-------------------SUNDAY VANGUARD, FEBRUARY 6, 2011 PAGE, 15
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DOUGLAS ANELE
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CBN & agricultural loan" got a letter from Ghanni Ni est charged was that it obtained geria Limited of 24, Taiwo the fund from outside sources Koya Street, llupeju, Lagos over which the CBN has no conState. They are farmers and they trol. If the bank (Riverside Miare dealing with Riverside Micro- crofinance Bank) has no such f\,finance Bank of Ado-Odo in Ogun cility it has no business granting State. agricultural loan and charge ruGhanni Nigeria Limited negotiated a loan of N600,000 (six hun- ~~~a~~ ~ire2.:'~~~'ill~~ie::~ dred thousand naira) only which forced to pay otherwise the bank would have attracted three per cent would have walked in and carted interest by the Central Bank (agri- away my cattle as it has done to cultural loan). But the bank pre- others. This is unheard of. Even sumed the company used the loan if the bank had sourced its fund for a different purpose and hence from outside sources. compelling charged 36 per cent interest per it to charge its customers the exannum. Ghanni Nigeria has de- orbitant inteT~ st your bank should manded a review of the interest to have borne the excess interest or disallowed since I did not expect no avail. Accordingly, Riverside Microfi- any finance house or bank to nance Bank has declined "as it is charge 36 per cent for agIiculturin their practice of settling loan is al project. I protested to your illegal way of invading their cli- Abeokuta control office to call ents farm; remove valuahle prod- the bank to order. Your Branch Manager ignored the letter, she ucts and dispose of them the way refused to read it. The letter was they wish." retUrned to me un-read. Ghanni Nigeria Limited said, My question is, sir, what is the "there is the case of an illiterate policy of your bank on agIiculwoman whose eight cows were cart- tural loan? Did the interest rate ed away and sold for nothing just of 36 per cent receive your apto settle a small loan. " proval? The loan was obtained Ghanni said at the time the mat- for oil palm production. terwas going on, the company had If not, please, wade into my prosix pregnant cows. Rather than al- test and call_the bank to order and low the bank to cart them away for direct its management to reverse sale, it opted for peaceful settle- the over-char9.ed interest and let ment. me have credit for the excess inRiverside and Ghanni met for terest charged. negotiation but Riverside was unYours faithfully, yielding and it paid N90,000 (Ninety thousand naira), they Signed: claimed. Even then, Ghanni was Alhaji MA Ghanni. rest assured it will be resolved in their favour. But it was not. Ghanni Nigeria Limited is in fear PS: Enclosed are the bank of the thousands of borrowers who Statements of Account and the Bank Teller No. 1054730 (Oceanhave suffered similar fate. By last July 22, Ghanni Nigeria ic Bank) showing the final payLimited fired a lelter of protest to ment of N90,000 (Ninety thouthe Central Bank of Nigeria, sand naira only). Abeokuta. And, the bank manager ignored the letter, refused to read it and the letter was returned unread. Another letter of September 22, ,-2010, was sent to the Governor of the CBN, Abuja, that one too met a The Southsimilar fate. West Regional The Central Edi tor of the I protested to Bank makes a Vanguard let it dance and song of your be· known that agricultural loan,_ Major-General Abeokuta and that was wh}' • Robert Adeyincontrol office. the letter has been ka Adebayo directed to us to call the (rtd) has been thus: conferred the Bank to order. title of Asiwaju "22nd SeptemYour Branch of Yorubaland. ber, 2010. And, he inferred manager The Govern01; that by the title, Central Bank oi ignored the General Nigelic! , letter Adebayo had Abuja _ "whittle down" the influence of Dea:a: Slr, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This title was ln~cn~st cDurte~y of the
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Adebayo, Tinubu: who's the real Asiwaju?
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Re: ra.te charged by River~ side Microfimmce Bank, Ado-OdOr Ogun State, for ag·· ricultural project
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I obtained a loan of N600,OOO (Six hundred thousand naira) from Riverside Microfinance Bank Ltd, Ado-ado. OguIl State, last year April and have more than paid back the loali because the bank forced me to pay in excess of the loan and interest. The reason given by the bank for the excess inter-
Yoruba Council of Eld"rs, who subscribe to its credo. Itwa~ a sectional group and whate"e~' it ws_s, it did not carry beyond the group. Tinubu is the Asiwaju of Lagos. A title conferred on biro by the late Oba Adeyinka Oyekan of Lagos. He was the political head of Lagos at that time ane he had exercised his influence on it ever since. And, there is no way VoTe want to -compare the two Asiwajus. And, I do not think that eitheroftbem wants to compare_ There are many other Asiwajus all over the Yoruba Kingdom but the Asiwa}u of the Source is different.
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2011 elections & politics-withbitterness (1) EFORE the 1979 general elections their political ambitions. As a in Nigeria, Ibrahim Waziri and some corollary, there is a widespread of his supporters and friends misconception that politics is a launched a political party called Great Ni- "dirty game" fit only for hustlers, gerian Peoples Party (GNPP). The fundamen- misanthropes with the crudity tal credo or political philosophy of the party and gIit to perpetrate evil in orwas "politics without bitterness." The ration- der to win at all costs. The sitale behind that attractive slogan is derived tight mentality of politicians is from the lessons that should have been learnt also a factor in politics-with-bitfrom the chequered political experience of terness. Virtually every president, the country since independence in 1960 governor, local government which was punctuated at different times by chairman etc. that had emerged senseless political violence, culminating in till date wanted tenure elongathe Biafran War of 1967-1970. Recounting tion or a second term in office those ugly encounters here will clog our dis- it is widely believed that former course with u •. necessary details. Suffice it to President Olusegun Obasanjo say, however, that violence in the defunct schemed for a third term. The Western Region, the military coup and coun- reason behind the proviSion for ter-coup of January 15 and July 29, 1966, tenure extension in the 1999 and the pogroms in the North against the Constitution is for continuity, Igbo shortly before the civil war had always such that an incumbent President cast an ominous shadow on the country's etc. can have more time to expolitical evolution. Of course, the history of ecute his or her programmes and political violence in Nigeria is not restricted policies. But the problem is that, to the pre-civil war period. All the elections most politicians who sought (and conducted thus far since the war ended had got) tenure elongation did not debeen marred by violence. Politically-motivated violence include deliberate physical assault on voters. and election officials by hired thugs, assassination of political opponents and, lately, kidnapping of potential rivals or members of their families and loved ones. It appears to us that an overwhelming majority of. Nigerian politicians have not learnt useful lessons from history about -the ultimate fu- serve it because they performed tility of using violence to achieve political woefully in their first tenure - and power. Our conclusion is corroborated by they knew it. Thus, to remain in the fact that, as the dateior commencement power even against the wishes of of the 2011 elections approaches, there is a the electorate, they employed disturbing increase in the number of politi- violence against their rivals to cians either kidnapped or brutally murdered. intimidate Of. in more extreme Penultimate week, the gubernatOrial candi- cases, liquidate them outright. date of the All Nigerian Peoples Party in We believe that one of the most Borno State, Modu Fahnami Gubio, his effective ways of reducing drasyounger brother, Goni Mustapha Sheriff, tically the phenomenon of poliand four others were killed in Maiduguri. tics-with-bitterness in Nigeria is N ear my village, Ishi-Owern in Imo State, to make political office less luthe wife of Ikemba Ugochukwu Nzekwe, crative. Once the money factor is member representing Nkwerre State Constituency in Imo State House of Assembly, downplayed such that people of was kidnapped by unknown persons, an ac- moderate means can join politics tion widely believed to have been politically- without worrying so much about motivated. Although, according to reports, the prohibitive cost of vying for the victim has been released after some ran- elective positions or getting ensom was paid, one can imagine the emo- trapped in the vicious grip of tional trauma Ugochukwu and members of wicked godfathers, and access to huge easy money (like the one his family, infederal lelJislators are currently laws, relations , enjoying) IS blocked, the ferocity Our people and friends went with which the game of politics through during should is played will reduce. In addition. the period Mrs. Nigerians must begin to playa reject Nzekwe was in the more active part in politics. It is unwanted custody candidates simply not enough to complain of strangers. These and complain about the "dirtifielded by and other politiness of politics" in the country: cally-motivated political we should begin to get morein~' , violent acts demvolved in the political life of the parties with onstrate that Nisociety. This implies that we must qeria is still at the proclivity learn to vote for the best candiinfantile or primidates for different elective positive stage in politifor violence tions - best in terms of character cal development and proven track record of per" characterised by formance in their chosen careers. the Hobbesian state of nature. Several rea~ Nigerians, if they are serious sons can be ad~,anced why people resort to about ending political violence violence to achieve their political objectives. and politics-with-bitterness. First and foremost. there are people with must consistently reject at the flawed personalities which predispose them polls candidates of questionable to wickedness, no matter their position or character and evil dispOSition. career. Second, in Nigeria politics is con- Our people should reject candiceived as a lucrative business. dates fielded by political parties Our politicians operate on the basis of po- with a proclivity for violence. To litical capitalism: they see involvement in illustrate. if a political party is politics just the way a hard core capitalist dominated by a nest of killers, looks at his investment in stocks. The ulti- then voters should vote for good mate motivation in both instances is finan- candidates from other parties. cial gain - and the more profitable the better. Civil society groups have to play Because of the bloated remuneration pack~ a leading role in educating votages attached to political offices and the av- ers on how to make enlightened enues such offices open up for patronages of choices to avoid mistakes of the all sorts. our politicians approach politics past which have retarded our with a crude Machiavellian spirit, doing political development. whatever they think is necessary to achieve To be continued.
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