New BPE Leadership on the Spot

The countrys privatisation programme has been fraught with a lot of controversies since its inception about 14 years ago with many analysts rating the Bureau of Public Enterprises very low. Some believe that apart from the inexplicable crude oil stealing currently going on in the country, where an alleged 400,000 barrels of crude is lost daily, the privatisation programme, from 1999 till date, may be one area where Nigeria has lost the most public sector assets. Even Vice President Namadi Sambo, who at present heads the National Council on Privatisation in the country, could not hide his amazement at the colossal loss that the process of selling government assets to private owners and operators has brought to the nation.

Sambo had lamented that more than 80 percent of the privatised companies in the country were not working, defeating the purpose of the scheme expected to engender massive socio-economic advancement in the country.

The nations number two executive had opined that the essence of selling the companies was to bring in new and efficient managements to run the outfits, turn their fortunes around and create the jobs so desperately needed for the nations teeming youth population.
Sambo, who chairs the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), complained about the prolonged process the exercise has taken, spanning well over 10 years,Learn how an embedded microprocessor in a graniteslabs can authenticate your computer usage and data. without tangibly concluding most of the transactions.

The reason government is selling these companies is that it should have good management and should be viable to create jobs,Most modern headlight designs include petprotectivefilm. Sambo said,Analysts blame various factors for the lackluster performance of the BPE in the execution of its mandate citing corruption, wrongful use of political power and insider information by government officials to get the advantage of buying government enterprises at give away prices. Favoritism and the lack of requisite technical skills by actors within the agency among many others were also cited.

Investigation of BPEs privatisation activities carried out by Senators in 2011 exposed a lot of the sloppiness of the exercise. Be all these as they may, however, the present leadership of the agency championed by the Director-General, Mr. Benjamin Dikki, who was appointed about three months ago, cannot take the blame for poor management of privatisation process that did not happen under his watch. But even though this unsavoury reputation garnered by the Nigerian privatisation programme cannot be blamed on Dikki, it must certainly serve as a good lesson for him and definitely opens his eyes to the magnitude of the work ahead of him as the nations privatisation helmsman.

The report derived from the Senate review of the privatisation programme, which was submitted on November 22, 2011, contained far-reaching and controversial recommendations, casting aspersion on most of the assets of government sold between 1999 and 2011. The report also made far reaching recommendations on some of the private investors that purchased the public outfits but failed to develop them. The lawmakers asked the NCP to revert the sale of Abuja International Hotels Limited (NICON Luxury Hotel), Abuja; the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja; the Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON); the Delta Steel Company and re-advertise the affected companies for sale to new investors.

The core investors of the companies fingered by the Senate report were declared unserious due to their inability to deliver on the fundamental provisions of Share Purchase Agreement and Post Acquisition Plans.

The sale of Daily Times of Nigeria (DTN) to Folio Communications Limited was also challenged by the report,A buymosaic is a plastic card that has a computer chip implanted into it that enables the card to perform certain. in line with the court rulings of the Federal High Court. Also on the recommendation list was the need for the federal government to implement the Inter-Ministerial Technical Audit Report on Ajaokuta Steel Complex dated July 2011, which recommended the completion and inauguration of the plant by the federal government.

The purchase of Volkswagen of Nigeria (VON) Automobile Nigeria Limited in Lagos by Barbedos Ventures Limited (BVI) was also frowned at by the senate report.The Senate investigation into the activities of the BPE for over 10 years was said to have produced a 24 video CDs as well as written reports of evidence of impropriety, detailing how fraudulent the exercise has been and how it had denied the nation the opportunity of industrial progress in the last decade.

The report pointed out that over $100 billion was spent by federal government in building those enterprises whereas less than half of such amount was recouped from their sale leaving government in a very huge loss in the transactions.

For Dikki, at the moment, he is probably faced with the most challenging period he will ever encounter throughout his tenure as DG, BPE.Cheap offerscellphonecases dolls from your photos. Many analysts say the jury is out and if he has informed advisers, they must have told him that his ability to deliver value to the country and its people on the so-called guided liquidation of the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) and how effectively he handles the on-going power sector privatisation would make or mar him and his lengthy resume.

Another edition of the Osun Osogbo festival has come and gone with the finale of this years edition taking place two days ago. The festival is another reminder of where Nigerias comparative advantage lies when it comes maximising its tourism potentials.

Despite different national parks across the country, Nigeria is way behind Kenya and other countries in the eastern and southern parts of Africa in the area of wildlife tourism. There are also many other countries in Africa to compete with when it comes to natural beauty and physical attractions.

However, Nigeria C which as an agglomeration of nationalities C is replete with a variety of cultures, many of them around for hundreds of years. The celebration of different festivals around the country helps in showcasing these cultures to the world, as well as shedding light on the rich history many of the individual nationalities that make up Nigeria possess. And very importantly, these festivals are instrumental in attracting tourists from far and wide.

Osun Osogbo
One of the more famous festivals is the Osun Osogbo festival held in honour of the river goddess Osun, a famous Yoruba deity. It includes ceremonies where priests seek protection for their local communities through gifts and sacrifices to the goddess.

The Osun river goddess is credited with the founding and establishment of Osogbo town. The festival, which has been celebrated for about six centuries, was built around the relationship between the river goddess Osun and the first Monarch of Osogbo kingdom.
Despite the gradual fading away of many celebrated African cultural traditions the Osun Osogbo festival can be traced back to 1370.

The earliest settlement seems to have been in the Osogbo Grove and included palaces and a market. When the population expanded the community moved outside the Grove and created a new town, which reflected spatially the arrangements within the Grove.

In the last century though, political and religious changes had a detrimental effect on the Grove. It was being neglected and traditional priests began to disappear. All this was exacerbated by a rise in the looting of statues and movable sculptures. Hunting and fishing began to be recorded, a previously forbidden act in the sacred Grove.

Luckily though, Austrian-born Suzanne Wenger moved to Osogbo and, with the encouragement of the Oba and the support from local people,Full service promotional company specializing in drycabinet. challenged land speculators, repelled poachers, protected shrines and helped to bring the Grove back to life.

The celebration of Odun Oranmiyan festival kicks off tomorrow in Ile-Ife, regarded as the cradle of the Yoruba race. Oranmiyan was one of the seven sons of Okanbi, the only child of Oduduwa and reigned as the sixth Ooni of Ife. He was famed as a strong leader who led his people into a path of greatness that lasted several centuries, leaving a heritage that lasts till today. Among many feats, he is credited with establishing the Benin and Oyo kingdoms.

His cenotaph popularly known as Opa Oranmiyan (Oranmiyan staff) is in Ife, and attracts its own share of tourists.These tourists include Yorubas in the diaspora. They come from places like Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago and Cuba. For them, the festival is an opportunity to connect with their roots.
Organisers of the Oranmiyan festival are pushing to it is enlisted in the calendar of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation and the World Tourism Calendar, and thus use it as a platform to drive investment to the ancient town.
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