It is sad how African perspective, no matter how justified may not make sense, not only to foreigners but to their court of law Africans hold up as the golden sign of democracy.

Since the 70s, successive Governments in Nigeria, in spite of our shortcomings and faults, have tried every possible ways to convince International Oil companies to stop flaring gas because of the environmental damages to Niger Delta where most of the oil come from. But even more important is the benefit of providing Electricity to the population of Niger Delta and 200 millions Nigeria.

Nigeria, despite our greedy politicians have passed regulations, employed consultants from different countries to convince these International Oil companies to help us provide Electricity since we have gas flare wasted that could be converted. All to no avail. Indeed, these international Oil companies have continually disregard our laws, international laws and moral judgment to continue flaring gas.

While the $9 Billion judgment have capture the attention of Nigeria, the real problem of gas flaring to electricity has not. Quinn, the Irish criminal that was supposed and boasted that he could bring the International Oil company around, not only conspired with them and sabotaged us as other foreign consultants in Ajaokuta Steel, HIV Kit factory, Nano Silver for Ebola did. Quinn and co. sued Nigeria and won.

If you can Please read London Guardian perspective presented in London Tribunal Court that included our former AG. that it was Nigeria that failed to provide Gas to its poor people and the good Samaritan Quinn that had no expertise whatever could have:

The intention was to convert wet natural gas to dry gas to power the country’s national electric grid, improving supply. P&ID would sell 15% of the propane, ethane and butane by-products on the international market, with an expectation of generating “$5bn to $6bn in profit over a 20-year period”. In return, Nigeria would receive 85% of the gas at no cost for generating electricity.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/aug/24/nigeria-must-pay-9bn-damages

and Nigerian perspective of how they have been screwing us since slavery days and never stops:

Nigeria tried persuasion, incentives, tax breaks, bribes, law and regulations to get oil companies to convert gas flaring to power and failed since the 70s. The same Lobbyist Quinn that was paid to lobby and convince International Oil companies to use their capable expertise to capture gas flaring from the oil they got, conspired with them for years to sabotage Nigeria’s need for gas fired electricity projects.

https://www.thenigerianvoice.com/news/281369/9-billion-judgment-against-nigeria-by-a-court-of-no-conscie.html

Oga, you don't know what you are saying. Quinn's proposal was just a way to scam Nigeria, out of money.

The govt was supposed to build a gas pipeline, to convey the gas while Quinn's company P & ID was supposed to build a gas processing plant to process the gas.

Quinn's company never built the plant. In fact, they didn't even buy any land for the project.

When they saw the govt had not started building the gas pipeline, they took govt to arbitration in UK, despite the fact that their own company too, had failed to do its' own bit of the project.

Read all about Quinn's deceitful tactics and his bid to swindle Nigerians in the BLOOMBERG investigative report, that was published recently.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-09-04/is-one-of-the-world-s-biggest-lawsuits-built-on-a-sham

Despite not spending one naira in Nigeria, Quinn stole the gas project idea from T.Y Danjuma.

He claimed to have spent 40 million USD on the project, when in fact there was no record of any inflow of 40 million USD from Quinn's company abroad, into Nigeria through the Central Bank. So how on earth did that money he claimed to have spent, enter Nigeria?

In actual fact, it was TY Danjuma's firm that spent that amount while conducting feasibility studies for the project, before Quinn stole the project and presented it as his own.

He later got the arbitration panel to award his company over 6 billion USD to cover the money he would have made over 20 years, if the project had been operational. Who does that, if not a scammer?

The total amount has now risen to over 9 billion USD because of interest!

CeterisXVII,

What is the difference between what I stated and your correction?

I actually agree with you except on Danjuma. Nigeria already had gas flaring to power miniplants on paper even before Obasanjo tabled it.

Nigerians were not so daft waiting for Danjuma's ideas that late. You are right that Quinn stole Danjuma project as one of his consultants. But he was already conspiring with big oil companies to frustrate Nigeria's ambition.

Yes, Danjuma funded the project already known and implemented worldwide. Give him that credit. But he could have gathered Nigerian scientists worldwide and locally with that project and money rather than these foreign scammers defrauding us over and over.

When are we going to learn. I still like your point.

laiperi:
CeterisXVII,

What is the difference between what I stated and your correction?

I actually agree with you except on Danjuma. Nigeria already had gas flaring to power miniplants on paper even before Obasanjo tabled it.

Nigerians were not so daft waiting for Danjuma's ideas that late. You are right that Quinn stole Danjuma project as one of his consultants. But he was already conspiring with big oil companies to frustrate Nigeria's ambition.

Yes, Danjuma funded the project already known and implemented worldwide. Give him that credit. But he could have gathered Nigerian scientists worldwide and locally with that project and money rather than these foreign scammers defrauding us over and over.

When are we going to learn. I still like your point.

Listen, Danjuma would NOT have hired Quinn, if he knew Quinn would steal the project from him, or eventually scam the govt at the end of the day.

So he must have hired Quinn in good faith, thinking he would do the job.

There are some areas of expertise, that Nigerian scientists may not be able to create equipment or hardware designs to cover projects with complex technical requirements, unless they partner with foreign firms who have such equipment and expertise.

Gas processing plants are not fabricated locally for instance, but abroad. They can however be assembled locally by Nigerian engineers.

Maybe the stage at which Nigerian scientists or engineers would have been brought into the project to add value, had not yet been reached by Danjuma's organisation.

It is only now that the extent of Quinn's scams over the past 30 years in Nigeria, are just coming to light. It is a pity that he is now dead.

I hope his local accomplices will be found and dealt with, thoroughly.

Well said but to think that we just know foreigners are scammers only 30 years ago, is like hiding our heads in the sand. Ajaokuta Steel was not yesterday or 30 years ago.

Let be frank, Nigerians prefer foreigners not because you cannot find Nigerians around the world but because we want our profit in hard currency.

CeterisXVII:

Listen, Danjuma would NOT have hired Quinn, if he knew Quinn would steal the project from him, or eventually scam the govt at the end of the day.

So he must have hired Quinn in good faith, thinking he would do the job.

There are some areas of expertise, that Nigerian scientists may not be able to create equipment or hardware designs to cover projects with complex technical requirements, unless they partner with foreign firms who have such equipment and expertise.

Gas processing plants are not fabricated locally for instance, but abroad. They can however be assembled locally by Nigerian engineers.

Maybe the stage at which Nigerian scientists or engineers would have been brought into the project to add value, had not yet been reached by Danjuma's organisation.

It is only now that the extent of Quinn's scams over the past 30 years in Nigeria, are just coming to light. It is a pity that he is now dead.

I hope his local accomplices will be found and dealt with, thoroughly.

laiperi:
Well said but to think that we just know foreigners are scammers only 30 years ago, is like hiding our heads in the sand. Ajaokuta Steel was not yesterday or 30 years ago.

Let be frank, Nigerians prefer foreigners not because you cannot find Nigerians around the world but because we want our profit in hard currency.

Oga, Ajaokuta's story had more to do with our govt's incompetence over the years, than with any scam.

Ajaokuta's was over 80% completed, before it was abandoned under some misguided sense that caused govt to stop paying its' share of funds for completion.

Please read the authentic facts about Ajaokuta.

And don't let us lie to ourselves. As long as we lack adequate infrastructure, cutting edge expertise and industrial or technological experience of complex engineering projects, we will continue to need foreigners.

The world is moving towards the 4th industrial revolution. AI, IoT, robotics and many other concepts are being used by the Western countries to drive technology. Where are we as a nation in the scheme of things? How many of our local scientists can claim adequate expertise in these areas?

Ceteris XVII,

I like the awareness and knowledge you bring into this. But please do not underestimate yourself and Nigerians like you around the world.

We have to understand that technology strive in US based on enabling environment that Nigerians always latch on to. But what produce technology are politics and policy. You can have technology and not implement it as shown by Japan taking technology from US. For a long time, US and Europe claimed Japanese could not make luxury and big cars. Japan came up with Lexus and other Asians follow.

The point here is that Ajaokuta failure was not because of technology but because of politics and policy. Europeans and Americans did not want competition and knew it would lead to steel glut as we now have. We were forced to go to Russia. If the failure was lack of technology, are you saying Nigerians were too dumb in all these years after Independent to be on the job training in Ajaokuta and other industries like Eko Bridge construction. Eko Atlantic is going the same way.

This lack of well trained Nigerians were pushed for too many year until we built our indigenous ocean deep oil rig. Yes, you are right, with the cooperation of foreign and local talents.

http://odenl.com/

So please tell us what technology was so rare that Quinn, a car mechanic and a criminal that beat jail in Ireland and Nigeria, had that no Nigerian worldwide had, to convert gas flare?

An old technology within the capability of International oil companies.

laiperi:
Ceteris XVII,

I like the awareness and knowledge you bring into this. But please do not underestimate yourself and Nigerians like you around the world.

We have to understand that technology strive in US based on enabling environment that Nigerians always latch on to. But what produce technology are politics and policy. You can have technology and not implement it as shown by Japan taking technology from US. For a long time, US and Europe claimed Japanese could not make luxury and big cars. Japan came up with Lexus and other Asians follow.

The point here is that Ajaokuta failure was not because of technology but because of politics and policy. Europeans and Americans did not want competition and knew it would lead to steel glut as we now have. We were forced to go to Russia. If the failure was lack of technology, are you saying Nigerians were too dumb in all these years after Independent to be on the job training in Ajaokuta and other industries like Eko Bridge construction. Eko Atlantic is going the same way.

This lack of well trained Nigerians were pushed for too many year until we built our indigenous ocean deep oil rig. Yes, you are right, with the cooperation of foreign and local talents.

http://odenl.com/

So please tell us what technology was so rare that Quinn, a car mechanic and a criminal that beat jail in Ireland and Nigeria, had that no Nigerian worldwide had, to convert gas flare?

An old technology within the capability of International oil companies.

Please read my last post again. I never said that Ajaokuta failed, because of technology. But that it failed due to govt's incompetence.

I am not underestimating myself or any Nigerian scientist. I am merely stating the facts. When it comes to cutting edge technology, we do NOT have the facilities or equipment here.

I have studied abroad and also in Nigeria. There is a massive difference. Go abroad and see the kind of research that is being conducted in high tech industries.

It would take years, before we can replicate those things here, simply because the amount allocated to research and development in this country, is too small.

I never said there was any problem with the Russians, in any of my posts. In fact, at the time Ajaokuta was constructed, the Russians had built up a formidable reputation within the steel industry, in different parts of the world.

Russia till date, has built and operated several steel metallurgical plants, in Europe.

Now, when it comes to manufacturing a gas processing plant, please tell me which Nigerian company can fabricate or manufacture one locally, and has done so from scratch successfully.

With regards to Quinn, I have already started that Danjuma was not aware of his deception, or else he would not have hired him.

Quinn must have presented himself in a false light, as having connections or links with foreign firms that had the expertise and experience to deliver the project.

Ceteris XVII,

[quote]
Now, when it comes to manufacturing a gas processing plant, please tell me which Nigerian company can fabricate or manufacture one locally, and has done so from scratch successfully.
/quote]

We could have asked ODENL.COM

the same question years back, yet we are still repeating the mistake we made at 3rd Mainland Bridge, at Eko Atlantic and 2nd Niger Bridge.

You will not believe the skill, expertise and training acquired by local universities including MIT during Big Dig construction in Boston. What did our local universities acquire during the construction of Kainji Dam apart from being Egineer Managers?

Pure and simple, Africans like their bribes, profits and inflated rewards paid into foreign accounts. They do not trust NIGERIANs.

It has been said many times, we have the biggest laboratories in the world, WILD BUSH, that is why foreigners have to do another discoveries here to rediscover aspirin, antibiotics etc.

Did you know a new tiny university in Ede of all places, designed and fabricated a machine that diagnosed and confirmed Ebola virus before CDC Atlanta and Pasteur and London School of Hygiene arrived?

As for equipments, why does it have to be the same Petri dish, Bursen burner or robot? Better still why can't we strip open all the gadgets we have bought for 60 years, copy and break their patents like the Americans did to British; like there Japanese, Russians or Chinese did to Americans.

Again, NIGERIANs like other African countries do not want their bribes and profit in local currency.

laiperi:
We could have asked ODENL.COM

the same question years back, yet we are still repeating the mistake we made at 3rd Mainland Bridge, at Eko Atlantic and 2nd Niger Bridge.

You will not believe the skill, expertise and training acquired by local universities including MIT during Big Dig construction in Boston. What did our local universities acquire during the construction of Kainji Dam apart from being Egineer Managers?

Pure and simple, Africans like their bribes, profits and inflated rewards paid into foreign accounts. They do not trust NIGERIANs.

It has been said many times, we have the biggest laboratories in the world, WILD BUSH, that is why foreigners have to do another discoveries here to rediscover aspirin, antibiotics etc.

Did you know a new tiny university in Ede of all places, designed and fabricated a machine that diagnosed and confirmed Ebola virus before CDC Atlanta and Pasteur and London School of Hygiene arrived?

As for equipments, why does it have to be the same Petri dish, Bursen burner or robot? Better still why can't we strip open all the gadgets we have bought for 60 years, copy and break their patents like the Americans did to British; like there Japanese, Russians or Chinese did to Americans.

Again, NIGERIANs like other African countries do not want their bribes and profit in local currency.

Hello, I do not want to engage in a back and forth exchange with you, because you are not saying anything tangible or different from what I have pointed out earlier.

In fact your last response confirms that Nigerian scientists and technologists, lack the cutting edge equipment, facilities and expertise, required for a lot of intensive, cutting-edge research, and innovation.

You claim that: "Did you know a new tiny university in Ede of all places, designed and fabricated a machine that diagnosed and confirmed Ebola virus before CDC Atlanta and Pasteur and London School of Hygiene arrived?"

What was the name of the machine fabricated in RUN, Ede? Where were the components sourced from? Who fabricated it? Please do not misinform people.

Oga, they did not fabricate any machine. The equipment used, were those that were imported, when the labs in the university were set up. And that university was Redeemer's University in Ede. The research protocol used to diagnose the case, was well documented by the WHO.

The traveler's movement was quickly restricted, patient samples were confirmed EBOV positive by independent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests within days, and intensive contact tracing was conducted.

Filovirus PCR testing was conducted at Lagos University Teaching Hospital, and on 23 July the index case was reported as filovirus positive. Samples were then shared with Redeemer's University (RUN) for EBOV-specific PCR testing, which was confirmed on 25 July 2014. The index patient died on 25 July 2014 (see Case Supplement and Supplementary Data 1). https://academic.oup.com/jid/article/214/suppl_3/S102/2388087

You also claim that "Nigerians do not want bribes in local currency." Yes, there are corrupt Nigerians. Nobody denies that.

But Oga, crooks and corrupt people exist in every community, every country and every industry all over the world. Haven't you heard of the Italian Mafia, or the Russian crime lords or the Japanese Yakuza? These are organised crime syndicates that operate underground with accomplices in govt, commerce and different districts.

The only difference is that most of these other countries, have institutions and systems for detecting corrupt practices and corrupt individuals promptly, and rooting them out.

Our institutions are defective. And we need to fix them, in order to diminish corruption and allow merit to thrive.

CeterisXVII,

I have been very careful with my language with you because reasonable men could agree to disagree. Moreover, I do not know you neither do you know me.

The fact that we have Italian Mafia and every group has their criminals does not justify the amount and proportion crooks take out of Nigeria's economy. These crooks all over the world hardly make a dent on their countries' economy the ways these crooks kill Nigeria's economy.

You seems to strongly believe that we are technologically so backwards that we are helpless and at the mercy of western technology. I will give that to you but only up to a point. This is why I pointed out ODENL.com

As for Redeem University remarkable achievement in the diagnosis of Ebola, take the version or write up of those you want. But it does not negate reality.

Professor Christian Happi I hardly know. Check out his publications and find out how he was able to convert his tools for diagnosis of Ebola. He did not have to rediscover a pin, he made do with what he had. This is what Americans did with British and Japaneses or China did with Americans as I stated earlier.

Now, at the Conference at Harvard, one would think that it was the Harvard Researchers that influence Prof. Happi. By the time he mounted the podium, it was clear this was what he had been thinking about with other infectious diseases including Lassa fever. He and his colleagues worked hard at it and he got it right. As a result, he was invited to Harvard to lecture.

In short at the Conference, by the time he finished, it was a standing ovation led by yours truly. Africans at the conference though few, were happy something good came out of Nigeria without asking for foreign aid. He went to Harvard to teach them his method and some of them went to Ede to train with him.

There is a difference between "contact tracing and "diagnosis". Speak on what you know.

I have to state all these to raise the confidence of Africans and Nigerians in particular. There is no enabling environment anywhere better than Africa. If we only work as hard at home as we do outside, Nigeria will be a better country. Africans work against all odds in these glorified foreign countries and we never heard about those who died in the process working hard.

So with all respect, our salvation is in our hands, not in the hands of foreign profit and bribes.

Hello, I do not want to engage in a back and forth exchange with you, because you are not saying anything tangible or different from what I have pointed out earlier.

In fact your last response confirms that Nigerian scientists and technologists, lack the cutting edge equipment, facilities and expertise, required for a lot of intensive, cutting-edge research, and innovation.

You claim that: "Did you know a new tiny university in Ede of all places, designed and fabricated a machine that diagnosed and confirmed Ebola virus before CDC Atlanta and Pasteur and London School of Hygiene arrived?"

What was the name of the machine fabricated in RUN, Ede? Where were the components sourced from? Who fabricated it? Please do not misinform people.