President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote



President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has expressed delight at the news of being awarded the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, the nation's second highest award previously the exclusive preserve of Vice Presidents, Senate Presidents and Chief Justices of Nigeria.

In his first reaction to the news, Dangote said he was elated and surprised that he was considered worthy for such a high national honour.

He told NIGERIANFACTORS,: "I am really elated and surprised by this honour considering that it is usually for very highly placed government officials such as Vice Presidents, Senate Presidents and Chief Justices of the Federation. I am really excited and feel greatly honoured by this government.

"The challenge now is for me to work hard to justify this honour. As you know, awards of this nature come with a high degree of responsibility."

On how he first got wind of the news of the award, he revealed that a friend sent him a text message Friday night to alert him.

"I think this is a very direct message to us in the business community that the government is taking notice of our effort, and I will like to call on all members of the private sector to redouble their effort towards building a strong and virile nation."

By this award, Dangote has become the first individual outside government to clinch the coveted award.

Meanwhile, the National Honour Award Committee of the Special Duties Secretariat has defended its landmark choice to honour Dangote with the award of GCON, saying that it’s within the constitutional right of President Jonathan to so do.

Speaking to NIGERIANFACTORS, the Secretary, National Honours Merit Award Committee, Mr. Adeyemi Tunde, made it clear that it is within the constitutional right of President Goodluck Jonathan to approve honours award to deserving citizens of the country including all those to be honoured this year.

He said: "Giving honour to anybody in the country is the constitutional right of Mr. President (Jonathan). So I don’t see what is wrong with that."

CNPP Wants House to Strengthen EFCC

Farida Waziri, EFCC Chairman

The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) has urged the House of Representatives to strengthen the Economic Crimes Commission (EFCC) by ensuring that special courts are established for speedy dispensation of corrupt cases rather than dissipate energy on who should head the anti-graft agency.

The CNPP stated this in a statement made available Friday by its Publicity Secretary Mr. Osita Okechukwu.

The House had on Wednesday commenced the move to amend the EFCC Act to exclude all former ex-security officers from being appointed as the chairman of the anti-graft agency.

The sponsor of the amendment, Hon Bassey Ewa, claimed "the EFCC has become a political tool against perceived enemies," thus necessitating the amendment.

The lawmakers also proposed that only the serving or retired Justice of the Supreme Court or that of the Court of Appeal should be eligible for the position.

But the CNPP faulted the claim of the lawmakers, saying that there was no proof that the retired justice would perform better than ex-officers.

It also stated that what the lawmakers should support was the establishment of special courts and not the status of who would head the agency.

The CNPP added that the time had come for the House to decisively use its oversight function to accede to the request of the EFCC for the legislation of special courts which would assist the anti-graft agency in quick dispensation of justice.

It also reminded stakeholders that the EFCC under the retired ex-officers had performed better than the ICPC that was headed by retired jurists.

Nigerian political structures economically wasteful -Sanusi

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi yesterday said that the present political structures of Nigeria are too cumbersome and economically wasteful to guarantee rapid development of the country and a state of emergency should be declared in Nigeria’s educational sector because procrastination on the issue will inflict incalculable and irreversible damage in the nation.


Sanusi who spoke as the Guest Speaker on the occasion of the presentation of Professor Adamu Baike’s book, “Against All Odds” at Arewa House, Kaduna noted that the present 36 States are spending 96 percent of their revenues to pay salaries of their respective civil servants in an economy that is to develop on a long term basis, and posed a rhetorical question, “do we need 36 States, do we need the number of ministries that we have”?

He also pointed out that the federal government is spending 70 percent of its total revenue to pay workers’ salaries as well as taking care of the overhead cost, maintaining that it has denied the growth of some vital sectors of the socio-economy of the nation, leaving only 30 percent for 150 million Nigerians.

CBN Boss whose paper presentation was entitled, “Re-Invigorating Education in Nigeria”, lamented that there are 71,000 Nigerian students in Ghana who are paying not less than 155 billion naira as tuition annually, compared with the annual budget of 121 billion naira for the entire federal university education in Nigeria.

According to him, “Ultimately we will have to be confronted with the task of taking very difficult steps in looking at the political structures that we have. Do we need 36 States, do we need the number of ministries that we have. It is an economy in which states spend 96 percent of their revenues to pay their civil servants. Is this an economy that is likely to be developed in the long term?

“These are difficult questions that we need to ask, we have created states and local governments and ministry structures that are economically unviable, and the result is that we do not have funding for infrastructures, we do not have funding for education, we do not have funding for health.

“I don’t know how many people know that 70 percent of the total revenue of the Federal government is spent paying salaries and over head, and leaving the remaining 30 percent for 150 million Nigerians.

“For example, according to a newspaper account, and quoting the chairman, committee of governing councils of Nigerian Federal Universities: “there are 71,000 Nigerian students in Ghana who pay not less than 155 billion naira as tuition annually, compared with the annual budget of 121 billion naira for the entire federal university education in Nigeria. Findings placed Nigeria third on the list of countries with the highest number of students studying overseas.

Declare your 2010 books-Law firm tells EFCC

Victory and Rose Associates, an Abuja-based law firm, has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to explain how it spent its 2010 budget.


A letter made available to Sunday Trust, addressed to the chairman of the commission dated 16th October and signed by Ogboli Charles and Osuagwu Ugochukwu read in part: “we are in possession of the EFCC’s budgetary allocation for 2010. Our records show that the commission was allocated N9,017,327,453 for 2010.”

Citing sections 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the Freedom Of Information Act, the firm asked the Commission to explain “how the sum of N198,000,000 and N340,000,000 were utilized for media advocacy and insurance respectively and which company is handling the insurance policy of the Commission and total number of staff and/or properties benefiting under this insurance scheme.”

It also demanded to know “why the commission re-advertised in the Federal Tenders Journal for the Construction of the Port Harcourt office block and received budgetary allocation for this project in he 2011 Appropriation Act when under the 2010 budget, the Commission had already been allocated the sum of N24,750,000 for the same Port Harcourt office block.”