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Watts Consulting Group has signed a preliminary contract with the new Nigerian government in the ...Read the full article.

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Honestly, I am lost for words. This incompetent Fulani/Hausa man who was rigged into Aso rock has also embarked on wasting the Niger Delta oil money on useless American lobbyists. Why is this man disgracing us and making us a laughing stock? For God's sake why does he need all these "good for nothing" American lobbyists, if he is doing a good job for the country. Let him just do his job, and they will speak for him. Why is this man squandering our money on these jobless American lobbyists?

Sometimes, I just wonder if we have offended God for giving us daft/bad leaders. You know a man or leader by the kind of decisions that he makes. In one of my articles titles "Leadership, Decision -making, The North, The Military and Development in Nigeria: A systems Analysis. (part 1), I emphasized the importance of good decision making as an integral part of good governance. It's now obvious that Yar'Adua is not the man to lead us to the "promised land." He never planned to be a president. He was forced to take on an assignment he is not capable of handling. It's now clear now that all he is doing is just "trial and error." I wonder who are his advisers? Is it that Adeniji or Adeniyi, his Press Secretary that is giving him all these stupid advise? But I thought that man is supposed to know better. We don't need to wait for 4 years to understand or figure out who Yar'Adua is. How could it take any serious President/leader 2 months just to form a cabinet? There are 39 ministers in his cabinet. A minister from each state. It's worth noting that even Russia, the largest country in the world by landmass, America, the richest country in the world and China, the most populated country in the world do not have 39 ministers! Does it mean that if we have 50 states this man will appoint 50 ministers? For God's sake how can any serious administrator/leader/president have 39 ministers!?The bitter truth is that Yar'Adua is another Shagari in the 21 century! Oh God, what have we done for you to deserve these kind of leaders? God, please have mercy on us and give us real leaders.

Does he expect to fool these people (the Americans/westerners) about the real state of things in Nigeria? Has he forgotten that they have their respective embassies and spy networks in Nigeria? So what purpose are all these lobbyists going to serve? The answer is obvious: "Just to eat our money" that we don't know how to use wisely.
I completely agree with a villager who described Yar'Adua as a boring, colourless and visionless who is now the president of Nigeria. When you read this kind of news, I get more convinced that the best option for Nigeria is either a true Federalism or a peaceful division. Other options are simply not acceptable. What pains me most is that these people (Hausa/northerners) don't have the brains to rule successfully, nevertheless they want power at any cost

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Quote Bode.
I completely agree with a villager who described Yar'Adua as a boring, colourless and visionless who is now the president of Nigeria. When you read this kind of news, I get more convinced that the best option for Nigeria is either a true Federalism or a peaceful division. Other options are simply not acceptable. What pains me most is that these people (Hausa/northerners) don't have the brains to rule successfully, nevertheless they want power at any cost

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When are you going to learn to think and write properly?
What do you mean by Hausa/Northerners don't have the Brains to rule successfully?

Do u have to be a Political Scientist to lead well?.......Brains ko trying to score Brownie points with other ethnic groups ni:rolleyes:

True Federalism and peaceful divison...what's stopping you?
Who will trust you to step up when it counts most?
Do you think that the Easterners will ever make the mistake of aligning with the Westerners?

Abegy cut da Crap.....ejawo ninu obe agbon tioyo, ki edami ila kanna...clear road make better Mediterranean breeze blow man pikin ojareQAS

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The firm signed a $300,000 annual contract with the government of Benin to help find opportunities under AGOA in late November 2006. To help facilitate that discussion, Goodworks President and Chief Executive Carlton Masters hosted a dinner at his residence attended by Benin’s president and the assistant U.S. trade representative for Africa, Florizelle Liser, in December last year.

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Hmmm.......Carlton Masters, Goodworks President made Abuja and Nigeria his Second home for more than 8yrs........Acting as Lobbyist etc etc ati bee bee lo..who no laik beta thingy, Nigeria's Money is like Sugar, lick, lick and lick, and it will neva dry...they took undue advantage of the fact that our Politicians are Myopically/Inherently Corrupt:eek::p

http://www.agoa.info/

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Hi, folks!

I wonder who lobbies on behalf of, say, the US in the UK, or on behalf of the Japanese in Germany, or on behalf of the British in Nigeria. Of course, it is the ambassadors, and members of the diplomatic staff of their embassies and high commissions worldwide!

So, what, PRECISELY, are the duties and responsibilities of the Nigerian Ambassador to the US of A? Sight-seeing, and wine-tasting?

Muchas gracias.

Don Juan-Carlos ABRAXAS (III)

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The more things change
The more they remain the same...

Abacha, Obasanjo and now Yar'Adua.

We had Obasanjo cooing "Wellcome to Nigeria" on the CNN, What would Yar'Adua have up his sleeve with his sickly smile this time?

The best lobbyists are; Good administration, zero-tolerance to corruption, Rule of law, economic progress et cetera...

Just one letter from Aaando-Kai-Kai to the Metropolitan Police have destroyed whatever PR your Millions Of dollars could do in the hands of lobbyists!

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Eluyera, you had good points; two of which are the number of ministers (39), and the opinion that in Yar 'Adua, we may have another Shagari; this is a most crippling fear, enough to call on all the gods to save Nigeria from the innocence of the evil thrust upon us.

But there are strong exceptions: "This incompetent Fulani/Hausa man who was rigged into Aso rock " (emphaiss yours) distracts from your fine point: that the president is an incompetent man. "What pains me most is that these people (Hausa/northerners) don't have the brains to rule successfully, nevertheless they want power at any cost" (emphasis mine).

Now, Hausa/Fulanis and the North don't have a shortage of intelligent people fit to govern; no. Most Hausa/Fulanis are as captive as the rest of the suffering masses are to the grip of that small group of Hausa/Fulanis who're at the core of most of the problems we always talk about. That, we must never forget as we paint the whole of the North with that wide brush. Stupidity, incompetence, and corruption cuts across ethnic lines; there're more than enough examples from recent Nigerian history.

What could serve as food-for-thought is why those you make out as unitelligent have succeeded in manipulating the situation in their favour. Is there room for suspicion about who the really stupid ones are?
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=edoji;20917294>The more things change

The best lobbyists are; Good administration, zero-tolerance to corruption, Rule of law, economic progress et cetera...

Just one letter from Aaando-Kai-Kai to the Metropolitan Police have destroyed whatever PR your Millions Of dollars could do in the hands of lobbyists!

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I don't know about Aaando-Kai-Kai, (Lol. is that his name now?), but I couldn't agree with you more. Do a good job governing and you don't need lobbyists. To me, they appear like people who are given jobs to say a bad thing is good.

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Nigeria's use of lobbyists in Washington is now, and has been for years, one of the longest running jokes in the city. Andy Young and Carl Masters are Obasanjo's bagmen, holding his library money, his investments in Jamaica, the kickbacks from allocating an oil contract to Jamaica, and his land investment holdings in Florida. The US politicians know all about this and treat them with the contempt that they deserve. Julius Caesar Watts (that's what J.C. stands for) was a one-term Oklahoma Congressmen and a moderately good football player. His contacts in Washngton only became valuable when he signed up to represent Atiku. This include providing cover for an oil deal in the US for the gallant Vice-President. He and George Obiozor (the erstwhile Abassador) were the subject of some heavy FBI interest as the questions about Atiku and Jennifer became public knowledge. When Maduekwe visited DC and NY recently he spoke with several potential new lobbying firms with a view towards getting new representation and indicated that the Andy and Carl show was coming to a close. However, don't expect that Nigeria will suddenly drop its payments to lobbying firms in the wake of this divorce. There are too many quasi-governmental programs advertising the virtues of Nigeria in the US to call it a day with lobbyists. At the meeting in NY virtually no US people attended the Nigerian do and Yar'Adua coudn't get a meeting with Bush. Condi Rice offered to meet him but he said that a President doesn't meet a Foreign Secretary and refused.

I have worked with several of these lobbying companies over the years as a provider of 'background'. I still do work with them. The programs do not help Nigeria, in the end; they are massive ego trips for visiting fireman who, otherwise, would not get to see anyone to justify their trip. Their visits go largely unnoticed by the US; they are treated as corrupt politicos by corrupt American politicos who see no way to earn some money from their mutual dealings. It is an expensive sham. It is unlikely that this will stop.

During the last two weeks I was contacted by several of my friends in DC to ask me why Ibori and Mike Adenuga were always seen with Yar'Adua in NY; why Obasanjo turned up at the Clinton do with nothing to say or offer and why he had Andy Uba tagging along. They asked me "Surely these guys should be in jail by now?". I explained that Nigeria was a very Christian country and forgave these gentlemen their trespasses and considered it poor form to make them part with their accumulated loot.

Perhaps I'm wrong but there seems to be little change coming.

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During the last two weeks I was contacted by several of my friends in DC to ask me why Ibori and Mike Adenuga were always seen with Yar'Adua in NY; why Obasanjo turned up at the Clinton do with nothing to say or offer and why he had Andy Uba tagging along. They asked me "Surely these guys should be in jail by now?". I explained that Nigeria was a very Christian country and forgave these gentlemen their trespasses and considered it poor form to make them part with their accumulated loot

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Adenuga has an unresolved issue with EFCC and hasn't being back in the country ever since. Having the fellow in background with Ngozi Iweala hugging Obasanjo captures the shame and nauseating drama that Nigeria has become.One minute the Iweala woman is seen commending the efforts of Ribadu, the next minute she is seen with one of the folks wanted for corrupt practices in Nigeria cknowledging Obasanjo. Who are to trust in this sick nation called Nigeria?

I think Nigeria is one huge joke. O ma ga o !

On Watts:

I thought this fellow was a Republican. I still remember his speech some years ago when he refused to seek re-election. I loved the way he conducted himself and his speech. On this Nigeria issue, I am not too sure of his muscles within government since political readings seem to favour democrats taking over government soon.


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CNN'S JC Watts helps RAPE Poor Blacks In Nigeria
Reply to: comm-439520582@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-10-03, 10:49PM EDT
See Source



October 04, 2007

J.C. Watts Consulting Group has signed a preliminary contract with the new Nigerian government in the hopes of inking a longer-term deal, according to records the Justice Department posted online last week. After eight years in office, President Olusegun Obasanjo left power in the wake of his country’s April elections. Goodworks International, a firm with long-standing ties to the Nigerian politician, saw its contract end that month.

“The call just came out of the blue,” a senior partner at J.C. Watts Companies, Steve Pruitt, said of the current government. He was soon whisked to New York to meet with Nigeria's new foreign minister.

Watts Consulting Group is a subsidiary of J.C. Watts Companies, named for the former Republican congressman from Oklahoma.

Goodworks plans to work with the new government as well, according to the firm’s chief operating officer, Wallace Ford. Its contract is up for renewal and a new proposal sits before President Umaru Yar’Adua.

The African continent continues to have a solid lobbying presence in the District through a variety of agreements between various countries and top firms. For example, Ford said Goodworks has opened up branch offices in Angola, Ghana, Tanzania and Rwanda during the past two years.

The contentious spring elections in Nigeria led to a lobbying battle between opposing factions here in Washington. Several candidates, including then-Vice President Atiku Abubakar, complained of voter fraud in favor of Obasanjo’s chosen pick Yar’Adua in an election heavily criticized by international non-governmental organizations. J.C. Watts’s firm has lobbied for Abubakar in the past.

Pruitt, a former Democratic staff director for the House Budget Committee, credited his long-standing ties to Nigerian officials for the contract. Having lobbied on and off for the Nigerian government during the past two decades, Pruitt was very familiar with Maduekwe.

As a young government aide 15 years ago, the foreign minister allowed Pruitt to make international calls to his daughter in the U.S. while the lobbyist was in Africa. “I consider him an old and dear friend,” Pruitt said.

Still “in the midst of ongoing negotiations,” according to the contract filed with the Justice Department, the firm is coordinating meetings between Nigeria’s new government and lawmakers as well as administration officials “in order to secure a more formal, long-term agreement with the government.”

Pruitt is planning to take Nigeria’s foreign minister on a tour around Capitol Hill in late October and introduce him to key members of the Congressional Black Caucus. The lobbyist characterized the meetings as “introductory” in nature.

Nigeria’s election troubles grabbed the world’s attention due to the nation’s prominence in the energy arena: It was the fifth-largest exporter of oil to the U.S. in July this year, according to the Energy Information Administration’s most recent estimate.

But many lobbyists and consultants who spoke to The Hill said they want to help move the continent beyond the fuel market and into other goods. Trade is the dominant issue, emerging from recent lobbying contracts filed by African countries.

The chief executive at the Whitaker Group, Rosa Whitaker, contends that much of her work for African clients on Capitol Hill concerns the trade and investment sector.

“We think Africa’s capital needs to stay in Africa,” said the former assistant U.S. trade representative for Africa during the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations. Whitaker points to her firm’s assistance in helping to lift the U.S.’s ban on exports of Nigerian shrimp in January.

Several lobbyists attended the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) forum held in Ghana this July. The act provides several incentives for companies located on the continent or that export certain goods, such as textiles, from Africa, according to Ford.

“There is tremendous business opportunity there in Africa. We see ourselves as a catalyst … triggering the necessary development,” the Goodworks executive said.

The firm signed a $300,000 annual contract with the government of Benin to help find opportunities under AGOA in late November 2006. To help facilitate that discussion, Goodworks President and Chief Executive Carlton Masters hosted a dinner at his residence attended by Benin’s president and the assistant U.S. trade representative for Africa, Florizelle Liser, in December last year.

Under a $350,000 contract for its first year, the firm also is working on the Millennium Challenge Account with another new client, Cameroon’s Ministry of Economy and Finance. The program, created by the Bush administration in 2002, awards foreign aid to countries based on their meeting certain democratic and civil-society standards.

Lobbyists hope to find a receptive outlet on Capitol Hill, where a number of caucuses are centered on Africa. Pruitt plans to work with the relatively new West Africa Caucus, which he consults for, to help his new client of Nigeria.

Whitaker also appreciates the support of another caucus specifically dedicated to one of her clients, the government of the Ivory Coast. For example, the caucus encouraged the Bush administration to provide funds for elections preparations last year, according to Whitaker.

With Africa emerging as more of a common destination for lobbyists, Nigeria’s new federal government may also sign more firms other than just J.C. Watts’s group, Pruitt said.

“We will be positioning Nigeria to work with the next administration here in America,” he said.