With the reversal of the NITEL sell to transnational corporation as widely reported by the papers on Sunday February 17, death is inevitably knocking on this farcical “corporation” that petty dictator, Olusegun Obasanjo and his economic cannibal sons and daughters concocted in the name of boosting “private sector led economic growth”. Before the take back of Nitel, Leadership Newspapers reported last week that greed had already deeply consumed the pseudo-corporation, and key directors of the behemoth were resigning in droves: chief private-sector driver and promoter of the ill-fated third term project, Festus Odimegwu was the first to scamper away. Two others, Munir Ja’afaru, Zaria prince and one of the whirlwind interim CEOs of the false corporation, and one Mohammed Abdullahi, company secretary are threatening to dump ship, if they have not already done so.

Ab initio, I always knew and believed that the name and the entity “transcorp” was, is, and will ever remain a fluke. The people that promoted transcorp and purported to be the “patriotic” capitalists behind it were coerced into the ill-project by former petty dictator Olusegun Obasanjo. This was much admitted by Mrs. Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, who recently confessed before a committee of the National House of Representatives, that the former petty dictator forced her to be the Chairman of the newfangled corporation. The creation of the fake company was largely driven by the anticipation of the third term project. No more. No less. The petty dictator had clearly thought and expected he would change the constitution and have a “life” presidency where he and his “whiz kids” can have a field day devouring our commonwealth. The best name for the fraudulent corporation should have been “transcoop”, dedicated to “scooping” the commonwealth of Nigeria . For the rest of my article therefore, I would rather use “transcoop”, which I believe is more defining, suiting and correct than “transcorp”.

In the beginning, many Nigerians questioned the possibility of having the Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange as Chairman of a company quoted on the exchange without conflict of interest. The woman clung to her position in spite of wide public outcry. Then the “Baba”, as sycophants and bootlickers preferred to call the petty dictator had many of the transcoop kids on all manner of core-groups and economic advisory committees. These were all parts of a holistic process to entrench the evil ambition: third term, and after third term, transcoop would “drive” the economy. That is why one of the “whiz kids” provided a loan to a “blind trust” trust owned by their Baba to buy into transcoop also. I remember Nuhu Ribadu in a famous interview with Sam Omatseye (of The Nation Newspapers) admitting that it was wrong for “Baba” to invest in transcoop, but Nuhu also emphasized that the Baba (Agbaya!) “did not know that he was doing the wrong thing”. By Nuhu’s logic, since the petty dictator was ignorant of the law, he should be pardoned.

The first and only asset or investment that generates income for transcoop is perhaps the Hilton Hotel in Abuja . Aside the Hilton, nothing is generating anything for the farcical corporation. Then transcoop went on to “buy” over Nitel for US$700 million. Money to pay for Nitel was raised by transcoop promoters who had easy access to credit by virtue of their positions as bank CEOs. That money remains a debt hanging on their neck. The first attempt to raise capital by initial public offer (IPO) was a huge failure, but the promoters of transcoop were too ashamed to admit it. That offer was under-subscribed; in fact, a source close to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) told me that the trancorp IPO did not meet the minimum 25% subscription required by the law. Moneys were supposed to be returned to the investors, but SEC ignored all due process and allowed the failed IPO to stay.

It is also on record that transcoop’s shares were listed in the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) even without any certificate of incorporation issued by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the registrar of companies in Nigeria . All these illegalities were possible because the powerful Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, the mountain-woman who rules the stock exchange as Director-General (D-G) made sure her stooge, Musa Al-Faki was appointed as the D-G of SEC. Thus far, the three year tenure of Al-Faki in SEC has turned up the most bizarre situation in which the NSE, which is supposed to be regulated by SEC, is riding roughshod over its supposed regulator (SEC). Remember the emasculation of the planned Abuja Stock Exchange. The law that empowers SEC to regulate the capital market, the Capital and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) does not stipulate a single monopoly stock exchange in the country. The CAMA clearly lists criteria that can be met in establishing a stock exchange in Nigeria . But a cult championed by some powerful Nigerian investors influences and ensures a single stock exchange, “NSE” that establishes trading floors across Nigerian cities. Actually, this cult of investors who insists on a single monopolistic exchange is interested in “primitive accumulation”, rather than genuine investment.

This monopoly structure in Nigeria sharply contrasts with what exists in other countries with fairly large markets and economies like Nigeria ’s. South Africa for instance, has the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), the South African Futures Exchange (SAFEX), Alternative Exchange (AltX) and the Bond Exchange of South Africa (BESA); Brazil has the State of São Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa), Rio de Janeiro Stock Exchange (BVRJ), the Minas, Brasília and Espírito Santo Stock Exchange (BOVMESB) amog others; the United States SEC, which the Nigerian SEC was modeled after, allows multiple stock exchanges including the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), Chicago Stock Exchange, the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ), New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and Philadelphia Stock Exchange among others. We know that the woman Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke runs the “show” by pulling the strings and controlling the regulator that should regulate her!

After the IPO that ended in February 2007, the shares of transcoop were supposed to be off from “technical suspension” as usual, and be freely traded on the floor of the exchange. By the time the transcoop share which magically rose and stood at nine naira (N9.00) was freed up to be traded (I think it was in March?), the price plummeted to less than seven naira (N7) within the first two days! Funnily, the woman mountain in charge of NSE arbitrarily suspended trading in transcoop shares for many months, and curiously, nobody asked why. Not even SEC that is supposed to regulate the stock market! It wasn’t until the last quarter of 2007, after about 6 months that the “big woman” was forced to allow the trading of transcoop shares on the floor of NSE. But for observations raised by especially Thisday’s Ijeoma Nwogwugwu, the entire Nigerian media was loudly silent about this. Between last quarter of 2007 and January of this year, the bogus stock had crashed irredeemably from nine naira to less than three naira! Throughout the past week, I have looked through the updates on Nigerian stock values by africancapitalmarkets.com, the transcoop stock is loudly absent today! The Chairman of transcoop cum D-G of NSE has done it again! There is no conflict of interest here, as she often wants us to believe.

Transcoop also lost the two oil refineries in Port Harcourt and Kaduna , hurriedly “auctioned” to them in the most bizarre circumstances, by the petty-dictator and shareholder on the eve of May 29, 2007 . Transcoop were given the refineries to effectively bury. All the transcoop key players, who have no experience in oil refining, are the people who are patronized by Aso Rock to import finished petroleum products. It is widely reported that the petty-dictator owns a refinery in Jamaica (I believe this totally because the Baba has not denied it) Indeed, he could only ensure a market for his products by ensuring no products were refined in Nigeria ! One of the key players of transcoop also monopolizes the importation of AGO (diesel) into the country. How could this importer be happy that diesel is refined locally?

Now, the “retiring” directors are reportedly angry that transcoop is not generating any money but a “cult” within the “cult” is just issuing jobs to “consultants”. Leadership Newspapers (February 18,2008) reported that “despite the inability of the company to rise to its feet, it has continued to hire consultants, experts and companies that provide auxiliary services to it…a source questioned how a company that was not doing any meaningful business could be hiring experts and consultants at will. In fact, presently there is the case of a consultant being paid $75,000 monthly.” What a drain. This is no different from the band of Nigerian and foreign thieves called Pentascop, that Nasir El-Rufai, then D-G of Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), brought in to loot Nitel dry.

There are so many companies in Nigeria that could be strengthened through deliberate and carefully worked out strategy of patronizing made-in-Nigeria companies, and insisting on minimum standards. Has anyone been to the Plateau State Secretariat? The solid structures and buildings there, built by the government of Joseph Gomwalk as Governor in the 1970s were, surprisingly, constructed by the now extinct Benue-Plateau Construction Company Limited (BPCC)! I was surprised beyond words, for I thought the buildings were constructed by some foreign construction firm. When I enquired from my host, a senior Director with the Plateau State Government, whether the BPCC was managed by Nigerians or expatriates, he told me he never saw a single expatriate during the construction! Can any local construction company be trusted with such quality construction nowadays? I doubt. But with honest, deliberate policy to empower local firms, genuine big corporations can arise out Nigeria, like China’s Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CECC), and surprisingly, Ethiopia’s Salini (yes, it is wholly owned by Ethiopians, and they are cornering big construction contracts in Abuja!), not this kind of empty and hollow contraption by greedy people called transcoop.

The establishment of transcoop was by fraud. Transcoop has since then been corruptly “strengthened” and sustained by petty-dictator Obasanjo. One cannot reap where one did not sow, we can now see that, because it was “cheap” and bogus, these surrogates of Obasanjo who are “celebrated” as “super-business” moguls, have quivered and are as empty as pampered kids: Without Baba to patronize them, they are finished! Dead on arrival (DOA). We better do away with this pestiferous affliction on genuine private sector players in the Nigerian economy.

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Robot  Villager

# 1 With the reversal of the NITEL sell to transnational corporation as widely rep...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 18.02.2008 02:40