OML 30: THE SHADY HERITAGE OIL DEAL

 "though called the corridors of power, a single sneeze can bring the whole house down"


The Minister for Petroleum of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Diezani Alison-Madueke or Dizzy Anny (as called in some quarters) is in the news again, and as usual not for anything positive. The sale of onshore oil blocks in the western Niger Delta region has always gone unnoticed by the Nigerian public due to the seemingly secret manner by which the bidding process and selections are made, except when the deal goes bad or when those who have their flash lights on the oil and gas industry expose some of the inner workings of the industry.

Though a done deal already, in September last year the OML 30 was sold to private investors through a process that cannot be clearly defined and who by no known or public bidding was awarded the oil block. The OML 30 was sold to Heritage Oil, alongside its partner Shoreline Energy limited, a subsidiary of Shoreline Power.

Tony Buckingham, the founder and CEO of Heritage Oil joined forces with Kola Karim of Shoreline Energy to purchase the OML 30. While Mr Buckingham used to be well known in certain circles as the man to meet, as he was into supply of arms and ammunition to mercenaries in Angola and Sierra Leone, not to forget the Equatorial Guinea, his deals in mining and investments in oil.

Outside his resume, not much is known about Mr Kola Karim, who is of Nigerian nationality. Mr Kola Karim is the Group Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Shoreline Energy International. to his educational credit, in 1988, he bagged a diploma in Management, City University London and a diploma in Financial Services. In 2001, he undertook a General Management Programme at the Harvard Business School,  studying for his MBA. Between 1994-1999, Mr Kola Karim was the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Koda Trading Company. Mr Kola Karim is a  Member of Institute of Directors Nigeria, Lagos Polo Club, Lagos Motor Boat Club and Ikoyi Club 1938.

In April 2011, Mike Adenuga made attempts to buy shell’s OML 30 for the sum of 1.29 billion dollars, but was refused the sale by the petroleum minister, Mrs Diezani Alison Madueke.  Barely eleven months later, In September 2012 the same oil block was being sold to Hyrvbll
eritage Oil for 850 million dollars. This clearly shows a difference of 250 million dollars.

Last week, on the 9th of January 2013 to be precise, international London based financial magazine ‘Financial Times’ released an article detailing a few facts which questioned once again the characters and credibility of the buyers of the OML 30 Oil Block, and the process leading to the sale.

Given these details it is clear that this deal was done under questionable circumstances. The secrecy with which the government handles oil deals goes a long way to show that transparency and the elimination of corruption remain but a mirage. With a long list of government cronies who can brag of one oil block or the other, it’s easy to see why the fight against corruption remains an empty boast.


     

THE DEATH OF SIAMESE TWINS AT THE NATIONAL HOSPITAL ABUJA

"life makes more sense to the poor, when there's access to affordable health facilities"

 A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR and THANK YOU to all the readers of my blog, it keeps me motivated to write more, though other issues take precedence when it come to this hobby of laying facts out in the open. Probably I would be an investigative journalist in another life.

2013 is just a couple of days old, and it’s been nine days of the good, the bad and the ugly. Before I start up with any insights into the fraudulent activities of the government already rearing its shameless head, Let me start on a somewhat sad note. The death of Siamese twins at the national hospital Abuja.

The word Siamese was made famous by conjoined twins Eng and Chang Bunker, who were born in Thailand (then called Siam) in 1811. The term Siamese twin was coined as a reference to Eng and Chang, who achieved international fame shortly after leaving Siam as teenagers.

Though not the first attempt to separate twins, and unbelievable not the first successful one either, but the most recent and widely acclaimed separation of Siamese twins was as far back as 1987 by Ben Carson and a group of 50 other Doctors who worked for 22 hours nonstop, broke bounds of surgical beliefs and once again convinced humanity that anything is possible.

Away from history, the case of Siamese twins Born to Ahmed and Safiya Sani at the Mahraba medical center Nassarawa state, on the outskirts of Abuja, Nigeria, sometime last week is the story of concern.  The twins were joined at the stomach, shared intestine and one navel. They were transferred to the national hospital Abuja and received attention at the intensive care unit of the hospital, although the hospital claims no operation was carried out before the demise of the twins, the reports are still cloudy as to what might have led to the untimely death of the twins. speculations though, point to a lack of funds on the part of the parents aided by the unavailability of the hospitals capacity to carry out such an operation.

This unfortunate death of the twins, at the national hospital Abuja, points once again to the lack of governments concern to the good health of its citizen’s. The provision and training of necessary equipment and manpower if invested wisely in the health sector can prevent such untimely deaths as recorded. 

FROM MUMBAI WITH JUSTICE

jus·tice [jústiss] (plural jus·ti·ces) noun 1. fairness: fairness or reasonableness, especially in the way people are treated or decisions are made 2. validity: validity in law  "It doesn't matter the challenges faced by any nation, justice is key"  Justice is the reassurance of criminals not getting away with crime. The ability of any government to do this imbibes a tradition of trust in the citizens of the country and of the government of the day. Without this trust in place, there is  break down of law and order with a gradual decent into uncontrollable chaos.  On the 26th of November 2008, Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab and nine others went on a killing spree lasting three days and killing 166 people during the rampage.  His plea for mercy was rejected by the Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, who approved the death penalty as atonement for his crime. By so doing, today 21st of november 2012, India successfully redefined the meaning of justice by hanging Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab the only gunman to have survived the 2008 terrorist attacks on Mumbai R.R. Patil, the home minister for the state of Maharashtra, where Mumbai is located said  “This is a tribute to all innocent people and police officers who lost their lives in this heinous attack on our nation” Though his death will not bring back the lives lost, neither will it mend the broken hearts of men and women who lost relatives friends and family members during the period. But what’s important is that  justice has been served The cliché of the world being a global village can not be underrated when stories like this bring out the injustice that occurs daily in this part of the global village, Nigeria to be specific.  The killing  of innocent people by the militant group boko haram continues without any solution in sight. The recent assassination of Dr Toyin Hamzat  a former Chairman of Ikeja local government (1999-2002) special adviser on local government affairs to former Lagos state governor Chief Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and also an ex special adviser to the present Lagos state governor Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola on health during Fashola's first tenure, now joins a long list of assassinations that create the initial 48hr frenzy and dies just as quickly. The reoccurring thefts of public funds by politicians and the elite in privileged positions without any justice ever been done. The walls of a dam, endure the pressure of the water it guards, but bursts when the pressure becomes too much and there’s no relief from opening of the gates of the dam,. Without any relief to the plight of the citizens of this great nation Nigeria. The walls that hold the dam, might not hold much longer.

EXTREME NAIJA

I came across this comment and thought to share it.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/07/robbers-seize-state-house-bound-cash-kill-2-policemen/

royck10 2 minutes ago

Death penalty for anybody found guilty of theft of public funds in Nigeria  There are too many evil people in Nigeria and the people need to get rid of the rotten eggs so i suggest the following: Death sentence to terrorism, armed robbery, arson, religious killing, cultism  rituals, kidnapping, militancy, and any police officer who collects twenty naira. No politician should be allowed to travel out of Nigeria or hold an international passport once elected except few approved by FG. All politicians must have their children in public (not private) school in Nigeria  100% ban on all foreign goods except essentials, yearly targets for all governors on job creation and agriculture, all working adults must pay tax and failure to declare any earning...10 years with hard labour. All states must build new prisons with execution chambers. All state must build public libraries, toilets and free food centers in every LGA for the unemployed. All Nigerians who fail to give account of their wealth will be stripped of every penny and spend the rest of their lives in a concentration camp working in the free food hall serving amala to the unemployed. Exam malpractice get 5 years in jail plus 8 years sweeping the street for free. Any repeat offender will be fed to the lions and alligators in full display of the public (ticket fee to watch #1000) The money saved can then be used for power, free education, research centers job creation and more prisons. Reduce the influence of tribes and religion then replace it with African history, patriotism and a total ban on juju practice. All Nigerians MUST read the national pledge 3 times a day. Child marriage/rape if found guilty....medical castration. No Nigerian should marry more than one wife and only two children using birth control. Gov will be fully liable for all road accidents as result of bad roads. All past councilors, LG chairmen, commissioners, Governors, Ministers, perm sec and ex-president detained and probed by a competent court. Mass arrest of all senators, expel the senate and replace it with regional assemblies. 100% resource control taxed at 40%. All elected politicians must sign a declaration along with their preferred way of dying if they are caught looting public fund .... this will work and change Nigeria for good and no ape will come out during the election.

Primitive republic of Nigeria where every body from street vendors to presidents are corrupt even the so called religious leaders are worst.
Does this sound extreme? yes, but an extreme problem needs an extreme solution.

The views of the royck10 in no way reflect  my views or opinions.

THE UNIPORT4 VIDEO

  "thou shall not kill"

Friday the 5th of October has become a day that will be remembered by many, here in Nigeria and in other parts of the world, by as many who saw pictures or watched the video that was circulating of a brutal murder scene in broad daylight while people stood by watched, cheered and recorded the whole event.
The four friends,  Ugoona, Lloyd  Chidiaka and Tekena who happened to be undergraduate students of the University of Port-Harcourt Nigeria under still to be clear circumstances, were stripped naked, beaten and set ablaze by people who claimed to bemembers of a vigilante group who had apprehended them for theft the night before.
Not to go on and on about this jungle justice style of judgement that resulted in the early death of these four promising young men, as several other issues yet to be addressed presently (flood, boko haram, kidnapping still rule the charts)
The Aluu community has finally received world wide attention, but as the usual Nigerian style, its not for anything good. The blood of this young men remain on the heads of even unborn children of the land, whose own parents stood by and watched the labor of other women's God given gift of life treated and killed like  wild animals.
Aside the shock of the whole event, its painful to note that today being the 9th of October  4 days after this horrific incident, our Dear President  Goodluck Ebele Jonathan requested a live broadcast and refused to use the opportunity to speak on the situation so as to bring a sense of calm, in a way of showing concern, instead choose to tell the Nation his latest ideas of embezzling money, by setting up committees to look into the Flood crises which is well over 6 weeks now (perhaps patience needs more luxury treatment).

I remember clearly the African American teenager Trayvon Martin who was shot dead in his neighborhood by a vigilante in similar vein, during a live broadcast while  President Barack Obama spoke on other issues, he used the opportunity the address the killings. Without setting up any committee to look into the matter, the relevant agencies know that its their job to look into the issue, get the facts and allow the rod of justice prevail.

May the souls of these four young men Rest In Peace.


The contents of the video show scenes of extreme violence and mans inhumanity to man, viewer discretion is advised.

WHEN ITS JUNE IN SEPTEMBER

"to find meaning in words said, is to understand whats left unsaid"

Born with music in my ears

a generation far from wars

but our future we fear,

without hope we lose care

and are clothed with despair.

A generation far from wars

walking the path of destiny

from a time of dictatorship

to the promise land

amidst prayers and bloodshed.

Our future we fear

moving in circles of confusion

a power play of power exchange

a fattened government

as masses remain sacrificial lambs.

Without hope the days roll by

girls become women

and boys become old men

full of memories of what life should have been,

the only legacy left.

Clothed with despair

problems remain as masquerades

dancing to the tunes of death.

As we approach the gates of destruction

we await the deliverance of a savior

                                                Adeboye Olaolu™

CYNTHIA OSOKOGU: A CASE OF FACEBOOK MURDER

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked:  who can know it?"

                                                                                                                                 Jeremiah 17 v 9 

As every other evil known to man, Nigeria has recorded its first case of murder by facebook with the senseless killing of  Cynthia Osokogu by 2 suspected undergraduates paraded by the police as Mr Nwabufor Okwumo a 300 Level student of accountancy at the University Of Lagos Akoka and Ezekiel Odera, a 300Level student of accountancy at the  Anambra State University, who lured her to Lagos with promises of doing business,  who then drugged, robbed, assaulted and brutally terminated the life of a promising young woman, who was the only daughter of Major General Frank Osokogu.  

In this part of the world, it is indeed its first and as usual it has brought to the limelight the use of social media in constructive nation building instead of practicing some of the evils that come with it.

In February 2012, an American couple Billy Clay Payne and Billie Jean Hayworth were killed when they deleted Janelle Potter from their “friends list”

Another case of facebook murder was recorded in the United Kingdom in March 2010 when Peter Chapman, who had a history as a sex offender  lured 17 year old Ashleigh Hall  for a secret rendezvous,  who he eventually murdered.

These cases seem isolated in a way, but ever since the inception of facebook, it has had a history of its own evils. From murder to domestic violence, burglary, fraud,  rape, arson, and a long list of hideous other crimes

It’s quite disheartening the story of Cynthia who could have been spared the terror she experienced the last few hours of her life, If only the hands of time can be turned around.

May her gentle soul rest in peace.