villagers is left to repeat the same scenario in another jurisdiction. We will protest if this happens in Palestine. It is happening in the Democratic Republic of Nigeria where the rights of the citizens are undermined daily by those they elected. These politicians did not gain power by a coup. If you listen to them with your eyes closed, you will think they are military officers who have just gained power through a coup d’etat. They don’t seek consensus. They give directives. Some of them defy court rulings with fanfare. The military infantilized everyone in Nigeria, but they pushed the lawyer back into the womb. This is atrocious.
As a nation, we must consider the fifty-five years of military rule in Nigeria as the years of locust. The journey of great nations is always evolutionary. The military years were the years when hatred of each other became ossified and personalized as the military played us against each other to prolong their power. The revolution is always a lie.
In history, most periods of revolutionary zeal turn to mirage. We will have good leaders, and we will have bad leaders. Each period is an opportunity to learn what to do and what not to do. The rush to think that some army general will appear and use a magical wand to achieve all we wish for is infantile and dangerous. No soldier can develop any nation. Nigeria is a testament to that foolery. It is the willingness of the people to understand the necessity to build bridges and lasting institutions of harmony that moves a nation forward. The rule of law is the cornerstone in this exercise. If we have the rule of law, the Nigerian will feel protected in any place he calls home. Ethnic crisis and tensions will dampen because he knows no matter what happens, the law will protect him from ethnic or religious vigilantism that is the breeding ground for timid souls that are still married to the past.
These people must be made to see the supremacy of the law as the sign of our progress. The journey is arduous, and our dream should be about building frameworks that last beyond our existence, because the nation that we dream of should always be a continuous journey of those who believe in tomorrow and understand that the yearning and aspiration of our people shall never die. This is all we can ask for as we toil in our little corner, to build tomorrow for the next generation.
We must strive to make tomorrow a brighter proposition for those coming after us. It is when we arrive at that place, we can say our work is done. This singularity is love that binds us beyond ethnic and religious proclivities, which robs us of our basic humanity. We can start this journey today and also understand that others who share the same aspirations with us may start their journey tomorrow. The wisdom we seek should give us the patience to know the difference and endure the pain and loneliness of waiting for those who are not ready today but will join us tomorrow.
For those who seek truth, justice and fairness, tomorrow is a distant horizon we must gaze at with hope, endurance and fortitude. Tomorrow is not a destination; it is a state of our being. The futuristic tomorrow may never come but our state of will be fulfilled and rewarded as our collective struggles will build monuments that last beyond our time. That is the tomorrow we seek, a place where our dreams will never die.
DR AUSTIN ORETTE WRITES FROM HOUSTON TEXAS
STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE
In honour of President Bola Tinubu’s determined global push to aggressively attract foreign direct investment into Nigeria, the world’s second largest stock exchange, the National Association of Securities Dealers Automatic Quotation System (NASDAQ), on Wednesday in the world’s financial capital, invited President Tinubu to ring the closing bell, making him the first Nigerian President to ever receive the honour.
The President, surrounded by Nigerian business leaders and officials of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, in trademark fashion, did not fail to seize the opportunity presented by the historic moment to boldly advance his foreign investment push as he stood, live, in front of financial markets at the famous stock exchange.
“It’s a great honour for me to be here. I am happy to bring Nigeria to your doorsteps and I am honoured that we are here today with a bubbling Nigerian stock market that will evolve in the West African sub-region. The greatest economy in Africa is Nigeria, there is an immense opportunity in Nigeria where you can invest your money without fear,” the President said.
The President noted that his government continues to address longstanding problems and impediments, such as his work to restore and unify the foreign exchange rate market to a stable and trustworthy level, allowing new investors to seamlessly bring their money into the country, free of worries about whether or not they can take their money out at any point in time.
“You’re free to take in your money and bring out your money. I count on you to invest in Nigeria,” the President exclaimed under the lights.
At the Nigeria-U.S. Executive Business Roundtable held just after the closing bell, President Tinubu assured prospective investors that while he recognizes that investment capital is cowardly in nature, he intentionally brought successful Nigerian industrialists and public officials to share their experiences and operational plans respectively, in addition to all that he has already done to boost the confidence of the global investment community in Nigeria’s presently reforming fiscal, monetary, regulatory and tax policy environment.
“Nigeria is an opportunity that is impossible to replicate or find elsewhere in any part of the world. We have brilliant young people who both innovate and consume at a large scale. Our entrepreneurial spirit is a major part of what makes our market totally unique, aside from demography. Nigerians build businesses and Nigerian businesses partner with other businesses to conduct larger business. There is enough value to spread around. Be careful of what you hear about Nigeria. You may be dissuaded out of a major opportunity that others will take up. We are here for you. We will give you all the support you need to succeed and succeed abundantly,” the President assured the roundtable as he pointed out cabinet officials.
On behalf of the U.S. Government, U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary, Wally Adeyemo, told U.S. business leaders that he was just a few hours removed from arriving in New York from Lagos, Nigeria, where he was on an official visit that later became a fact-finding mission.
“In Lagos, I saw first hand some of the major reforms you implemented as the Governor of Lagos and the transformative effect it has had on Nigeria’s commercial capital. People have attested to the fact that the reforms you have put in place as President are quickly enhancing confidence. American business is paying attention to that and from what we have seen for ourselves, Nigeria is proving to be a new frontier for investment. We will encourage our companies from our end as those reforms continue to deepen,” Mr. Adeyemo said.
The American Business Council President, Mr. Sops Ideriah, said that the extensive turnout at the roundtable by American Business Chief Executives served as a testament to the degree to which confidence is rising in response to the actions and words of President Bola Tinubu’s administration with respect to ease of business, investment promotion, and his willingness to personally intervene where required to ease the historical concerns of American business people about doing business in Nigeria.
“Having all the stakeholders in the room, His Excellency the President of Nigeria being here, from government actors at the federal and state level to ministers and tax authorities present, as well as private sector industrialists in Nigeria. We are very positive about the potential of Nigeria and we are just reinforcing to our colleagues the message about the economic opportunities that exist there,” Mr. Ideriah said.
Acting Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Zacch Adedeji, assured the American Captains of Industry that under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, the nation’s apex tax authority will be focusing its efforts not on taxing the seed, but only on the proportionate taxation of the fruit of fully formed industry, through efficient policy synergy with Nigeria’s sub-national authorities.
“The President is a business enabler, not a handicapper. Everything we do will be geared toward making your tax assessment and payment processes as digitally efficient and transparent as possible. We are not after the seed, but the fruit and we will keep to this commitment,” Nigeria’s new tax boss affirmed.
Chief Ajuri Ngelale
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
September 21, 2023
Probe missing $15bn, N200bn of oil revenues, SERAP tells Tinubu
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Bola Tinubu to “set up a presidential panel of enquiry to promptly probe the grim allegations that over US$15 billion of oil revenues, and N200 billion budgeted to repair the refineries are missing and unaccounted for between 2020 and 2021, as documented by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).”
SERAP urged him to “name and shame anyone suspected to be responsible for the missing and unaccounted for public funds and to ensure their effective prosecution as well as the full recovery of any proceeds of crime.”
SERAP also urged him “to fully implement all the recommendations by NEITI in its 2021 report, and to use any recovered proceeds of crime.”
In the letter dated 23 September 2023 and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said: “There is a legitimate public interest in ensuring justice and accountability for these serious allegations. Taking these important measures would end the impunity of perpetrators.”
SERAP said, “As President and Minister of Petroleum Resources, your office ought to be concerned about these damning revelations, by getting to the bottom of the allegations and ensuring that suspected perpetrators are promptly brought to justice, and any missing public funds fully recovered.”
The letter, read in part: “Any failure to investigate these grave allegations, bring suspected perpetrators to justice and recover any missing public funds would have serious resource allocation and exacerbate the country’s debt burden.”
“It would also create cynicism, suspicion, and eventually citizens’ distrust about the ability of your government to combat high-level official corruption, as well as deter foreign investment and limit growth and development.”
“We would therefore be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within seven days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall consider appropriate legal actions to compel your government to comply with our request in the public interest.”
“The findings by NEITI suggest a grave violation of the public trust and the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], national anticorruption laws, and the country’s obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption.”
“The allegations of corruption documented by NEITI undermine economic development of the country, trap the majority of Nigerians in poverty and deprive them of opportunities.”
“Your government has a constitutional duty to ensure transparency and accountability in the spending of the country’s wealth and resources.”
“According to the 2021 report by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), government agencies including the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NNPC) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NPDC) failed to remit $13.591 million and $8.251 billion to the public treasury.”
“The NNPC and NPDC failed to remit over 70% of these public funds. NEITI wants both the NNPC and NPDC to be investigated, and for the missing public funds to be fully recovered.”
“The report also shows that in 2021, the State Owned Enterprises (SOE) and its subsidiaries (the NNPC Group) reportedly spent US$6.931billion on behalf of the Federal Government but without appropriation by the National Assembly. The money may be missing.”
“The NNPC also reportedly obtained a loan of $3 billion in 2012 purportedly to settle subsidy payments due to petroleum product marketers but there is no disclosure of the details of the loan, subsidy and the beneficiaries of the payments.”
“The report also shows that N9.73 billion was paid to the NNPC as pipeline transportation revenue earned from Joint Venture operations but the money was neither remitted to the Federation nor properly accounted for. The NPDC in 2021 also failed to remit $7.61 million realized from the sale of crude oil.”
“The report documents that about N200 billion was spent on ‘refineries rehabilitation’ between 2020 and 2021 but “none of the refineries was operational in 2021 despite the spending.’ NEITI wants the spending to be investigated, as the money may be missing.”
“Section 13 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] imposes clear responsibility on your government to conform to, observe and apply the provisions of Chapter 2 of the constitution. Section 15(5) imposes the responsibility on your government to ‘abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power’ in the country.”
“Under Section 16(1) of the Constitution, your government has a responsibility to ‘secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen on the basis of social justice and equality of status and opportunity.’”
“Section 16(2) further provides that, ‘the material resources of the nation are harnessed and distributed as best as possible to serve the common good.’”
“Similarly, articles 5 and 9 of the UN Convention against Corruption also impose legal obligations on your government to ensure proper management of public affairs and public funds, and to promote sound and transparent administration of public affairs.”
“The UN Convention against Corruption and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption to which Nigeria is a state party obligate your government to effectively prevent and investigate the plundering of the country’s wealth and natural resources and hold public officials and non-state actors to account for any violations.”
“Specifically, article 26 of the UN convention requires your government to ensure ‘effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions’ including criminal and non-criminal sanctions, in cases of grand corruption.”
“Article 26 complements the more general requirement of article 30, paragraph 1, that sanctions must take into account the gravity of the corruption allegations.”
“Nigeria is also a participating state of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which aims to foster greater governmental accountability for the use of natural resource wealth through the creation of a set of international norms on revenue transparency.”
“EITI also aims to tackle corruption, poverty and conflict associated with natural resource wealth. Nigeria has the obligations to implement the EITI Standard, which sets out the transparency norms with which participating States including Nigeria must comply.”
Kolawole Oluwadare
SERAP Deputy Director
24/9/2023
Lagos, Nigeria
Emails: info@serap-nigeria.org; news@serap-nigeria.org
Twitter: @SERAPNigeria
Website: www.serap-nigeria.org
For more information or to request an interview, please contact us on: +2348160537202