Somali road trip to Islamist heartland

The first thing I notice when I head out of Mogadishu is the number of roadblocks.
Most of war-ravaged central and southern Somalia is now controlled by al-Shabab, an Islamist group which the US believes has links to al-Qaeda. Yet their fighters are not completely in control; I see roadblocks run by three different groups as I head to Agfoye, a town 29km (18 miles) north-west of Mogadishu.
Despite intense and bloody battles, the government is still in charge of parts of the capital and they run the first checkpoint where passengers have to pay them money to carry desperately needed goods in and out of the city.
Then just a little further along I come across the first checkpoint manned by al-Shabab, the very secretive but well-organised militia at the centre of the conflict in Somalia.

Customs find reptile haul on man

Customs officials in Norway have arrested a man who they say tried to smuggle 24 reptiles into the country by taping them to his body.
Fourteen royal pythons rolled up in socks were found taped to the man's torso and 10 geckos held in small boxes were taped to his legs.
Officials were alerted to the illegal haul after a tarantula was found in the man's luggage.
The 22-year-old was travelling to Kristiansand on a ferry from Denmark.
"He told us he was crazy about reptiles," the head of the local customs office, Helge Breilid, told AFP news agency on Sunday.
The snakes, which are not endangered, are the smallest of the python family and are not venomous.

Angola arms traffickers convicted

The son of ex-French President Francois Mitterrand and an ex-government minister have been convicted for their roles in illegal arms sales to Angola.
Jean-Christophe Mitterrand was given a two-year suspended sentence, and ex-Interior Minister Charles Pasqua was jailed for one year by the Paris court.
They were convicted of accepting bribes to facilitate arms deals to Angola in 1993-98, in breach of French law.
Two key figures were sentenced to six years each in their absence.
Prosecutors accused Israeli-Russian billionaire Arkady Gaydamak and French magnate Pierre Falcone of being the key figures in the arms trafficking worth $790m (£485m).
Gaydamak and Falcone were accused of buying tanks, helicopters and artillery pieces and then selling them to Angola during its civil war, through a French-based firm and its subsidiary in Eastern Europe.
Falcone was arrested and imprisoned as soon as the sentence was passed. Gaydamak is living in Russia, Associated Press reported.

Guinea forces "planned crackdown"

A deadly crackdown on protesters in Guinea in September was "premeditated and pre-planned at the highest level", Human Rights Watch has told the BBC.
Soldiers deployed at the sports stadium where protesters had gathered blocked the exits before systematically killing and raping protesters, the group says.
Activists say 157 people were killed but officials say far fewer died and claim most were trampled to death.
The EU is the latest international body to put sanctions on the ruling junta.
The bloc put an arms embargo on the country and imposed sanctions against its military leaders.
EU officials have joined pressure groups, including US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), in calling for members of the junta to be tried for human rights violations.

Soludo's Father Kidnapped and His Campaign Reacts

There are strong indications that the father of the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Prof. Chukwuma Soludo , Pa Simeon Soludo, was kidnapped at about 7 : 00 PM Nigerian time in his village Isoufia, Anambra State. It would be the second time the aged father of Soludo would suffer attack from unknown assailants.
The 80-year old man lost an eye to assailants in January 2006 after he was attacked and left for dead in the same village.
Soludo often explained that the kidnap of his father led him to relocate his wife and kids to the United Kingdom. Our efforts to contact the former CBN governor by phone proved futile as he did not pick his phone or respond to text messages.
However, one of his lawyers,Patrick Nwankwo- Ikwueto (SAN), who spoke to Saharareporters stated that he was in no position to confirm if the father of the former CBN governor's father was abducted.
Soludo campaign reacts: RE: KIDNAP OF PA SIMEON NWANKWO SOLUDO THEY CANNOT BREAK OUR WILL TO SERVE 1. At about 6pm today, Tuesday, October 27, 2009, a gang of armed men invaded the village residence of 78 year old Pa Simeon N. Soludo and kidnapped him. Up until now, no word has been heard as to his whereabout. Pa Soludo is the father of the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria , and the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming election in Anambra State , Professor Chukwuma C. Soludo.

Nigeria’s march to sultanate

A presentation made to the members of the Justice Development and Peace Commission [JDPC] of Catholic Church at Ibadan on Thursday, October 22, 2009 S. A. Asemota Esq, S.A.N.
IntroductionPermit me to pose the question: Does one compromise one’s Christian faith when one works for the conversion of Nigeria to a Sultanate? Sultanate is defined as – the rank or position of a sultan, an area of land that is ruled over by a sultan. Events however seem to suggest that Nigeria is on the march to becoming a Sultanate, ruled by a sultan.In this presentation I intend to show that from my understanding of events in Nigeria, it would appear that the country is being steered towards becoming a Sultanate.

Our country will rise above the present rot!-Nuhu Ribadu

The conviction of Chief Olabode George, former Chairman Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), and four other board members, today at the court of Justice Joseph Olubunmi Oyewole, in Ikeja Lagos, marks another great reference point in the investigation, prosecution, and trial of corruption cases in Nigeria. This is in keeping with the foundation philosophy upon which the EFCC was built at origin.
I salute the courage and intellect of the learned judge who has demonstrated over time that he offers an exemplary model in the fight against corruption and for a true definition of rule of law in the country. This occasion therefore affords us the opportunity to salute other judges in the country that have done well in advancing our jurisprudence on corruption and justice. As is very well known, the successful resolution of cases in favor of justice and equity commence from a thorough investigation and diligent prosecution. In this regard, we must also salute the long and strained investigation leading to the indictment of Bode George in 2005. At moments like this, investigators and prosecutors, stretched out in exhilarating adrenalin, are rightly thrilled that their hard work is rewarded by the society and its best institutions. It is however a measure of our present national dilemma that Chief George could later sue some newspapers for libel on account of the damning indictment report I prepared against him. Nevertheless, his subsequent conviction is evidence that ultimately the law catches up with the bad guys, however long it might take.

Anambra 2010; INEC Rejects Soludo

The INEC yesterday removed the name of Prof Chukwuma Soludo from the list of Contestants in the Anambra 2010 Governorship elections. This is sequel to the judgment of an Abuja High Court against his candidacy and over the controversial method through which Soludo emerged as the PDP flag bearer
Four blocks in the Anambra PDP are already rejoicing especially Chief Chris Uba who was said to have vowed not to be alive and the imposition of Soludo come to be. He was also threatened to be suspended from the PDP Anambra state by Wednesday if he refuses to attend the unity rally by the state Executive.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday announced he would be excluded from activities leading to the February 6, 2010 election, on account of a court order. Also, the electoral umpire has picked issues with the party over the controversial method through which Soludo emerged as its flagbearer.
But in yet another twist, Judge B. O. Nwankwo of the Anambra High Court yesterday granted an injunction restraining INEC from removing Soludo's name as the candidate of the PDP in the governorship poll. The injunction followed a prayer sought by Okey Muo Aroh, one of the 47 aspirants in the botched PDP governorship primaries.
INEC's decision to officially exclude Soludo follows an Abuja High Court order restraining him from parading himself as the party candidate. According to the Anambra State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Chief Rowland Uwa, who spoke to newsmen in Awka, the Anambra State capital, the commission had no option than to obey the Abuja court order which was served on it yesterday.
Uwa, however, explained it was only Soludo as a candidate and not the party that is being excluded from the activities that would lead to the governorship election next year. He disclosed that INEC is planning a forum for all candidates of political parties for the election as well as their respective parties tomorrow. Soludo would therefore be unable to attend as a result of the court order, he said.
The resident electoral commissioner also stated that the commission's Chairman, Prof Maurice Iwu, would address the stakeholders’ forum. He advised all governorship candidates and their deputies to collect their letters of accreditation from his office on or before 6pm today. Chairmen and secretaries of the respective political parties involved in the election should obtain duly signed letters of credence from their national secretariats, he added.

Bode George goes to Jail along with his Cohorts

The Lagos High Court under Justice Joseph Olubunmi Oyewole has found Peoples Democratic Party chieftain, Olabode George, guilty of fraud concerning his tenure as the chairperson of the board of the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA). Chief George and five of his cohorts were found guilty on 40 counts of fraud.
They were sentenced to two and a half years in prison without an option of fine. The PDP party chieftain is on his way to prison.People’s Democratic Party Chieftain, Chief Bode George and five other persons accused along with him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over allegation of N85 billion fraud at the Nigeria Ports Authority, NPA, have been sentenced to 28 years imprisonment without an option of fine.He was convicted by Justice Olubunmi Oyewole of the Ikeja High Court this afternoon.George was specifically convicted on 35 out of the 68-count charge which border on contract splitting, inflation, abuse of office and disobedience to lawful order.Justice Oyewole sentenced all the six accused persons to two years each on seven counts of abuse of office and another six months for 28 charges bordering on disobedience of lawful order.

Ibrahim Jimoh and his bank debt adverts

Sir, In Nigeria Barrister Ibrahim Jimoh is regarded a billionaire. He had, at the wake of the audit of the first set of banks, argued that he owed Oceanic Bank N8billion (only) as against N14billion revealed by the records submitted to the Central Bank of Nigeria by the commercial bank.
Jimoh did not only stop at trying to set the records ‘right’ but also took many pages of wrap-around advertisements in the print media to publish positions of his accounts with almost every bank in the country. He ended his submission by requesting that, should any other bank feels he owed it, it should say so immediately. If Ibrahim Jimoh could go that length only for people to now know that he lied, it is very unfortunate. Now it has been proven that he owe another N3billion as non-performing loan in the second batch of banks that were audited.
What I am now querying is why Jimoh Ibrahim should owe Nigerian banks whereas it was reported recently that he had established a bank in Ghana. This is in addition to another story where he was quoted to be establishing a University and a five-star Hotel in the tiny nation of Sao Tome and Principe; a country with population of about 200,000 persons. His action is that of robbing Peter to invent Paul and this could be viewed as sabotaging the Nigerian economy.
Some Nigerian businessmen seem not to understand that some of their actions are portraying our citizens as fraudulent people in the eyes of the international community. This set of businessmen must be stopped if the so-called rebranding project of the federal government is anything to reckon with.

African view: Will the Bongo dynasty continue? It did Continue

As the Gabonese nation prepares to go to the polls, I've been thinking about them and the question of succession in African leadership.
When President Omar Bongo Ondimba entered the earthly departure lounge in a Spanish hospital back in June, his ensuing death threw into motion the need to go back to the goddess of democracy and offer the sacrifice of a vote to choose a new leader. We do this, every now and then, us Africans. We say goodbye to the dead leader and go and choose another one as if the process of choosing is unique and new, like picking out a new car with your insurance money when you've pranged the last one.
But will the vote bring a new car to the Gabonese? Is it the same make of car but a newer model?
I'm particularly fond of my classic Mercedes, which came off the production lines in the year I was born, and I have no wish to trade her in for one of those newer Mercedes with ridiculous names like Kompresser and shiny metal skin that attracts bimbos.
But as you know, old presidents are not like old classic cars - they are not built like a tank with immortal design flair and their skins will sag and death will call on them one day as it calls on all of us - but their successors can certainly be newer models of the same make of car.
Same car, new model

Nigeria in big scamster crackdown

Nigeria's anti-corruption agency says it has shut down some 800 fraudster e-mailers and arrested those behind 18 high-profile "cyber crime syndicates".
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said it has been working with the computer giant Microsoft to crack down on the scammers.
EFCC head Farida Waziri said her agency was now using "smart technology" rather than raids on internet cafes.
Correspondents say Nigeria is seen as a centre for web scams and spam e-mails. Cyber crime has remained a big challenge to Nigeria's security agencies despite efforts made in recent years to counter it.
The con tricks - known as "419 scams" after the penal code that outlaws them in Nigeria - are often run by well-organised gangs.
According to an EFCC statement, Ms Waziri said the new operation, called "eagle claw", would be fully operational within six months.
"It will take Nigeria out of the top 10 list of countries with the highest incidence of fraudulent e-mails," she said.

African view: Insane with greed

In our series of viewpoints from African journalists, Sola Odunfa considers the possibility that Nigeria's corrupt officials may need psychiatric help.
I was settling down to write this letter when a back-page column in the Punch newspaper seized my attention. The Punch is a daily published in Lagos but its distribution spans the length and breadth of Nigeria, and it claims to be "the most widely read newspaper".
We have observed people amassing public wealth to a point of madness or some form of obsessive or compulsive psychiatric disorder
EFCC's Farida Waziri
The columnist in that issue dealt with the well-flogged subject of corruption in the country.
I had thought that there was hardly anything more to say about the brazen ravage of the Nigerian treasury by public officers and officials but this columnist brought a fresh insight into the subject.
Obsessive, compulsive
That insight was provided by the executive chairman of Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Farida Waziri in a public lecture.
Her statement bears quoting verbatim: "The extent of aggrandisement and gluttonous accumulation of wealth that I have observed suggests to me that some people are psychologically unsuitable for public office.

Nigeria Shocker; Bank Chiefs looted N1trillion!

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has hired 10 forensic analysts to trace the whereabouts of about N1trillion looted by sacked Chief Executive Officers and directors of eight banks. Our investigations have revealed that out of the total non-performing loans owed the 10 troubled banks which stood at N1.189.2 trillion, the EFCC has only recovered N135 billion, leaving an outstanding of over N1 trillion.
This ugly development gave the authority of the EFCC great concern and it consequently resolved to make use of forensic analysts in this regard.The forensic analysts, who are already in the country, will join eight other forensic experts who are staff of the anti graft commission. The audit of 24 banks in the country by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has led to the removal of eight Managing Directors and many Executive Directors. While four ex-MDs had been arraigned in court, four others are awaiting trial. Those yet to be arraigned are a former Executive Vice-Chairman of Intercontinental Bank Plc, Mr. Erastus Akingbola, ex-MD of Bank PHB, Mr. Francis Atuche, former MD of Spring Bank Plc, Mr. Charles Ojo, and the sacked MD of Equatorial Trust Bank, ETB.
It was however learnt that the enormity of the fraud uncovered in the eight banks has forced the EFCC to engage 10 forensic analysts to look into the records of these banks.

Ibori’s Goose and Ribadu’s Trumpet

Of late, two men have dominated political discussions in the Nigerian public space – two men who have both served Nigeria in different executive capacities in public service and both of whom are now out of government, enjoying different post-office fortunes from the same establishment they both worked for.
Today, both are fighting the battle of hearts and minds, one from self-exile abroad and the other from Nigeria where he holds sway after he and his friends have succeeded in hounding out the former. The issues at stake between both men are the perception of their personal reputations in the eyes of Nigerians and the role the other has played in the travails of the other.James Ibori fingers Nuhu Ribadu as the reason he is being “packaged” now “as the face of corruption” and “the greatest obstacle to Nigeria’s development”, while Ribadu sees Ibori as one of those who’ve made an industry of fabricating lies against him to get the attention of President Umaru Yar’Adua, part of which led to the loss of his position as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and his self-exile abroad. While Ribadu believes they did this and are still doing this to challenge his uncompromising fight against their corrupt practices, Ibori believes Ribadu is a pretentious man who is fixated with power and control and who is now throwing brickbats from abroad because he lost out in a power game at home. Curiously, both of them have affirmed they are still friends.

Disband the Nigerian judiciary today

The Nigerian judiciary is in a total mess and needs to be urgently saved from itself through immediate disbandment. These fellows who giddily address themselves as “learned friends” are indeed some of the greatest clowns and jokers on God’s earth. Andy Uba’s backdoor quest to be foisted on Anambra State as an unconstitutional “governor-in-waiting” is about to get judicial blessing courtesy of the Court of Appeal.
Sir Celestine Omehia who was sacked as Rivers State Governor by the Supreme Court has thus been heartened to return to the selfsame Supreme Court, asking it to eat its own vomit by reversing its earlier verdict. Anarchy has been loosed on the Nigerian judiciary, and one cannot stop laughing at the Alawada theatre blokes of the wig and gown profession. They are masquerading as the last hope of the common man when they are indeed the foot mat of corrupt politicians.Who needs a judiciary that does not know that a case ought to have an endpoint? The Supreme Court has apparently ceased to be the apex court in the land; whence the Andy Uba gambit of going back to the Appeal Court when the Supreme Court had ruled that he ab initio contested for a non-vacant position. All the legal rigmarole being manufactured here and there to cover up the shenanigans of the so-called Uba appeal only amounts to a death-knell for the Nigerian judiciary.

Nigeria Customs Service sued for discrimination

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has been hit with an employment discrimination lawsuit by 20 new potential recruits, predominantly from the Southern part of Nigeria.The lawsuit, which was filed by activist lawyer, Festus Keyamo on behalf of the plaintiffs, detailed the denial of placement opportunities to the recruits who had been properly tested and had passed medical and physical fitness tests.The lawsuit is coming on the heels of growing concern that the Yar'Adua regime has been biased in favour of persons of northern origin, particularly his home state of Katsina, to whom it is generous with employment opportunities in the federal civil service.
Recently, the appointment of the Comptroller General of customs, Abdullahi Dikko Inde has been condemned as an example of nepotism by the Yar'Adua regime. Mr. Inde also faces questions of certificate forgery, and an editor of The Guardian who was reportedly working on the forgery story was assassinated in his home.Inde hails from Musawa local government area of Katsina. He is a distant cousin of Yar'Adua, and is married to the sister of Yar'Adua's wife.

Aondoakaa panics over Bi-Courtney deal

Deal between Attorney-General and Minister for Justice on one hand and Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, a company headed by respected lawyer, Wale Babalakin
Aondoakaa panics over Bi-Courtney deal
By DICKSON OMONODE
The hue and cry usually associated with the process of privatization in Nigeria is currently at play again, and at the centre of it all is Michael Kasse Aondoakaa, the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice on one hand and Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, a company headed by respected lawyer, Wale Babalakin. Of course, several questions are being asked, and the high-point, according to the National Daily would be the 'massive mobilization to frustrate the efforts of the concessionaire by opposing stakeholders,' unless an enduring compromise is reached, as the National Assembly plans to fully wade into the matter this week. The deal, which started in 2004 during Olusegun Obasanjo's era as President, had seen the company signing a concession deal which industry analysts believe is legally binding 'but morally impaired'. National Daily gathered that in spite of the fact that the concession was supposed to last for 12 years, based on the agreement the past administration had with Bi-Courtney, the government of Yar'Adua, through facilitation by the AGF, Michael Aondoakaa has extended it to 36 years. The change, insiders say is attributable to Aaodoakaa's closeness to Wale Babalakin, who is not only a friend and professional colleague of the Minster's, but also a honourary special adviser to President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua on legal matters. A top source said that at the moment, Chief Aondoakaa is under tension, more so as a group called Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders intends to begin a nationwide mobilization to insist on the sack of the minister, who in recent times has been enmeshed in series of allegations bothering on corruption and abuse of office. After being fingered in attempts to frustrate the money-laundering case currently going on in London against Chief James Ibori and others, it seems the most unlikely time for the AGF to be involved in yet another scandal.

Attention: Justice Kutigi: Gross misconduct on the part of the Justice Mercel Awokulehin in the case of FRN vs James Ibori & anor

Mr. Chairman, we are a Coalition of over fifty Civil Society, Community-Based and other NGOs that are devoted to anti-corruption crusade to free Nigeria from the pangs of unbridled corruption. We have been involved in monitoring the progress recorded in the prosecution of anti corruption cases especially those involving politically exposed persons.
We have being monitoring the case from the Federal High Court, Kaduna , Kaduna the Federal High Court, Asaba, Delta State . It is common knowledge that the Attorney-General of the Federation has been using his position to frustrate the trial of Chief Ibori both in Nigeria and in the United Kingdom . In order to prevent Chief Ibori from being brought to book the Attorney-General of the Federation has caused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to take the following decisions:i. All the witnesses in the case have been removed from the EFCC and transferred to different locations all over the country. ii. Mr. Ibrahim Magu, a serving police officer, who coordinated the investigation of the case has been suspended from the Police for over a year.iii. Rotimi Jacobs Esq., the counsel who handled the matter at the Federal High Court, Kaduna and at the Court of Appeal has been removed from the case.iv. The appeal filed at Supreme Court by EFCC against the decision of the court of appeal on the movement of venue of trial of Ibori’s case from Kaduna to Asaba was discontinued without any reason. Perversion of Justice by the Judiciary Now the judiciary seems to have been co-opted into the whole intrigues to pervert justice in this case having regard to the role of the trial judge in the Federal High Court, Asaba. The misconduct of his Lordship is unprecedented in the history of the legal profession in Nigeria . We crave your indulgence by reporting to you the gross misconduct committed by the Judge handling the case of FRN V. James Ibori & Anor. at the Federal High Court, holden at Asaba, Delta State .. The details of the gross misconduct of the learned trial judge include the following

Rise and reclaim your country, Achebe challenges Nigerian youth

ChinuaAchebe, the author "Things Fall Apart," one of the world’s most popular novels, says the time has come for Nigerians to challenge their bad leadership, or be doomed.
The famous teacher and writer was speaking last Thursday at a meeting with the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu in his quiet home Bard College at Redhook/Annadale-on-Hudson, a two-hour drive from New York. As what was originally planned as an informal meeting blossomed into a wide-ranging conversation about the state of the Nigerian nation, Professor Achebe said those looting Nigeria needed to be stopped, and urged Ribadu to reach out to young Nigerians to rise up to the challenge of halting the corruption and ineptitude of the nation's rulers.“We should feel we have come around and that we missed the bus the first time and that the correction of the situation in our country is in our hands. We can’t call the British back even though some people have suggested that. But we can’t allow this to go on any longer. Already our people are getting used to living in that ugly style,” the professor of literature said.He declared: “This is the time to bring an end to it. If we do nothing, we are doomed.” The meeting with Ribadu, at the exclusive liberal arts college founded in Annandale–on-Hudson, started at about 2 p.m. and lasted for several hours. After 15 years as the Charles P. Stevenson Professor of Languages and Literature at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, Achebe will be leaving the school at the end of the year to join the faculty of the Brown University as the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor of Africana Studies.

23 years later, Dele Giwa's killers-IBB and cohorts- walk free

Dele Giwa was a founder and editor of Newswatch magazine. Twenty-three years ago today, on October 19 1986, he was killed by a letter bomb sent by agents of the former dictator, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida.
On October 17 1986, Mr. Giwa, who was Nigeria’s most feared editor, had been summoned by two notorious officials of the Babangida regime: Halilu Akilu, former Director of Military Intelligence (DMI), and Lt.-Col. A. K.Togun, former Deputy Director, State Security Service (SSS). Forty-eight hours later, he was killed via a bomb with a parcel bearing the coat of arms of the Nigerian state. He recognized it so well, and just before the bomb went off as he opened it, had exclaimed, “this must be from the President,” referring to Babangida.Babangida ruled Nigeria from 1985 to 1993, when popular protests forced him to leave office unceremoniously as he engaged in one of the most grievous acts of political infamy in annulling the nation's freest and fairest election in history. Throughout his tenure, Babangida jailed or repressed his political opponents, real or imagined, or sponsored assassinations against them. Also in 1986, one of Babangida's closest childhood friends, General Mamman Vatsa, who was the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, was accused of involvement in a coup plan. Despite a clear lack of evidence, Babangida ensure he was summarily tried and quickly executed.

Insider trading case puts Indian business school in spotlight

The Indian School of Business, backed by some of the leading global companies, has been dealt another black eye with an executive board member charged over the largest hedge fund insider-trading scheme.
Billionaire Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam and five others, were charged by U.S. investigators on Friday in an insider-trading case, generating profits of more than $20 million over several years.
Among those charged, Anil Kumar, a director at consulting firm McKinsey & Co., is on the executive board of the Indian School of Business (ISB), a premier management institute which was placed second among Asia's business schools this year.
"The incident is strange and shocking," said Rishi Sahai, managing director of Cogence Advisors, a New Delhi-based corporate advisory firm. "Greed has overpowered all the corporate and management rationalities."
Kumar, 51, a resident of Saratoga, California, is a friend of Rajaratnam's and a direct or indirect investor in certain Galleon funds.
Located in the southern Indian city and technology hub of Hyderabad, the school's governing board reads like a mini-Who's Who of global business, drawing on leaders from LVMH and Dell to Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.
The school has academic alliances with the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and the London Business School with an aim to bring in the best of global management practices.

African leadership prize withheld

Why No Winner of the $5 Million African Leadership Prize is Good News

When Sudanese-born billionaire Mo Ibrahim announced an annual $5 million prize to reward Africa's best leaders, he warned that there would be years when "we wouldn't award the prize." Just three years on and despite considering "some credible candidates," the prize committee announced Monday that no prize would be awarded in 2009. In announcing the decision, committee member and former Botswana President Ketumile Masire said the panel "noted the progress made with governance in some African countries, while noticing with concern recent setbacks in other countries." The non-award is, of course, a powerful indictment of Africa's still patchy governance and the continent's most recently retired leaders. The Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership considers democratically elected former heads of state or government who have left office in the last three years. The prize is worth $5 million over 10 years and $200,000 a year for life thereafter. By making the reward so big — it is the largest annually awarded prize in the world — Ibrahim has said he wanted to create something to encourage African leaders to do good while in power, in part because they might be rewarded in retirement.

How Skye bank tried to ‘pimp’ female staff to controversial PDP Chieftain Chris Uba

In May 2009, Mrs. Ekwunife L. Akabogu signed as a contract employee at the Enugu branch of Skye Bank Plc (the bank), based in Lagos, Nigeria. For the salary of N45, 000, Akabogu joined the Bank under the title of Priority Sales Support Officer and was posted to the Enugu branch for a period of six months, at which point her employment would be up for review.This new position signified the realization of a longtime desire for Akabogu—to work in a corporate atmosphere. She applied for the position following ample suggestion from various parties that she possessed the skills and attributes suitable for the banking industry. It did not take Akabogu long however to realize the ulterior motives behind the flattery Once Akabogu had agreed to the contract, the Branch Manager asked if she was familiar with Chief Christian Uba of the PDP, a client whom the Bank had been unsuccessfully wooing for some time. Upon admitting her acquaintance with Chief Uba, the Manager suggested that in order to prove her dedication to her new employer, Akabogu pursue Chief Uba on the Bank’s behalf. The Manager made clear that he did not wish to know the details of what would transpire however, yet assured Akabogu that Uba would be interested in a quid pro quo agreement and that the end would certainly justify the means.She told her husband, who suggested that she ignore the request. Once the Bank recognized that she was unwilling to partake in the scheme, they corralled her involvement in the Bank’s activity to only fixed deposits and certain priority accounts, which she sees as bogus free Priority Passes for lounge access that the Bank uses to pilfer money from clients through hidden charges (interest, ATM and guest fees, lounge beverages), which the Bank officers are prohibited from warning the patrons about. More common practice (as is practiced at Barclay’s) is to have an upfront fee for the Priority Pass and then offer services and amenities within the Pass free of charge.

Olu Ayeni; the story of a successful fraudster

You call it fraud, we call it hustle' - On July 2, 1996, officers of the Federal Investigative and Intelligence Bureau (FIIB), Nigeria, accompanied by U.S. Secret Service agents and the Regional Security Officer in observer roles executed search warrants on an operational base for advance fee scam...16 locations in Lagos, resulting in the arrest of 43 Nigerians. One of the addresses,
No. 84 Okota Road, Ire Akari Estate, Isolo, was not Dyke Bourder Oil Services as initially claimed but an operational base for advance fee scam. Nineteen Nigerians were arrested at the address and two facsimile machines and five telephone sets were seized along with a fake letterhead from the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. Also confiscated were international business directories, files of correspondence from victims worldwide and N390, 000 (approximately) US$4,800) believed to be proceeds from advance fee scams. Thirteen years on, the scam has burgeoned into full blossom drawing patronage from an unending stream of con artists comprising young Nigerian adults and more astonishingly, teenagers.
The story of the world of advance fee fraudsters who would rather be appreciated as "hustlers" – harmless ones to be precise.

How Aondoakaa sold Murtala Mohammed Airport to Wale Babalakin’s Bi-Courtney

Fresh court documents obtained by Saharareporters has found out how Nigeria's most corrupt Attorney General, Michael Aondoakaa participated in the controversial handover of the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) of the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos.Aondoakaa, our impeccable source revealed, took huge bribe money from Mr. Wale Babalakin, the chairman of Bi -Courtney, the company now reputed for building sub-standard structures. Aondoakaa had worked with Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited to grant the company a 36-year concession to run the domestic wing of the Murtala Mohammed Airport after Bi-Courtney presented a carefully manipulated lease agreement that extended its tenure from 12 to 36 years.

During the Obasanjo's administration, Babalakin got Femi Fani Kayode to recommend that his lease on the airport be extended from 12 years to 36 years, but that proposal was rejected, but our sources revealed that Femi Fani Kayode did not reverse the lease agreements, leaving Bi-Courtney to use Aondoakaa to legitimize it.Aondoakaa, after receiving N400 million from Babalakin, got Bi-Courtney to sue his office for breach of contract after claiming that it had the right to manage both the MMA2 and the GAT for 36 years starting from April 2004.

Nigeria party leader on debt list (Alhaji Atiku Abubakar )

Nigeria's former vice-president and opposition leader Atiku Abubakar is included in a list released by the Central Bank of major bank debtors.
The list says Mr Abubakar owes 111m naira ($730,000; £450,000) - though he says he will pay the money back.
It also names 600 others who owe a total of $2.5bn.
The non-repaying of these debts is a major factor in the recent government takeover of several banks, and has caused a scandal in the country.
The BBC's Caroline Duffield in Lagos says the latest move by the Central Bank marks the end of its forensic audit of Nigeria's 24 financial institutions.
The scandal emerged in August as the government stepped in to take control of five banks - sacking their management teams.
Four chief executives were arrested - they are now being prosecuted on multiple fraud charges.
A fifth chief executive is on the run - he is thought to be in the UK, our correspondent says. Powerful people
The list of debtors to the Bank PHB, Equitorial Trust Bank, Spring Bank and Unity Bank was posted on the Central Bank website on Wednesday evening. Debts owed to a fifth bank, Wema Bank, have not been revealed.
Other powerful people on the list include:
• Aliko Dangote, president of Nigeria's Stock Exchange, who is Africa's wealthiest man
• Culture Minister Adetokunbo Kayode
• Peter Ololo, a stockbroker, who has the largest debt of more than $110m.
Our reporter says Mr Ololo was previously relatively unknown to the public, but has been dubbed ''the man who brought down the banks'' by Nigeria's press.

EFCC Discovers £10 Million in Akingbola's Foreign Accounts

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have traced about 10 million pounds allegedly laundered by former Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Intercontinental Bank Erastus Akingbola to some of his personal foreign accounts. Daily Trust reports that EFCC started probing the foreign accounts of the five former bank chiefs sacked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
following discoveries that they may have engaged in money laundering.
senior official who did not want to be named said the latest discovery on Akingbola's case is the reason why the anti-graft agency is pushing for his repatriation.
The official also said a prima facie case has been established against the former bank chief and the legal department of the commission are in the process of preparing his charge sheet.
According to the source, once EFCC charges Akingbola to court it will inform the government of the country where the monies have been lodged to freeze his accounts.
CBN sacked the former bank chief alongside former Managing Directors of Union Bank Bartholomew Ebong, Afribank Sebastian Adigwe, Finbank Okey Nwosu and Oceanic International Bank Mrs. Cecilia Ibru on August 14 for issuing non-performing loans worth N740billion.

How Benue Gov, Gabriel Suswan sold Anambra State to Chris Uba

Details have just emerged as to how the Anambra State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party was sold to Chris Uba and Clement Ibeto by the National Working Committee of the party and the ignoble role played by the Benue State governor, Gabriel Suswan and the deputy national chairman of the People's Democratic Party, Dr. Mohammed Halliru Bello.

When the horde of stakeholders congregated in Awka to witness the result after the Anambra ward congress, many were surprised at the conspicuous absence of Chris Uba, 'the enfant terrible' of Anambra politics. Some mused that Chris must have kept his distance because of a burning determination on the part of all to conduct a free and fair primary knowing he cannot win a fair contest. Little did they know that the “little boy” has done his deal and was simply waiting in his house to savour his victory.
The financial deal to sell the Anambra PDP to Chris Uba and Ibeto, the Nnewi-born businessman was hatched early this year. One knowledgeable source said a fighting fund of N5 billion was budgeted for the whole deal. Out of this amount, N1.5 billion was paid to members of the PDP's National Working Committee (NWC) to perfect the deal to hand over the state chapter. Of this amount, Alhaji Bello was said to have pocketed N1billion.
Informed sources say it was the perceived coldness on the part of the national chairman, Chief Vincent Ogbulafor to the whole saga that was at the root of incessant rift in the party's National Working Committee (NWC) and the earlier plan to get him out of the way before the Anambra PDP Primaries.