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(An Interview With "Donald Duke" - a former Governor, Cross River State, Nigeria)
Jan 2010
Lagos, Jan 11, 2010 (This Day/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- No formalities needed now. Donald Duke, sitting at one end of the small conference table, has already informally lunged into the interview. This is shortly after his approval of the conference room, adjoining the large reception area of his stately Lagos-based office in the upmarket Ikoyi neighbourhood. For the size of the THISDAY team consisting of Yusuph Olaniyonu, Okechukwu Uwaezuoke, Ndubuisi Ugah, Adewole Ajao and photographer, Yomi Akinyele, it would do. The immediate past two-term Cross River State governor reviews the state of the nation and expresses candid views that are impervious to partisan concerns.
Two and a half years after you left governance and now looking at the state of the nation as an outsider from government, what are we doing right and what are we doing wrong?
Even while in office I have always tried to look at governance as an outsider and that was very instructive for me. Looking at it now we are not doing too many things right.
There is a lot of rhetoric going on but very little action being seen. For instance, I don't think there are any major roads or infrastructure that have been constructed in the last two years. But in the last three budgets, close to a trillion naira has been spent on infrastructure. These are issues. There is rhetoric over a seven-point agenda and promises about power, land reforms, security but it's not happening. Conception of ideas is one thing but executing is another. I think we have a team that is unable to execute a vision and this is critical for governance.
The president has had to attend to his health problems and for the past forty five days we have had the case of a leader that is not domiciled in his country.
Could that be the reason why the programmes of the administration are not being executed?
One of our biggest challenges as a nation has been the team we assemble. If you want to win a championship you've got to identify the best players. Some may play even better than the captain. Some of them may even be far more experienced than the president but at the end of the day as captain he picks the cup. He may as captain even be benched throughout the match as our current situation dictates, but the game does not suffer on account of this. So that is one flaw and it becomes even more critical in the situation we are now in.
In the last 40 days or so, many events have occurred and where there is no leadership the country is adrift. In a good team, other members of the administration would rise up to the occasion and fill the gap.
Do you feel the president's absence has been handled properly?
No. It has been handled childishly. We did not elect Superman as president. We elected a human being with all human frailties. All we require from him is leadership. So, that he is ill is no big deal. With or without a letter the vice president ought to step into the gap. It does not require a letter to that effect. It is a norm. It is not in doubt that the president is in hospital. We heard of a heart ailment from his doctor. The vice president ought to stand in. That's why he is the Vice President. The manner in which the administration has fumbled gives a lot for concern. The executive arm of government is adrift and the attorney-general, I don't know how literate he is in law.
He seems confused on being chief counsel to the president or the attorney-general of the federation. The National Assembly has become suddenly impotent. Majority are caught between party posturing and national exigency.
This is a national affair and not party. The Chief Justice of Nigeria swears in his successor. This is a dangerous precedent. In line with the separation of powers, the head of an arm of government does not swear in his successor in the same branch. The chief justice swears in the president who in turn swears in every other member of the executive arm and vice versa. But now a precedent has been set. Perhaps, a president in future may swear in his own successor. Even the legislative arm requires a proclamation signed by the President before it commences sitting in accordance with Section 64 (3) of our constitution.But moving beyond that, institutions are breaking down and the National Assembly is unable to even ask the right questions but has the temerity to threaten the United States, what a joke! The attorney-general is telling us hogwash, that the president can govern from anywhere.
The constitution did not foresee our current situation but when there is no provision in the constitution, conventions take over and the convention is that the president will govern from his home country, preferably from the capital.
And that's why in the US, when the president moves from the White House, the flag moves with him, the seal and power apparatus moves with him. But when the federal attorney-general tells us that the president can rule from anywhere that is an insult to us as Nigerians. Medical records are sought and he says he can't produce them because the president is a private citizen. But the president is a public figure who is paid by tax payers. I have a right to full disclosure from those who work for me to know whether they are fit enough for what I've employed them to do. So all these things are happening and nobody or institution is able to call the attorney-general to question. For forty five days, the vice president has not communicated with the president and there is this raging controversy by those who claim to have seen or spoken to him as if he were an apparition.
Is that how the country should be run?
The effects are becoming more visible. Today, we are being blacklisted and there is absolutely nobody who has assumed the constitutional authority to engage the U.S government.
I'm not certain anyone in the administration has even spoken to the U.S Ambassador. In effect we're now a second-tier terrorist nation. Remember Castro in his Pajamas on television assuring his nation he is alive?
As a senior member of the PDP, do you disagree with the party's position on the issue of the president's absence from the country?
Absolutely. The party is being sickly partisan and these are precedents that are now being established and will outgrow any party in existence. The party is not there to protect an individual but to enhance the nation and everyone agrees the nation is adrift. In the face of external aggression, what happens as the Vice president says he is not authorised? Who will order the troops?" Our commander-in-Chief is AWOL.
So from what you're saying the handling of the fallout from the Abdulmutallab issue is far from satisfactory?
Yes! This is an isolated international case of a young Nigerian manipulated. The British even had the shoe bomber who was not Pakistani or Arab descent but of pure British ancestry. Britain is not listed as a country of interest because there was a government to engage and ensure no future such occurrence. Because the American officials can't talk to anyone effectively in charge and feel we can't manage our affairs, they have resorted to specially screen Nigerians as a means of protecting themselves. Already our letters of credit are not being accepted around the world. Visa processes will get even more difficult. A fall-out will be the adoption of similar policies by other western nations, this is a critical time for Nigeria.
Have some of these views you're expressing to us been expressed to those who matter and whom you can access?
One sad development in Nigeria is that people are afraid to speak out. All of a sudden we have become mute and just watching.
I have not expressed here anything out of the ordinary and these views are in the minds of everyone but we are too quick to protect the presidency at the expense of the nation. I believe if they came out straight on the president's state and said for the time he is unable to act the vice-president will assume responsibilities there would be a lot more sympathy. It is not the first time a president is ill. We had Babangida and radiculopathy. He came out, the outpouring of emotional support and sympathy was overwhelming. What I think the president needs as a person is that support and goodwill which will buoy his spirit for his well being but not at the expense of the state. Regardless of whatever circumstance we find ourselves the state must run. When President Bush went in for a routine colonoscopy, authority of state was ceded to Vice President Dick Cheney. In an interview, former vice president Dan Quayle states an instance where he ordered an air strike against Saddam who had breached the no-fly zone while President George Bush Snr. was airborne and couldn't be reached.
He took the decision to order a military strike because there is never a gap in governance. Vice president Goodluck Jonathan's position confuses me because his duty is to stand in the gap when the president is unavailable but he says he is waiting for a letter.
What if something happens and the president loses consciousness and cannot read nor write?
This letter business is a courtesy and formality to the National Assembly.
Let's assume that the vice president wants to step in but there are people within the presidency saying he cannot step in?
The issue of stepping in does not arise because as vice president he is already in.
But there were instances where ministers were ordered not to go on leave and they did.
It is contradictory. Contracts are being awarded at Federal Executive Council meetings chaired by the Vice President. With contracts they can take decisions but when it comes to decisions to run the country, they can't. So decisions are being taken but they are selective. In the situation that occurred on the 25th of December, 2009, the vice president ought immediately to have sought audience with the U.S. Ambassador and the vice president of the United States. This would have commenced the process of engagement but we sit back and do nothing. The EU and other Western world would reflect the decisions of the Americans. Nigeria as a secular nation, is listed as a nation of interest primarily due to ineffectual leadership. We have hardly recovered from Boko Haram.
We had a target of 6,000 megawatts to improve power supply by last December and it is looking very elusive?
Well I think they have admitted that it's not feasible and they have thrown it to another year but the point is if you continue building on a faulty foundation you get the same results.
We are still operating our power infrastructure like we did in the fifties with one organisation ECN - generating, transmitting and distributing. But it is a totally different situation today. The country has grown in leaps and every community is clamouring for power and you have 2.5 billion cubic feet of gas being flared everyday. We are the largest single source polluter in the world. However, we went to Copenhagen without a policy on this.
That gas we are flaring is the same fuel that is used in generating power all over the world. It is the leverage that Russia has over Western Europe and the amount we flare is equal to 25 million litres of diesel or the equivalent amount of PMS (petrol) we consume nationally daily. It is such a horrific waste and we are flaring it because we have not been able to exert the requisite will on the oil companies.
They either convert that gas into energy with a buy-back provision or they pay the economic price of gas. It is our resource like crude oil for goodness sake."
The oil companies have the wherewithal to produce more energy than we can consume and if this were done the challenges would be the transmission of that power and that's where you can have one or two organisations.
In the UK, there is an agency for transmission into the grid which takes it to the point of distribution. In our case, once it gets to a state, let the state handle distribution. I want to use Cross River as an example. Only fifteen percent of the state was on the national grid in 1999, eight years later eighty percent. It has the widest distribution in the country and is not a small state. It is the size of the state of Israel. Lagos is 3,000 square kilometres but Cross River is 23,000 and we have villages and communities that are far flung but we ensured they were on the grid. The federal government had projects that were on-going for over ten years we took them over and had them completed.
So let the states handle distribution while 2 or 3 perhaps more federal agencies handle transmission and completely privatise generation because we must leverage on efficiencies. Financial returns can be assured if each tier is properly metered. We can solve the power problem in 24 months.
Until we change strategy we may never be able to achieve power sufficiency because we're consistently building on a faulty foundation and expect different results. This is what I find patently absurd.
What of the power stations that were being built by the former administration?
Not one of them is working. In fact some of the turbines I am informed are at the port rotting. I am told we may have to send some back to their manufacturers for retrofitting before they can be installed. The logistics of moving them from the port to the sites were not well thought through as some of them cannot be delivered to their sites. That is one problem.
Two, we are not well-equipped to deal with some of these services. Government is not equipped to deal with some of these things and they should enable those who can.
The federal government has a JV contract with the oil companies and they ought to pay their JV partnership funding which is far less than what they have been spending purportedly to generate power. Some government agencies may feel that by doing this they are ceding authority. I don't know perhaps some of the generating stations will work eventually but if you cannot take turbines to sites due to inadequate road and rail networks, even if you got them to work how sustainable is it? In the last administration the Federal Government got Afam to work but it has broken down today because they cannot sustain its management. Once commissioned and handed over it worked for a few months and broke down. So the energy strategy is absolutely wrong.
We saw the first banking reform that focused on consolidation but it seemed the consolidated banks are no longer strong as we were being made to believe.
As someone who does business now, how do you think the crisis in the banking sector has affected the economy?
Banking, finance and the economy are based on perceptions. The US is the biggest debtor in the world but there is a perception that it has tremendous capacity so despite their huge debts, China and the rest of the world are falling over to loan them money because they are banking on the resourcefulness of the country. A couple of months back, 12 Nigerian banks featured among the list of one thousand largest banks in the world. It was all based on perception. I support what Sanusi has done but I think it could have been done differently. You don't create a panic in your economy. There are LC transactions originating from Nigerian banks and certified by a prime U.S. bank still not being accepted internationally.
There are more cash transactions now because Letters of Credit are not being accepted. So the protection the letter of credit affords you is lost. But certainly the banks had gone overboard from the facts we have today but, we should have done it mindful of the larger impact it could have on the economy. We also erred in not protecting our stock market. Virtually everyone was in the stock market then and when there are a mass of people under a roof protect the house. One thing that gives us confidence in our nation is wealth and government ought to strive to secure this. But when we do nothing about it and when it crashes it has a ripple effect. An immediate effect of the crash was a run on bank stocks because a lot of them had dwindled and after that a housing crisis and housing prices crashed. Assets that were created over the years now amount to nothing. So all of us in the country are losers because wealth has devalued.
Government cannot sit back and wash its hands away from these institutions because even though the stock market is private it's a measure of public wealth and confidence in the economy.
It is all about jobs and people. The banks are also laying-off people and there are social consequences. If one is laid off from a bank he'd probably have to move homes and relocate his kids from school. Lifestyles change and it has a ripple effect. That is why western governments provide social security. Criminality has a bearing with unemployment."
For example, if you are told to manage the economy of this nation what would be the first five things you would do?
The first thing to do is assemble the best team you can muster. Strive for people with better qualities than yourself. The advantage is you have the opportunity to pick them and the buck stops at your table. That is the first thing to do before conceiving fancy ideas. We should ensure we build a skill base. Our education has to be addressed.
We have lost ground there and our diplomas and certificates are nothing to reckon with outside Nigeria.
We had a situation in Cross River where we had WAEC and NECO. There seemed a preference to NECO because they said it was easier to pass. This is appalling and it shows what our values are. I asked a Vice chancellor how much he needed to fund his university and he said 20 billion a year as opposed to N4 or 5 billion that he gets. If a university has such shortage of funds the first thing that will suffer is research while the rest will go to salaries, physical infrastructure will deteriorate and you can see this in all our universities. But I've said skills and not education because this is wider.
There are so many people out there who are past formal school-age, but can be trained to acquire productive skills. The next thing is health and then we have infrastructure. Let us build world-class infrastructure and ensure I can leave Lagos and get to Sokoto in 10 hours by road. To catch up with the developed world we must embrace technology and there must be strong institutions that will enable these infrastructure run efficiently.
These infrastructure include, roads, rails, telephony, air and sea ports etc If you don't have any of these there will be no movement towards growth. Security is a normal routine and tagging it as part of an agenda is uncanny because government is there to provide security in the first place.
If you were to be the president of the country how would you handle the Niger-Delta crisis?
Let me state without equivocation the Niger Delta agitation is a Just One. Having said that, you've got to address why we have the crisis in the first place. You don't start from the middle by granting amnesty but from the top. What caused the crisis in the first place is unemployment, poor infrastructure and opportunities and degradation of the environment so you have to redress those issues. We lost 40 billion last year because of militant activities in the oil sector but it will perhaps cost between $20 and 25 billion dollars to provide the requisite infrastructure to upgrade the Niger Delta. We are still losing money everyday because many of the oil companies have not returned and are afraid of sending their staff to effect repairs to the pipelines. We have now lost our prime oil producing spot to Angola and Libya.
The sweet crude edge we had has been taken over by technology which will refine any crude type more efficiently. So we must start from the genesis of the problem, provide jobs and infrastructure. For the 5,000 people that are seen as Robin Hoods, we must cut sympathy from them as criminality and kidnapping has been introduced, by addressing the fundamentals. Amnesty will not end the crisis. Certainly paying stipends to militants will not either. You will end up having a second tier militant group and the beat goes on."
This is almost an election year and candidates must emerge before the end of the year. One major thing this government promised is electoral reforms and apart from that and based on what happened in 2007, the consensus was there had to be electoral reforms before the next elections but so far we have seen nothing? What do you think we should do as there is no time again.
The Uwais Report clearly addressed the issues. One striking point is who appoints the electoral officials?
In other words, the players should not determine who the linesman or referees should be. I think that is the summary of the electoral reform alongside the timetable of elections which should allow for proper adjudication before assumption of office.
Some have said that even if the referee is not selected by the player it is still possible for the player or the club to buy him. What do you think?
That is true. It does not provide for a perfect system, it is the people and their tendencies that will determine that. We have an adage in law that states - justice must not just be done but be seen to be done and in this case the electoral standards do not even address these minimum standards of justice being seen to be done because the president is seen to appoint the electoral personnel. Let's start from the premise that whosoever is being elected cannot appoint and this is the crux of the electoral reform.
Opposition parties feel they cannot win an election when the umpire is being appointed by their opponents. It is a basic norm of democracy that there must be a level playing field for all participants to enable confidence in the process.
There is also the issue of a few people bankrolling the election of an aspirant and when you limit the amount an individual can contribute you increase mass participation which is what democracy is about. It is also in our electoral law that you cannot contribute more than a certain amount of the money but we know it is not being enforced. In other democracies, this is established.
Whilst acknowledging that democracy is expensive due to the logistics of a campaign, on overly funded campaign from a single source portends danger to the system due to hijack. Obama raked in $700 million. So it's expensive. If we encourage the mass of people to contribute towards the funding of candidates this will reduce voters apathy on election-day because they've put their money where their mouth is.
Another problem is the difficulty in defeating an incumbent. Why do you think it is hard to do this even when the incumbent is not doing well?
Since we have weak institutions the man in authority can always manipulate. As a president or governor you can give the police commissioner instructions that are patently wrong because he owes his job to you. When institutions are poorly funded their operatives usually owe allegiance to those who fund or appoint them.
If judges are not paid well enough to meet and attain their personal responsibilities, there is the tendency for them to want to be in the good books of those who fund their institution and you can already determine the sort of judgments they may give. It takes a leader also to build these institutions and ensure the right people are appointed. People who can look you on the face and do what is right not what is expedient.
Two and a half years after leaving office, are you happy with the state of Cross River state?
We are all like actors on the stage when you're done, go and become a member of the audience. Don't try to be a prompter at the backstage. As an actor you may think your footwork is best and should be adopted by the next person. This is the problem. Even if Michael Jackson had a twin they would not dance the same way. The dances may be similar but the footwork will change.
The current governor and I have a cordial relationship. I don't have a problem there and am pleased with what is going on there. Nothing has changed really, the policies and programmes are the same and are being worked on, improved and expanded. In some instances, the tempo may have changed, but that should be expected. We bequeathed to Cross River State perhaps the best urban infrastructure in Nigeria in our designated towns of Calabar, Ugep, Ikom, Ogoja and Obudu. The problems in the state are the federal roads. Billions are spent on these federal roads every year but we see no improvement.
What about the controversy on the Cross River oil wells and how did you handle it as governor?
This is particularly disturbing for Cross River and personal for me, the wells in question were obtained during my tenure. Prior to the Off-shore-Onshore judgement of the Supreme Court, Cross River got N100,000 monthly as derivation whereas Akwa Ibom was getting about N2.5billion a month. It was only after the judgement by the Supreme Court that Cross River revenue increased to N100 million. Akwa Ibom, on the other hand, lost all its oil wells because they were offshore, meaning that by the judgement the oil wells located off-shore belong to the federal government.
There was a lot of agitation. The federal government then decided on a political solution by conceding the oil wells to Akwa Ibom State. This quietened the polity. But it was not based on any legal standing but political expediency and even after this was done the president took it to the Council of State for endorsement and it was assented to. With the loss of Bakassi our boundaries changed.
We lost the land but not the maritime nor the oil wells. The Supreme Court carefully crafted its decision, stating that all oil found north of the furthermost archipelagos should be termed on-shore. However, with the ICJ judgement on Bakassi, technically, Cross River is no longer a littoral state but has maritime boundaries. Cross River should not be penalised for the loss of Bakassi as it was the federal government that lost Bakassi. Now Cross River is being penalised for a case the FG lost. This federal government just as it decided on a political solution for Akwa Ibom ought to institute same in this case. However, I am assured the two governors will reach some amicable and brotherly solution particularly as the federal government has not shown the requisite leadership in resolving this thorny issue between the two states.
What do you want to do next?
I would want to serve my country in a way I think I can be most effective, I wont shy away from that. I don't belong to the political class that would say if my people want me. If you don't raise your hands to be counted nobody will count you. I put my hands up before when I sought to be governor of Cross River and campaigned accordingly. I also put my hand up to be president but my attempt was chequered by my party which said it is turn-by-turn.
This is the most stupendous thing I have heard. We fought 30 months to keep this country united. I saw soldiers from Sokoto in Bakassi dying to protect our territorial integrity but when it comes to leadership we're no longer Nigerians but north and south. The constitution says the broad leadership of the country must reflect our geo-polity. It does not say the presidency should be rotated. Once you do that you have compromised quality and competence. Particularly at a critical stage such as we are now. You don't say that the doctor you want to heal you in times of crisis must come from a certain place. If we don't put our best foot forward the consequence may be dire for us and our children.
So what are the challenges you're hoping to face once you put up your hand, particularly at the party level?
We've got to re-evaluate ourselves and not just the party. 'The truth shall set you free'. What I am saying is of primary benefit to my party and a majority of my party members feel this way.
There are a few cabals here and there, but majority of Nigerians and party members are becoming increasingly worried that the party is not aligned with the hopes and aspiration of the citizenry. Nigerians don't care where their president comes from. They just want the best. But when we implement a turn-by-turn leadership we are short-changing ourselves.
So are you running for president in 2011?
I would like to. How I would achieve that I do not know but YES. I would like to.
But don't you think some of the views you've expressed here will offend the party leadership?
I think I have earned the right to say I am part of that leadership and my stance is not to please anybody. My primary loyalty is to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Parties are platforms and from independence to date we have had several of them and they can be transient. The common norm is Nigeria and what best suits Nigeria. If it suits the party, fine but I am not interested in what the leadership or any cabal thinks.
(c) 2010 This Day. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
source, Jan, 11, 2010 05:55 AM - AllAfrica.com - http://www.poten.com/NewsDetails.aspx?id=10299093
Some Comments (source: ThisDayOnline):
COMMENTS [total: 54]
Thanx Mr. Duke, you will always remain my political mentor. Wish you luck in your ambition even as i hope to follow your foots...
What a powerful vision for Nigeria -one that Nigeria can no doubt achieve with the right leadership. I am convinced that Donal...
I\'d given up on news commentaries but DD\'s intervew has compelled me to rescind my decision. I honestly pray to God Mr Duke ...
WHO WILL BELL THE CAT??? THIS INDEED IS THE QUESTION! HOW BAD DO THINGS HAVE TO GET BEFORE WE TAKE OUR STAND ON ISSUES BORDER...
Donald Duke, you\'re the messiah Nigeria needs.combining intelligence with articulation and versatility.I am proud of you and ...
Sahara Sun 'to help power Europe'
…BBC
A sustainable energy initiative that will start with a huge solar
project in the Sahara desert has been announced by a consortium of 12
European businesses.
The Desertec Industrial Initiative aims to supply Europe with 15% of its
energy needs by 2050.
Companies who signed up to the $400bn (£240bn) venture include Deutsche
Bank, Siemens and the energy provider E.On.
The consortium, which will be based in Munich, hopes to start supplying
Europe with electricity by 2015.
Desertec Industrial Initiative aims to produce solar-generated
electricity with a vast network of power plants and transmission grids
across North Africa and the Middle East.
"The time has come to turn this vision into reality," said the company's
chief executive, Paul van Son.
"That implies intensive co-operation with many parties and cultures, to
create a sound basis for feasible investments into renewable energy
technologies and interconnected grids."
The first stage will be to build massive solar energy fields across
North Africa's Sahara desert, utilising concentrated solar power
technology (CPS), which uses parabolic mirrors to focus the Sun's rays
on containers of water.
'Pivotal initiative'
The super-heated water will power steam turbines to generate electricity 24 hours a day, 52 weeks of the year.
Enlarge
Map
Network of transmission grids and power plants for Desertec's proposed
solar project
The electricity will then be transported great distances to Europe,
using hi-tech cables that suffer little conductive loss of power.
The move was "pivotal" in the transition of Europe, North Africa and the
Middle East to sustainable energy supplies, said Mr Van Son.
Currently there are some small initiatives across Spain and parts of
North Africa, but the scale of the Desertec initiative will surpass any
other comparable projects.
Strong desire
The initiative has gained the support of the German government of Angela
Merkel, who has already expressed a desire to offset a dependence on
Russian gas supplies.
A number of North African countries have also expressed a strong desire
to join the project, the company says, utilising their main sustainable
natural resource - the Sun.
Some of the power generated by the Sahara solar energy fields will also
be used by domestic African consumers, Desertec is keen to stress. North
Africa has a small population relative to the size of its desert
terrain, it says.
The concept was first announced in 2007 by the Desertec Foundation, with
small pilot projects based in North Africa. Prince Hassan of Jordan has
previously been mentioned as a big supporter.
Russian & Nigerian newly formed oil firm called "Nigaz" sparks racism debate
…BBC
Nigerians No Nigaz, a group formed on the social networking site
Facebook, says the name could be pronounced in a way offensive to black
people.
Users of Twitter have also expressed disbelief at the decision.
"Russian & Nigerian companies have formed new oil firm called... Nigaz.
I'm not lying," says Osa Oyegun, under her Twitter name ChocolateMezzo.
The topic has prompted hundreds of tweets.
Bright moment'
Correspondents say despite the hoo-ha caused online, newspapers in Nigeria have not picked up on the story yet.
Simon Anholt, a top branding consultant who developed the National
Brands Index, says this may be because such faux pas are usually
"harmless".
"The fact is that whenever there is a blunder like this it delights
people, it gives them something to talk about and it gives them a bright
moment in what might otherwise be a dull day," he told the BBC Network
Africa programme.
He admitted that it could be seen as offensive, but said it was fairly
uncommon for companies to change their names.
Such blunders are more common in government-run organisations, he said,
"because they simply don't have the marketing experience to check these
things out properly".
But he says the fuss is likely to die down.
"People will soon forget that the name sounds bad," he says.
Africa: No Nigerian Company on Continent's Top 30
By Jibrin Abubakar – AllAfrica – 3 April 2009
Your Ads Here
There is no Nigerian company on the list of Africa's top 30 companies,
Daily Trust can report.
South African companies dominated the top ranking, as 15 of the 16 top
companies on the continent are from South Africa.
Fifty four of the top 90 also came from South Africa, African Business
magazine said in its latest ranking of Africa's top companies in 2009.On
the list of 200 top companies, FirstBank of Nigeria Plc, with a market
value of $2.415billion ranks 34th.
Other Nigerian companies on the list are: Nigeria Breweries Plc (54th),
Zenith Bank (61st), Ecobank Nigeria (62nd), African Petroleum (67th),
Bank PHB(73rd) Wema Bank(78th), United Bank for Africa(UBA was 34th on
the ranking in 2008 but it has fallen to 81st ), Oceanic Bank(It was
also 48th last year but now 83rd) and Dangote Sugar Refinery(94th).
Intercontinental Bank Plc and Guinness Nigeria Plc also ranked 110th and
115th respectively.
Other Nigerian companies on the list are: Nestle Nigeria Ltd (134th),
Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc(138th), Afribank Nigeria Plc(139th), Fidelity Bank
Nigeria(143rd) and StanbicIBTC bank(150th).
Others are: First City Monument Bank(156th), National Sports Lottery
Plc(161st), Spring Bank Plc(167th), Access Bank(168th), Diamond
Bank(173rd), Total Nigeria Plc(178th), Benue cement Plc(180th), Julius
Berger Nigeria Plc(188th) and Oando Plc(189th).
While expressing concern over Nigeria's performance, the report also
says: "Yet it is difficult to overlook the dramatic fall in Nigerian
share prices. The Nigerian Stock Exchange lost more than 60% of its
value between March 2008 and March 2009."
In West Africa, Sonatel telecom of Cote d'Ivoire tops the list with
$2.492 in market value.
It said: "Egypt and Moroccan firms pose some challenge in the higher
reaches of our table but South Africa is in an economic league of its
own in sub-Saharan Africa."
The report said South African Anglo American group (mining and metals)
is Africa's biggest company with a market value of $23.497billion. On
its website, African biggest company said it has 190,000 employees.
The top four African companies which are all South African also include:
SABMiller (consumer goods) with market value of $23.317 billion; Sasol
(oil & gas) limited which worth $18.604 billion and MTN Group Limited
(telecoms) with a market value of $16.333billion.
In North Africa, Morocco and Egypt also top the ranking of companies in
the region.
Morocco's Itissalat Al-Maghrib, Attijariwafa and BMCE rank fifth, 15th
and 18th on the list.
In East Africa, the Safaricom telecom of Kenya tops the list with
$1.523billion in market value.
Nigeria's Oil Reserve May Dry Up in 43 years
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The General Manager of Nigerian Agip Oil Exploration Mr. Richard Ogunde,
said on Friday in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, that Nigeria's oil reserve has
only 43 years to dry up. Delivering a lecture at Tai Solarin University
of Education, (TASUED), Ijagun, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun said with reference to
latest world oil data, he disclosed that the nation's reserve remained
at 36.2 billion barrels. Ogunde said in the lecture, titled "Petroleum
Exploration, The Economy and Science Education," that Nigeria had a
yearly oil production capacity of 2.3 billion barrels. The Agip chief
advised government to start looking for other oil reserves. He urged the
Federal Government to seek other means of sustenance after oil might
have disappeared, "especially now that we have abandoned agriculture.
The geophysicist accused successive governments of conniving with the
NNPC to misdirect, mismanage and mis-apply the country's oil revenue
without commensurate infrastructure growth. Ogunde specifically
criticised the NNPC policy of engaging in the direct sale of petroleum
products by setting up retail outlets in parts of the country.
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