DC Cherry Blossom Festival 2010
April 4, 2010 | Leave a Comment
“Stories Matter. Many Stories Matter” - Chimamanda Adichie, Nigerian best selling author.
“Y’all know how we do it!! Wrap your arms around yourself and squeeeeeeeeeeeze real tight - We’ve all, just been hugged and we love you for free sugars” - Mo’nique (Weeknights on BET)
WASHINGTON DC APRIL 2010: The 2010 National Cherry Blossom Festival® will be held between March 27 and April 11. This year’s festival marks the 98th celebration of the original gift of the 3,000 cherry trees by the city of Tokyo to the people of Washington, DC in 1912. Please enjoy this video montage produced by our Director of Photography (DOP) TFLASH for BHTV. Happy Easter!!
Blizzard Pummels DC Metro
February 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment
“There is time for everything”
WASHINGTON DC - It has been snowing continuously in the DC Metro area over the last 10 days. BH’s photojournalist TFLASH took some pictures during the blizzard for your viewing and enjoyment.
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Martin Luther King Day 2010
January 18, 2010 | Leave a Comment
WASHINGTON DC - January 18, 2010 - Today is Martin Luther King Day and we are proud to bring you the text of the speech he made to a civil rights rally on the National Mall in Washington in 1963.
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I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “For Whites Only”. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
Happy New Year!!!
January 4, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Dear friends, it is a new day and it is a new year. It is the beginning of a new dawn and in 2010 Black Herald wishes you all the best that the new year can bring..more joy, more happiness, more money, good health etc. 2009 was a good year but 2010 is even going to be better. Once again happy new year and best wishes for success!!
Tupac’s Song “Changes” Selected for Vatican Playlist.
December 5, 2009 | Leave a Comment
“Instead of war on poverty, they gat war on drugz so that the police can bother me” - Tupac Amaru Shakur in one of his songs - Changes.
WASHINGTON DC - One of Tupac Amaru Shakur’s songs was selected by the Vatican for its playlist on Myspace. It is actually a welcome development because I have always believed that Tupac is one of the greatest poets ever. Very few singers are as politically and socially conscious as Tupac was during his lifetime. The song “Changes” is perhaps one of his best songs lyrically. Only twelve (12) songs were selected for the playlist, how great is that ? This is a clip from Youtube, so listen, enjoy and let the beat gravitate to your soul y’all!
Meadowlark Gardens Virginia (Short Video Clip)
July 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment
“The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and the pessimist fears this is true” - James Branch Cabell.
WASHINGTON DC - JULY 5, 2009 - In case you have never been to the Meadowlark Gardens in Vienna, VA, our photojournalist TFLASH went to the park last weekend and put together this short video clip for you. The sound bed is soaring from Apple’s GarageBand and the video was shot using 5D Mark II and old canon FD lenses. Hope you enjoy the serenity of the park. Visit the park when you have time and enjoy the beauty of the botanical garden.
List of Petroleum & Exploration Companies in Nigeria (Tabular Format)
July 9, 2009 | 2 Comments
“Africa is Open for Business” - World Bank.
“Nigeria is Open for Business” - Black Herald
WASHINGTON DC - JULY 9, 2009 : Crude oil is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy accounting for about 90% of foreign revenue. Though efforts have been made to diversify the country’s revenue stream, oil still remains the most significant source of income. The list below contains the names of oil exploration companies in Nigeria - both foreign and local companies. The list is still being updated. There are about 1,000 oil companies in Nigeria.
| # | Company | Website/Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Addax Petroleum | http://www.addaxpetroleum.com/operations |
| 2 | Chevron | http://www.chevron.com/countries/nigeria/default.aspx |
| 3 | Conoco Philips | http://www.conocophillips.com/ |
| 4 | Total | http://www.ng.total.com/ |
| 5 | ExxonMobil | http://www.exxonmobilafrica.com/Africa-English/PA/Operations/AF_OP_Nigeria.asp |
| 6 | Hardy Oil & Gas Plc | http://www.hardyoil.com/Assests/nigeria_main.htm |
| 7 | Nexen Inc | http://www.nexeninc.com/Operations/West_Africa/Nigeria.asp |
| 8 | Petrobras | http://www.petrobras.com/ |
| 9 | Shell | http://www.shell.com/home/content/nigeria |
| 10 | Statoil | http://www.statoil.com/ |
| 11 | Afren Energy Resources | http://www.afren.com/default.asp |
| 12 | Camac (Allied Energy Resources) | http://www.camacholdings.com/contact/index.html |
| 13 | Conoil | http://www.conoilplc.com/index-2.html |
| 14 | Equator Exploration Limited | http://www.equatorexploration.com/operations/nigeria.aspx |
| 15 | Express Petroleum & Gas Ltd | 11 Alhaji Babatunde Jose Street Victoria Island (234 1 261-5115) |
| 16 | Dubri Oil Limited | 8 Gabaro Close Victoria Island |
| 17 | Amni International Petroleum Development Company Ltd | http://www.amnipetroleum.com/index.htm |
| 18 | Famfa Oil | http://www.famfa.com/ |
| 19 | Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation | http://www.nnpcgroup.com/ |
| 20 | Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Ltd | http://www.npdc-ng.com/index.php |
| 21 | Oriental Energy Resources Limited | http://www.oriental-er.com/about/index.htm |
| 22 | Pan Ocean Oil Corporation Nigeria | http://www.panoceanoilnigeria.com/ |
| 23 | Sahara Group | http://www.sahara-group.com/index.php |
| 24 | Solgas Petroleum Limited | 27/29 Adeyemo Alakija Street Victoria Island (234 1 262-0651) |
| 25 | South Atlantic Petroleum Ltd | 105B Ajose Adeogun Street Victoria Island (234 1 2625516/7 |
| 26 | Sunlink Petroleum Limited | http://www.sunlinkpetroleum-ng.com/ |
| 27 | Brawal Shipping (Oil) | http://www.brawalshipping.com/brawal/index.php |
| 28 | Intels Services Nigeria | http://www.intelservices.com/ |
| 29 | Ladol | http://www.ladol.com/ |
| 30 | Technip | http://www.technip.com/entities/nigeria/index.htm |
| 31 | Snake Island Integrated Free Zone | http://www.sifreezone.com/ |
| 32 | Department of Petroleum Resources | http://www.dprnigeria.com/home.html |
| 33 | National Petroleum Investment Management Services | http://www.napims.com/ |
| 34 | Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists | http://www.nape.org.ng/ |
| 35 | Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria | http://www.petan.org/petan/performance.html |
| 36 | CGG Veritas | http://www.cggveritas.com/Contact.aspx?cid=266&lang=1 |
| 37 | First Fossil Nigeria | http://www.firstfossil.com/ |
| 38 | Global Energy Group | http://www.globalenergyco.com/ |
| 39 | Mabon Limited | http://mabonltd.com/ |
| 40 | Petroleum Geo Services | http://www.pgs.com/Data_Library/West-and-South-Africa/Nigeria/ |
| 41 | Schlumberger | http://www.slb.com/content/contact/geomarkets/eca/nga.asp |
| 42 | United Geo Physical | http://www.unitedgeophysical.com/ |
| 43 | Fugro Nigeria Limited | http://www.fugro-prodec.com/ |
| 44 | Survicom | http://survicom.com/ |
| 45 | Ensco Drilling Company (Nigeria) Ltd | 35 Maloney Street Lagos Nigeria |
| 47 | Noble Drilling | http://www.noblecorp.com/Contact/Contact.asp |
| 48 | African Petroleum Oil Field Services | http://www.apoilfields.com/ |
| 49 | Ana Industries Limited | http://www.anaindustries.net/ |
| 50 | MI Swaco | http://www.miswaco.com/Locations/ |
| 51 | Ariboil Company Limited | http://ariboil.com/index.html |
| 52 | BJ Services Company | http://www.bjservices.com/website/GBLocator.nsf |
| 53 | Ciscon | http://www.cisconservices.com/default.html |
| 54 | Expro | http://www.exprogroup.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=348&Itemid=373 |
| 55 | Kasolute | http://www.kasolute.com/ |
| 56 | Melvon | http://www.melvon-ng.com/home.htm |
| 57 | Oil Data | http://www.oildatainc.com/html/contact_us.html |
| 58 | Oil Test Services | http://www.oiltestng.com/index.htm |
| 59 | Petrolog | http://www.petrologgroup.com/aboutpetrolog.htm |
| 60 | Roxar | http://www.roxar.com/category.php?categoryID=1432 |
| 61 | Sowsco | http://www.sowsco.net/ |
| 62 | Weafri | http://weafriwellservices.com/ |
| 63 | WOG Allied Services Nigeria Ltd | http://www.wog-allied.com/ |
| 64 | Zukus Industries Limited | http://zukus.homestead.com/ |
| 65 | Amosco | http://www.amosco.com/ |
| 66 | Bell Oil & Gas | http://www.belloil.com/ |
| 67 | B.G. Technical Ltd | http://www.bgtechnical.com/ |
| 68 | Drillog Petro-Dynamics Ltd | http://www.drillogpdl.com/ |
| 69 | Emex Systems | http://www.emexsystems.biz/ |
| 70 | Socotherm Group | http://www.socotherm.com/ |
DC Monument (National Park Short Video Clip)
June 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
“Best Things In Life Are Free” - Luther Vandross and Janet Jackson in a Soundtrack for the Motion Picture Mo’ Money.
WASHINGTON DC - JUNE 24, 2009 - In case you have never been to the DC National Park, our photojournalist TFLASH went to the monument last weekend and put together this short video clip for you. This video was shot using 5D Mark II and old canon FD lenses. This is a short promo for a full fledged documentary that is being produced by Black Herald TV to showcase the City and the friendly people of the District of Columbia. The Full documentary will be completed in about six months and you are going to love it.
Oxford-Style Debate: Regulation Vs Deregulation
April 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment
“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries” –Winston Churchill.
WASHINGTON DC - MARCH 31, 2009 : The current financial crisis has led to many public outcries for regulation of the financial services sector. As a contribution to the discourse, Black Herald commissioned a distinguished panel to argue for or against regulation in an Oxford-Style debate. Here are their responses:
SAINT JAMES
Money is the root of all evil – The Holy Bible
The lack of money is the root of all evil – George Bernard Shaw
It is easy to see why we need more regulation – tons and piles and bales of them in fact. Who in their right minds would not want Bernie Madoff to have been more tightly regulated? Which right thinking American would not rush to slap down more regulations on those crooks on Wall Street, who were selling silly stuff they didn’t have, and buying equally silly stuff with money that wasn’t there? Or how many Irishmen would not swear on their bottle of Guinness that a little more regulation might have saved them from the current wretchedness? Actually, one Irishman who moved back home in the midst of the boom rued it all: “I left a godly land of broke but merry alcoholics and came back to a place where people who used to dig potatoes were buying luxury apartments sight unseen and driving Porsches.”
And yet. And yet. As appealing as these sentiments are, lets pause for a moment. It is no accident that America has produced the most innovative, most dynamic and most flexible political economy ever: that is largely because America also has the least regulated economy in the world. The Chinese didn’t really shake off centuries of appalling economic underperformance until they embraced market forces under Deng after Mao passed. Russia, despite a tumultuous transition and the rule of the oligarchs, is clearly better off with market rules than it ever was under Bolshevism. As for Africa, it was said of Julius Nyerere’s socialistic regulations in Tanzania that the only thing that was equitably redistributed was poverty.
Of course, the revered Nyerere meant well for Tanzanians.
But that is the heart of the problem: all those who argue for tougher regulations mean well. The problem is that no law makers or collection of bureaucrats, no matter how well meaning and smart, can aggregate the atomistic decision making points of millions of households that can produce an optimal outcome. These are broad strokes, and I am sure that anyone can find examples from recent history to support a counter argument: the Asian financial meltdown, Nigeria’s disastrous SAP policies, and now the global financial meltdown. When you have center right French president threatening to walk out on the G-20 meeting if tougher regulation of hedge funds, rating agencies and tax havens are not on the table, then something is wrong.
But when you think about it, what is really wrong is to think that we can dig ourselves out of this mess by killing innovation in the name of more regulations. What is really wrong is the emerging global mind set that putting American bankers in chains would make us whole again. That’s just damn right pig-headed.
President Obama has rightly said that he would not govern out of anger. Let us hope that he would not succumb to the rumblings from the extreme left flank of his party and put on a more interventionist hat. In the end, you can ask yourself: as the Irish debacle shows, is it better to have been hobbled by many regulations and remain on the potato farms or to open up with less regulation and, at least live on O’Mansions and ride Porsches for a while? The choice is clear for me: some of the houses may now be empty, but at least they are better than dreary potato farms.
JAMES is a management consultant specializing in IT Audit & Risk Management. He has consulted for multinational companies in Europe, America and Africa. He holds a Masters Degree in Economics and he is Black Herald’s Chief Correspondent for International Politics.
MR SHAMAR THOMPSON
Stiffer penalties for failure to comply with existing rules are probably more efficient than creating new set of redundant regulatory bodies and rules.
Seriously - More regulation ? Why not enforce existing rules - after all, the crisis is rooted in non-compliance with existing underwriting rules. Sub-prime mortgage brokers were unconcerned about the quality of their loans, sub-prime borrowers intentionally misstated their incomes and took loans they knew they could not repay, and poor underwriting by lenders, combined, are the direct causes of the sub-prime crisis that evolved into a credit crisis and a recession. Stiffer penalties for failure to comply with existing rules are probably more efficient than creating new set of redundant regulatory bodies and rules. Why not start by reviewing loan document of borrowers who took out mortgages that required substantially higher income than they earned but fraudulently stated in the underwriting packages? The surge of mortgages with fraudulent underwriting created the obscene home valuation that inevitably crashed as scam mortgages went bad.
Politically motivated support for additional oversight of hedge fund activities, over-the counter Credit Default Swaps market, or leverage positions of market participants in Wall Street, albeit commendable in certain instances, misses the crucial task of correctly diagnosing and fixing the cause of the crisis. The risk of default by sub-prime borrowers remains unchanged even if Banks could only leverage zero to one - banks would have suffered losses enough to destroy capital. A sixty to one leverage (e.g. Barclay etc) would have accelerated the destruction in equity and would be the source of systemic risk due to counterparty credit exposure as is the case with the current crisis.
Few oppose the orderliness, transparency and stability that effective regulation brings to the market. But regulations are as effective to the extent of enforcement. That more regulation is solution to what is clearly a collapse of the enforcement machinery of the regulatory institutions is not only a myth, it is worrisome.
THOMPSON is a Certified Public Accountant and posseses specialized accounting knowledge especially on FAS 133, FAS 91, FIN 46, FAS 157, FAS 115 and currently works in the Energy Derivatives Market. He holds a Masters Degree in Accounting.
OLALEKAN OLOYEDE
The default nature of man is evil.
With effective regulation, the world would be spared of many of the economic crises we face today. A review of the economic health of Canadian banks, U.S electric transmission & distribution companies, and the Nigerian capital market may be very helpful. While the eventual rupture of the over-blown real estate market from Boston to San Diego shook many U.S. banks to their foundations, Canadian banks stood firm and healthy. Not that Canada is immune to the real estate crisis (Toronto’s bubble busted too!) but the Canadian regulators refused local banks attempts to lever-up their balance sheets with mortgage-backed securities while the Goldman Sachs of America could not have enough of these troubled assets on their portfolios. The cost to the public? Canadian government did not spend a penny in bank bailout while Goldman quickly closed out its credit default swap positions with AIG as soon as the stupid lawmakers approved the rescue plan.
The U.S. electric delivery market is heavily regulated even at a cost to the taxpayers. That cost however is outweighed by the benefits of sound and healthy utilities in the market. Transmission and distribution companies must go through stringent rate cases before they are allowed to commit capital to investment projects. Even when capital outlays are approved, these companies can only make reasonable return on investments consistent with market realities. These regulations, I would argue, have encouraged utilities to act “appropriately”. While auto companies and banks were crying for help, utilities did not layoff a single worker even in the face of unbelievable spike in fuel cost.
In a bid to create larger-than-life balance sheets, Nigerian banks loaned customers and investors who in turn purchased equities in the same banks. Stockbrokers illegally promoted equities without fundamentals and the head of the stock exchange gave testimonies in church for what the Lord has done. The devastating result of the unavoidable bust led many to conclude never to invest in Nigeria. The sovereign rating of the country was recently downgraded and we can argue that the collapse of the capital market is partly responsible. The default nature of man is evil. Without a big brother watching, I doubt anybody will even stop at the stop sign.
OLOYEDE is a Certified Public Accountant & received his MBA degree from an Ivy League College. He currently works in the Private Equity/Corporate Business Development sector. Prior to Business School, he worked for Accenture, Deloitte and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. He also holds a Masters degree in Accounting.
LALA LALLYNTON
Adam Smith used the ‘invisible hand’ to argue that while a man tries to deploy his talents to maximize revenue for himself, he maximizes the total revenue for the society as a whole.
Deregulation and free market capitalism has built more wealth and created far more economic progress than otherwise. It is the system that has over time proven to create lasting individual and national wealth. It is only when we allow greed and excessiveness to pervade the system that we have cracks. Deregulation unfairly takes the blame. History remains the best index for making a fair argument. We must not ignore the importance of various other factors that affect the economy of the day; most importantly politics and circumstances like war.
The present global recession has once again focused on the possibility of trying out regulation. I strongly disagree. While the current situation is easily ascribed to bad mortgages, hyper-inflated housing prices and atrocious financial dealings; history has shown us that the global economic story is a cyclical one. From the crash of 1929, the recession in the mid to late 1970’s, the decline in the 1980’s - all these historic events were brought about by overstretching the system. Regulation would not eradicate this. What most countries need to do is improve the effectiveness of their existing economic watchdogs such as S.E.C in the US. Looking back in time, all the above outlined recessions were followed by years of immense economic progress.
While it is not possible to affirm that free market is without frailties, regulation cannot be the alternative and does not offer the way forward. Most European economies are regulated and they’ve had their fair share of the economic downturn. Having lived and worked in the UK, I see that welfare states with up to 45% income tax are fast losing their abilities to compete in the global economy. And government having a major share in the capital market has not spared the UK from experiencing recession. The U.S.S.R comes to mind. Communism isn’t exactly like socialism in its model, but the workings are almost if not exactly the same. While the U.S.S.R failed for a number of reasons, the biggest culprit was the lack of innovation and ability to compete.
Adam Smith used the ‘invisible hand’ to argue that while a man tries to deploy his talents to maximize revenue for himself, he maximizes the total revenue of the society as a whole. That is, if everyone is allowed to fully express his capabilities; unhindered, he is able to compete, resulting in higher cumulative national wealth - which is the sum total of individual revenues. Countries like Singapore, India, and Brazil are fast becoming great economic achievement not because of increased government regulation but because they are deploying the ‘invisible hand’. Even China is becoming less regulated and as a result growing in leaps and bounds economically. In conclusion, deregulation is not evil. Rather, it is the machinations of people that lead to economic cataclysm.
LALLYNTON is a pharmacist and has worked in the pharmaceutical industry in Nigeria, United Kingdom and the United States. He enjoys literature, history and the study of international political economy.
RIBO WARI
In the case of Madoff, how can someone hide $50 billion fictitious securities from an auditor?
Not again!. Another scandal, another disaster and another new regulation. When will the cycle end? Don’t we already have enough laws? Why must all the new regulations be reactive? We keep going round in cycles. It is very simple. The people that run the finance industry are very smart people. THEY WILL ALWAYS FIND A WAY TO BEND THE LAW WITHOUT BREAKING THE LAW. So what do the lawmakers do? Well, they keep on adding new regulations when adding new regulation is not the solution to the problem. Yes, politically it makes the politicians look good by giving the perception that they are taking action. But practically, it makes no sense because nobody knows where the next Maddof or next crisis will come from. Hence any new regulation will address the past and not the future.
Anyone remember Sarbanes Oxley (SOX)? This in my opinion, was one of the most counterproductive regulations - as a former auditor, I can tell you from experience that the only good SOX did was to make more money audit firms and create jobs for accountants. The SOX regulations was set up due to the public outcry for action and what we got was a hastily created law that succeeded in only adding more administrative cost to public companies and discouraging private companies from going public. Why do we continue to add new regulations that will only act as a band-aid? Don’t we already have laws that say auditors should verify financial statements? In the case of Madoff, how can someone hide $50 billion fictitious securities from an auditor? In the case of the sub- prime crises, were there no laws that stipulate that income should be verified before loans are granted? What happened to these laws /regulations when the banks were giving loans to anyone with a pulse?
Some might ask, so what is the solution? I think the solution is to set up a very influential commission or agency that will be responsible for reviewing, monitoring and updating ALREADY EXISTING LAWS. The group will be very proactive and will include thought leaders from the finance industry that know what is going on.
Notice I said influential. The commission has to be influential to be able to enforce the laws when they notice any breaches or loop holes. Also, the commission has to have very smart people who are able to anticipate and respond to potential breaches or crisis by constantly reviewing and monitoring the changes in the industry. It is definitely a fact that before the current sub-prime crisis, there are people out there complaining about the way mortgages were being approved. However, there was nobody out there to address the issues noted. America chose to use the proactive approach to address and stop the terrorists and also in its Tax Laws. It is time it uses that approach in confronting greed in the financial industry.
If we are to believe that “The default nature of man is evil” as noted by Olalekan , then people will always look for ways to beat already existing laws and the only way to stop them is to anticipate the potential loop holes and put in place laws to cover them as the economy and market changes.
WARI is an entrepreneur and owns a transportation management & logistics company in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to venturing out into private business he was a consultant and worked for Deloitte & Coca Cola. Wari holds a Masters Degree and he is also a Certified Information Systems Auditor.
MR. S PANKO
It is therefore a paradox that the greatest virtues of capitalism are also its greatest undoing.
One of the core principles of capitalism is wealth maximization and to achieve this objective capitalism encourages greed, entrepreneurship, conceit and risk taking, sometimes to the detriment of the society at large. It is therefore a paradox that the greatest virtues of capitalism are also its greatest undoing. Just like the police is required to check public excesses and the military required to protect the sovereignty of a state from belligerent forces, so is an effective regulatory infrastructure required to check “laissez-faire” and protect the common good of the people.
Though you may say that we have enough regulations already, but there we part company. The current regulations as is, are vague, subject to interpretations and are easily exploited and manipulated by market participants to suit their own whims & caprices. Consequently, one of the solutions to averting similar financial crisis in the future is the development of regulatory frameworks that are clear, precise and accessible to the public so that the risk attitudes of companies can measured using the same yardsticks and benchmarks. Institutions violating regulations and taking too much risk can therefore be readily identified and “penalized” accordingly.
The job however cannot be left solely to the government, hence companies themselves must self-regulate and develop capabilities to question the risk-return dynamics of their own business decisions on a real-time basis using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Organizations that take risk management with levity may soon find themselves extinct; please ask the Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Countrywides of this world!!!.
PANKO is the CEO & Managing Partner of Blackinsey & Company - A top tier strategy & management consulting company based in Washington DC
Africa’s Best & Worst Persons of the Week - March 29, 2009
March 29, 2009 | 2 Comments
Best African of the Week - Tidjane Thiam: From Ivory Coast to Prudential:
Instead of screaming with a hyperbole, we can begin with a simple statement: last week, it was announced that Tidjane Thiam, a black man of Ivorian descent, will take over as head of UK insurance giant Prudential, which is in the FTSE 100. The FTSE 100 Index – informally called the “footsie” – is a share index of the 100 most capitalized UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.
And so what, you might ask: after all Barack Obama is now the leader of the free world, and was Obama’s father not an African from Kenya? Well, for one thing, this is the other side of the Atlantic, where an arguable case can be made that racism is less violent but insidiously more deep rooted. For another, this is the business world, and its another arguable proposition that political achievements for minorities always run ahead of economic ones. Consider these facts, for instance: The FTSE got its first female chief executive, Pearson’s Marjorie Scardino, in January 1997 and its first Asian chief, Standard Chartered’s Rana Talwar, in June 1998. However, before the appointment of Mr Thiam, there had never been a black chief executive.
So, now to the hyperboles: TT (as we will now fondly call him) was born in Ivory Coast to a father who would become a political prisoner. The younger Thiam, studied in France and after a stint with McKinsey & Company, returned to Ivory Coast in the 1990s to head several public bodies, including a ministerial appointment. He returned to McKinsey after the Ivorian coup of 1999 to become a Partner (another wonder), eventually joining Aviva as Head of Strategy. Prudential snatched him from Aviva and made him a Group Finance Director.
Go get more details on the life journey of this remarkable African (never mind the French connection), all you need to do is Google his name, or check Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidjane_Thiam). So we will spare you the details and the significance of his ties to Africa here. However, TT himself has always played down the significance of his racial background. In an interview a few years ago: “I spent a lot of my childhood in Africa and I just cannot see myself as a minority - I see myself as a human being. If you start wondering when something happens to you, whether it is because you are not or whether it is because you are a minority, life becomes very complicated.”
Well said. For being one of Africa’s freshest and most uplifting voice, Tidjane Thiam is Black Herald’s Best African of the Week. In particular, and for those who believe that their African accents might impede their progress in the West, TT said he finds it especially odd considering he is a product of the French education system and not a native English speaker.
Worst Africans of the Week - President Kgalema Motlanthe of South Africa:
But for preventing the Dalai Lama from attending a peace conference in Johannesburg last week, President Kgalema Motlanthe is Africa’s Worst Person of the Week! Mothlanthe’s excuse, wait for this, is that South Africa did not want to strain its relationship with China. The president’s spokesman added that South Africa did not want to be “the source of negative publicity about China.”
This is a disappointment on an astonishing scale. Whatever realpolitik South Africa’s new placeholder president is playing is ignoble. Among those with strong words of anger and condemnation are South Africa’s Retired Cape Town Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former president Nelson Mandela, the Nobel Institute Director Geir Lundestad. And if as an African you are not saddened by this, consider this: apartheid’s last president, F.W. de Klerk joined in the chorus of condemnation - when apartheid’s last man standing thinks you are intolerant and against peace, you have to be worst person earth.
And so South Africa’s President Kgalema Motlanthe is Black Herald’s Worst African of the Week.
Worst Africans of the Week: First Runner Up: Ibinabo Fiberesima:
Our runner-up for Worst Persons in Africa this week is Nigeria’s “Nollywood” actress and former beauty queen who killed a man in a reckless drunk-driving traffic accident four years ago. Ms Fiberesima was essentially given a slap on the wrist by a silly magistrate who found that she had caused the death of one Dr Giwa Suraj in a car crash on a highway in Lagos earlier in 2005, but nevertheless said Ibinabo had the option of paying a 100,000 Naira (about $600) fine instead of going to jail. Yes, you heard it – a man’s life is worth just 600 bucks to Ibinabo and the magistrate!
Luckily, the prosecutors appealed against the judgment and the higher court found Ibinabo guilty of manslaughter, calling the original magistrate’s fine “judicial recklessness” and sentenced her to five years in jail. Ms. Fiberesima had appealed against her five-year sentence but did not attend the hearing in Lagos. Judge Deborah Oluwayemi, who was obviously angry, told the court that Miss Fiberesima should be in jail while she files her appeal. “There are so many innocent persons in prisons awaiting trial while a convicted person is allowed to work about freely. We should not give Nigerians the impression that because someone is related to a ‘big man’ in the society then such individual can ignore court order.”
We agree – and for trying to use the weak judicial system to avoid responsibility, Ibinabo Fiberesima is our second runner up for Worst African of the Week.
These are our judgments, but you may know someone who is more heroic than our hero this week, or viler than our villain. If so, send us your comments at saint.james@blackherald.com.
