The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa, (SAN) yesterday said that Nigeria will today at the United Nations office in New York, United States of America, defend its request for an increase in the nation’s maritime boundary from 300 nautical miles to 350 nautical miles.
Aondoakaa who is the leader of the Nigerian delegation for the special mission, said that “all hands are on deck to ensure that Nigeria’s request sails through”.
According to him, “it is a development that will alter Nigeria’s map and continental shelf, if approved by the United Nations, and the President is very keen on the outcome of the defence at the United Nations.”
He explained that the need to increase the nation’s continental and coastal boundary is to ensure proper policing of the nation’s maritime boundary, stressing that the advantages are too numerous to mention.
The minister added that he is at the head of the delegation because of the unavoidable absence of President Umaru Yar’ Adua, who just returned from a medical and lesser Hajj trip in Saudi Arabia.
He disclosed that the Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, who is the Chairman of the Boundary Commission could not make the trip also because according to the Minister, “the President and his deputy can not leave the country at the same time, but we have a powerful team here representing the country”.
Aondoakaa, who arrived New York about five days ago from a diplomatic trip to Brazil noted that the country applied for the increase in the maritime boundary in May this year.
He said that all efforts are in top gear to ensure that the country does not miss the opportunity to increase its continental and coastal boundary, as such opportunity only comes for a country once in 10 years.
He said that members of the National Assembly, National Boundary Commission of Nigeria, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the country’s permanent representative to the UN, are part of the team that will defend the bid.
Aondoakaa disclosed that a Canadian firm of International Boundary experts was consulted by the Federal Government, to perfect the documents for the request and also train the personnel that would engage the United Nations team in the defence today.
The Minister added that the Federal Government has committed about N2 billion to the project, which also include opening a project office in the United States of America, where the activities are coordinated with the assistance of the Canadian boundary experts.
THE President and Chairman of Council of Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM), Dr. Oladimeji Alo, yesterday faulted the approach of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in recovery of banks loans from debtors, saying it is wrong, improper and not practicable any where in the world.
Dr. Alo stated this while responding to a question on the crisis in the nation’s banks, at CIPM’s forum on “Maximising the potentials of the Manufacturing sector in a recessing economy: The role of human resource management.”
He also picked holes in the way the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the five banks were sacked, stressing that it was done in a military fashion.
The CIPM’s President also decried the controversy trailing CBN’s publishing of the names of debtors and the amount their indebtedness, arguing that the controversy was unnecessary, because what ones owns a bank in the morning could change in the evening.
However, he noted that the CBN’s moves might be or perhaps a to checkmate the CEOs “because many of them are highly connected to the powers that be in the country. If Sanusi had waited or given ultimatum to mop up the depositors money outside, we would be singing a different song today. The CEOs are connected to all these governors and National Assembly members who have everything at their beck and call”
According to him: “It was unfortunate that the sacking of the banks Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and the Executive Directors were done in a military fashion. There are more civil ways of doing it. There is no basis to criminalize normal business transactions. What we are saying is that what is wrong is the involvement of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Their tactics show that they do not under stand the banking system. Given debtors seven ultimatum to pay debts incurred in the course of normal business transaction is not rational. It is These people do not keep money under their pillows.”
Also speaking, the guest Speaker, and Human Resource Director of the Seven Up Nigeria PLC, Mr. Femi Mokikan, condemned the sudden sack of the banks, CEOS by the Governor of the apex bank in the country, saying the move was hasty.
According to him, the governor of apex bank, Mallam Lamido Sanusi acted hastily. “ two months was too short a time to study the goings in the sector and noted that he should have waited and possibly given them time to recover the loans. Besides, the way and manner it was done gave room for even the debtors to disagree with the amount published that they owed,” he said.