Pawn our Image and our future……(FUNDRAISING LEECHES)

Enough is enough…when and what could we possibly do about the way our future is being pawned for close to nothing…just cos some people want to make a name for themselves and some extra cash….cos i honestly don't know how to explain the depth to which Nigerian leaders will stoop so low....

This is every Black persons' dream .....for coloured people to be recognised and hold powerful positions in global affairs...Africans are so proud of Obama that they decide to raise funds to support him......OR NOT....

While we are on the topic, it is no longer new gist that agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have picked up… Professor Ndidi Okereke-Onyiuke, the Director General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. (joke) She willingly honoured an invitation by the crimes commission at their Abuja Headquarters….abeg she was arrested and she is not above the law…at least she shouldn't’t be….( lets call her Madam NSE for this article)

Madam NSE has been recently embroiled in a controversy after she organized a lavish and widely criticized fundraiser ostensibly under the banner of a group called “Africans for Obama.”

Many people/institutions have questioned the propriety and legality of this fundraising extravaganza, (which by the way was denied by the Obama camp) considering that US law forbids American politicians from receiving campaign donations from outside the United States of America…….further confirming that the Obama campaign recently disowned Okereke-Onyiuke’s fundraising through a contemptuous letter addressed to a Nigerian newspaper…..some say it’s the Punch Newspaper…don’t quote me oh…you can research that….

This gives some mixed views to the issue at hand....According to the Punch Newspaper, this is a copy of the letter by the Obama camp regarding the fundraiser.....

See: http://www.viewnaija.com/video-3046.html

This lavish fund raising jamboree, which reportedly garnered about N100 million (approximately $900,000), had raised eyebrows and charges of impropriety, deceit and outright fraud. -The Punch

This charity sure did not begin at home……….(Like we don’t have enough domestic issues to deal with….why are we devising means of lining out greedy pockets under the guise of campaigning for Obama (I cant remember him soliciting for funds from a developing nation with a high poverty rate) and his campaign team doesn’t even get the money raised)….If WE really want to try out our FUNDRAISING SKILLS, why not raise money for actual and value adding causes).

What happened to feeding the hungry and investing in good leaders for our home nation), I sincerely hope she is made to refund the illegal (tafia) funds she raised in Lagos on behalf of Obama through an expensive concert last week.

It is so bad that reports confirm that her international travel documents have been confiscated ….at least that prevent her from fleeing the country. Imagine, raising that much for a publicized purpose and it turned out to be a sham as sources have confirmed that MADAM NSE confirmed in her statement that contrary to earlier indications, the funds raised by her “Africans for Obama” group could not be used to directly support the Obama campaign for President of the United States but to rally support.....DUH...I smell fish....do you.

As it turns out, Madam NSE is not new to political and financial controversy, as this is somewhat a repeat of 2003 when she coordinated a group of corporate players to raise funds for former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s presidential campaign…Apparently, this is her forte…. If you think you’ve heard the last, then think again....

She apparently linked up with some top Nigerian businessmen, to once again RAISE…..funds ….AGAIN…..

I can’t help but wonder, with value based interests for the citizenry and selflessness, imagine what these funds could do to the power and education sector in Nigeria and the Niger delta respectively

Anyho, still got some more gist up my sleeve….

Last year, she also joined Aliko Dangote and a few businessmen in a shady campaign fundraising for the gubernatorial campaign of Mr. Nnamdi (Andy) Uba, a former aide of Obasanjo’s who ran for the governorship of Anambra. Political analysts suspected that the so-called fundraiser for Mr. Uba was designed to deflect questions in the media about the source of Uba’s prodigal spending on his campaign.Mrs. Okereke-Onyiuke was also instrumental in getting Mr. Obasanjo to support the founding of Transcorp, an investment group that bought up several of Nigeria’s assets at bargain prices. She also convinced Obasanjo to purchase more than 200 million shares in Transcorp, (its all them say but there is no smoke without a wee bit of fire) ….…..a move condemned as one of the most corrupt acts of the Obasanjo era.

Many critics noted that the former president’s stake in Transcorp amounted to a conflict of interest. Besides, many questioned how Obasanjo was able to find the funds to afford the shares he bought….They must have RAISED FUNDS…..Regardless of who she is….DUE DILIGENCE……no one looked into that…I think she should be made to explain her financial tomfoolery during and even after the Obasanjo era.

While on the fundraising LEECHES, I heard that the managing director of the defunct Hallmark Bank, Marc Wabara has also been questioned regarding fundraising issues…He served as the chairman of the fundraising committee of former President Olusegun Obasanjo's campaign in 2003, working with Madam NSE, it is said that he diverted signature bonuses accruing from oil block allocations in the Joint Development Zone (JDZ) between Nigeria and Sao Tome /Principe.
Gist has it that Obasanjo gave Wabara the sum of $56 million realized from the sale of oil blocks in the JDZ for onward deposit at the JP Morgan account run by the Nigerian government in New York. (This is national property by the way) But Wabara reportedly used his now defunct bank to divert the funds to First Bank in Lagos. He allegedly used the funds to trade in short term security investments in the stock market. (Gambling with out future)While Wabara claimed that the monies went down with his Hallmark Bank, he had secretly moved the funds to Sao Tome and Principe where he set up a commercial bank named Highland Bank, (how neat is that…blame it all on bankruptcy) bought a huge piece of ocean-side land and started the construction of a massive five-star hotel in Sao Tome, the country’s capital city.

EFCC officials recently returned from a visit to Sao Tome and Principe where they carried out a series of investigations into Wabara’s financial transaction.

From time immemorial, its been said, the truth will always set you free....I WOULD LIKE THE INVOLVED PARTIES TO REDEEM THEIR IMAGES AND TELL THE TRUTH.....WHAT REALLY HAPPENED, we all want to know.....