#StopBornoMassacre #20AbductedBornoSchoolsGirls #WhereIsOurMoney #YV2015

WE SAY NO TO THE MYRIAD ATROCITIES IN OUR NATION!

 

#StopBornoMassacre #20AbductedBornoSchoolsGirls: A dark curtain hangs across the nation! So much blood has been spilled in the last few days in unrestrained terrorist attacks and bombings that have disproportionately targeted young Nigerians in the north-eastern region of the country. Two days ago, 50 students of Federal Government College, Buni Yadi in Yobe State were massacred by gun men suspected to be Boko Haram insurgents. The killings occurred days after 20 young female students were abducted from Government Girls Senior Science Secondary School and Ashigar School of Business and Administrative Studies. Till this day, no one knows their whereabouts or what has happened to them.

Spaces for Change, (S4C), Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND), Tiny Beating Hearts Initiative (TBHI); Centre for Patriotic Leadership Initiative (CPLI), Centre of Children’s Health Education, Orientation and Protection (CEE-HOPE), Network of Police Reforms in Nigeria (NOPRIN), Slum-Ed, SkyTrend News and a network of youth associations, non-governmental organizations and citizens’ movements strongly condemn the continuing acts of brutality visited on innocent citizens at a scale rarely seen elsewhere.  These wanton killings are abhorrent, barbaric and constitute a systematic violation of the immutable rights to life, education and human dignity guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution.

Sack Diezani, Iweala Now! - Civil Society Groups

The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (SR) held a meeting in Abuja on 25^th February 2014 to review the State of the Nigerian Nation. The SR comprising more than Sixty Nigerian Civil Society groups reached the following decisions:

1.    NIGERIA’S MISSING 20BILLION DOLLARS

SR calls on the National Assembly to convene an independent Judicial Commission of inquiry to investigate allegations that 20billion has been stolen from public revenues at the NNPC. Situation room notes that 20billion dollars would make a huge and significant difference to the lives and living conditions of the ordinary Nigerian and significant impact on collapsed infrastructure, generate millions of new jobs, and revive industries and indeed  address several problems confronting the country.

Angry Reactions Trail Missing $20 Billion Unremitted Oil Revenues

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi appeared before the Senate’s Investigative Public Hearing on unremitted oil revenues, where he alleged that $20 billion is still unaccounted for. He also provided a detailed explanation about the irregularities in the accounting system of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), presenting evidence showing that NNPC, has in violation of the law and constitution, been diverting money from the Federation Account, and involving itself in activities that warrant full investigation.

In his 30-paged memorandum, Sanusi claims that:

“That NNPC, in paying what it calls kerosene subsidy, is confessing to a number of serious infractions. First, I have shown, based on NBS data, that kerosene is not a subsidised product, and, therefore, the so-called subsidy is rent generated for the benefit of those in the kerosene business. Second, I have produced evidence that President Yar’Adua had issued a presidential directive eliminating this subsidy payment as from July, 2009. Third, these huge losses inflicted on the Federation Account have not been appropriated”.

The latest revelation of massive corruption and financial malfeasance in NNPC provoked a heated debate in the 6,100-member Spaces for Change’s (S4C’s) discussion forum, generating over 300 comments. On February 4, S4C admin published the blow-by-blow account of the Committee hearing, including the CBN Governor’s memorandum and other evidential materials on its online portals and discussion forums. Reactions poured in from young Nigerians across the country and in the diaspora both in support and against the CBN’s governor’s spirited steps to entrench accountability in oil sector governance.

Here are the excerpts from the conversation:

Open Data Initiative Launched

Spaces for Change’s Funmilayo Fakeye participated in Nigeria’s first-ever open data clinic held on January 30-31, 2014 in Abuja, Nigeria. The Clinic forms part of a series of initiatives led by the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s Ministry of Communication Technology, the World Bank, the new Code for Nigeria, Hala Nigeria initiatives and global partners to help the country better use technology to drive the national digital and information transformation agenda. 

2014 BUDGET IS WASTEFUL, SHORTSIGHTED AND EXTRAVAGANT - ROL Collective

1. ​The Rule of Law Collective is a civic platform comprising Nigerians from all walks of life who through debate, discourse and civic action seek to advance public service and accountable governance in Nigeria through the fair, non-discriminatory, and effective application of laws.

2.​ On December 19, 2014, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance laid the budget proposal for 2014 before the National Assembly on the basis of the authority duly delegated to her by President Goodluck Jonathan pursuant to Section 81 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.

Responses to the 50 Questions on Nigeria’s Economy Posed by the House of Representatives’ Committee on Finance

PREAMBLE

We are pleased to provide responses to a set of 50 questions which were submitted to us by the House of Representatives Finance Committee on 19th December 2013 (NASS/7HR/CT.32/1999). We are somewhat surprised by the content of many of these questions for a number of reasons.

Young Nigerians Interrogate the 2014 Budget

There has been widespread criticism of the proposed 2014 budget, titled “‘A Budget for Job Creation and Growth”, which the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (NOI) presented to the National Assembly last December. A spectacular feature of this budget is that it allocates 76.3% to recurrent expenditure (comprising personnel and overheads costs, including consumables of N3.7 trillion) and 23.7% to capital expenditure (N1.1 trillion). As it is currently structured, the proposed budget warns of a lag in infrastructural development, while more resources would be deployed towards servicing the skyrocketing costs of running government at the center.

The budget proposals provoked heated online conversations in Spaces for Change's Discussion Forum where a broad spectrum of young Nigerian professionals and experts in various fields interrogated the economic policy direction of the budget and the underlying preparatory processes. One recurrent question was whether the hyped macro-economic successes and brightly-colored foreign ratings of the Nigerian economy have translated to concrete social and economic benefits to millions of citizens. Discussants underscored the urgency for the National Assembly to take concrete steps towards adjusting the budget so as to make its pro-job objectives realizable.

Here are excerpts from the conversation:

Celebrating Trailblazers of Social Change

Let me start by saying a big CONGRATULATION to all the winners of Spaces for Change’s Social Media Foursquare Awards. We are very excited that this competition and the resulting awards have been so successful in its first year, deepening camaraderie and the bonds of solidarity among 5,708 members of Spaces for Change’s online platforms.  

Spaces for Change’s Discussion Forum is particularly famed for its e-conferences, leveraging new media technology and crowd-sourcing tools to promote public awareness and facilitate citizen engagement in policy and public decision-making processes. Both the administrators and members of the group capitalize on S4C’s strong online presence to promote citizen engagement in the democratic process, mainly using moderated group discussions and web seminars to interrogate policy proposals, official decisions and development programs with a view to enhancing public governance policing, social innovation and to restore inclusive economic growth.

50 Questions Finance Minister Must Answer!

The House of Representatives' Committee has forwarded the following questions to Nigeria's Finance Minister, Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. She has two weeks to respond to these queries in writing. These are very important questions every Nigeria should be concerned about. 

1. What should you consider as the major economic achievements of this government in the 2013 fiscal year and why? In your explanation, we will need facts and figures in demonstrating such achievements.