Naijacitizen:
By Maiwada Dammalam



I don't have problem accepting Ifeanyi Ubah, MD/CEO Capital Oil as a successful and very shrewd businessman even if of questionable and not so well defined business history. Ubah is a prominent member of the exclusive club of Oil and Gas magnets determining happenings in Nigeria's "abracadabric" oil industry. With a personal net worth of N500bn, Ubah is no doubt a rich man by any standard or consideration.


Recently he was in the news after a long hibernation induced by his tasking and "patriotic national duty" of coupling, sponsoring and managing "TAN", a now "disappeared into thin air" political (or was it monetary) pressure group that rolled out the loudest drums to support and generate support for the ousted regime of Goodluck Jonathan. This time, Ubah's drums were rolled out to campaign for consultancy to resuscitate the ailing Naira and shame the bossy dollar all in a bid to "help" a TAN described "analogue" President Buhari while uploading a secondary responsibility of "national patriotism". This, Ubah intend to achieve using a formula which workability was so "guaranteed" that he staked his N500bn fortune as a wager just in case Nigeria defies a "magical" economic theory he kept close to his chest waiting for the green light from Aso Rock villa to unleash on Nigeria and perhaps, the global economic community.


Most probably Ubah waited longer than he calculated was necessary and felt he should release the almighty Naira saving formula even if unpatented to save Nigeria from economic asphyxiation and sudden death hence, the release of the formula and the witnessed daily decline of the dollar which, according to Ubah will soon hit a more respectable 200/1 mark. He actually declared the Naira started crashing a day after his offer to President Buhari to "donate" his formula to save Nigeria. How timely! In the first phase of a heavy document he presented to the press, he said:


"Since my TV appearance and statement on Sunday night on Channels TV, the Dollar crashed from about N400/$1 to a year-low of N220/$1 before stabilizing at N290-N300/$1 currently. Is this not enough evidence that we can arrest this artificial freefall of the Naira with honesty and ingenuity?" Marvelous, if I may say. One begin to wonder why Ubah never proposed this formula as part of the goodies accruable to Nigerians among all the silly promises of TAN he spent a good time selling to them. However, it's amazing that despite the tons of literature expended by Ubah to promote his formula, he remained short of explaining why or how the crashing of the dollar was directly (or even indirectly) related to his "Channels TV" N500bn wager just as he never tell Nigerians how President Buhari could enforce the terms of the wager if it fails. Such cunning ingenuity!
Completely unable to deal with Ifeanyi Ubah outside his "TAN" identity, I couldn't bring myself to see anything in his "I'm the savior" kind of declaration than a mere "notice me" effort to enter the good books of President Buhari. Apparently used to the shallow mindedness of Goodluck Jonathan, perhaps this comedian is under the impression that foolishness is part of the job description of a Nigerian President. Of course, it shouldn't be out of place for a man with a N500bn fortune made in Nigeria's hazy and fraudulent Oil and Gas industry to aspire to enter the good books of President Buhari. It's a serious situation of "you don't want more, you don't want to lose some" that Ubah's declaration of "I'm just doing it for the nation" is as hollow as Dasuki's claim of being victimized by President Buhari as if President Buhari was there when he did his thing. I doubt if a fortune as kingly as Ubah's could pass any serious scrutiny - not in Nigeria's fraudulent business atmosphere. For that I will ignore all the bragging and chest beating. We deal with that when we get there and, neither Ifeanyi Ubah nor any magician should assume we would not get there.
In the interim, let's critique the formula and make sense or nonsense of it. Rather than waste time trying to argue the possibility of the impossibly impossible scenario of a swift solution that may revive the Naira, I will restrict my analysis to the little of the formula Ubah released to the public. In the document Ubah released to the public which was meant to be the first phase of his proposal but, which read more like his biography, the only paragraph that read anything close to the "over advertised" solution he promised Nigerians reads:


"media appearances (like his Channels TV appearance which made the dollar to start declining) constitute another component that will galvanize and mobilize Nigerians for proactive measures, which include shunning, ignoring and rejecting the Dollar until it crashes to N200! We are calling upon Nigerians to demystify our demand for this commodity – THE DOLLAR – and stop patronizing products that drain Nigerian forex reserves. You can now observe that this is not a POLITICAL STUNT, as some quarters would want well-meaning Nigerians to believe".


If this doesn't qualify for reverse exhibition of intelligence, I don't know what would ever be. This guy must have worked his "Naira resuscitation theory" in a biological rather than economic laboratory and must have snipped something with reverse effect on his brain to be so deluded into believing Nigerians are intellectually running on "E" tanks to accept his hogwash as a product of a tasking mental exercise for which he should be celebrated and honored. Even to the dumbest, Ubah merely plagiarized the idea adopted by President Buhari to halt the dangerous decline of Nigeria's economy. Right from day one President Buhari left no one in doubt about his intention to discourage over reliance on products that drains Nigeria's foreign reserve and was daily promoting local alternatives to preserve the nation's foreign exchange reserve. If this is not a shot at demystifying the dollar and Ubah's theory in brief what else is?


Probably Ubah thought saving the Naira is all about wearing designer suit and paying fees to speak flowery English in TV studio else, he should have known that Nigerians have the needed sophistication to smell fraud in whatever garb. The fact that he could amass a N500bn fortune doesn't make him more a genius than your average guy on the street who could do just as well given luck to break the exclusivity of Nigeria's business atmosphere. A monkey could be a billionaire in Nigeria with the right attitude and arriving at the right venue at the right time. I'm challenging him to open up and tell the world the formula he used to acquire his N500bn fortune which he claimed was generated without wavers and other government patronage. He actually believe this could give credibility to his claim to ingenuity.
For those with the patience to read through the balderdash he presented to the end certainly, they would like to know why his theory of emancipation was largely an attempt to launder his image by writing more about his history, particularly his role in "TAN" and the management of its finances. If, as he claimed, his effort was aimed at substituting our negative narrative with a more positive narrative, shouldn't Ubah explain to Nigerians when he developed a positive attitude towards Nigeria that he feel qualified to influence same on the 170m he attempted to sell a dummy in the candidacy of Jonathan using "TAN" as a tool? He could have done better telling Nigerians why he wept profusely during the presentation of election report to Jonathan soon after PDP/Jonathan lost elections. Was he worried about how to justify Jonathan's 10m votes when all the while he (Jonathan) was made to believe TAN had 12m signatures of Nigerians willing to vote for him? That's a subject for another day though.


Unless he truly believe Jonathan was, in his best opinion, the best option left to Nigeria even with all the credible alternatives of the time as "TAN" intimidatingly and militarily preached and marketed Jonathan/PDP, then I have to believe he's about the only seemingly clear minded person to believe so because there was a global consensus on the glaring deficits of Jonathan as a leader. If he could neither see nor appreciate these deficits, certainly his ambitious dream of being a "super-hero economist" of the league he's projecting would remain just dream it is. It's our "luck" we have such false claimants and aspirants for fame by the tons. Only recently a more modest and less adventurous one claimed to have broken an ancient mathematical puzzle, a claim he failed to substantiate as was proven to be a hoax by the erudite columnist and American based professor, Farooq Kporegi. Nigeria seem to be a soft target for fraudsters.


Going through Ubah's prescription, the most visible components were those where he labored to tell Nigerians how patriotic and good he is. In one, he was so neighborly that he built a whole street and provides 24hr free electricity to it as if that's anything to a man who claim to be supplying 35% of Nigeria's local fuel requirement. Others were those he tried to justify his founding of "TAN", its finances and his relationship with Jonathan. The funniest part of the "theory" and perhaps, the motive behind it was a cleverly knitted component. It reads: "Probability of working with President Buhari" which, incidentally came after another component: "My relationship with Jonathan". The two components read like the executive summary of the whole trash he wrote and were closely placed to say in few words the "AGIP" message hidden in the garbage. If you still don't get the picture by now, may God help you!


It's nauseating listening to this senior "TANtanite" praising President Buhari - the same "Buhari TAN spent time and money insulting in the most ridiculous manner imaginable among which was the claim that he don't even have a school certificate. Today, "TAN" is out of business and Ubah is extending his business acumen to offer consultancy services to Nigeria to improve its IGR with a GUARANTEED 30% growth. I wonder why the IGR profile of Nigeria never meant much to him even when he could get the consultancy to implement his "30% growth" with just a flick of the finger. If that doesn't sound like a mating call from Ubah to the new regime what could. I wonder how a smart "I'm worth N500bn" fellow could subject himself to this kind of ridicule. I'm sure there are things Ubah didn't say in his proposal that could blow the picture bigger enough for average minds like me to understand. Thankfully, PMB is a genius when it comes to picking frauds. Very soon we will know what's pursuing this guy that turned him into an emergency economist from a mere importer/exporte.

disloman:
Bro!you telling us that 15m of people that voted Baba voted cos of the 5000naira?Baba didn't deny it but saw the future and the reality on ground won't favour such polity.I see courage in what Baba said.They might not fulfil the promise now,they can still do that.They still have 3 more years.Most sane people were against the promise.

Bevista:
Ordinarily, I should not comment on this thread since Ubah has not mentioned how he would go about it. However, for the benefit of those who might get swayed by his cheap claims, I'll say something.
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The exchange rate (PRICE of dollars) is determined primarily by SUPPLY of dollars (through exports, FDIs, foreign borrowing, etc) and DEMAND for dollars (through imports, payments of foreign school fees/medical bills, online purchases, etc). The NET flow of these transactions determine the Balance of Payments (BOP) account with the Central Bank. Elementary economics tells us that when demand exceeds supply, prices go up!
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Coming back to Nigeria, it is well known that oil accounts for 95% of our FX earnings. As oil prices have collapsed from ~$100 in 2014 to ~$30, our supply of dollars has dropped tremendously. This is even worse when one considers that our cost of oil production is ~$20/bbl, meaning that our dollar revenue from oil has dropped from ~$80/bbl to ~$10/bbl. On the demand side, the request for imports are increasing. With such supply shock and increasing demand, there is only one way for the exchange rate to go. This is basic economics and has nothing to do with Emefiele or Buhari, except you are simply being mischievous or grossly ignorant.
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When oil collapsed from around $147 to $38 due to the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC), Nigeria had a Foreign Reserve of ~$62bn. The then CBN Governor had to spend ~$20bn from the Reserves to meet import demand thereby preventing devaluation/depreciation. Between 2011 & 2014, oil price was above $100, meaning that the administration never had a dollar supply problem and so could maintain a stable exchange rate. Fast forward to late 2014 when oil prices slid to ~$60, the CBN had to devalue the Naira twice within a period of 6 months (Nov 2014 & Feb 2015) because the Reserves were too low (<$35bn) to deplete to support imports. Now in 2016, oil prices are around $30/bbl while FX Reserves is less than $28bn. The supply shock has reached unprecedented levels, yet demand for imports has not decreased. There is absolutely no way that the exchange rate can stay below N250/$. Simple economics says that price will continue to move till a new equilibrium is reached where demand equates supply.
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There is no policy from Emefiele, Soludo, Greenspan, Bernanke or any other Central Bank governor that can strengthen the Naira in the near term. Except we want to completely deplete the Reserves or go to the IMF to borrow SDRs just to meet import demands. Brace up folks, if oil price collapses to $20 (thereby increasing the supply shock) the exchange rate shall hit N1000/$ and I repeat, this has nothing to do with Emefiele or Buhari but simply economic forces. The only thing that can save the Naira is either for SUPPLY of dollars to increase (through high oil price) or DEMAND to reduce. Since we do not have control over the supply side, we can at least focus on managing the demand side.
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So Mr Ifeanyi Ubah, you have zero knowledge on what you are talking about. With all the money you made from the last government, you can start by building a refinery or some other manufacturing facility (like Dangote) to help us substitute for imports. That would help the Naira more than you seeking cheap consultancy from the government. Or except you want to broker a deal for the government to give amnesty to your Dasuki-Gate friends, so they can bring out stashed up dollars from soakaways and graveyards to support the economy.

mayor2013:


State the type of car you talking about. Was there anytime you drove through a pool water? Looks like your Ac system is blocked so therefore the waste water forces itself back into the car

Phamoxy:
This happened last week Saturday, my pressing iron got fault and I have to iron cloth for church d following day which is Sunday.. There is this female neighbour of mine that I once borrowed USB cord from her and since then we started becoming close, so I thought I shud go to her and borrow iron to press my cloth...On getting dere I knock the door but the person opened the door at the second knock, lo n behold I met her friend there and i also saw her boyfriend inside and dat was the first time I will see dat her friend since I got there though I know she has a roommate... So I told her sorry I thought its your friend and she said what is it, I told her my iron was faulty and she shud please borrow me there own, she said which type of iron( frowning face), I said pressing Iron..she just look me one kind and shot the door. I felt so embarrassed and felt as if the ground shud swallow me.I have never been so embarrassed like that before in my life.My fellow nairalanders why are some girls like this in this century. This girl in question is a mature girl oo and not a teenager, I heard she work with infinix and that her boyfriend has a car.

abuayman:
Hmmm. EFCC una try. At least, FG collected almost 600m on bail alone, correct business wallahi.


Small small I don de near ftc after 5years for Nairaland. No wahala, we shall soon be there.

@poster above me, yhu fit help me small by simply deleting yhur comment eh?

Yhinkss:
There are a lot we seem not to understand or maybe we are interested in focusing on the negatives. There are no develoment without pain and sacrifices all what we nigerians want is to continue getting better things at their comfort zones
First of all the price template was not fashioned by Fashola it was a design from the previous government for an ideal running of the system. If u listened to what BRF said that it was the way it had suppose to be with the price but the last government did not implement it. The Disco recently declared to divest from the buy if the pricing is not improved because they are not making return and it is preventing them in investing more and even exanding as required by the government agreement on them. How can u run a business without making profits? So accordingly the new pricing will now make them stand well in terms of rendering and expanding after a particular time in agreement with the govt.
We only want everything to suit us like oyibo without making any effort like them . When we travel to other developed nations do you realise how much other nations are paying for various taxes that are non existent in nigeria we just like everything free.
Some social service is coming as promised and we are happy but how many are ready to pay for anything just like other nations or do you all complain or refuse to pay if you travel out especially South Africa
Let's compare Nepa to diesel or inverter it is still larger very low so there is a bit of support from the citizenry for our own benefits

Yhinkss:
There are a lot we seem not to understand or maybe we are interested in focusing on the negatives. There are no develoment without pain and sacrifices all what we nigerians want is to continue getting better things at their comfort zones
First of all the price template was not fashioned by Fashola it was a design from the previous government for an ideal running of the system. If u listened to what BRF said that it was the way it had suppose to be with the price but the last government did not implement it. The Disco recently declared to divest from the buy if the pricing is not improved because they are not making return and it is preventing them in investing more and even exanding as required by the government agreement on them. How can u run a business without making profits? So accordingly the new pricing will now make them stand well in terms of rendering and expanding after a particular time in agreement with the govt.
We only want everything to suit us like oyibo without making any effort like them . When we travel to other developed nations do you realise how much other nations are paying for various taxes that are non existent in nigeria we just like everything free.
Some social service is coming as promised and we are happy but how many are ready to pay for anything just like other nations or do you all complain or refuse to pay if you travel out especially South Africa
Let's compare Nepa to diesel or inverter it is still larger very low so there is a bit of support from the citizenry for our own benefits

lionness:
Rubbish from useless IPOB monkies. Doing anything to Defend OKonjo Iboala. Useless people!

likila:
Army reacts to hunger strike by reinstated soldiers


By Wale Odunsi on January 8, 2016 @dailypostngr
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The Nigerian Army on Friday reacted to the alleged maltreatment of about 3000 soldiers recently re-engaged.

Some of the soldiers had told Daily Trust that they were on hunger strike to protest the army’s refusal to post them five months after re-engagement.

The soldiers are part of about 2,500 soldiers and 102 officers dismissed from service over alleged offenses committed during counter insurgency operations.

Commenting on the matter, army spokesman Colonel Sani Usman said the claim was unfortunate.

“It should be noted that the Nigerian Army has been tolerant and patient with their acts of indiscipline and unprofessional conducts,” he said.

“This was based on the understanding of their circumstances and conditions. Efforts have been made to retrain them, integrate and give them sense of belonging.

“But the attitude of some of them has left so much to be desired and would not be tolerated any more.

“The Nigerian Army thrives on discipline, loyalty and good conduct and if anyone of them could not measure up to expectation or live by those tenets, he should leave”, he warned.

Kenkesh:
THE AGONY OF UNEMPLOYED MEDICAL GRADUATES IN NIGERIA©

It is no longer news to the world and especially to Nigerians, the rate and vigour with which corruption in its different forms has invaded every facet of Nigeria's institutions. It seems to have become part of the genetic composition of most Nigerians if not all.

An aspect that inevitably affect youth develepmont and empowerment is worth discussing taking the medical sector which plays a critical role in nation building and economic development:

1) Collection of mandatory levy from applicants --- this usually happens before the submission of applications for job interview, jobs that the applicant is not sure he/she will get.

While the present government is planning to alleviate poverty by paying the unemployed youth some token for their upkeep, these employers - so called government workers and heads of institutions - set up their own wicked strategies to impoverish these unemployed teeming number of medical and health graduates by collecting huge sums from them before allowing them to sit for job interviews.This is so common most especially among the teaching hospitals in the western and south-eastern part of the country.

Just last year(2015), UCTH and UPTH collected N5000 from newly graduated doctors for their interview. The same year UNILORIN Teaching Hospital collected the same amount for the same reason of job interview, LASUTH charged the same amount. Many other hospitals did the same. Currently, Ekiti State Teaching Hospital is collecting N5000 (being the price of the application form) from these newly graduated medical doctors. Bear in mind that these fresh doctors have to do their one year mandatory internship programme. They have temporary licences and must do this within a limited time. They are entirely on their own and must compete with one another and with doctors trained abroad for the few placements available in the qualified hospitals.

These graduates will not only pay the mandatory fee, but will also risk their lives transporting themselves to the various venues of these interviews, lodge in hotels and cater for themselves etc. Where will they get funds and supports from knowing fully well that they are yet to start work, implying that the burden stil falls back to their parents and guardians who must have spent enormously in seeing them through medical school. Why do these MDs and CMDs, want to further impoverish the already poor young graduates before giving them their rightful placements? Is it what the Federal Government asked them to do? These question demand urgent answers!

2) The epidemic of I.M (ima mmadu OR to know somebody) in Nigerian employment system:

Merit is no longer recognised in the Nigerian employment system. After paying a heavy application fee, working hard to pass an the interview, you still are not sure of getting the job unless you know somebody or somebody who know somebody within the institution who can secure the job for you. For example, how can the best graduating students of reputable colleges of medicine go for interview at institutions different from their alma mater & not even one of the best ten graduating students get placements. You have to know some body before you can get a job. Those that don't know any body are automatically hopeless.

How can you explain the fact that someone re-sitting his final exams (ie he has not yet graduated, has no license and can not apply for internship) nevertheless participates in the job interview organized by his alma mater and gets a placement ahead of those that have graduated.

The situation is really discouraging hard work among youths, since hard work is no longer recognised. NAUTH has been delaying the list of succesful candidates, presumably because of the same reasons.

3) Buying of placements:
Here, the employer will collect application fees, conduct interviews, cast all the result of the interview into the waste paper basket and then commence the phase of auctioning the placements. Huge sums are unofficially/covertly collected from the employees before employing them. In UNTH and ESUTH, many have had to pay at least N150,000 and above before they could get housemanship . Is this part of the Youth Empowerment Programme?

4) Ghost workers in Nigerian employment system:

This particularly refers to a situation where an institution accredited and financially equipped to employ for instance 200 workers, decides to employ about 150. It then takes appropriate measures to secure the salary of the other 50 for the boss' pocket.

Ghost workers exist almost everywhere in Nigerian institutions. Take the case of UNTH that is budgeted to employ/train 180 house officers, but only employs about 120-125, with about less than half of them being their own graduants while the rest are abroad-trained doctors who heavily lobbied themselves into the system.
This creates artificial scarcity of jobs, making it difficult and impossible for all the graduates to promptly do their mandatory one year internships. Just as happens during artificial fuel scarcity, these wicked MDs and CMDs enrich themselves grossly from these situations.

Another phenomenon probably unique to medical internships is the possibility of doing the internship more than once. The salary is attractive and there is lack of nationally centralized control over the internship programme. With the appropriate corrupt means at the individual's disposal, he/she can get a fresh placement in a different hospital and can do multiple internships. This obviously denies fresh graduates their rightful placements.

It is clear that our senior colleagues, our leaders, our fathers and our elders in privileged positions are the very ones frustrating the youths of this country.

What is happening in the medical sector is pitiable! The role of our CMDs is scandalous! The practice of young interns who block their unemployed colleagues from getting slots by doing internship over and over again to make more money is totally wicked and punishable by Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria(MDCN). The silence of MDCN on the ongoing mess is the height of negligence of duty to protect the profession from ridicule! Finally, the inability of young medical graduates to articulate their experiences and speak out to the authorities is an act of timidity. Evil thrives when good men fail to speak up! I just weep for our corrupt generation.

Let this serve as a clarion call to all individuals and agencies capable and responsible for looking into matters such as these to come to our rescue.

Thanks. God bless Nigeria