Ten Places President Jonathan Can Get His N479 Billion By Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo
Posted: January 12, 2012 - 03:33

Columnist: Correct Me If I Am Right By Rudolf Okonkwo
After the third day of a nationwide protests, with over a dozen people dead and many more likely to die in the days to come, maybe there is a way to help President Jonathan avoid splashing more blood of innocent Nigerians on his hands. This is more important now that we know that the president is overwhelmed by fights at several fronts, including fighting Boko Haram members that have penetrated the innermost circle of his government.


Based on Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s calculations, there is N1.3 trillion naira in oil subsidy. Ignoring her fuzzy math, she stated that of the amount, N478.49 billion will come to the Federal government. The rest will go to the states and the local government where they will disappear.

As a loyal citizen, I want to help President Jonathan and his advisers to find N479 billion naira so that he will leave the poor people of Nigeria alone for at least a year. Within that year, he should put in place policies that will cushion the impact of the subsidy removal and then gradually take the true subsidy out in a responsible way. That’s after getting the government math right.

So here are the top ten places President Jonathan can get his N479 billion.

1.) Go to the last 36 governors that served with Olusegun Obasanjo. Offer them immunity from prosecution if they all return N10 billion naira each. After all, most of them were facing charges totaling over N100 billion before their files disappeared from the EFCC. That will give President Jonathan N360 billion naira overnight.
2.) Get all former Director-Generals of the NNPC in the last 20 years. Offer them immunity from prosecution if they all return N1billion for every year they were director. Having been part of an agency of the government that does not know how much oil the multinational corporations are sucking up each day and cannot account for the crude oil dedicated for domestic consumption, they should each give the government N1 billion and we let bygone be bygone. This will give Jonathan at least N20 billion.
3.) President Jonathan should cancel all import waivers given to religious leaders in Nigeria for 2012. Nigeria lost billions of naira just on the waivers given to Pastor Adeboye and his likes under the Obasanjo administration - waivers they used to import expensive cars and luxury goods. Who knows what the big Imams get in waivers? Right there, another N10-50 billion will be readily available.
4.) A 50% cut in the salaries and allowances of members of the Nigerian House of Representative. At $1.4 million each for 360 members, Jonathan can easily get $252 million dollars, which is over N40 billion.
5.) In the senate, with 109 senators each making $1.7 million, a 50% cut in their pay package will give President Jonathan over N14.8 billion naira.
6.) President Jonathan should audit the record books of the government with oil importers. A good auditing firm will easily unearth stolen wealth of the nation. Since these so-called cabals are friends of the president, some of them members of his economic team, the president should just ask them to refund N200 billion and we will let bygones be bygone.
7.) The president should, as a matter of urgency, investigate and evaluate all workers associated with the importation of fuel into Nigeria. Those found wanting should be prosecuted and fired. A good investigation of their assets and accounts will recover at least N1billion.
8.) The same thing should be done with staff of the NNPC, both those serving and the retired staff. A good investigation will net over N10 billion.
9.) The security votes of all state governors should be cut by 50%. At an average of N300 million a month, it runs up to N3.6 billion for a year each. For the 36 state governors, that amount is N129.6 billion naira. A 50% cut will give President Jonathan N64.8 billion a year.
10.) The president should close half of Nigerian missions abroad in a major scale back and find other countries to manage Nigeria’s affairs. That will save at least N10 billion.

Putting the savings together, we have N745.6 billion for the President. That is before he touches his food money and his security vote. That is before he touches Olusegun Obasanjo, Abubakar Atiku, Turai Yar’Adua and the heads of all the failed banks.

So next time they tell you that there is no alternative to the immediate removal of the subsidy, tell them it is a lie. There is an alternative to killing unarmed protesters over mere N479 billion naira that Aliko Dangote can close his eyes and donate to his friend, President Jonathan. After all, the Nigerian state has been good to him over the years.

http://saharareporters.com/column/ten-places-president-jonathan-can-get-his-n479-billion-rudolf-ogoo-okonkwo

I like Rudolph Okonkwo and have been reading his articles from way back at Nigeriaworld.com. That is why I am a little disappointed in his rather simplistic analysis of the Nigerian national problem these days.
I always quarrel with academic findings and conclusions about Nigeria, because they are . .well. . academic!

What he is proposing here is that President Goodluck Jonathan declares war against the "Nigerian state", because all he listed for censure/arm-twisting are essentially what constitute the Nigerian state.
So, either he is being deliberately mischievous, or he is plain naive.
Even the most militaristic dictator in Nigerian history -General Buhari- still had to cower at the feet of the Emir of Gwandu. I laff with a thick Nnewi accent!

^
What he is proposing here is a war against corruption not the Nigerian state which jonathan is fighting with fuel subsidy removal.
He might wanna add send them to jail if they refuse. Jonathan is afraid of the elite but not the masses

Mr. Globe:

^
[b]What he is proposing here is a war against corruption not the Nigerian state [/b]which jonathan is fighting with fuel subsidy removal.
He might wanna add send them to jail if they refuse. Jonathan is afraid of the elite but not the masses

I put the "Nigerian state" in quote for a reason, and I hope you are not taking it literally.
In any case, it is very close to it, if you know Nigeria very well.
No Nigerian leader will survive going against all those people in that list. That is why I gave the Buhari example.
What Nigeria needs is not some Robin Hood populist leader who -by the very nature of Nigeria- is CERTAIN TO FAIL if he dares any such moves.
What we need is a leader who will call for a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) where all of Nigeria's problems would be tabled and addressed. I hope you understand me now.

@Onlytruth

If you have the people behind you, you will tear them apart, all you need to do is take care of the armed forces, especially the GOCs and the brigade of guards.

hercules07:

@Onlytruth

If you have the people behind you, you will tear them apart, all you need to do is take care of the armed forces, especially the GOCs and the brigade of guards.

One million different things would kill or topple a righteous Nigerian leader. We have tried all those strong arm leadership tactics in the past, they failed woefully.
BTW I would advise you to watch the animal channel TV, particularly where lions fight off hyenas. Hyenas CONSTANTLY snatch preys from lions, and they do it because they are more in number and are equally fierce. Nigerian elite are fiercer than hyenas; believe me, even your ordinary aid de camp would kill you if you try that in Nigeria.

What we need is a Sovereign National Conference. Period.

Hyenas snatching food from Lions is because the lions allow it, who born hyenas where Lions are no matter the number, some of those documentaries show lions that are inexperienced or just fed, hyenas know who is their baba for jungle.

Go to the last 36 governors that served with Olusegun Obasanjo. Offer them immunity from prosecution if they all return N10 billion naira each. After all, most of them were facing charges totaling over N100 billion before their files disappeared from the EFCC. That will give President Jonathan N360 billion naira overnight.

[size=18pt]That means the President would have to grant his wife[/size](Patience Jonathan was alledge to have been caught red-handed with about$11 million dollars at the Lagos Airport sometime ago ) [size=18pt]amnesty and ask her to pay N10 Billion Naira going by this columnist postulations. Do I have to say that is a non-starter[/size]!!