Australian company sabotaging Nigerian mint

How are the foreign companies jeopardizing the running of the Nigeria Minting Company? The Director is just talking without giving evidence.

I wonder how these companies would "sabotage" our mint without connivance of Nigerians. We must patronize our mint. No need printing passport booklets, ballot papers etc outside if we have, or can easily develop the capacity. Most of these foreign firms collect mobilization before they start buying the hard equipment needed to implement contracts in Nigeria.

If they are so good why do they outsource the printing of ballot papers to foreign firms? Perhaps before the next election the Security Printers can print them up with the PDP box already crossed so there is no mistake or upoar. Check with Prof. Wuruwuru

From my own point of view,there are skeleton in there cupboard...More evidence should be givenade

Its pathethic. I had a dreeam last night that war is on the way in Nigeria. May God save us. That guy with the mint shouldn't decievce. Are they not all thieves in Abuja. Provve to me that not more than 90% of Nigerian public worker steals and I will hang myself to death or drink poison. Go on thieves! God and we the masses will catch up with u all one day and you will dance to the music we will play for you by force.

Ewooo !! so the mint made profit of over 2.5 billion based on the effort put in between 2005 and 2008."it was run like a ministry and seen as a drain of government fund invested.NSPM plc was virtually crippled as at 2005" he said. That was the managing director of mint speaking. My dear M D, NEXT will hate you for this !!! because the period under review had a certain Chukwuma Soludo as the Chairman of Mint.If the news is negative it will be Soludo's tenure but if positive, Soludo suddenly drops out of the radar. Goodluck guys !

Four companies, each of whom want control for itself and are bidding separately, have come together to sabotage the MInt. Really? How? This Okoyomon should be carefully examined. He has captive customers and has done so much printing but has returned a profit of =N=2.5bn. In which year? Since 2005 or for only one particular year? Did he produce audited accounts? Audited by whom? The Mint used to have bad habits like holding board meetings in places like Geneva and Directors would fly themselves to exotic places outside Nigeria with their families, first class, with Mint money. Does that nonsense still happen? Who printed the polymer notes? Mint in Nigeria or Securency in Australia on behalf of the Mint. Okoyomon obviously doesn't want any Oyinbo to come and watch over him. Nothing wrong with that provided the CBN exercises the corporate governance oversight that is its responsibility as dominant shareholder. There are lots of questions still unanswered and one can only hope that the Senators asked the right questions. Did they? I doubt it.

Why do some Nigerians talk at random??? What is Okoyomon saying? Put your house in order my friend and stop blaming outsiders

Nigeria. This pepole always have a way of amazing me with ther stupid explanation. I wonder if they sometimes think before they talk. Foreign Companies Jeopardizing the runing of MINT in your own country?

Mr Okoyomon, Mr Okoyomon, Mr Okoyomon, how many times have I called you? Iam sorry for you. Instead of doing your job quietly, why did you talk to the press? Now that Arewa knows that Mr you are in charge, your days are numbered because an Alhaji is on his way. Mark my words,NIJA lovers.

Some government workers just enjoy being alarmists. What has Mr. Okoyomon said to justify the wild allegations he has made? Or is it because we are currently in a season of scandalous revelations that he wants to add his own two-penny worth? O ga O!

The major problem here is lack of transparency. If all NSPM plc needs are upgraded equipments then they don't have issues. But what my worry is what happens when the equipments are deployed-the story would still be that of corruption in high places. Otherwise there is no reason why we can produce Naira notes, election materials and e-passport here in Nigeria.

THANKGOD THEY HAVE NOT PUT THIS ONE ON SOLUDO AGAIN....ANAMBRA FORWARD TO DEVELOPMENT...NO SHAKING

I think we should refrain from peddling unsustantiated allegations Mr Okoyomon. You are accusing four FOREIGN firms of working severally or (or is it jointly?) to disstablise a Nigerian company..Haba. Lets stop passing the buck. If the truth be told, all what you are running is a printing press (little more sophisticated than some scattered all over Shomolu. What is the big deal about that. If you need yechnical assistance (which you surely do), then by all means, lets have an open tender and lets make the right choice. We are not fooled at all by all these so called "routine" stage-managed visits. A business must run and support itself. Use your retained earnings or raise fresh capital to buy required machniery. You have a near monopoly over security printing in Nigeria. N2.5m (unaudited) profit over 4-5 years is hardly an achievement. Roll up your sleeves bro and get to work; otherwise the oyinbos will take over right under your nose...

I think we should for once commend the Mint,they've bn able to make profit for the first time.We shd be able to run our Mint,so those calln for foriegn companies to come are just selfish.

Kudos MD,our eyes are seening ther things happening.

If all government establishments were working like this, we will have power and be a good country. Well done Mint! Dont let people who never see good things in anybody discourage you. Just do your best thats all!

Mallam Okoyomon, Have you ever met Mr Chapman? How many times, where and when? When you met him, did you promise to support Securency's bid to provide polymer substrate? Why? Could it be anything to do with money paid to that front of yours? Mallam Okoyomon, what is the rationale behind your buying the substrate from one foreign supplier only for another foreign company to print the currency? Why not give the specification to the one printer to source his material and provide a final product? Could it be because you can then award two lots of contracts and therefore receive two lots of egunje? Mallam Okoyomon, talk true because Nemesis is now round the corner. Unfortunately for Nigeria, this is only a tip of the iceberg of the malfeasance that has taken place under your watch. After Lamido finishes with the banks, he should look inwards at all the magic you have been performing at the Mint. How contracts double in price, how due process is subverted and contract limits are breached, how journalists are shut up with padded envelopes, how every query was a northern agenda against Soludo, how untried and untested machines are bought at unbelievable prices etc etc. Mallam CEO, instead of comparing your performance with a dysfunctional and unproductive past when the Mint was a civil service outfit, why not compare your performance against a benchmark of international best practice while discounting your infrastructure deficit? Mallam Okoyomon, is it not true that the Mint under your watch is scandal ridden and that you are simply trying to distract attention by claiming sabotage against foreign companies. These people are your suppliers and you cannot do without them. You are simply engaged in a game of deception. You take on work that you do not have the capacity to do and then sub-contract it to foreign companies. Is that not the case? Mallam Okoyomon, who prints the 1000 naira note? Is it the Mint or a foreign company? Is it not true that the bulk of the ballot papers for the last election was printed in South Africa? Now, the polymer notes are printed in Germany. What exactly are you beating your chest about? That you are the biggest middleman in town? Ewu sabotage! Aluta! Alhaji Gwobezentashi Janinjaka of Malumfashi via Saminaka

Agu-Jiegbe and Michael Ijere, hold your peace on Soludo. The Mint has long been a place for chopping mercilessly just like practically every other Nigerian parastatal. The takeover of majority equity and control by CBN may not be enough to establish that "business as usual" was brought to an end by Soludo. =N=2.5bn profit for a printing monopoly like the Mint in one year (please don't tell me it's for 2005 - 2008!) is absolutely NOTHING to write home about. We may never know the facts but the little that is reported here speaks volumes about yet another probable cess pit. It would be interesting to have a better-researched story on the performance of this company. Mr. Okoyomon may yet regret his amateurish attempt at crying wolf and throwing out a red herring.

I think the Director of Mint deserves a better understanding from the Public. The background of the comment is premised on the allegation of bribery in the printing of bank notes under the contract with the seccurency. The act of sabotage, to the best of my understanding, is the bribery encouraged by the foreign firms to undertake jobs ordinarily meant for the Nigerian Mint. for crying out loud, why would Nigeria print its E-passport from outside the country? God help us in this country

I'm just Speechless... If not 4 my unusual Patriotism nd Love 4 constituted Authories.. I would have joind forces to make this country un-governable lyk Somalia nd Pakistan. Im sick and Tired of this deceit nd insincerity! God Bless Nigeria!

Mahmud, Agu and Michael, I had not seen Alhai Gwobezantashi's post before I wrote mine. Mine was based on what I know (I did not hear; I know) of the MInt in the pre-Soludo days and my guess that since 2005 not much would have changed. That guess was strengthened into belief by the story of this Okoyomon's very obvious attempt to throw off any attention on himself by a resort to two very well tested anti-reform weapons - good old xenophobia and privatisation-bashing. Alhaji Gwobezantashi definitely has some pretty good clues where the skeletons are buried. He might even know the precise locations and if Okoyomon read the little the Alhaji wrote, he must have shivered in his airconditioned office and silk suit. This is neither Northern Agenda nor Soludo-bashing. Shameless thievery does not know tribe or State boundaries and we should focus on finding out what goes on in that Mint...if Next can help us find out.

Thw MD is just talking for talking sake. Our Mint cannot do any printing without buying the security papers from the so called 4 companies sabotaging the Mint.It is also the Executives of the Nigerian State owned companies that demand for kick backs before contracts are awarded. So let the MD of the Mint keep quiet and chop his own. We all know what obtains there.

EH ITS NOTHING PERSONAL ITS BUSINESS

The guy sounds optimistic. But I'll advise that instead of injecting funds into the company, more work should be pushed their way. Give Okoyomon the opportunity to source for funds and run the company like a real business.

When will Nigeria be finally independent? We all know the answer... because if She does,some greedy and highly powerful geeks would not be able to get richer and richer.

There is something dark about this man-Mr Okoyomon. This man have not told us everything he knew. He is running scare. He should tell us where his interest lies, at least we should be ready to forgive him or hang him. He has six company to choose from to pay for his holidays, beef up his foreign account balance or make him a share holder. Which one is giving you slight headache or migraine? Is it De la Rue, NSPMC, Securrency, Giesecke&Devrient, Royal Spanish Mint or FNMT? For sure it is not our own NSPMC, you can work your way through it with other vultures and rats running it. Come out clean Mr.Okoyomon.

What Mr Okoyomon have failed to tell us is if the new technology of printing currency in polyner notes was researched and paid for by MINT. Why would this 4 foreign companies he claims to be to be jeopardising his activities spends millions of dollars funding research in universities in there home countries seeking to improve on the service they provide. 2.5 billion profit is a poor return on the investment that has been put into MINT and is nothing to write home about. Just like all other agencies Mr Okoyomon lacks the basic skills needed to manage or run a security printing outfit and will advice him to keep quite and continue to collect his monthly allocation from the government until the next election when he can go for a killing.

Kudos to the MD. The Government of the Federal Republic should note that printing its currency locally is cardinal to home security. No Country will be able to protect your national currency from abuse better than your own local printer no matter how bad they are. This NSPMC should be accorded all the backing it need to grow and satisfy CBNs currency demand.