Nigeria just signed a $84 million deal with an Italian company to service and maintain a fleet of 25 year old planes. Last year another deal with the same company was signed for $74.5 million. I dont know much about planes but I smell a rat here – $150 million, surely they could have bought a couple of new or newer planes for that amount and what is the point of training pilots on 25 year old aircraft? An MOD source claims the deal was done via the Presidents back door – hope s/he doesnt get found out!
Obasanjo’s back door
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The bigger question may be, airplanes for what use? There are many poor in Nigeria, who could use some of that $$.
Absolutely but I didnt say that because this is really about bribes and corruption not about planes!
The deal does smell very fishy. The report states that though $74.5 million was made available for the refurbishment of the Nigerian Air Force’s (NAF) G-222 fleet since last year, nothing has been done to date.
The G-222 is a medium-sized turboprop transport aircraft, used for deploying troops to combat missions. NAF has flown G-222 since the early 80s. I really do not know how many of these NAF has but I would have thought that rather than wasting $74.5 million refurbishing them, the money could have been used to obtain two or three good second-hand military transport airplanes.
The MB-339 is a jet trainer, used for training NAF pilots. If I recall very well, NAF has flight training schools in both Kaduna and Kano. This explains why the MB-339s are stationed in Kano.
The Nigerian Air Force buys the bulk of its fighter/trainer jets from Russia and European countries. This has a lot to do with the fact that the United States (which makes some of the best fighter jets in the world) is very careful about whom it sells military hardware to. To be honest, the current fleet of NAF fighters (French Sepecat Jaguars, Russian MiG-21s, French Dassault Alpha Jets, Czech Aero L-39s) are outdated and in need of replacement.
However, I would be the last person to advocate that the Nigerian government dips into its treasury to purchase military hardware for its Air Force, when the health and education sectors of the economy are suffering.
The fact that the Nigerian Presidency bypassed legal channels in pushing this deal forward also says a lot. I wouldn’t be surprised if the money ends up in the coffers of the irredeemably corrupt ruling party (the People’s Democratic Party) for the 2007 presidential campaign.
i aint surprised, even in the slightest
the below video is for your pleasure
Omo Obokun video!
Nothing surprises me about Nigeria or OBJ anymore – nothing!
Obokun – thanks for the video.
I’m surprised that none of the major newspapers in Nigeria (electronic versions) carried this news. The article is originally printed by Nigerian online newspaper: The Times of Nigeria http://www.thetimesofnigeria.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=894&Itemid=0
The site also has another similar report:
$260 Million Messy Arms Deal: How It Was Struck By The Presidency! http://www.thetimesofnigeria.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=787&Itemid=0
Versions of this story can be found at NVS: (http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/content/view/3173/55/), on the defense company’s website:( http://www.aeronautics-sys.com/Index.asp?CategoryID=86&ArticleID=254&Page=1) and a variety of other sites.
It is puzzling that for some reasons, the Israeli newspaper The Haaretz’ no longer has the article on his website.
Imnakoya – do you know who the “Italian” connecton are. I recall some years back that there was another scandal around the purchase of aircraft. then it was for the Nigerian School of Aviation when Abacha’s son had done some deal around the purchase of small aircraft for training purposes. It was about a year after Abacha’s death that the whole thing came out.
The Israeli’s have been involved with Nigeria’s military purchases for many years supplying them with various equipment though i think mainly in small arms.
I am getting better at sending emails to EU MEPs because their countries benefit from these bad deals via taxation. Just like the late Kenneth Lay, former chairman and chief executive of Enron was found guilty on all six charges of fraud and conspiracy against him in the Enron scandal (aided by Arthur Anderson & all), there are several such people at the head of Major Corporations doing the same in Africa.
I am confident that they will be exposed over time. But, in the meanwhile, however “a solution to our problems would be for the EU and its states to cancel visas to all Nigerian public officials for 24months until they have shown measurable benefits to their citizens in terms of basic infrastructures like schools, universities, roads, basic medical care, water, public transport, security, and life and power generation.”