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Bill did a ton of positive stuff. The energy this guy had was amazing. I regret never meeting him but my girlfriend and an employee did. Right on the street. Just walked up and said hi, I’m Bill, nice city you’ve got here.Most of this stuff was good. Bad? Maybe didn’t intervene in Rwanda where the mass killings took place.The Clinton Presidency:1993January 22Abolished Restrictions on Medical Research and the Right to ChooseAs his first executive actions, President Clinton revoked the Gag Rule, which prohibited abortion counseling in clinics that receive federal funding to serve low-income patients. He also revoked restrictions on a woman's legal right to privately funded abortion services in military hospitals, restrictions on the import of RU-486, and restrictions on the award of international family planning grants (the "Mexico City Policy"). The President also lifted the moratorium on federal funding for research involving fetal tissue, allowing progress on research into treatments for Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, diabetes and leukemia. (Executive Memoranda, 1/22/93)February 1Helped States Take the First Steps Toward Welfare ReformPresident Clinton ordered the Federal Government to make it easier for states to receive waivers from government regulations in order to implement innovative welfare reform projects. Between 1993 and the signing of the Welfare Reform bill in 1996, the Administration granted waivers to a record 43 states. Those waivers laid the foundation of the new welfare reform law by strengthening work requirements, time-limiting assistance and demanding parental responsibility. (Presidential Directives 2/1/93)February 5Family and Medical Leave ActThe Family & Medical Leave Act — the first piece of legislation the President signed into law — has enabled millions of workers to take up to 12 weeks unpaid leave to care for a new baby or ailing family member without jeopardizing their job. The previous administration vetoed the bill twice. (PL 103-3, signed 2/5/93)March 3"Reinventing Government" Initiative LaunchedPresident Clinton asked Vice President Gore to head the National Performance Review aimed at making government work better for less. The Vice President's Reinventing Government Initiative has resulted in 377,000 fewer civilian employees in the federal government — the lowest level since the Kennedy Administration — and reduced federal spending as a share of the economy from 22.2 percent in 1992 to a projected 18.5 percent in 2000, the lowest since 1966.April 1Childhood ImmunizationsThe President launched a major childhood immunization effort to increase the number of children who were being immunized. Since 1993, childhood immunization rates have reached all-time highs, with 90 percent or more of America's toddlers receiving critical vaccines for children by age 2. Vaccination levels are nearly the same for preschool children of all racial and ethnic groups, narrowing a gap estimated to be as wide as 26 percentage points a generation ago.May 20Motor Voter Registration SignedThe Clinton Administration made it easier for millions of Americans to register to vote by allowing registration at the same time they get a driver's license. The Motor Voter law led to the registration of more than 28 million new voters, more registered voters than the passage of the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18 years. (PL 103-31, signed 5/20/93).August 10Clinton-Gore Deficit Reduction Plan EnactedPassed without a single Republican vote, the Clinton-Gore Administration's economic plan established fiscal discipline by slashing the deficit in half — the largest deficit reduction plan in history — while making important investments in our economic future, including education, health care, and science and technology research. This legislation also extended the life of the Medicare Trust Fund by three years. Fiscal discipline established by the Clinton-Gore Administration has turned the largest deficits in our country's history into the largest surplus. (PL 103-66, signed 8/10/93)Earned Income Tax Credit Expansion/Working Family Tax CutPresident Clinton succeeded in passing an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, giving a tax cut to 15 million of the hardest-pressed American workers. In 1999, the EITC lifted 4.1 million people out of poverty — nearly double the number lifted out of poverty by the EITC in 1993. (PL 103-66, signed 8/10/93).Student Loan ReformThe Clinton-Gore Administration created the Direct Student Loan Program, which cut red tape and administrative costs by eliminating subsidies and bureaucracy in the Student Loan Program. The program has saved taxpayers $4 billion since 1993 and allowed interest rate reductions for students. (PL 103-66, signed 8/10/93)Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Communities ProgramCreated nine Empowerment Zones and 95 Enterprise Communities with tax incentives and $100 million per EZ in discretionary investment dollars to spur local community planning and economic growth in distressed communities. At the President's request, Congress expanded the program in 1994, 1997, and again in 2000. To date, the EZ program has leveraged over $10 million in additional private investment into EZs. The EZ program represents the most ambitious incentives program ever offered by the federal government to promote private sector investment in distressed areas in America.Childhood Immunization InitiativeIn 1992, less than 60 percent of two-year-olds were fully immunized — the third lowest rate in the Western Hemisphere. The Clinton-Gore Economic Plan contained investments to guarantee the health of children and prevent the easily avoidable costs of preventable childhood diseases. Today, the nation's overall immunization rate for preschool children is the highest ever recorded.September 21AmeriCorps Community Service Initiative EnactedAmeriCorps allows individuals to serve communities across the country while earning money for college or skills training programs. Since its inception, 150,000 volunteers have participated in AmeriCorps; that means that more people have enrolled in this Clinton Administration initiative in its first five years than did in the Peace Corps' first 20 years. (PL 103-82, signed 9/21/93)November 30Brady Act SignedAfter seven years of debate under previous administrations, the President signed legislation requiring a background check before the purchase of a handgun and establishing a National Instant Check System. Since its enactment, the Brady Law has helped to prevent a total of more than 600,000 felons, fugitives, domestic abusers, and other prohibited purchasers from buying guns. Since 1992, the gun-related crime rate has declined by 40 percent. (PL 103-159, signed 11/30/93)December 8NAFTA RatifiedPresident Clinton worked to pass bipartisan legislation implementing the North American Free Trade Agreement, creating the world's largest free trade zone. Since passage of NAFTA, the U.S. manufacturing sector has created 400,000 jobs, and exports to Canada and Mexico support 600,000 more jobs today than in 1993. (Signed 12/8/93)1994March 31Goals 2000 Education Standards EnactedThis legislation provided assistance to states to implement high standards and challenging curricula to help all children succeed. Today, 49 states require students to meet tough standards in core subjects, and 48 states test reading and mathematics skills in elementary, middle and high school to ensure students are meeting those standards. (PL 103-227, signed 3/31/94)May 18Head Start Reform and Creation of Early Head StartPresident Clinton and Vice President Gore advocated for legislation increasing Head Start participation and quality. The new bill established minimum performance standards, strong accountability and created the Early Head Start program for children aged 0 to 3. The Administration has increased funding for Head Start by more than 90 percent since 1993. Head Start and Early Head Start will reach approximately 935,000 in 2001. (PL 103-252, signed 5/18/94)September 13Crime Bill SignedEnacted the Clinton-Gore Administration's tough and smart crime fighting strategy. The Bill contained tougher penalties, including "three strikes and you're out" legislation, helped states build more prisons and increased prevention and victims rights. As a result, the overall crime rate has dropped for 8 years in a row — the longest continuous drop on record — and is now at a 26 year low. (PL 103-322, signed 9/13/94)Assault Weapons BanPresident Clinton and Vice President Gore overcame intense opposition by the gun lobby to ban 19 of the most dangerous assault weapons. Thanks in part to the Clinton-Gore Administration's efforts to take these dangerous guns off the streets, overall gun violence has declined by 40 percent since 1992. (PL 103-322, signed 9/13/94)100,000 Community Police OfficersThe Clinton-Gore Administration succeeded in passing a bill authorizing local governments funding to hire and redeploy 100,000 community police officers. COPS helped contribute to a decline that brought the overall crime rate to the lowest level in 26 years. In 1999, crime fell for the eighth consecutive year nationwide. (PL 103-322, signed 9/13/94)Violence Against Women ActThe Clinton-Gore Administration fought for and signed this bill, which contains new penalties, resources to prosecute more domestic violence offenders, and quadrupled funding for battered women's shelters. The Administration also established a nationwide 24-hour Domestic Violence Hotline. This initiative represents the first federal effort to address domestic violence and violence against women. Today, the number of victims of domestic violence has fallen from 1.1 million in 1993 to 876,340 in 1998. (PL 103-322, signed 9/13/94)September 23Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund CreatedMeeting an early campaign commitment, the President signed legislation creating the CDFI Fund to support both specialized financial institutions and traditional banks that serve lower-income communities. As of late 2000, the CDFI Fund had certified over 400 community development banks, community development credit unions, housing and business loan funds and venture capital firms as CDFIs. The CDFI Fund has provided over $427 million in funding to institutions that provide capital and financial services to underserved markets.October 20Improving America's Schools ActThis reauthorization of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act ended the era of lower expectations for disadvantaged children by insisting that all students be held to the same high academic standards. The bill also strengthened accountability for student performance and required states to turn around low-performing schools.October 31California Desert Protection Act SignedThe largest land protection bill since 1980 protected nearly 8 million acres of wilderness and created three new national parks. (PL 103-433, signed 10/31/94)December 8GATT RatifiedThe Clinton-Gore Administration worked with a bipartisan majority in the Senate to pass legislation implementing the General Agreement on Tariffs and trade (GATT). This agreement allows American workers and businesses to compete in a freer, fairer, and more effective global trading system. (PL 103-465, signed 12/8/94)1995January 25Called for National Campaign to Prevent Teen PregnancyIn his State of the Union address, the President challenged Americans to join together in a national campaign against teen pregnancy. Both teen birth rates and teen pregnancy rates are now at the lowest level on record.January 31Loans Preventing Economic Collapse in Mexico IssuedAfter Congress refused to act, President Clinton issued $20 billion in emergency loans to Mexico to stabilize the country's financial markets. Loans from the United States and the International Monetary Fund stopped the collapse of the peso, prevented economic crisis, and helped the country return to solid economic growth. Mexico repaid the loans with interest three years ahead of schedule. U.S. taxpayers made a net gain of nearly $580 million from the loan.February 27Federal Child Support Enforcement ExpandedThe President issued an executive order stepping up federal efforts to collect child support payments. The Clinton Administration's strategy of encouraging parental responsibility and increasing child support enforcement efforts has doubled collections of child support from $8 billion in 1992 to $16 billion in 1999. (Exec. Order 12953)March 8Executive Order Preventing Permanent Striker Replacement IssuedIn order to maintain fairness and balance between workers and management, President Clinton issued an executive order preventing the federal government from contracting with businesses that hire permanent replacements for employees engaging in lawful strikes. (Exec. Order 12954)July 12Religious Freedom in Schools ProtectedIn order to protect religious expression in public schools while preserving the separation of church and state, President Clinton issued an executive memorandum outlining several principles of religious expression in schools. This directive clarified that under our Constitution students are free to express their religious views, pray and discuss religion at school in a non-disruptive and non-coercive manner and that teachers may teach about the importance of religion in art, literature and history. At the same time, schools and teachers may not endorse religious activity or doctrine, nor may they coerce participation in religious activity. (Exec. Memorandum 7/12/95)August 10First-Ever Comprehensive Plan to Reduce Youth Smoking ProposedThe Clinton-Gore Administration proposed the first-ever comprehensive plan to reduce youth smoking. The proposal required young people to prove their age to buy cigarettes, banned vending machines in places where minors can go, ended the marketing of cigarettes and tobacco to minors, and required the tobacco industry to fund an education campaign to prevent kids from smoking. The proposal took effect when new FDA regulations were announced on August 23, 1996.December 14Dayton Peace Accords SignedLeaders of the rival factions in the Bosnian civil war signed a treaty to end the nearly four-year-old conflict, formally approving the pact they had initialed in November in Dayton, Ohio after three weeks of U.S.-sponsored talks.1996January 23National Campaign to Prevent Teen PregnancyThe National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy was formed in response to the President's 1995 State of the Union. Since President Clinton took office, teen birth rates have dropped 18 percent, to the lowest level on record.February 8Telecommunications Reform SignedPresident Clinton and Vice President Gore achieved the first major overhaul of the telecommunications laws in 60 years. Reforms of the 1934 Telecommunications Act opened up competition between local telephone companies, long distance providers and cable companies; and required the use of new V-chip technology to enable families to exercise greater control over the television programming that comes into their homes. The Act also contained the Vice President's E-Rate proposal, which provides low-cost Internet connections for schools, libraries, rural health clinics and hospitals. (PL 104-104, signed 2/8/96)February 24Encouraged the Adoption of School UniformsPresident Clinton took steps to offer support and make it easier for schools to voluntarily adopt school uniform policies. Schools across the nation have demonstrated that school uniforms can lead to safer schools, more disciplined and orderly classrooms, and free teachers to focus on teaching and students to focus on learning.April 24Antiterrorism LawThe President signed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act into law at a ceremony at the White House. President Clinton first sent this legislation to Congress in February 1995 and called for additional antiterrorism measures and actions after the devastation of the federal building in Oklahoma City. The 1996 law included measures to combat terrorism at home and abroad including provisions to provide broad Federal jurisdiction to prosecute terrorist acts, bar terrorists from entering the United States in the first place, toughen penalties over a range of terrorist crimes and increase controls over biological and chemical weapons.May 17Megan's LawThe President signed Megan's law to require states to notify communities when a dangerous sexual predator resides or moves to the community. The passage of Megan's Law built on provisions contained in the 1994 Crime Bill, the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act, which promoted the establishment of state sex offender registration systems for child molesters and other sexually violent offenders.July 16Moving Welfare Recipients to WorkPresident Clinton took the first national steps to require welfare recipients to move to work. An executive memorandum issued by the President required participants in federal training programs for welfare recipients to work to agree to go to work within two years or face the prospect of losing their federal assistance. (Exec. Memorandum 7/16/96)August 3Food Quality Protection Act SignedThis Act established the toughest standards for pesticide residues in food ever, and for the first times required that the standards take into account special risks to children. (PL 104-170, signed 8/3/96)August 6Safe Drinking Water ActAmendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act required the strongest standards of safety and purity in America's drinking water while establishing a revolving loan fund to help communities upgrade their water treatment facilities. (PL 104-182, signed 8/6/96)August 20Minimum Wage IncreasedPresident Clinton and Vice President Gore fought for and won a 90-cent per hour increase in the minimum wage — increasing wages for 10 million workers. This increase was the first in 6 years and in 1996 it was the largest single-year increase ever. (PL 104-134, signed 8/20/96)August 21Kennedy-Kassebaum Health Insurance Reform (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)This bipartisan health insurance reform bill prevents individuals from being denied coverage because they have a preexisting medical condition. It requires insurance companies to sell coverage to small employer groups and to individuals who lose group coverage without regard to their health risk status. It also prohibits discrimination in enrollment and premiums against employees and their dependents based on health status. Finally, it requires insurers to renew the policies they sell to groups and individuals. As many as 25 million people have benefited from the greater flexibility that this law ensures. (PL 104-191, signed 8/21/96)Requiring Mental Health Parity for Annual and Lifetime Insurance LimitsTo help eliminate discrimination against individuals with mental illnesses, the President enacted legislation containing provisions prohibiting health plans from establishing separate lifetime and annual limits for mental health coverage.New Protections for Mothers and NewbornsThe President signed into law common sense legislation that requires health plans to allow new mothers to remain in the hospital for at least 48 hours following most normal deliveries and 96 hours after a Cesarean section.Eliminating the Discriminatory Tax Treatment of the Self- EmployedHIPAA increased the tax deduction from 30 percent to 80 percent for the approximately 10 million Americans who are self-employed. The President also signed into law a provision to phase it in to 100 percent in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.Fighting Fraud and Waste in MedicareThe Kennedy-Kassenbaum legislation created a new stable source of funding to fight fraud and abuse that is coordinated by the HHS Office of the Inspector General and the Department of Justice. Since its passage, nearly $1.6 billion in fraud and abuse savings has been returned to the Medicare Trust Fund. Since 1993, the Clinton Administration has assigned more federal prosecutors and FBI agents to fight health care fraud than ever before. As a result, convictions have gone up a full 410 percent saving more than $50 billion in health care claims.August 22Welfare Reform EnactedPresident Clinton kept his promise to end welfare as we know it by requiring welfare recipients to work, limiting the time they can stay on welfare, and providing child care and health care to help them make the move from welfare to work. The landmark bipartisan welfare reform law signed by the President also enacted tough new child support enforcement measures proposed by the President. Since January 1993, the number of people on welfare has fallen by nearly 60 percent, from 14.1 million to 5.8 million, the smallest welfare rolls in 32 years, and millions of parents have joined the workforce. (PL 104-193, signed 8/22/96)September 5Designated Commission to Design Patients' Bill of RightsPresident Clinton created the National Commission on Health Care Quality and charged it with studying the need for consumer protections and ways to guarantee the quality of care. Commission members represented government, consumers, health care providers, insurers, and businesses. The recommendations of the Commission formed the basis for the Patients' Bill of Rights. (Exec. Order 13017)September 18Created Grand Staircase-Escalante National MonumentThe creation of this National Monument preserved unspoiled remote canyons and extensive geologic and world-class paleontological sites. President Clinton was the first President to designate a National Monument since 1978 and throughout his term the President has protected more land as national monuments in the lower 48 states — over 4.6 million acres — than any president in history. (Presidential Proclamation, 9/18/96)1997February 19Launched Youth Anti-Drug Media CampaignThe President unveiled his National Drug Control Strategy that set forth a long-term national effort to reduce illicit drug use and its consequences. Highlights of the Strategy included: a new $175 million national media campaign targeting illegal drug use by youth; 500 additional border patrol agents to stem the flow of illegal drugs across the Southwest Border; and $40 million for counter-drug programs in Peru — the primary cocaine source country.March 4Banned Federal Research on Human CloningBecause of the profound ethical issues raised by advances in cloning technology, the President issued a memorandum prohibiting the use of federal funds to clone human beings and urged the entire scientific and medical community to adopt a voluntary moratorium on the cloning of human beings. (Exec. Memorandum, 3/4/97)April 24Chemical Weapons Convention RatifiedThe Senate ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, which makes the production, acquisition, stockpiling, transfer and use of chemical weapons illegal. (Ratified 4/24/97)May 20Created the Welfare to Work PartnershipThe Welfare to Work Partnership was launched at the President's urging to lead the national business effort to hire people from the welfare rolls. Now 20,000 businesses strong, the Partnership has helped an estimated 1.1 million welfare recipients move to employment. Under Vice President Gore's leadership, the Administration has also done its fair share, hiring 50,000 welfare recipients, and has fostered partnerships between employers and community and faith-based organizations that help families move from welfare to work.June 4Individuals With Disabilities Education Act ReauthorizedThe expanded IDEA applies the same high academic standards for all children, ensuring that children with disabilities learn the same things with the same curricula and the same assessments as all other children. It also ensures that more children with disabilities can be in regular classrooms and take part in all school functions including field trips and extracurricular activities. (Signed 6/4/97)June 12Established the Initiative for One AmericaTo help facilitate a national dialogue aimed at narrowing America's racial divide, the President appointed a seven-member Advisory Board on Race. Over the next 15 months, Board members, individually and in teams, held hundreds of meetings involving thousands of people in every region of the country. They submitted several policy proposals that have guided the Administration in its effort to close the racial gaps that still exist in America. These include increased civil rights enforcement, increased early childhood education and undertaking efforts to make sure all Americans benefit from our country's prosperity. The work of the Advisory Board also led to the creation of the One America Office in the White House to promote the President's goals of educating the American public about race, encourage racial reconciliation through national dialogue on race, identify policies that can expand opportunities for racial and ethnic minorities, and coordinate the work of the White House and federal agencies to carry out the President's vision of One America.July 16Stronger Air Quality Regulations ReleasedThe President approved the strongest air quality standards in history to control pollution from smog and soot. The standards could prevent 15,000 premature deaths every year and will improve the lives of millions of Americans suffering from respiratory illness. Enforcement of the new standards has been delayed by court action. (7/16/97)August 5Balanced Budget Agreement ReachedIn February, the President submitted the first plan to finish the job of eliminating the deficit and the balanced budget in 27 years. On August 5th, he signed the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, which finished the job of eliminating the $290 billion budget deficit. (PL 105-34, signed 8/5/97)$500 per Child Tax CreditAs part of the Balanced Budget Agreement, the President secured a $500 per child tax credit for approximately 27 million families with children under 17, including thirteen million children from families with incomes below $30,000. (PL 105-34, signed 8/5/97)Children's Health Insurance Program CreatedAt the urging of the Clinton-Gore Administration, Congress invested $48 billion for the State Children's Health Insurance Program — the single largest investment in health care for children since the enactment of Medicaid in 1965. This new program, together with Medicaid, will provide meaningful health care coverage for up to five million previously uninsured children — including prescription drugs, vision, hearing, and mental health services. Within three years of enactment, all 50 states have implemented S-CHIP programs, and over 2 million children have been covered. In addition, the number of states covering children up to 200 percent of poverty increased by more than sevenfold — to 30 states — during that time. (PL 105-34, signed 8/5/97)Strengthening the Medicare Trust FundWhen the President came into office, Medicare was projected to become insolvent in 1999. The Balanced Budget Act extended the life of the Trust Fund by an additional 10 years resulting in the longest Medicare Trust Fund solvency in a quarter century, extending the life of the Medicare Trust Fund by a total of 26 years and offering premiums that are nearly 20 percent lower today than projected in 1993.Modernizing the Medicare Benefit PackageThe BBA included a series of structural reforms which modernize the program, bringing it in line with the private sector and preparing it for the baby boom generation. These reforms: waived cost-sharing for mammography services and provided annual screening mammograms for beneficiaries age 40 and older to help detect breast cancer; established a diabetes self-management benefit; ensured Medicare coverage of colorectal screening and cervical cancer screening; ensured coverage of bone mass measurement tests to help women detect osteoporosis, and increased reimbursement rates for certain immunizations to protect seniors from pneumonia, influenza, and hepatitis.HOPE Scholarships/Lifetime Learning Tax CreditsPresident Clinton proposed and passed the largest increase in college opportunity since the GI bill. The HOPE Scholarship provides a tax credit of up to $1,500 for tuition and fees for the first two years of college. When fully phased-in, the Lifetime Learning tax credit will provide a 20 percent tax credit on the first $10,000 of tuition and fees for students beyond the first two years of college, or taking classes part-time. (PL 105-34, signed 8/5/97)Welfare-to-Work GrantsDue to President Clinton's leadership, the Balanced Budget Act included $3 billion over two years for Welfare-to-Work grants to help states and local communities move long-term welfare recipients and certain non-custodial parent in lasting, unsubsidized jobs. This funding, used for job creation, placement and retention efforts, has helped the hardest-to-serve welfare recipients and promotes parental responsibility among non-custodial parents who need to find work to honor their responsibilities to their children.Landmark Education Investments: America Reads, Charter Schools, Education TechnologyThe President succeeded in doubling investments in education technology, increasing charter school funding, expanding Head Start to reach more than 800,000 children, and increasing the maximum Pell Grant by 63 percent, to the largest maximum award ever. The Budget also provided $300 million for the President's America Reads Challenge. Together, these programs are the most significant increase in education funding at the national level in 30 years. (PL 105-34, signed 8/5/97)Created 20 more Empowerment Zones and 20 more rural Enterprise CommunitiesFollowing Congress' 1994 designation of Cleveland and Los Angeles as EZs, the President requested a Round 2 of 20 new EZs and 20 new rural Enterprise Communities. The Round 2 EZs received expanded tax-exempt bonding authority to increase their ability to stimulate private-sector job creation for low-income residents.August 9Created Smoke-Free Federal WorkplacesPresident Clinton issued an Executive Order protecting Federal Government employees and members of the public from exposure to tobacco smoke in the Federal workplace and encouraged Federal agencies to establish programs to help employees stop smoking. The Clinton-Gore Administration has also made our nation's health a priority by developing the first-ever plan to protect our children from tobacco, raising the federal tobacco tax, and by giving the American people their day in court against the tobacco manufacturers who engaged in decades of deception about the dangers of tobacco.August 13Required Drug Companies Provide Adequate Testing for ChildrenPresident Clinton directed an important Food and Drug Administration regulation requiring manufacturers to do studies on pediatric populations for new prescription drugs — and those currently on the market — to ensure that prescription drugs have been adequately tested for the unique needs of children.August 27America Reads Child Literacy Initiative LaunchedThe President set a national goal of making sure that every child can read independently by the end of third grade. To reach this goal, the President issued the America Reads challenge, calling for one million tutors — college, university students, senior citizens, and private sector employees — to help children learn to read. In 1997, Congress funded the initiative, with $300 million in grants to help states improve children's reading skills. More than two million children have been tutored to read by national service programs such as AmeriCorps, VISTA, and Foster Grandparents.October 9Reached Agreement to Provide Child-Safety Locks With HandgunsThe President announced an agreement with eight of the country's largest gun manufacturers to include child safety locks with all new handguns. The voluntary agreement was reached after negotiations between the President, the gun manufacturers and the American Shooting Sports Council. The President had previously issued an Executive Memorandum requiring federal law enforcement authorities to provide child safety locks for their officers' firearms.November 19Adoption and Safe Families Act PassedThis bipartisan legislation enacted many of the recommendations of the President's Adoption 2002 report. In order to meet the President's challenge of doubling the number of adoptions by 2002, the Act provides incentives to states to permanently place children in foster care. In 1999, 46,000 foster care children were adopted — more than a 64 percent increase since 1996 and the biggest increase in adoptions since the National Foster Care Program was created almost 20 years ago. (PL 105-89, signed 11/19/97)November 20Endorsed the Recommendations of the Historic Quality Commission.In 1996, the President created a non-partisan, broad-based Commission on quality and charged them with developing a patients' bill of rights as their first order of business. In October of 1997, the President accepted the Commission's recommendation that all health plans should provide strong patient protections, including guaranteed access to needed health care specialists; access to emergency room services when and where the need arises; continuity of care protections; and access to a fair, unbiased and timely internal and independent external appeals process. The work of the Commission lay the foundation for subsequent administrative and legislative initiatives to improve patient protections and quality improvement.November 21FDA Reform Legislation SignedThe President supported and signed the FDA Modernization Act of 1997, the first major food and medical products reform in 35 years. The Act cut approval times of new drugs in half, simplified the review process for medical devices, expanded participation in experimental treatments for AIDS, Alzheimer's and cancer patients, and protected consumers by ensuring accurate food labeling. (PL 105-115, signed 11/21/97)December 16NATO Expanded to Eastern EuropeSecretary of State Madeleine Albright signed protocols for the accession of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic into NATO. The expansion of NATO to include these three former Warsaw Pact nations was a historic step in ensuring peace and stability in Eastern Europe. NATO expansion was ratified in May 1998 after it was approved by a strong bipartisan Senate majority.1998January 7Child Care InitiativeThe President successfully initiated an historic effort to improve child care for America's working families. President Clinton's initiative responded to the struggles our nation's working parents face in finding child care that they can afford, trust, and rely on. The President's initiative helped working families pay for child care by more than doubling funding for child care subsidies and nearly doubling funding for Head Start; it built a supply of good after-school programs that will serve 1.3 million children in 2001; and, it is working to improve the safety and quality of care, and promote early learning through the recently passed Early Learning Opportunities Act.February 20Implemented the Patients' Bill of Rights for Federal Health PlansIn order to ensure that 85 million Americans in federal health plans benefit from essential health protections developed by the President's Health Care Quality Commission, President Clinton ordered federal health plans to comply with provisions of the Patients' Bill of Rights. The President's order guaranteed choice of providers and plans, access to emergency services, participation in treatment decisions, confidentiality of health information and a fair complaint and appeals process. Medicare, Medicaid, S-CHIP, the Indian Health Service, FEHBP plans, the Veterans Administration facilities, and the Military Health System are responding by ensuring that all protections that can be extended under current law be provided.April 11Good Friday Peace Accords SignedPresident Clinton helped conclude the Good Friday Peace Accords, a historic peace agreement between all the major parties to the long conflict over Northern Ireland. The accord represents the best hope in a generation for a just and lasting peace in Northern Ireland. (4/11/98)July 16Child Support IncentivesThe President signed into law the "Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of 1998," which built on prior legislative and executive actions to improve child support collections by establishing performance-based rewards for states on a range of key child support goals. The Clinton Administration has taken great strides in promoting responsible fatherhood; since 1992, paternity establishment has tripled and child support collections have doubled.July 21Improving Nursing Home QualityIn July of 1998, President Clinton initiated a new nursing home quality initiative that ensures swift and strong penalties for nursing homes failing to comply with standards, strengthened oversight of state enforcement mechanisms, and implemented unprecedented efforts to improve nutrition and prevent bed sores. Finally, the Administration recently instructed states to eliminate corrective periods during which nursing homes could avoid the imposition of sanctions, such as fines, when a nursing home is found to have caused harm to a resident on consecutive surveys, in order to put additional pressure on nursing homes to meet all health and safety standards.August 7Workforce Investment ActLong championed by President Clinton and Vice-President Gore, this bi-partisan legislation was enacted to streamline and bring greater accountability to our nation's job training system. (signed 8/7/98)October 7GEAR UP Initiative CreatedIn his 1998 State of the Union address, President Clinton urged Congress "to support our efforts to enlist colleges and universities to reach out to disadvantaged children, starting in the 7th grade, so that they can get the guidance and hope they need so they can know that they, too, will be able to go on to college." Congress enacted GEAR UP without a single dissenting vote. GEAR UP provides intensive early intervention services that have helped prepare up to 700,000 students at high-poverty middle schools for college. GEAR UP was included in the Higher Education Amendments of 1998, which also reduced student loan interest rates, saving students about $50 for every $1,000 in debt; supported partnerships between universities and school systems to strengthen teacher preparation and quality; and created the first federal performance-based organization to administer student aid. (signed 10/7/98)October 21Class Size Reduction Initiative LaunchedAfter initially refusing to provide any funding at all, Congress agreed to provide $1.2 billion for the first year of the President's new initiative to hire 100,000 new teachers to reduce class size in the early grades to a national average of 18. This initiative is the first comprehensive effort to reduce class size across the nation. (PL 105-277, signed 10/21/98)21st Century Community Learning CentersIn 1998, a Clinton Administration initiative launched a series of dramatic funding increases for before- and after-school programs, turning a small demonstration program into one of the most popular Federal education programs. President Clinton won $846 million for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program for 2001, up from only $1 million in 1997, and it will serve about 1.3 million children.October 23Wye Middle East Peace Agreement SignedAfter nine days of negotiations at the Wye Conference Center in Maryland, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat signed an agreement that will strengthen Israeli security, expand the area of Palestinian control in the West Bank, and enhance opportunities for the Israeli and Palestinian people. (10/23/98)October 27Head Start Expansion and Reauthorization (Human Services Reauthorization Act)The reauthorization of Head Start paved the way for further quality improvements, doubled participation in the Early Head Start program and moved toward the President's goal of providing quality Head Start opportunities for one million children. (PL 105-285, 10/27/98)Individual Development AccountsIn addition to reauthorizing Head Start, the Human Services Reauthorization Act of 1998 also created the Individual Development Account Demonstration Program to encourage low-income families to save for a first home, post-secondary education or to start a new business. (PL 105-285, 10/27/98)December 12Global Warming Protocol Signed in Kyoto, JapanWith critical leadership from the Clinton-Gore Administration, 160 nations agreed on the basic architecture of a strategy to combat global warming on December 12, 1997. This agreement is the first time that major nations of the world ever committed themselves to a comprehensive plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions.December 16Air Attacks on Saddam HusseinBeginning December 16, 1998, American forces attacked Iraq's nuclear, chemical, and biological programs, and its military capacity to threaten its neighbors. Saddam Hussein had announced that he would no longer cooperate with UN inspectors to conduct inspections that would guarantee that Iraq does not try and rebuild its capacity to create weapons of mass destruction.1999April 29Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999 SignedEd-Flex is designed to help districts and schools carry out educational reforms and raise the achievement levels of all children by providing increased flexibility in the implementation of federal education programs. In exchange, states are required to demonstrate enhanced accountability for the performance of all students.March 12Clarifying Over The Counter Drug LabelsThe President unveiled a historic new FDA regulation that, for the first time, requires over-the-counter drug products to use a new product label with larger print and clearer language, making it easier for consumers to understand product warnings and comply with dosage guidance. The new regulation provides Americans with essential information about their medications in a user friendly way and takes a critical first step towards preventing the tens of thousands of unnecessary hospitalizations caused by misuse of over-the-counter medications each year.April 27Education Flexibility Partnership Act SignedThis legislation expanded the Ed-Flex demonstration program to enable all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the territories to form Ed-Flex partnerships, giving states and communities the ability to use federal resources in the ways that best complement local efforts and innovation. Under Ed-Flex, states can waive many of the requirements of federal education programs in exchange for accountability for results.May 12100,000 Officers FundedUnder budget and ahead of schedule, the President's goal of funding 100,000 officers was reached. The President's successful community policing initiative has played a key role in producing the longest continuous drop in crime on record. In November 1999, President Clinton secured funding for the first installment of his 21st Century Policing Initiative over Congressional opposition. The new initiative will fund up to 50,000 additional community police officers by 2005 and equip them with new, advanced tools to fight crime. (PL 106-113, signed 11/29/99)June 16Leading the World in Eliminating Child LaborIn June 1999, the President traveled to the International Labor Organization Conference in Geneva, Switzerland to urge adoption of an historic international convention that would ban the worst forms of child labor. The next day, the Child Labor Convention was unanimously adopted by delegates at the conference. It represents the largest investment in American history to end abusive child labor around the globe.June 20Achieving Victory in KosovoPresident Clinton led the NATO Alliance in a 79-day air war that expelled Serb forces from Kosovo and restored self-government to the province, ending a decade of repression and reversing Slobodan Milosevic's brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing. In the face of Allied unity, American military superiority, and strong Presidential leadership, Milosevic withdrew his troops and permitted international peacekeepers to begin returning refugees. (3/24-6/20/99)October 29Medical Privacy Protections AnnouncedPresident Clinton announced new regulations to protect the privacy of personal medical records. The President's action gave consumers greater access to and control over their records, restricted the disclosure of protected health information to the minimum necessary, and established new disclosure requirements for researchers and others seeking access to health records.November 12Financial Modernization Legislation EnactedPresident Clinton signed the Financial Modernization Act into law, finally revamping a banking system that had been in place since the Great Depression. The new law will increase innovation and competition in the financial services industry, including traditional banking, insurance and securities industries, giving consumers greater choice and lower prices. The President insisted that the new regulatory structure permit banking institutions to expand into these newly authorized lines of business only if they satisfactorily serve the credit needs of their communities, and that the law include many of the consumer privacy provisions he proposed. (PL 106-102, signed 11/12/99)November 18Expanded Federal Investment in After-School and Summer School ProgramsPresident Clinton signed a significant increase in 21st Century Community Learning Centers, expanding the federal investment in after-school and summer school programs from a small pilot project. This initiative currently serves over 850,000 Americans nationwide, and will serve 1.3 million children next year.November 29Work Incentives Improvement Act SignedAfter months of congressional inaction, President Clinton insisted that Congress pass the Work Incentives Improvement Act as a condition of the budget agreement. This bipartisan Act allows people with disabilities to maintain their Medicare or Medicaid coverage when they go to work. This law represents one of the most important legislative advances for people with disabilities since the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act. (PL 106-113, signed 11/29/99)Leveraged $90 Billion in International Debt ReliefPresident Clinton has been an international leader in recognizing and solving the debt problems of developing countries. To meet the commitments he made at the G-7 Economic Summit in Cologne in June and at his address to the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in September, President Clinton secured funds from Congress to leverage over $90 billion of debt relief for developing nations. Along with funds from other creditor nations, this plan tripled the amount of debt relief available to the world's poorest nations. (PL 106-113, signed 11/29/99)December 14Enacted New Legislation to Help Young People Leaving Foster CareToday, when young people emancipate from foster care, they face numerous health risks, but too often lose their health insurance. The new law grants states the option for these young people to remain eligible for Medicaid up to age 21. HHS issued guidance to all State Medicaid Directors encouraging them to take up this option. (Public Law 106-169)2000March 17Historic Smith & Wesson AgreementThe President announced the Administration's historic Agreement with several cities and counties and the nation's largest handgun manufacturer, Smith & Wesson, to reform the way they design, distribute and market their products. Among the key provisions are new design standards to make guns safer and prevent accidental shootings and gun deaths, such as locking devices on handguns and the incorporation of smart gun technology, and sales and distribution controls to help keep guns out of the hands of criminals and to crack down on illegal gun traffickers, such as cutting off dealers that sell a disproportionate share of crime guns and not selling to dealers who sell at gun shows unless background checks are conducted.April 7Senior Citizen's Freedom to Work Act PassedIn his January 1999 State of the Union Address the President stated that "we should eliminate the limits on what seniors on Social Security can earn." In 2000, the House and Senate unanimously voted to eliminate the retirement earnings test for people above the normal retirement age. (PL 106-182, signed 4/7/00)April 15Created New National Monument To Preserve Ancient SequoiasPresident Clinton signed a proclamation creating the Giant Sequoia National Monument. This 328,000-acre monument will ensure lasting protection for 34 groves of ancient sequoias, the largest trees on Earth. (4/15/00)May 18Africa Growth and Opportunity Act and the U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act SignedExpands two-way trade and create incentives for the countries of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and the Caribbean Basin to continue reforming their economies and participate more fully in the benefits of the global economy. This area forms the sixth largest export market for the United States. (PL 106-200, signed 5/18/00)June 7Providing Medicare Reimbursement For Costs Associated with Participation in Clinical TrialsThe President issued an Executive Memorandum directing the Medicare program to revise its payment policy and immediately begin to explicitly reimburse providers for the cost of routine patient care associated with participation in clinical trials. HHS was directed to take additional action to promote the participation of Medicare beneficiaries in clinical trials for all diseases, including activities to increase beneficiary awareness of the new coverage option and actions to ensure that the information gained from important clinical trials is used to inform coverage decisions by properly structuring the trial.June 9Preserved Four Unique and Irreplaceable National MonumentsPresident Clinton signed proclamations creating four new national monuments to protect federal lands representing unique, irreplaceable pieces of America's natural and cultural heritage. The four are the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in southwest Colorado, the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in southern Oregon, the Hanford Reach National Monument in south central Washington, and the Ironwood Forest National Monument in southern Arizona.June 30Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act SignedThis Act eliminated legal barriers to using electronic technology to form and sign contracts, collect and store documents, and send and receive notices and disclosures. It also contained important protections making sure that consumers shopping on-line are protected to the same extent as paper transactions. (PL 106-229, signed 6/30/00)July 1Campaign Finance Disclosure EnactedPresident Clinton signed the first new campaign finance reform legislation in 20 years, closing a loophole that allowed tax-exempt groups to use undisclosed donors to pay for political ad campaigns. (PL 106-230, signed 7/1/00)July 13Plan Colombia EnactedPresident Clinton proposed a new aid package to bolster democracy and combat drug trafficking in Colombia. The agreement will enhance alternative development, strengthen civil justice and democratic institutions, and provide assistance aimed at reducing the flow of cocaine and other narcotics to the United States. (PL 106-246, signed 7/13/00)October 10China-PNTR EnactedThis Act was a crucial step to complete a major trade goal of the Clinton-Gore Administration, opening China's markets to American manufactured goods, farm products and services by allowing China to become part of the WTO, forcing it to slash import barriers against American goods and services. The United States agreed to maintain market access policies we currently apply to China. (PL 106-286, signed 10/10/00)October 24Providing Health Insurance to Women With Breast CancerPresident Clinton enacted legislation to provide a new Medicaid option to provide needed insurance coverage to the thousands of uninsured women with breast and cervical cancer detected by Federally supported screening programs. This new proposal will help eliminate the current and frequently overwhelming financial barriers to treatment for these women.October 27Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act of 2000The President signed this landmark legislation, which expands and strengthens the Violence Against Women Act, passed as part of the Crime Bill in 1994. The legislation also provides new tools and resources to combat the worldwide scourge of trafficking in persons and helps American victims of terrorism abroad to collect court-awarded compensation. From 1993 through 1998, violence against women by intimate partners fell by 21 percent. (PL 106-386, 10/27/00)Reauthorizing the Older Americans ActThe Older Americans Act ensures that millions of seniors nationwide have access to meals, nursing home ombudsmen, legal assistance, elder abuse prevention, employment and transportation services that are essential to their dignity and independence. This legislation includes the National Family Caregiver Support Program — a key Administration priority designed to provide respite care and other supportive services to help hundreds of thousands of families who are struggling to care for their older loved ones who are ill or disabled.November 13New Worker Health And Safety Rules To Prevent Repetitive Stress Injuries AnnouncedThe new rule announced by the Administration is aimed at reducing approximately 1.8 million repetitive stress injuries that affect workers. Based on extensive scientific research and public comment, the Administration's proposal would save 300,000 workers the pain and suffering associated with these injuries, and save American businesses $9 billion a year in workers compensation and lost productivity. The final rules will take effect January 16, 2001.December 15Passed $1.2 Billion for Emergency School RepairsIn the FY 2001 budget, President Clinton won passage of an historic $1.2 billion initiative for emergency school renovation. The initiative will help schools make much-needed repairs, such as roofs, heating and cooling systems, and electrical wiring. The assistance would be targeted to high-need districts and includes $75 million for public schools with high concentrations of Native American students.Passed the New Markets InitiativeThe FY 2001 budget also includes historic bipartisan New Markets and community renewal initiative -- the most significant effort ever to help hard-pressed communities lift themselves up through private investment and entrepreneurship. With the help of the New Markets tax credit, 40 strengthened empowerment zones and 40 renewal communities, this initiative will spur billions of dollars in private investment, and ensure that every American will share in nation's economic prosperity.Budget Includes Important Investments in Health CareThe President's longstanding commitment to expand access to quality health care for all Americans is reflected in the FY 2001 budget, which includes a multi-billion dollar effort to provide low-income children, seniors and people with disabilities, and those leaving welfare for work, with health care coverage. It also expands preventive benefits like cancer and glaucoma screenings for Medicare beneficiaries.

On the night of Friday June 7, 2013, a pre-wedding party was in progress at the Cavalli Club – named after the renowned Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli – within the 5-star luxury Fairmont Hotel in Dubai. There was champagne in abundance and some of the performers on ground for the all-night gig included DJ Jimmy Jatt, leading comedian, Basketmouth, singer Wizkid and rapper Naeto C. It was the summer party to be at.The next day, the wedding proper held at the JW Marriot Marquis Hotel on the same street. Most of the floors at the hotel and the nearby Mirage Palace were occupied by the over 300 guests who had flown in for the wedding from Nigeria to attend. Over 40 private jets were buzzing in and out of the United Arab Emirates with sitting governors, senators, traditional rulers, government officials, politicians and businessmen.The entire weekend was, as tabloids will call it, awash with pomp and pageantry. The groom was Oluwatosin Omokore, first son of Olajide Omokore, a maverick oil trader; and his bride was Faiza Fari, first daughter of Abdulkadir Fari, then Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources. Encomium Magazine reported that souvenirs at the wedding rumoured to have cost an estimated $8 million (N1.2 billion using the exchange rate at the time), included the Blackberry Q10 released in January of that year, other smartphones, Bang & Olufsen luxury speakers.In the aftermath, the then Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, acting on the recommendation of his petroleum minister and Mr. Fari’s boss, Diezani Alison-Madueke,suspended and later redeployed the father of the bride to another parastatal. His accounts were also reportedly frozen by the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. An insider at the ministry told The Nation newspaper that the wedding was deemed too lavish for a civil servant to fund and that in allowing his daughter marry the son of a major player in his sector, Mr. Musa had triggered a conflict of interest.In reality, the wedding had been primarily funded by Mr. Omokore who understandably spared no cost to give his first son the gift of a good wedding. Mr. Fari who reportedly had been a little too strict in demanding due process on some deals relating to marginal oilfields, was simply the sacrificial lamb who had to go for delaying Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s desires. He was one of many in a revolving door policy that saw five group managing directors and several permanent secretaries exit the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, in the five years of Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s tenure.Back in May 2010, the death of Umaru Musa Yar’adua precipitated the ascension of Goodluck Jonathan as Nigeria’s president. There was pressure on him from his kinsmen and others within the enclave of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, to run for the 2011 elections. It was only expedient to turn to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, a major source of election funding for incumbents since the return of democracy in 1999.To ensure a smooth process, Rilwanu Lukman, the incumbent minister who favoured a restructuring of NNPC into a full commercial entity, was replaced with Diezani Alison-Madueke in a cabinet reshuffle. Mrs. Alison-Madueke eventually became like an unofficial prime minister. From then till May 2015 when the Muhammadu Buhari presidency took over; anyone that stood in her way was removed either by her personally or the presidency acting on her recommendations.In an era where Nigeria earned over N51 trillion from oil and the commodity price peaked at $112 per barrel, it was the best of times to have the listening ears of the president and the discretionary powers of an oil minister as enshrined in the Petroleum Act of 1969. In that five-year period, Mrs. Alison-Madueke, whose name means ‘look before you leap’ in her native Ijaw, leapt to unbelievable levels of immense influence and the accompanying affluence.DIEZANI’S CHILDHOODBorn Diezani Kogbeni Agama in the city of Port Harcourt two months after Nigeria’s independence, the young girl had a decent childhood as the third of six children. Her father Frederick Agama – had a distinguished career at Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) as a management executive before retiring to become a traditional ruler of the Epie-Atissa Clan in Yenaka, Bayelsa State. Her mother, Beatrice Agama, is a retired schoolteacher. Though her parents were not as wealthy as rumoured, they lived a decent life by all standards. She grew up at the Shell residential camp in Rumuomasi, Port Harcourt and schooled in Warri, Port Harcourt and Mubi.An intervention from her maternal grandfather N. K. Porbeni, a renowned Ijaw chief from Delta State led her to study architecture rather than the creative arts. “He travelled all the way from Warri [to the UK] to tell me in no uncertain terms that my father hadn’t spent all that money on my education for me to study Fine Art”, she said in a 2007 interview.Mrs. Alison-Maueke began her architecture training in the UK. It is unclear why she abandoned her studies in the UK, but she later moved to the United States to do a 5-year architecture course at Howard University. She graduated in 1992. Right after her graduation from Howard, she was employed by SPDC and would continue to go through the ranks, heading strategy and planning team handling its joint ventures with the NNPC. By this time, she was married to a former military governor of Imo and Enugu State, Alison Madueke.In 2006, she was appointed Executive Director, Facilities, becoming the company’s first female Nigerian director in its entire history. Ann Pickard, the controversial American who headed Shell’s operations in Nigeria from 2005-2010 fast-tracked her from mid-level executive, singling out her and other promising young women for top roles. Perhaps Ms. Pickard, believed to have placed moles in the Nigerian government –according to US diplomatic cables leaked by Wikileaks – and described as “having a willingness to manipulate every available political angle to further the company’s interests”, saw a reflection of herself in the younger woman.While at Shell, she was rumoured to be involved in contract racketeering and it was not uncommon to see staff in the corridor whispering about her dirty deals during lunch breaks. “The Business Integrity Department takes time to act”, an insider in Shell Nigeria revealed on the condition of anonymity, because the company strictly forbids unauthorised persons from talking to the media. “It can be tracking an executive for years, so it would have caught up on her activities sooner or later. She got away with it because she was ED for just over a year.”In July 2007, she was named Minister of Transport. Her tenure was brief and uneventful save for when she wept openly in August that year while inspecting a bad road. Between December 2008 and March 2010, she was heading the Ministry of Mines & Steel Development.During her time in the Ministry of Mines & Steel Development, it funded ‘Hollywood Glamour Collection’, a new limited-edition collection of Nigerian gold and gemstone jewelry by the popular jeweler Chris Aire. The collection was unveiled at an exclusive event in Beverly Hills, California on April 7, 2010, barely hours after Mrs. Alison-Madueke had been moved to the petroleum ministry. In the months after, Mr. Aire registered new companies for the sole purpose of being awarded questionable contracts to handle crude lifting, earning over an estimated $30,000 daily.Her royal heritage, love for jewellery, style and the finer things of life inevitably drew swift comparisons with the late Princess Diana of Great Britain. In time, friends, well-wishers and hangers-on began to call her Princess Di.THE MENOne of these hangers-on was Donald Chidi Amamgbo, the lawyer who reportedly became her lover for a while when they met at Howard. Usually described by the Nigerian press as her cousin, he hails from Imo State, not Bayelsa and runs a thriving U.S.-based legal practice, Amamgbo & Associates. In 2012, he was put on probation by the state bar of California for misconduct.When government appointees and politicians in general assume office, friends, well-wishers, government contractors and stakeholders in their specific industry find ways to contact them through their network, sending unsolicited gifts to them and their relatives and taking out pages in the newspapers for congratulatory advertorials.“When someone sends you a $10,000 watch here or expensive jewellery there with no favours asked, you have to call one day to say thanks and have the person visit”, said a former staff of the ministry, who asked not to be named because he still works for the government and has not been permitted to talk to the press. “Or your daughter calls from Dubai that an unknown person paid her tuition for two years and sublet an apartment for her. Can you say no? Even the Bible says it that ‘A man’s gift maketh a way for him’.”No one knows for sure which gifts came to Mrs. Alison-Madueke from some of the men at the centre of the storm in her world today. But they worked regardless because they became her close associates soon enough. There was Kola Aluko, an oil trader seeking a big break; Mr. Omokore, a shipping magnate looking to diversify and swell his fortune. There were also the fronts and middlemen, Benedict Peters and Walter Wagbatsoma.One of the many billionaire conquests of supermodel Naomi Campbell, Mr. Aluko was born and bred in Lagos as one of the nine children of Akanni Aluko, a geologist and popular traditional chief in Ilesha, Osun State. His first reported stint in the oil business was in 1995, after years of wandering through the pharmaceutics and automobile industries, when he cofounded Besse Oil, an oil trading firm. By the mid-2000s, one of his serial companies, Exoro Energy International merged with a partner firm, Weatherford, to become Seven Energy. It was run by Aluko who had one per cent equity, alongside Mr. Omokore and a third man, Phillip Ihenacho.Kogi-born Mr. Omokore, who was given the title of Elegbe of Egbe in his hometown in October 2014 for his commitment to his town, was an affiliate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) from state to national level. As a government financier, he was rewarded with waivers and mega contracts from agriculture to oil & gas.From time to time, there were contingency bailouts requested by members of the inner caucus of government. After the 2012 flooding disaster, he donated N50 million to the victims.In February 2014, Lamido Sanusi, then governor of the central bank was suspended by Mr. Jonathan after a controversial statement about missing $20 billion in crude oil earnings. According to an insider in the oil & gas sector who did not want to be identified due to his current position, Mr. Omokore allegedly doled out $200,000 to a number of local journalists to begin a campaign against the outspoken central bank governor; Mr. Jonathan had apparently fallen for the bait and wanted the pressure off his beloved minister.In 2010, Shell was plagued with a lot of issues in its onshore operations. Oil spills across the Niger Delta had gotten it into a lot of legal tussles; its goodwill with the host communities had been on a decline since the days of slain environmental activist, Ken Saro Wiwa in the 1990s; militants had wreaked considerable havoc on its asset causing countless force majeures; the government was seeking to get more local marginal field operators out onshore. It has gone on a large-scale divesting spree since then. That same year, Shell fixed one of the major pipelines in the country – the 97 kilometre-long Nembe Creek Trunkline passing through 14 oil pumping stations – for $1.1 billion. By November 2013, it was on the market.The company went ahead then to divest its stake (45 per cent) in asset held in joint venture partnership with NNPC which held the remainder (55 per cent) on behalf of the Nigerian government, and focus on the less ‘dramatic’ offshore fields. The divested fields were the OMLs 4, 26, 30, 34, 38, 40, 41 and 42 and Shell sold them to indigenous operators, raking in a total $2.3 billion.Meanwhile NNPC transferred its shares to one of its many loss-making subsidiaries, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, for $1.8 billion as valued by the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR. Till date, over $1.7 billion is outstanding as only $100m has been remitted to NNPC which wholly owns it.On September 16, 2011, a Strategic Alliance Agreement (SAA) was signed between the NPDC and Septa Energy, a subsidiary of Seven Energy for OMLs 4, 38 and 41. Another SAA was signed with Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts (AEDC) Ltd for OMLs 30 and 34. These companies were registered in tax havens like the British Virgin Islands and in the United Kingdom, limiting the revenue payable to the Nigerian government in form of taxes.The contracts were awarded by single-source procurement, in clear violation of Nigeria’s Public Procurement Act which stipulates that bids be subject to public tender and competitive. Mrs Alison-Madueke also contravened a guideline under the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act 2010 that mandated companies wanting to lift Nigerian crude to show records of involvement in the industry in the preceding ten years.SAAs are usually signed between two or more companies for a number of reasons including collaborating to augment technical expertise, meet capital requirement or reduce high costs of operation. NNPC adopted this approach to meet the huge capital requirement for cash call and lack of required skill and manpower at the corporation.According to the terms of the SAAs, the partner company provides the capital outlay required to lift crude in the assets supplied by the NPDC as well as non-refundable entry fees of $0.30 per barrel and $0.010/mcf, 70 days after the start of exploration activity. It was to recoup its investment by lifting crude. Quite interestingly, another requirement was that the collaborating firm pay a fixed sum of $350,000 per asset annually for five years to facilitate the training of NPDC staff. This came to $1.4 million per year and Atlantic Energy never paid up.Till date, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) is pursuing Atlantic Energy to get its tax returns. And while the NNPC has moved to terminate the SAAs so it can get new partners who will pay as at when due, a court order obtained in October 2016 by Seven Energy, may be restraining it from doing so.“NPDC has till date paid only $100m for those eight OMLs but is still enjoying the benefits of an owner”, says Waziri Adio, executive secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) which tracks revenues accruing to government.An alternate commercial valuation byPricewaterhouseCoopers in 2015 took Shell’s divested assets into consideration and roughly estimated these eight assets to be worth $3.4 billion in total.“NPDC brought them on as partners because they are supposed to have financial capacity and technical capacity even though the assumption is that NPDC itself has financial and technical capacity to manage the assets”, Adio explains. “These firms had neither and the same assets were used in raising the money. What stops NPDC from raising the money and hiring contractors to do this job as well?”Essentially, an unnecessary medium was created to pay the SAA partners for sourcing capital which they used the national assets to raise. All of this was possible because of Mrs Alison-Madueke’s discretionary powers.In 2014, Mr Sanusi told the Senate that Atlantic had lifted over $7 billion worth of oil between January 2012 and July 2013, but while the NPDC had paid $400 million as petroleum profit tax (PPT), its partner had paid nothing, flouting the PPT Act 2007.“The profit sharing arrangement was too good to be true”, The Cable screamed in its analysis. “Under Article 10 (d) (i)-(v), the two parties were to share “profit oil” and “profit gas” in ratios of 90% for NPDC to 10% for Atlantic (“profit oil” and “profit gas” with regards to undepreciated costs associated to capital costs prior to execution of agreement); 40% to 60% (upon full recovery of development costs by Atlantic); and, thereafter, it would be 70% to 30%.”“Up to the full recovery of development costs related to the continental resources, “profit oil” was to be shared 40% to 60% and, thereafter, 70% to 30%. For the “profit gas” upon full recovery of development costs regarding non-associated gas by Atlantic, NPDC would take 30% and Atlantic 70%, and reverse to 30% to 70% thereafter. Profit gas” from the continental resources was to be shared 30% to NPDC and 70% to Atlantic, and thereafter, 70% to NPDC and 30% to Atlantic.”“When you look at the depositions from the US courts, you see that it (the SAA) was a cover for Mrs Alison-Madueke and others to cream off things that should have come to the Federal Republic of Nigeria”, Mr Adio concludes. According to a July 2017 affidavit at a federal high court, Messrs. Aluko and Omokore owe the Nigerian government the princely sum of $1,762,338,184.40.Curiously, the 55% held by NPDC was not given to the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), the NNPC subsidiary concerned with supervising Nigeria’s joint ventures (JVs), production sharing contracts (PSCs) and services contracts (SCs). Why then did the NNPC transfer them to the NPDC, which had no capacity for exploration?Back in March 1999, as former military head of state, Abdusalami Abubakar was wrapping up his eleven-month stint in office and preparing for the transition from military to democratic rule, the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act was sent to his desk. The bill was meant to stem declining investment in the upstream sector at that point in time due to the absence of a defined fiscal structure. Nigeria had also entered PSC agreements in 1993* and did not have legal backing for the agreements it was entering.Particularly significant was Section 16.For the purpose of the efficient management of Production Sharing Contracts and joint ventures under this Decree, the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (in this Decree referred to as “NAPIMS’) shall be incorporated into a limited liability company under the Companies and Allied Matters Decree 1990, as amended.Accordingly, NAPIMS shall be vested with the exploration and production properties and assets owned by the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the purposes of this Decree.It was following in a tradition of governments signing controversial or hard-hitting legislations at the end of their tenure. Nineteen days to Democracy Day (May 29, 1999), the bill was signed into law; however, a single clause present in the initial version had been deleted. It was Section 16.The amendment effectively opened the floodgates. “With that clause, JVs would have been incorporated”, says a source within the Ministry of Petroleum who requested to be named because he does not have the permission to on the matter. “If they were, as opposed to the unincorporated JVs agreement we run currently, quite a few things would not be permissible. NPDC would pay its bills, crude lifted will be accounted for, recently incorporated companies will not be given such juicy OMLs to operate, cash calls will not be paid ‘mistakenly’ etc.”“Will NPDC use shareholders’ funds to be doing rubbish?”, the source asked rhetorically. “Will an incorporated company setup to make profit be acting so silly? So many ifs.”If the deleted clause was a loophole, the discretionary powers given to the oil minister in the Petroleum Act was a spade that helped Mrs Alison-Madueke dig into depths previously unknown. The entire petroleum industry is controlled by the president and the minister; the former appoints the latter who is then empowered by law. Only the National Assembly could have checked her excesses, but it didn’t.“The political pressure on petroleum ministers to finance elections has turned NNPC into petty cash machine for government”, says Bassey (last name withheld for anonymity), an industry insider. “That the minister has discretionary powers that makes things worse and that’s what we’re trying to unbundle with the PIB. Discretion can make or mar our industry but it is clear what happens in Nigeria.”Who and what institutions dropped the ball and allowed her fully exercise those powers? “The CBN was definitely not one of them, because Mr Sanusi kept harping on the rot in the oil sector”, says Mr Bassey. “The greatest enablers of corruption are civil servants who keep quiet or look the other way to save their jobs because of the god complex of chief executives in Nigeria. Red flags were raised only because of inter-agency collusion with banks, audit firms etc.”“The government is one single unit”, emphasizes Kola Banwo of Abuja-based Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center. “Institutions have roles but usually, with the nature of patronage and corrupt party system we operate, corruption is endemic. The NNPC has internal mechanisms and systems to prevent fraud. The relevant National Assembly Committees have oversight roles and could have prevented this. The Office of the Auditor-General could also have made some difference. The EFCC, ICPC, etc. However, these all formed part of the problem and so did nothing then. Some action from one or all of these, could have reduced if not prevented what happened during that period.”Those in the know say it was the impunitywith which Mrs Alison-Madueke broke the rules that set her apart from those before her. There were times when she stopped receiving visitors at the office and made them come to her in the comfort of her official residence. She would keep governors waiting for hours, dodge calls from CEOs and chairpersons of multinationals, employ domestic staff on the bill of the corporation and more.Mrs Alison-Madueke requested kickbacks from her collaborators to approve dubious contracts and the infamous oil swaps which Buhari ended in November 2015. Mr Aluko for instance, admitted paying rent for Mrs Beatrice Agama’s luxury home in Parkwood Point, St. Edmund’s Terrace, St. John’s Wood, London, describing it as “simply gifts to a friend, given long after Atlantic had signed its deal.”Under her, the NNPC ran accounts that CBN and Ministry of Finance were unaware of. The president would regularly send people to her with odd financial requests and she became the nation’s unofficial treasury with the state corporation as her petty cash ATM. As a result, she was not remitting funds and records to the Ministry of Finance which as in turn unable to remit to the CBN.In the run-up to the 2015 elections, pressure mounted again on Mrs Alison-Madueke to deliver funding and then something happened. In October 2014, Bernard Otti a director at the NNPC was appointed deputy group managing director (Finance and Accounts), a position created entirely out of thin air. The press release justified his appointment as needed to transform NNPC into a commercially-driven entity but the truth was that he had to close some deals to secure election funding.After the Mr Buhari’s inauguration, he ran to the UK after reportedly entering a plea bargain with the EFCC; With his help, the EFCC traced monies allocated for the Ekiti gubernatorial elections and other issues. His retirement was later announced by Kachikwu in August 2015.Audits by both PwC and KPMG showed that the NNPC had at its discretion, spent an average of $6 billion annually from 2011 to 2013 and there were no watertight records. A similar amount had also not been remitted on a yearly basis by NNPC to the CBN.After studying the patterns and making calculations, Mr Sanusi cried out in a September 2013 20-page memo to Jonathan that $20 billion was missing. The NNPC claimed the money had been spent on subsidy payments for kerosene and pipeline maintenance even though Mr Yar’adua had ended the payments in July 2009. Another audit by PwC was submitted before the 2015 elections but never released by the government.“Civil society has always suspected that there was corruption in the oil sector”, reveals Banwo. “When information of extravagant spending for maintain jet emerged, civil society raised alarm, called for investigations and her immediate resignation or removal, which the then president ignored. The NASS set up a committee to probe but nothing came out of it.”“When in 2015, the then CBN Governor alleged that she was responsible for the missing $20 Billion from the NNPC coffers, civil society also initiated a campaign for her investigation and removal. The impunity in the then government allowed her get away with the deeds.”If Mrs Alison-Madueke was Princess Di, then Mr Aluko, who was last seen in Porza-Lugano, Switzerland, in 2016, was The Fresh Prince. He owned quite a few private jets and an $80 million yacht, Galactica Star; in September 2013, it was rented to Jay-Z and Beyoncé at the cost of $900,000 a week for two weeks for the latter’s 32nd birthday party. A big fan of Ayrton Senna, he is also a car racing enthusiast and placed third with a Ferrari 458 GT2 at Rome’s Vallelunga circuit in December 2012. Mr Aluko was also the owner of the eighth most expensive condo in New York, costing a mere $50 million.Omokore likewise had expensive lovers including Porsha Williams of; Sanomi and co would reportedly send jets to different cities to pick random girls for weekend parties in cities in another continent. It was the good life.The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a lawsuit under its Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative against the trio asking for the forfeiture of assets worth $144 million,proceeds from the oil contracts. Mr Aluko remains elusive while Omokore has been arraigned in court since July 2016. Mrs Alison-Madueke herself has been arrested even though she is yet to be tried in court. The proverbial mills of God that grind slowly, seem to at last be grinding well“She kept saying ‘when we come back’, says Mr Bassey. “She did not think that Jonathan would lose the elections. Maybe the opaque deals would have continued till now.”Beyond Mrs Alison-Madueke and her oil men, perhaps the biggest fear of stakeholders in the industry is that there could be deja vu in this administration or another. As the salacious details of her time in government circulate, the loopholes that made this possible remain open. The NNPC currently remains more of a political financing tool than a truly national oil company like her peers globally. Newcomers to the party will be happy to take notes – literally.This report was made possible by the BudgIT Media Fellowship 2017 with support from Natural Resource Governance Institute.http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/242769-special-report-diezani-men-deals-bled-nigeria.html