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It is a truism that a house not built on
solid foundation is destined to collapse. This is a fact. You don't need
any building engineer to tell you this. The same goes for companies that
are not formed with genuine intention. The formation of the mega company
tagged Transcorp was trailed with a lot of controversies, a wuru-wuru
to the answer kind of.
It was alleged that the founding fathers
were merely fronting for the President. This is wrong as the
constitution clearly stipulates that public officers should divest their
interests in business ventures. The good people of this country adopted
the siddon look posture and took solace in the saying that truth would
always unveil itself.
Just before the dusts settle down, the
company was thrown into another hullabaloo. This time, Transcorp bought
NICON Hilton under controversial circumstances. There is nothing wrong
with an indigenous company bidding for and eventually buying NICON. But
there is everything wrong if the President has a vested interest in the
company. This is because the said company would have leverage over other
players in an atmosphere where a level playing ground is desirable.
Controversy after controversies. Fola
Adeola, the pioneer chairman of the company was mysteriously sacked. If
snippets from grapevine are anything to go by, Adeola who hails from the
same senatorial district with the President was removed because his
political ambitions clashes with that of Iyabo, Oga's daughter. While
explanations were later offered by Aso rock as to the actual reasons of
Adeola's ordeal, those who could see beyond their nose knew better.
As if these were not enough, Dr Ndidi
Okereke-Onyuike an umpire in the industry was appointed chairperson
against all sense of human reasoning. This scenario can be likened to a
situation where the captain of one side in a football competition is
made the central referee. Hence, he doubles as captain and referee in
the same competition.
Shortly after this, Transcorp offered a
paltry sum of $750m for 75% stake in NITEL, the Nigerian communication
giant. You would recall that IIL of Britain offered $1.37b for 31% stake
in the company in 2002. Foreign investors sensed the arrangee
setup and therefore packed their bag and baggage and left. In Nigeria it
is still business as usual.
This is not the end of the NITEL saga.
Transcorp could not honour its obligation of making the necessary
payment as at when due. The same offence Adenuga's CIL committed that
made it lose its bid for a GSM license in 2001. For Transcorp it was
waived because of Oga's interest.
The final straw that breaks the camel's
back was when Vice President Atiku Abubakar alerted Nigerians that
President Obasanjo owns substantial shares in Transcorp. Atiku didn't
stop at that but rather went further to produce evidence of offer made
to him to buy shares in the company. According to Atiku he declined the
offer on the premise that it negates the oath of office he took as vice
president of the country. Presidency was later to explain that the
shares were held in blind trust for the President. Blind Trust –
another word added to our already rich vocabulary. In contradiction, Dr
Okereke rebutted this claim as a blatant lie.
Up till date, Dr Ndidi Okereke, Umpire cum
Chairman is yet to give Nigerians the true ownership structure of
Transcorp. According to her the earliest time she can carry out this
assignment is by the end of September, 2006. Another peculiar mess.
Transcorp is one of the many atrocities of
this administration. I sincerely hope that future government will take
cogent measures to correct the TRANSCRIME of the present administration.
This will go a long way to regain the confidence of foreign investors
that the Obasanjo administration has been seeking for the past seven
years.
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