IBB wants economy opened up, Jonathan calls for restructuring of INEC Remi Tinubu: We do not need Nigeria’s money to survive
Obi: Conduct, Outcome of February Elections Showcases Nigeria’s Troubled State...Page 57
Pledges to deliver on campaign promises at inauguration dinner Says there'll be no basis for excuses
Buhari: My cows, sheep easier to control than Nigerians Bids colleagues from S’Africa, Ghana, Ethiopia, Burundi, goodbye Osinbajo prays for success of incoming presidency Senate congratulates new president to be, urges him to focus on tasks ahead Afenifere: Ex-Lagos governor’s administration will birth new Nigeria Biden’s delegation to inauguration arrived yesterday
Buhari Confers Special National Honours on Anyaoku, Osoba, Akande, Emefiele, Wigwe, Edun, Davido, 333 Others...Page 8
Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
A former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress and now Senator-elect, Adams Oshiomhole, yesterday, threw his weight behind the party’s National Working Committee’s choices for the positions of the Senate President and Deputy. This was contained in a statement by the Media Office of Senator Godswill Akpabio, who is contesting the position of Senate President in the 10th National Assembly.
According to the statement,
Oshiomhole stated this while addressing journalists at Akpabio/ Barau campaign office, after a closed door meeting with members of the Stability Group of the 10th Senate.
The former Governor of Edo State said, “As a former National Chairman of the party, I have no choice but support the position of the party leadership and the President-elect.
“At this point in time it is not about personal ambitions but the realisation of stability for the president to realise his renewed hope agenda for Nigerians.”
Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
Women professionals in the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the South-south geo-political zone, have declared support for the nomination of the former governor of the Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio, for the position of the 10th President of the Senate.
Coordinator of the group, Hon. Blessing Ossom, in a statement, yesterday, said it was of the view that from 1999 till date, the South-south geo-political zone had not produced a Senate President, adding that it was fair and just that every zone line up behind the South-south zone to produce the Senate President at this critical time.
It noted that as of the last count, the South East geopolitical zone has produced five Senate presidents from 1999 till date and equally produced Deputy Senate President for eight years, adding that the North Central and the North East have also produced Senate Presidents.
To this end, the group stressed that Akpabio’s Senate Presidency would achieve the 35% affirmative order long sought for.
“Taking a look at the pedigree of Senator Akpabio in corporate governance, it is our considered opinion that Nigeria and Nigerians will benefit earnestly from his vast wealth of experience. Nigeria needs at this time experienced hands to harness its economic and natural potentials and transform the same to tangible results for the benefit of Nigerians and humanity.
“We as mothers from the six States of the South South geo-political zone of the All Progressives Congress hereby align ourselves with the decision of the National leadership of our party, wherein our National leaders released a statement, zoning the Senate Presidency of the 10th Senate to the South South geo-political zone, and nominating Senator Akpabio for the position. We thank our leaders for standing on the side of truth, fairness, and justice,” it stated.
In his reaction, Barau, commended Oshiomhole for standing and embracing the decision of the party as a true partyman.
“I thank our former Chairman and Senator-elect, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole. He was the one who worked for the emergence of the incumbent Senate President,
Ahmad Lawan, and now that he has joined the Stability Group, we are home and dry. Akpabio also thanked Oshiomhole for supporting his
aspiration, saying, “I pray that our coming together will lead to victory on 13th June, so that we can together, stabilise the government of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. “
An aspirant for the position of the 10th Senate Presidency, Senator Osita Izunaso, has said it was his turn to become the President of the Senate based on his commitment and the sacrifices he had made for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Izunaso, according to a statement by his Media Office, stated this in Abuja in an interview with journalists shortly after the Interdenominational service held at the Ecumenical Centre, Abuja.
He declared that for justice, fairness and equity, the new President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, and the leadership of the APC should consider service and
sacrifice to the party in deciding who to support for the position of senate president. He said he was more qualified and suitable for the position than all the other contenders in terms of competence, experience, education, knowledge, integrity, loyalty and commitment to the party, and as such, the APC should compensate his sacrifice, dedication and loyalty to the party by supporting him for the position.
Izunaso explained that he yielded his time, energy and all in him together with the likes of elder statesman, Chief Bisi Akande and the current Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, to build the party from the scratch.
The aspirant also said he served as the National Organising Secretary for five years without any blemish maintaining that it would be grossly unfair and unjust for the leadership of the party to deny him the senate presidency when he said he was the best among the contestants.
“Beyond building and sacrificing for the party, I went through hell during the campaign for the presidential election. Some key figures in my local government and senatorial district were cruelly slaughtered just because they were supporting and urging people to vote for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“I am a founding member of APC, we travelled to Lagos every weekend for good six
months during the formation stages, to coin the name and get it right, we designed the logo, bringing together components of other parties making up the proposed APC, then before going for registration in the Corporate Affairs Commission.
“Governor Fashola is alive today, he knows all I am saying because he was part of the whole thing from day one. We conducted 36 governorship primaries, there was not a single litigation. Why? Because we did the right thing. You will agree with me that, that is what it means to show capacity. You know we battled a sitting President, therefore, we needed to do everything right to wrestle power from them.”
Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
A former governor of Ogun State, who has been elected to represent Ogun East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, has assured Nigerians that only competent and experienced individuals would be elected to run the affairs of the 10th Senate.
He also said the senators-elect were people of means and integrity, who would not be pushed about to make decisions based on bribery and sentiments.
Daniel, who gave the assurance
yesterday in Abuja during an interactive session with journalists, also said the incoming 10th National Assembly would not constitute itself as an opposition institution to the executive arm of government that would be led by Bola Tinubu.
Daniel explained that the executive arm of government would achieve a lot in the overall interest of Nigerians if it enjoyed the cooperation and support of the legislature and the judiciary.
He said, “The legislative process is not an executive function. The strength of the process is that
consensus can be rated. With the best of intentions, someone told me your network is your net worth. It is about getting a network. Both the executive and legislature must create networks.
“The people that have been elected into the 10th National Assembly represent the people and people say a ‘people deserve the government it gets’. If we go and elect a rogue, because you took his money, you have to stand in front of the mirror to find out what’s going on.
“I’m not a member of the Ninth Senate but there is a
school of thought that says the Ninth Senate probably achieves more than the Senate before it due to its collaboration with the executive.
“Let’s begin to look at empirical evidence. It was during the Ninth Senate that the Petroleum Industry Bill was passed and signed. It was the same Senate that gave us the electoral reform.
“I am not one of those that think the Senate should be the leader of opposition for the executive. Don’t forget that they are all members of the same party,” he said.
Akpabio Barau
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the conferment of special national awards on 339 Nigerians and friends of the country, in a parting gift to appointees, aides, staffers, and prominent Nigerians who have helped his administration these past eight years.
The 2023 honours list was signed yesterday by Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Ibiene P. Roberts.
The country’s second highest national honour of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) was conferred on former Commonwealth Secretary General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku.
Former governor of Osun State and first interim National Chairman of All Peoples Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande, was among 23 individuals bestowed with Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR).
Other individuals, who bagged the award, included Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele; Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika; Group Managing Director of Access Holdings Plc., Herbert Wigwe; and former Secretary General of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries
Deji Elumoye, Emmanuel Addeh, Sunday Aborisade, Emameh Gabriel, Michael Olugbode in Abuja and Hammed Shittu in Ilorin
Against all odds, and in spite of evidently hostile opposition, former Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, will be sworn in today as Nigeria’s 16th president, an office he once described as his lifelong ambition.
Watching Tinubu since 2007, when he left office as governor of Nigeria’s most populous state, it was never difficult to observe that most of his steps had been in the direction of becoming Nigeria’s number one citizen. He achieved this desire at the February 25 presidential election.
Last night, at the inauguration dinner/gala night, organised by the Presidential Transition Council (PTC) headed by Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, at State House Conference Centre, Abuja, Tinubu said he would not mismanage his lifetime aspiration. He acknowledged the mass of obstacles in the way, including corruption, poverty, and policy inconsistency, but maintained he would deliver on his campaign promises. Tinubu said none of the issues would be an excuse for nonperformance or failure.
Speaking at the dinner, too, President Muhammadu Buhari underlined the success the country had just achieved with the last general election. He claimed the electoral process had given power back to the Nigerian electorate. Buhari said he could not wait to return to his cows and sheep, which he said were much easier to control than Nigerians.
In Abuja, yesterday, at an interdenominational church service held earlier as part of activities marking the 2023 presidential inauguration, the vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, prayed for the success of Tinubu’s administration.
That was as the ninth Senate congratulated Tinubu and his vice, Kashim Shettima, on their impending inauguration.
Similarly, the pan-Yoruba sociopolitical organisation, Afenifere, expressed hope that the new government under Tinubu would herald a new lease of life in the country.
At the same time, United States President Joe Biden’s delegation to the presidential inauguration arrived Nigeria yesterday, among other state
(OPEC), Mohammed Bakindo, who was honoured post-humously.
Honoured also in that category were 10 serving justices of the Supreme Court. They included Hon. Justice Chima C. Nweze, Justice Amina Adamu Augie, Justice Uwani Musa Abba-Aji, Justice John Inyang Okoro, Justice Lawal Garba, Justice Helen Ogunwumiju, Justice Adamu Jauro, Justice Tijjani Abubakar, and Justice Emmanuel Agim.
Other awardees included former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba, and Emir of Borgu, Mohammed Sani Dantoro Kitoro IV.
Fourteen serving ministers were among the 75 individuals that
bagged Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) award. They included Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Sadiya Umar Farouq; Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare; Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Senator George Akume; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige; Minister of State, Labour, Festus Keyamo; Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Pallen Tallen, and Minister of Internal Affairs, Senator Rauf Aregbesola.
Buhari also conferred the Officer of the Order of the Federal
Republic (OFR) on 77 prominent individuals. Some of the recipients included former President, Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick; Publisher of Leadership newspaper, Isaiah Ndah, who was honoured post-humously; former Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC),Timi Alaibe; Maj. Gen Olayinka Kadiri; Dr. Pinheiro Adekunle Uthman; Sylvanus Ghasarah; Sulaiman Argungu; Gbenga Komolafe; Chief Isaac Shaahu; and Alhaji Nasiru Danu.
Others were Chairman, Bet9ja, Kunle Soname, Sunday Ameh, Oladipo Okpeseyi, Maj. Gen Benson Akinroluyo (rtd), Wale Edun, Mrs. Awele Elumelu,
and Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi, among others. Leading musician, David Adeleke (Davido), was among 85 individuals conferred with the Officer of the Order of Niger (OON) award. Other recipients included serving federal permanent secretaries Maurice Mbaeri, David Andrew Adejo, Nebolisa Arah, Ibiene Roberts, Tijani Umar, and Didi Easter Walson-Jack. Honoured also were Managing Director, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) Mariam Olusanya; Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank, Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe; presidential spokes, Garba Shehu; and Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity (Office of the Vice President), Laolu
delegations and world leaders.
For the winner of the February 25 presidential election, the road to the presidency had been filled with thorns and thistles. He was derided, shoved aside, and pelted with unprintable aspersions. But he kept his eyes on the ball and remained unwavering in the pursuit of his lifelong ambition of leading Nigeria.
At no other forum lately was Tinubu’s aspiration made more pronounced than during a meeting with the governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, on June 2, 2022. That was when he spoke with leaders and delegates of the party at the Presidential Lodge, Ibara, Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State.
Apparently feeling the heat of frustration by some forces within his party, and the seeming reticence
of Buhari, Tinubu, in an outburst at the event, said in clear terms it was his turn to lead the country.
He declared, “If not for me that stood behind Buhari, he wouldn’t have become the president. He tried the first time, he failed; the second time, he failed, the third, he failed.
“He (Buhari) even wept on national television and vowed never to contest again. But I went to meet him in Kaduna and told him he will run again, that I will stand by him and he will win, but you must not joke with the Yoruba people, and he agreed.
“Since he became the president, I have never received ministerial slots. I didn’t collect any contract, I never begged for anything from him. It is the turn of Yoruba, it is my turn.”
For a man then regarded as APC national leader, the battle line had been
drawn and there was no looking back.
Like he said at another forum, that power was not served a la carte, Tinubu literally grabbed power from his opponents and those unwilling to give it up for him. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared him victor.
With scores of invited presidents, heads of governments, and international organisations confirming their attendance at the presidential inauguration, Tinubu’s day has certainly come.
Arguably, Nigeria’s most strategic politician, Tinubu will be officially inaugurated at the Eagle Square, Abuja, today to lead a beleaguered nation contending with many paradoxes.
A senator under the then Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the Third
Akande. Olukayode Ajulo, Austin Jay Jay Okocha, Tiwa Savage, Victor Ifijeh, Bayo Onanuga, and Dele Alake were also honoured.
The president conferred Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) awards on 51 persons, including comedian Ayo Makun (AY); Executive Secretary, Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), Dr. Jumoke Oduwole; Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen; basket baller Ejike Ugboaja; Abubakar Umar; and Clement Nwakwo.
The president’s personal photographers for the eight years of his administration, Bayo Omoboriowo and Sunday Aghaeze, bagged MFR and Member of the Order of the Niger (MON), respectively.
The president also approved the Federal Republic Medal I to be presented to three persons, Mrs. Jumoke Awodigede, Alade Pamela, and Mohammed Abiodun.
Listed also for the national honours award for their diligent services to the country were Special Assistant to the President on Digital and New Media, Tolu Ogunlesi, MON; Personal Photographer to the Vice President, Tolani Alli, MFR; and NTA Correspondent, Adamu Sambo, and NTA cameraman, Emmanuel Anrihi, MFR.
Believed to have deep pockets, an assertion he has never denied, Tinubu’s enemies are as many as his supporters, if not even more. He boasts having loyalists across the country, ranging from officeholders that he singlehandedly raised, to persons who have benefitted from his large heart.
The former governor went through a brutal electioneering process, though he was up against a divided opposition, including Atiku Abubakar’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi's Labour Party (LP), and Rabiu Kwankwaso’s New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
The election was like the story of his childhood. Nothing good, for Tinubu, seemed to have ever come easy.
In an interview with The News magazine in 2016, Tinubu described the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) years as a “turbulent period to really rescue democracy”. He said it was meant to guarantee freedom, protect Nigerians, and ensure enduring adherence to constitutionalism.
Tinubu said of his struggles during the days of former dictator, General Sani Abacha, “I disguised with a huge turban and babanriga and escaped into Benin Republic on a motorbike. My old Hausa friend gave the clothes to me. In fact, when I appeared to Kudirat Abiola, she didn’t know that I was the one.”
He continued, “The MD of Mobil, Bob Parker, thought I was crazy, when I told him I wanted to join politics.
I also told the Finance Director, Akinyelure, that I wanted to join politics and use my brain for my country and that I couldn’t continue to be an armchair critic. The two of them could not believe what I said.
Republic, which was cut short by the military, and widely described as progressive, Tinubu was one of those, who stood up for democracy, and in the months and years that followed, his name and voice gained national prominence.
Not the type to give up without a fight, Tinubu joined the political process, when Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999. He joined the Alliance for Democracy (AD), perceived to be a progressive party at the time.
He later emerged Lagos State governor on the AD platform. He became the only exiled pro-democracy agitator elected at that level at the time. Years later, he was a key actor in the biggest merger of progressives in Nigeria’s democratic history, the APC, in 2014.
They said, given my career path in Mobil, if there was any chance of anybody becoming something there, then I would be the one. I stood my ground and said I would give it a try.”
Today, at his swearing in, Tinubu would probably look back, smile and say, “Yes, that was the best decision of my life!”
Expected at the inauguration ceremony this morning are 65 world leaders, including heads of state, past presidents, diplomats, heads of international organisations, and prominent Nigerians and representatives of foreign governments and agencies.
The inauguration programme, which ends today, began last week with the investiture of Tinubu with
Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, declared at the weekend that the outgoing administration tackled numerous challenges, implemented transformative policies, and laid the groundwork for sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
Ahmed spoke at a sendforth ceremony in Abuja, where friends, associates and development partners, among others, applauded her contributions to the country. She said the ministry on her watch implemented notable reforms to support economic recovery and resilience in the country.
The minister said the ministry was committed to medium-term revenue and expenditure frameworks to strengthen public finances, create fiscal space, and keep public debt on a sustainable path.
She stated, “Our dedication to revitalising revenues over the medium term led to improved non-oil revenue under the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative (SRGI).
“In spite of revenue challenges, government consistently met its debt service commitments, while post-financing assessments showed adequate capacity to repay loans.”
The minister noted that under her supervision, economic growth received further impetus,
with focus shifted towards fiscal consolidation.
According to her, “This included streamlining new taxes and intensifying expenditure control measures, with a resolute commitment to advancing expenditure rationalisation initiatives.
“The passage of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, which took effect in early 2022, and the consequent establishment of the NNPC Limited, are expected to increase investments and strengthen oil revenues.
“Additionally, there were executive orders on promoting procurement by government
agencies, the promotion of transparency and efficiency in the business environment.”
The outgoing minister stated that her achievements in office were made possible by collaborative efforts.
Ahmed said, “None of these accomplishments would have been possible without the strong support of all our critical stakeholders too numerous to list here.
"I acknowledge every contribution made by everyone to the work of fulfilling the ministry’s mandate, which I believe will ultimately result in improvements to the lives
"To the vice president and my esteemed colleagues in Federal Executive Council, and our friends in the legislature, I cannot thank you enough for the exceptional collaboration we have shared.
"I am grateful for the camaraderie, and shared determination we have experienced throughout our time together. " Economic diversification, she noted, remained a key priority for Nigeria.
Ahmed said added that consequently, development plans encompassed initiatives
for developing supportive infrastructure and reforms aimed at reducing dependence on oil, alleviating inequality and unemployment, establishing robust and effective institutions, and addressing governance issues.
The minister stated that major achievements and on-going initiatives, which would be to the benefit of Nigerians if carried forward by the incoming federal government, had been documented.
At the ceremony, Ahmed was offered encomiums by her colleagues, friends, old school mates and representatives
of international financial organisations, including the World Bank.
In his goodwill message, outgoing Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, said, “Though we faced a lot of challenges, we pulled through.
“We developed the National Development Plan (NDP) 20212025, a medium-term plan and agenda 2050 for the country."
The ceremony was attended by governors, ministers, members of the National Assembly, and first class traditional rulers, among others.”
Outgoing Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed has urged the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to step up the transition to Digital Switch Over (DSO), with a caveat that without the migration, the country’s digital economy was at the risk of being negatively impacted.
He issued the warning at the weekend in Abuja, at a send-off organised in his
honour by NBC management.
“Today, DSO has been launched in 12 states and we can do more. Without DSO our broadcast economy will be in shackles. Until we free our spectrum and we transit from analogue, we will be sitting on gold not knowing what to do with it,” Mohammed stressed.
He also urged the NBC to work closely with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Ministry of Communications
and Digital Economy to ensure it derives the dividends of DSO whenever the spectrum was sold.
The outgoing minister also recalled that the national broadcasting code was amended in 2015 to ensure the protection of every Nigerian, the industry and restore sanity to the industry.
He, however, lamented that the government was misunderstood and insulted through the amendment.
He said one of the clauses
that was amended was compulsory licencing and accessing to premium content.
“The amended clause in paragraph 6:3 under wholesale over ... It mandates rights owners to offer sports and news programmes for retail to all channels and commercial subscribers in Nigeria.
“The objective is to enable a level-playing field by reducing barriers to entry by allowing carrying of a robust bouquet of channels, thereby fostering competition amongst players
rather than technology.
“We wanted to encourage Nigerians who have set up broadcast stations in making sure the big guys like Multichoice do not kill small channels. We said if Multichoice goes to buy the Premier League, it must on demand from any other small station resell that right so that it will not need to buy a decoder to watch the matches in the PL. Unfortunately, we were misunderstood,” Mohammed said.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kassim Shettima to start with a clean slate by promptly making public details of their assets, income, investments, liabilities, and interests as they assume office as president and vice president respectively today.
SERAP also urged the duo to immediately prioritise the
full and effective respect for human rights, media freedom, the rule of law and the country’s judiciary including by promptly obeying countless court judgments which the government of President Muhammadu Buhari has repeatedly treated with utter contempt and disdain.
In the open letter dated May 27, 2023, and signed by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation
noted that the recent promise to ‘kill corruption.’
“However, this rhetoric is nothing new: the outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari used similar hollow anticorruption phrase in 2015,” the statement added.
The letter, read in part, “Buhari’s broken promises to make specific details of his assets public and to ‘kill corruption’ have opened up the country’s political and
electoral processes to a money free-for-all, discouraged political participation and contributed to impunity for corruption.
“Although President Buhari’s march to Aso Rock was predicated, in large part, on his campaign rhetoric to ‘kill corruption,’ corruption remains widespread among high-ranking public officials and in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
“Making public details of
your assets, liabilities, and interests would reduce unjust enrichment of public officials, ensure integrity in public offices and promote transparency and accountability as well as good governance.
“Nigeria is very rich but its wealth is gravitating rapidly into the hands of a small portion of the population and the power of corrupt enrichment has continued to threaten to undermine the political integrity
of the country.”
It added: “The tendency for politicians when trying to persuade Nigerians to vote for them is to conceal or hide traits that might make voters reluctant to vote them into power and to hide what they want to do with that power. But once voted into power, politicians become trustees of public wealth and resources and must remove the camouflage.”
In October, 2022, the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC)
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu launched an ambitious 80-page Action plan tagged Renewed Hope 2023. The document encapsulated his plan to transform Nigeria if elected the president.
As fate would have it, Tinubu was declared winner of the February 25, 2023 presidential poll having polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Atiku abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 6,984,520 votes and Peter Obi of the Labour Party who came third with a total of 6,101,533 votes, while Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP came fourth with 1,496,687 votes.
Nevertheless, Nigerians are not new to political parties’ manifesto. The 15th president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, did the same. But one thing has been constant like a northern star, the more documents the politicians launch, the country has been repeatedly worse off at the end of their tenure.
In the case of Buhari, if at all he had any policy document, the best such policy document did was to bring Nigeria’s economy to its knees, while poverty conveniently resides in Nigeria and unemployment rate in the country has been awarded a Nigerian citizen. It’s a kind of affliction that Nigerians do not pray for it to rise a second time.
Without sugarcoating it, due to past ugly experiences, Nigerians are not really enthusiastic about any policy document of any politician or administration. They are just ready to roll with whatever policy each administration brings.
However, having survived the eight-year rule of Buhari, Nigerians will be willing to see how Tinubu hopes to transform the country, build on the successes of Buhari, if any, and
reverse, most importantly the negative economic indices, while improving on the country’s security architecture, as well as reducing the unemployment rates.
Security Expectedly, in the 80-page document, Tinubu promised to establish highly trained and disciplined anti-terrorist battalions to tackle insecurity in the country.
The president-elect said the military units would be better equipped with tactical communications gear and new vehicles to give them a greater communications and mobility advantage over criminals, bandits and terrorists.
Tinubu assured that his government would reduce the country’s dependence on imported foreign military equipment by ramping up
domestic production of basic and essential military hardware and equipment, including small arms and ammunition.
He said: “Highly trained and disciplined anti-terrorist battalions (ABATTS) with special forces units will be created. Their objective shall be to seize the strategic and tactical initiative, in the hands of terrorists, kidnappers and bandits.
“We will further modernise our Armed Forces by ensuring that our weapons systems (land, sea and air) are capable of addressing current and anticipated security threats in the modern world. This shall also mean the recruitment of people who possess the technical skills required for today’s military.”
The president noted that the Police Force would be repositioned to deliver on its primary duties of community policing and maintaining law and order through crime fighting and prevention; while police personnel would be freed from extraneous duties such as VIP security and guard duties.
He explained that VIP Security and provision of security for government buildings, installations and other critical assets will be transferred to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). The NSCDC shall be evaluated and reformed to be better integrated with our internal security apparatus.
Tinubu explained that his government would implement measures to eliminate attacks on vital national infrastructure, saying this would be known as Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Plan.
He added that integral to this effort would be the deployment of modern technologies, tools and equipment to end crude oil theft, prevent vandalization of national assets, and reduce, to the barest minimum, environmental pollution
of the Niger Delta.
According to him, his government would combine increased aerial surveillance over land and sea with other cutting edge technology that would provide instant notification of intrusions or disruptions of oil pipelines and related installations.
He said such technology would also be deployed to monitor power stations, transmission and distribution networks, sea and airports, rail transportation, telecommunications and. other vital infrastructure.
Economy
In the document, Tinubu hinted that the budgetary procedure would be reviewed. He explained that budgetary custom based on the country’s annual budget and fiscal policies largely on the dollar value of projected oil revenue, not only artificially restrict the federal government’s fiscal latitude, it also unduly attracts the nation’s attention towards a single source of fiscal revenue to the detriment of others.
To him, to achieve optimal growth in the long term, government must wean itself from this limitation, adding, “A more efficient fiscal methodology would be to base our budgeting on the projected level of government spending which optimises growth and jobs’ without causing unacceptable levels of inflation. As part of this prudent growth-based budgeting, we will establish a clear and mandatory inflationary ceiling on spending. However, we must break the explicit link between naira expenditure and dollar inflows into the economy.”
Kemi Olaitan writes that the dissolution of Oyo State executive council provides an opportunity for Governor Seyi Makinde, to avoid pitfalls of the past as he begins another term today
The dissolution last Tuesday of the Oyo State executive council and termination of appointments of political office holders by Governor Seyi Makinde, for many political observers in the pace setter state was nothing but a climax to the imbroglio which had reared its head since the cabinet was inaugurated about four years ago.
Makinde, a businessman turned politician was elected governor in 2019 through a coalition of major opposition parties determined to dislodge the then ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state. Indeed, precisely a week to the 2019 gubernatorial election, three major governorship candidates, Senator Femi Lanlehin of Action Democratic Congress (ADC); Sharafadeen Alli of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN), of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), announced their alliance to work together for Makinde.
During the merger that led to Makinde’s endorsement as the sole candidate in 2019, there were allegedly some agreements reached with the trio and others who worked for the governor’s success in the election, that the PDP takes 64 per cent; ADC 30, ZLP 10 and SDP 5 per cent of all positions across board.
However few months into the administration there were bottled up animosity over the implementation of the agreement with series of peace meetings summoned to paper over the cracks yielding no result.
The formation of the cabinet in August 2019 and subsequent appointments of other political office holders by Governor Makinde, was to heighten the crisis which for four years refused to go away with major partners accusing the governor of not honoring the terms and agreement of the coalition.
First to opt out of the coalition was Lanlehin who feeling uncomfortable with the disposi-
tion of Governor Makinde to the agreement, said in a statement by his Media Office that he had opted out because of Makinde’s noncompliance with the spirit and letter of the terms of the pre-election agreement. The former Senator who represented Oyo South Senatorial district between 2015 and 2019, said, “A lot of water has passed under the bridge since the gubernatorial election of Oyo State on the 9th March, 2019, which overwhelmingly threw up Oluwaseyi Makinde as governor of the state.”
The statement read, “Senator Olufemi Lanlehin (Solan), Oyo State leader of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), hereby announces forthwith his personal withdrawal from the coalition he had with Seyi Makinde, the Oyo State governor.
“Senator Lanlehin, former Oyo State gubernatorial candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC)
joined forces with other opposition parties’ governorship candidates to back Makinde, and the gubernatorial victory was thereupon resounding.
“I wish the governor a resounding success in the performance of the onerous duties providence has placed on his shoulders. May the Almighty God see him through.”
With the crumbling of the coalition, Lanlehin eventually left the ADC to rejoin the APC where he played a prominent role in the last election serving as the Chairman of the Reconciliation Committee of the party.
Similarly, the gubernatorial candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli, who is now Senator-elect on the platform of the APC, was to pull out of the coalition, stating that the governor refused to fulfil the promise he made to the party before the election.
The former Secretary to Oyo State government in a release while reacting to statements that Makinde has fulfilled the coalition agreement with other parties, credited to one of the governor’s aide, Hon. Babatunde Oduyoye,
insisted that most of the assertions made were not correct, especially as it affects ZLP.
According to him, Makinde promised two slots for the party and one for a former governor of the state, Senator Rasheed Ladoja, revealing further that ZLP was promised two commissionership slots and two Special advisers of which none was fulfilled.
His words, “Most of the assertions are not correct, especially as it affects ZLP. He promised two slots for the party and one for Baba Ladoja. He fulfilled that of Baba Ladoja and no cause for anyone to complain about the one given to Baba Ladoja; he reneged on the promise he made to the party. I have never been or agreed to be a member of the Governor Advisory Council (GAC) as stated by Oduyoye. I also see it as an attempt to cause a crack in the ZLP especially between Senator Ladoja and myself.”
The crisis was however not to be restricted to the coalition parties alone as it also engulfed the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) itself with major party leaders that include former deputy Governor of the state, Hazeem Gbolarumi; former Majority Leader, House of Representatives, Hon. Mulikat Adeola-Akande; a popular PDP leader in the state, Alhaji Bisi Olopoeyan, Mr. Femi Babalola, Chief Nureni Akanbi, and many others, pitching tent against the governor.
While close aides of the governor had consistently maintained the position that Governor Makinde did not betray the agreement he had with the coalition parties, the governor himself was to reiterate this at the 85th birthday of the former Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Chief Michael Koleoso.
In this report, Adedayo Akinwale takes another look at Tinubu’s 80-page Action Plan to transform the nation.
Despite the tight contest of the Enugu State Governorship seat, the emergence of Peter Mbah the Peoples Democratic Party as the governor, was indeed, expected.
That expectations came to past and the people of the state didn't hide the joy as they occupied the most streets in the popular coal city to celebrate the important victory.
Jubilation erupted spontaneously also in the major towns and cities of the state immediately the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Peter Mbah the winner of March 18 governorship election after delay in announcing the results.
The celebration was a true manifestation that people's choice had emerged. Peter Mbah needs no introduction. Peter Mbah is a businessman with over 28 years experience in the private sector. His experience cuts across various sectors.
He has his footprints on public service, having served as the Chief of Staff to the Enugu State Governor and Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development of the Enugu State Government.
Mbah is seen as the man who has the capacity to turn Enugu State around.
According to 1 John 4:14 "And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world."
The savior (Peter Mbah) has come, and great things await Enugu. The choice of Peter Mbah is when a man marry a good wife. Mbah is a man I know and have followed very well, and his priority is how to grow Enugu State.
Whenever I have a chart with Peter Mbah, I am always impressed by his
Kelvin Jomboclear vision and ability to get the job done. I am very certain that Mbah will work for the growth and development of our darling state.
Peter Mbah before now, has always been a man eager to ameliorate the suffering of his people through job creation and
among other means, which led to the formation of his Peter Mbah Foundation (PMF), a non-profit and non-political organization aimed at improving standard of living.
His numerous human development endeavors has earned him several honours. As you take over the helm of affairs today May 29, be assured of my support
and cooperation in ensuring a greater and more formidable Enugu State.
Congratulations to you Your Excellence, Mr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, on your swearing-in today as the Enugu State Governor.
-Dr Charles Ndubuisi Mba wrote in from Enugu.
The long awaited moment is here as history is made with your swearing-in as the Executive Governor of Kano State Your Excellency.
Your emergence as the Governor of Kano State typify a victory for democracy. You pulled an unforgettable surprise during the March 18 governorship poll in the state when you defeated the anointed candidate of Abdullahi Umar Ganduje with a very high margin, 1,019,602 against 890,705 votes.
Your doggedness and courage for challenging the power of incumbency
Abdullahi Umar Ganduje who's intentions was to impose Nasir Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the people of Kano State is a true indication that you are the best man for the job.
Abba Kabir without any iota of doubt, will perform excellently well as governor because he understands the state. He was tutored by a well calculated political master Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso who has always wanted the best for Kano people.
Kwankwaso's political fan base is extremely large, powerful and well respected as long as Kano State is concerned. Abba Kabir in 1999, worked as a personal assistant to Kwankwaso while he was the governor of Kano State and was also retained as when Kwankwaso became Minister of Defence in 2003.
As a very humble and hardworking aide, Kwankwaso had to appoint Abba his Commissioner for Works, Housing and Transport in 2011 when he was re-elected for a second term.
In 2018, Abba popularity was percepti-
Governor Kabir
ble. He was loved by everyone. He had to participate in 2019 Kano Governorship election under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a contest many believed he won.
Abba Kabir Yusuf was
cruising to victory as the results of governorship election from 43 out of the 44 LGAs already released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) shows that he was leading with 16,080, 951,531 votes as against APC’s 935,451 votes. How it was upturned is
still unclear till today. Abba filed his case before the election tribunal but after all, the apex court dismissed the suit challenging Ganduje’s emergence for lack of merit.
As the popular Spanish quote stated "Que sera, sera" meaning 'Whatever will be, will be." Abba gave it a shot again in 2023, this time, under the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and won without much pressure.
Thanks to the people of Kano who came out in mass to exercise and protect their franchise to ensure that Governor Abba Kabir's mandate was not stolen again.
Your election no doubt, rekindled the hope of Kano people that a free and fair election is still possible in the country.
And as appreciation, Abba in his acceptance speech, promised that his administration would prioritise quality education, empowerment programmes, skills acquisition and entrepreneurship, and the completion of abandoned projects in the state.
The Abba Kabir we all know and have carefully followed, is tested and trusted. As Governor Abba Kabir assumes office today, I am confident and very optimistic that his administration will deliver many unprecedented accomplishments in Kano State.
I want to join other well meaning Nigeria in Nigeria and all over the world to congratulate you today as you drive Kano State to greater and greater heights. I wish you Your Excellency long life, good health, God’s protection and wisdom as pilot the affairs of Kano State.
-Chief Kelvin Jombo, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Sublime Industries Ltd & Sublime Hotels & Suites, wrote in from Lagos.
ChatGPT developer company OpenAI announces Nigeria has been included on the list of countries to try the ChatGPT app, making it the first African country to access the app.
According to industry analysts, this move marks a milestone for OpenAI and Nigeria as the innovative chatbot reaches diverse global users.
The ChatGPT app provides users with five key features, with plans to release an Android version in the near future.
Once a request is submitted, OpenAI processes the query and promptly generates an AI-generated response. Users can continue the conversation, provide additional information, or request a different answer. The app supports code blocks, allowing users to copy and paste answers as needed conveniently.
By default, ChatGPT retains the chat history for model training purposes so users can access their conversations on the desktop.
OpenAI tweeted that the app is now available in more countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Namibia, Morocco, United Kingdom, Israel, UAE, South Korea, France, Peru, Germany, Albania, Croatia, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, Nicaragua, the United States and more.
The ChatGPT app is not yet available for Android users, but the company said Android users are next. The ChatGPT app looks like the website version and syncs your conversation history from iPhone to laptop. The mobile app also allows you to use voice to enter queries.
According to the latest data breaches report, Nigeria is the 32nd most breached country globally.
Cybersecurity firm Surfshark reports that in Q1 2023, Nigeria came in 32nd place with 82,000 leaked accounts (previously 41st with around 50,000 in Q4 2022). The breach rate is 46 per cent higher in Q1 2023 than in Q4 2022.
Globally, data breaches declined in the first quarter of 2023, with 41.6 million accounts breached. This is almost 50 per cent less than the nearly 81 million in Q4 2022.
“Data breaches declined globally in the first quarter of 2023 if we compare it to the previous one. However, the fact that over 40 million accounts were breached in just a few months is still a cause for concern,” stated lead researcher at Surfshark, Agneska Sablovskaja. “Those whose data was compromised are at an increased risk of being targeted by cybercriminals as their personal information can be utilised for phishing attacks, fraud, identity theft, and other serious cybercrimes.”
Global data from Surfshark’s data breach statistics update (Q1 2023) records 41.6 million leaked accounts, with Russia being first in the world (6.6 million), followed by the U.S. (five million), Taiwan (3.9 million), France (3.2 million), and Spain (3.2 million). Taiwan saw the highest quarter-over-quarter increase (21 times), placing its total of four million leaked accounts third in Q1 2023. The country had only placed 26th in Q4 2022 with 191,000 breached users. Globally, data breaches declined, dropping to one user account leaked every second in Q1 2023.
Neuralink, a neurotechnology company co-founded by Elon Musk, has received
This week’s tech personality is the cofounder and President of Kippa, Duke Ekezie-Joseph. Kippa is a Nigerian fintech platform that’s digitising Africa’s MSME sector. Kippa, which initially focused on digital bookkeeping services, now provides a variety of business, financial management, and payment solutions for African MSMEs.
In 2021, the firm hauled in $3.2 million in pre-seed funding.
Kippa also received a ‘super-agent’ banking licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria that allows its merchants to offer a full suite of agent financial services to end customers and enables Kippa to integrate with national switches and provide B2B services to other fintechs.
Mobile phone and WhatsApp-friendly, Kippa targets small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), providing them with free, easy-to-use accounting software. Kippa then looks at potential financing opportunities and makes revenue by taking commission fees and earning interest by lending companies working capital.
To run smoother business operations and help Kippa transition into its next phase, Duke has been appointed as president of Kippa. As president, he will take full ownership of Kippa’s internal operations, including the marketing, product, finance, operations, and HR teams.
Serving previously as COO in charge of growth and business development, Duke has hands-on business development experience and is the mastermind of an operation. He had a short stint working at KPMG, Citibank and also an internship at TikTok alongside his brother and current Kippa CEO, Kennedy EkezieJoseph, where they were amongst the first three Africans to work with TikTok on their expansion into Africa. Duke also worked as a development expert at Y Combinator-backed startup, Releaf.
approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct human trials for its brain implant.
The announcement was made via Neuralink’s Twitter account, expressing excitement about the FDA’s approval of their first-inhuman clinical study.
The tweet also acknowledged the collaborative efforts between the Neuralink team and the FDA, marking an important milestone towards leveraging their technology to assist numerous individuals in the future.
Elon Musk commended the Neuralink team in a tweet on Friday, extending his congratulations.
These implants are designed to establish a direct interface between humans and computers. Musk has previously highlighted their potential to address disabilities by restoring vision and movement.
The coin-sized implants have already undergone testing on monkeys and pigs, demonstrating promising outcomes.
Musk, who also spoke at the presentation, expressed the vision behind the technology, stating, “Initially, we would empower individuals with limited motor function to operate their phones faster than someone with fully functional hands. As incredible as it may sound, we are confident in our ability to restore full body functionality to individuals with severed spinal cords.”
Activities in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) contributed 17.47 per cent to Nigeria’s real gross domestic product (GDP) in Q1 2023.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this in the Q1 GDP statistics. This shows an increase in contribution compared to the 16.2 per cent recorded in the same period last year.
Quarter on quarter, the sector also recorded growth in real GDP contribution when compared to the 16.2 per cent it added in Q4 2022. According to NBS, the ICT sector comprises the four activities of telecommunications and information services, publishing, motion picture, sound recording, music production, and broadcasting.
While the ICT sector recorded a growth rate of 10.32 per cent in real terms year on year in the quarter under review, the growth was driven largely by activities in the telecommunications sub-sector, contributing 14.13 per cent to the GDP in real terms.
The closest sub-sector to telecoms in the ICT sector in terms of contribution was broadcasting, which added 1.98 per cent. The ICT sector contributed 13.23 per cent to the total nominal GDP in the first quarter of 2023, higher than the rate of 10.55 per cent recorded in the same quarter of 2022 and higher than the 10.42 per cent it contributed to the preceding quarter.
The sector recorded 41.84 cent
growth in the quarter under review, a 21.30 per cent increase from the 20.54 per cent recorded in the same quarter of 2022 and 20.43 per cent points higher than the rate recorded in the preceding quarter.
WhatsApp, the instant messaging service owned by tech giant Meta, is introducing a long-awaited feature that will allow users to edit their message.
One clause is that the message will be marked as edited and others can see that it has been changed.
To make changes, users just have to long-press the desired message and select the edit option from the menu to complete the task. When you edit a sent message, it will be labelled as “Edited” when viewed by others, ensuring transparency, and preventing any secretive actions. However, the edit history itself will not be visible.
It is important to mention that all these features maintain the end-to-end encryption of WhatsApp. The new editing feature is currently being rolled out globally to WhatsApp users and is expected to be fully available in the coming weeks.
Whatsapp also mentioned that they are currently working on a new feature that will enable users to create their stickers within the app itself. While still in the development phase, the feature promises to provide a more fun and personalised experience for users.
Users will be able to select an image from their gallery and utilise various editing tools, including background removal, to perfect their stickers.
Kayode Tokede
Despite Nigeria’s tough operating business environment, the finance and insurance sectors gained 26 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) in real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the first quarter (Q1) 2023.
The growth rate from both sectors reached N949.11 billion, up from N781.98 billion that was reported in the corresponding first quarter of 2022, according to the latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The bureau revealed that the finance and insurance sector
consist of two subsectors: Financial institutions and Insurance companies operating in the country. Analysts have expressed that online transactions in the period under review increased significantly amid the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) currency swap policy. They stressed that increase impacted positively on finance and insurance contributions to real GDP outcome in the period.
President Muhammadu Buhari, in November 2022, officially unveiled the newly redesigned naira denominations of N1000, N500 and N 200 that were introduced by the CBN.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele had said the CBN was fully poised to make Nigeria a cashless economy, and had insisted that the January 31 2023 deadline for the exchange of old notes would not be extended, a development that compelled most Nigerians to adopt electronic channels for payment of goods and services.
The policy deepened online transactions in the period as Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS) reported 298 per cent increase in e-payment transactions, which reached N135 trillion in Q1 2023, up from N34.04 trillion recorded in
Q1 2022, reflecting the impact of cash scarcity on the payment culture of Nigerians. According to the report released by NBS, the finance sector closed Q1 2023 at N870.82 billion, up from N696.87 billion in Q1 2022, while insurance sector dropped from N85.11 billion in Q1 2022 to N78.3 billion in Q1 2023.
NBS stated that the contributions of Finance and Insurance to real GDP totaled 5.35 per cent in Q1 2023, higher than the contribution of 4.51per cent recorded in the Q1 2022 by 0.84 per cent points, and higher than 3.95 per cent recorded in Q4 2022 by 1.40 per cent points.
Speaking with THISDAY, Managing Director/Chief Economist at Analysts Data Service and Resources Limited, Dr. Afolabi Olowookere, attributed the growth in finance and insurance to the increased online transactions during the period.
On his part, the CEO, Wyoming Capital and Partners, Mr. Tajudeen Olayinka, said: “Even though the financial services sector contributed 5.35 per cent to first quarter GDP, what should interest any analyst is the growth rate in that sector between Q1 2023 and Q1 2022, which printed 21.37 per cent (24.96 pepr cent for Financial Services
Sector without Insurance).
“This means that the sector recorded an aggressive growth rate through excessive use of online and internet banking facilities because of cash scarcity, but without positively impacting the economy, as GDP growth rate slowed down to 2.31 per cent in that quarter.”
According to NBS report, “The finance and Insurance Sector consists of the two subsectors, Financial Institutions and Insurance, in which the former accounted for 91.75per cent and the latter 8.25 per cent of the sector respectively
Continued on page 26
Nume Ekeghe
Data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revealed that the federal government spent $894 million to service foreign debt obligations from January to April 2023.
The export and international payment data released over the weekend, showed that the federal
government spent $ 112.35 million in January 2023, $288.5 million in February, $400.5 million in March, and a significant service of $92.8 million for the month of April.
However, the data revealed also that total direct remittances for the first four months of 2023 was $451.61 million.
Further breakdown showed that in January, $79.2 million was
recorded, and in February, $83.76 million was recorded, while in March, $138.6 million was recorded and in April. $159.04 million was recorded.
However, the World Bank had disclosed that money sent home by Nigerians who live abroad is projected to hit $20.9 billion in 2022, with analysts citing the ‘Naira-4-dollar’ scheme and talent
exodus as major factors behind the expected increase in remittances.
According to the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief report, remittance flow to Nigeria grew by an estimated 8.85 per cent in 2022 from $19.2 billion in 2021.
Africa’s biggest economy saw its diaspora remittances plunge to $17.2 billion in 2020 amid the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic from
$25.3 billion in the previous year.
“Nigeria witnessed a sharp recovery in flows during 2021 (13.2 per cent), maintaining the improved momentum of 2021 into the first quarter of 2022,” the report said.
It however stated that the remittance growth fell in Q2 to 0.5 per cent, compared to the same period in 2021.
“Moreover, the country is reaping
little benefit from the surge in crude oil prices, while the expatriate community faces real income losses in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Euro Area,” the report further said.
The World Bank said remittances flow to sub-Saharan Africa grew an estimated 5.2 percent to $53 billion in 2022, with Nigeria being the largest recipient.
Chairman, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), and Managing Partner at Verraki, Mr Niyi Yusuf,
T
The challenges of poverty, corruption, insecurity, fiscal crisis, and institutional weaknesses are multidimensional, and addressing these will require vision, focus, and collaboration with various stakeholders, and considering the real needs and challenges of Nigeria’s diverse population. Nonetheless, by prioritizing inclusive growth (i.e., economic growth that is distributed fairly across society and creates opportunities for all) as a key economic policy driver, the new administration should be able to maximize policy quick wins that will immediately impact the livelihoods of Nigerians in the short run and lay a solid foundation for longer-term inclusive growth.
he new administration is coming at a time Nigeria and Nigerians desperately needed some real economic progress.So, to answer your question directly, I would recommend that the incoming administration prioritise the following twelve thematic areas: Pursue national unity and inclusion – the need to make every Nigerian feel belonged and believe in the Nigerian project is key to progress. Prioritise national security – this is the bedrock, without which the economy will continue to struggle. Stop oil production losses – this will help address immediate fiscal weaknesses and provide resources for long term development projects. Implement a phased subsidy removal (Fuel, FX) – subsidies are needed in the short term, but we can no longer afford subsidies given that it distorts the market forces in the long term. Drive more public works including creating a national highway network to connect all state capitals with the FCT – this will help ease supply chain burdens across several sectors, from agriculture to consumer goods while also creating jobs and boosting economic activities. Rationalise trade restrictions, waivers, and tax exemptions to reduce leakages and implement fiscal incentives that will help subsidize production to stimulate employment growth.
Improve government financial practices, reduce leakages, and improve tax collection to expand government revenue inflows. Technology already exists that can help the incoming administration achieve efficiencies in these areas. Pilot a student loan scheme as this will help the country develop human capital capabilities in priority areas (such as STEM) over time. Establish Commodity boards to guarantee prices for Agric produce – the multiplier effects of price guarantees and offtakers in the Agricultural sector are enormous. Attracting investments – the country needs to attract long-term domestic private capital, foreign direct investment, diaspora remittances, as well as foreign portfolio investments. PPP schemes – Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) frameworks create incentive mechanisms that align private and public interests, especially for infrastructure investments. Judicial reforms/ welfare of judges – this will give rise to judicial efficiency, independence, improved accessibility, and rule of law.
Sometimes, it may seem as if monetary and fiscal policymakers create policies that could be conflicting. To what extent do you think it is crucial for policy makers to come together and work in synergy to boost the economy. Do you see this synergy happening with the incoming administration?
Monetary policy affects financial conditions and the level of bank reserves (through money supply and interest rates regulation) while fiscal policy can put money directly in or take money directly out of people’s pockets (through taxation and government spending). Both aim to achieve price stability, full employment, and economic
Yusuf
growth. Alignment of policy makers will improve policy effectiveness e.g., taming inflation by reducing money supply vs reducing government spending/fiscal restraint. What we are witnessing now is lack of alignment between the monetary and fiscal policy as we have expansionary fiscal operations, driven by massive borrowings vis-à-vis contractionary monetary policy with interest rate hikes.
Achieving alignment between fiscal and monetary policy is a complex task that will require coordination and cooperation between the incoming administration and Central Bank of Nigeria. First, the government and central bank need to agree on common macroeconomic objectives, such as price stability, inclusive economic growth, low unemployment, and exchange rate stability. This alignment of goals provides a foundation for coordinated policy actions. Secondly, fiscal policy and monetary policy must be mutually reinforcing, and implemented in a way that supports the overarching macroeconomic objectives of the new government.
Thirdly, there must be transparency in decision-making processes to foster trust and understanding between the government, central bank, and the public. Clearly communicating policy actions, objectives, and their rationale can help align expectations and minimise uncertainty. I would also advise the incoming administration to ensure that the institutional independence of the CBN is strengthened. Finally, the government must periodically and objectively evaluate policy outcomes to assess the effectiveness of fiscal and monetary policies and identify any misalignments. Adjustments can then be made to realign policies as necessary.
As part of its economic reform agenda,
the federal government of Nigeria secured $800 million from the World Bank in April 2023 to mitigate the impact of removing the long-held fuel subsidy. The removal of this subsidy is expected to affect vulnerable and low-income households, as well as MSMEs that depend on fuel as a major source of energy. Considering this, what measures can the new government put in place to cushion the impact of fuel subsidy removal on these groups?
It is important to understand why fuel subsidy is considered bad for the economy. Subsidies distort market signals by artificially lowering the cost of fuel (petrol, diesel) for consumers. This discourages competition and investments especially in the downstream oil and gas sector. Fuel subsidies also impose a significant burden on government budgets (N3.36 trillion was earmarked for fuel subsidy in 6 months of the 2023 budget) and divert resources away from more productive sectors of the economy. We have also seen that subsidies tend to benefit higher-income households more than lower-income households. This is often referred to as regressive income distributional effect which exacerbates income inequality and socioeconomic disparities.
Fuel subsidy removal affects price level, the cost of living, reduces the consumption pattern, savings and investment level of the people and reduce overall economic production/GDP. To cushion impact of these on the macroeconomy and the vulnerable population, the government can consider the following initiatives: cash transfers and schemes for social safety net, human capital development (health, education, Income) via universal health coverage, universal basic education and universal basic income, improve power supply, renewable energy incentives,
in real terms in Q1 2023.
“As a whole, the sector grew at 22.37 per cent in nominal terms (year-on-year), with the growth rate of Financial Institutions at 25.99 per cent and -7.25 per cent growth rate recorded for Insurance.
“The overall rate was lower than Q1 2022 by 9.91 per cent points, and lower by 0.21 per cent points
than the preceding quarter. The quarter-on-quarter growth was 12.55 per cent.”
A member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the CBN, Festus Adenikinju, who is from the Department of Economics, University of Ibadan, said: “I fear that the staff output growth forecast of 2.64 per cent in Q1 2023
may not be realised because of the problems associated with the implementation of the currency redesign policy and the fuel queues in parts of the country for January and February 2023.
“The currency redesign policy imposed significant negative shocks on the economy as both aggregate demand and aggregate
Autogas/CNG revolution, investment in public transport mass transit scheme for passengers and products, fiscal transparency and accountability, with proactive communication, and engagement with critical stakeholders.
Considering recent shifts in the global economy, such as the profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the growing prevalence of technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI), fluctuations in global oil prices, etc., are there any emerging industries or sectors that you think have the potential for growth and investment in Nigeria, and what opportunities do you see for businesses and investors in these sectors?
Nigeria remains an important investment destination. We have the largest population in Africa, youthful demographics with median age of 18 years, abundant natural resources, strategic location (Nigeria is a gateway to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)), and a growing middle class with very impressive technology adoption rates. The business case for investing in Nigeria remains strong, and discerning investors will find opportunities in ICT/Cybersecurity for digital infrastructure, utilities (electricity, water, waste), trade (ecommerce, retail), logistics, clean energy, health, financial services (payments, embedded finance) and construction. Considering what needs to be done to modernise our economy, address infrastructure gaps, fix marketplace frictions, deal with financial exclusion, and other challenges, the opportunities for investors in Nigeria are enormous and very rewarding in the long run.
The business environment has been very challenging in Nigeria and globally, with negative implications for unemployment and livelihoods. In your capacity as the Chairman of the NESG, what is your advice to Nigerian businesses as they navigate this uncertain landscape and position themselves for success?
From what we know and have seen so far in 2023, the business environment will remain VUCA – volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. Therefore, I would encourage Nigerian business community to keep pushing and find innovative ways to institute more resilient and inclusive business models that targets the mass market, given the income distribution realities of the Nigerian marketplace.
There are various strategies businesses can implement, and a winning strategy will depend largely on the sector and unique business fundamentals. Nonetheless, let me state that this is the time that businesses must build cash reserves and protect revenue/cashflow by focusing on most profitable products/customer segments. I would also advise businesses to drive improvement in customer intimacy to understand changing customer needs and adjust products to achieve new product-market fit (PMF) especially affordability.
Businesses should avoid concentration risk through diversification (market segments, customers, products, geography, etc), reduce customer churn/retain customers and protect critical employees. Other strategies include reducing cash burn, changing to asset light model where possible (outsource, hybrid workforce, work-from-home, cloud migration, software-asa-service, etc.), protect supply chain, leverage financial instruments like insurance, hedging and credit, and automate where possible. A proven approach to navigating a VUCA environment is to build agility and flexibility with an antifragile mindset that allows the business not only to merely withstand shocks but improve as it benefits from the uncertainties. Reality is that some companies will come out stronger from the crisis.
supply were constrained. The informal sector and SMEs were heavily impacted by the huge net withdrawal of cash from the economy and widespread failures of online banking transactions.
“The effects of cash withdrawals constitute a huge shock, in my view that the MPC should wait to assess their net
effects on the economy and prices before considering additional rate hikes.”
integrity of the national legal tender, ensuring effectiveness of monetary policy, promoting the cashless policy and financial inclusion, and checking currency hoarding and counterfeiting. Unfortunately, various vested interests have worked assiduously to undermine the implementation for their private gains.”
of the Nigerian economy among other issues as
welcomes a new administration. Emma Okonji presents the excerpts:
The Alumni Association of Federal College of Fisheries and Marine Technology (FCFMT) and Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR) have charged the incoming administration to focus more on developing human capacities by strengthening maritime institutions in the country.
The Chairman Board of Trustees, FCFMT, Captain Fola Ojutalayo, said this, while speaking at the presentation of certificate ceremony to 87 sponsored students trained on free basic mandatory cadet in Lagos.
Ojutalayo said the institutions were core professional and technical institutions for maritime training in the country.
He also stated the need to domicile the foreign trainings that Nigeria expend its hard earned foreign exchange on, saying that it will significantly reduce the capital flight as well boost the capacities of maritime training institutions in the country.
“I want to encourage the incoming administration to focus on developing human capacity building by strengthening the Nigerian Maritime institutions. There are two government maritime institutions which are the Federal College of Fisheries and Marine Technology and the Maritime Academy of Nigeria. These are core professional technical institutions for maritime training in this country,” he said.
He stressed that the alumni would always try their best to support the students, while also admonishing the students not to allow the seed of the investment on them by the alumni and Institute to fall on grounds where it will not germinate.
“The alumni will always try their best to support the students. Do not allow the seed of this investment to fall on the ground where it will not germinate. The alumni is making this investment on you because in the future, we see great prospects in all of you. We want you to go out there to shine and excel. This will make the flag of this college to keep flying. This school has been opportune to produce a lot of record breakers not only in Nigeria, but all over the
world. I want to encourage you to go out there and do the same thing.
After few years we want you to come back and replicate this gesture by sending other younger students abroad. So this is just a token for you to go out there thrive, make us and your parents proud and make sure you don’t give up,” he said. Also speaking, the President of the Alumni association, Captain Williams Ogunsakin, informed that the certification was in fulfillment of STCW basic mandatory training on Security Awareness, Seamanship and Fisheries Resources Management. According to him, this is a basic requirement for all cadets to be able to serve on board a ship. He noted that the certification had been globally accepted and not limited to
Nigeria, adding that it is renewable after five years.
Ogunsakin also informed that a non-governmental organization, Tetra Foundation, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government of India to train Nigerian students on free scholarship. He noted that five exceptional students each from Nautical and Marine Engineering departments were now beneficiaries of the scholarship to study in India. While lamenting on the unavailability of ships in Nigeria in providing sea time opportunities for the students, the alumni however called on the government to float a National Carrier, stressing that it will enhance human capacity development among seafarers in the country.
The Chairman of the Board of Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc, Dr. Seinde Fadeni, has called on the Federal Government to release funds belonging to foreign airlines trapped in the vaults of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Fadeni who was addressing the 42nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company in Lagos at the weekend, said it was just fair that those who had worked hard for their money should be allowed access to the money worked for.
According to him, the federal government should speedily resolve the issue of funds belonging to the airlines, adding that it is just fair that monies legitimately earned should be released to the operators who earn such funds.
Continuing, the NAHCO Chairman said, “NAHCO stands with the airlines and calls on the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria to release these funds. This would give the government more credibility as well as increase foreign investors’
confidence in our nation.”
Global airlines body, the International air Transport Association (IATA), disclosed that as at April 2023, airlines trapped funds in Nigeria amounted to $802m. This is about half the total amount of trapped airlines fund in Africa which stood at $1.6 billion within the same period. Referring to these funds interchangeably as both trapped and blocked, IATA said Africa’s Central Bank vaults holds 66 percent of such funds.
Fadeni pointed out that government should be an enabler, providing the needed environment for legitimate businesses to thrive.
Sharing his views on the incoming Tinubu’s administration, he said: “I believe that there is a burst of new optimism in the country arising from the fresh hope that a new regime brings with it.
“NAHCO shares in this hope as also expressed by majority of local and international businesses. We are poised to take advantage of business – enhancing policies of the in-coming administration, he stated.”
Sunday Okobi
LEAP Africa, a youth-focused leadership development organisation, and the International Youth Foundation (IYF), a global youth development organisation with over 30 years of experience, have entered into a partnership to launch the Youth Enterprise Fund (YEF).
Both groups in positive youth development (PYD) said the YEF project would allow IYF and LEAP Africa to resurrect their historic partnership to implement new and innovative approaches that leverage their
shared expertise. Technical Advisor, Youth Agency and Engagement at the IYF, United States, Sarah Jonson, in a statement made available to THISDAY yesterday said: “When we first partnered LEAP in 2013 to support the strengthening of their Social Innovators Programme, our work together really focused on building the skills of young social entrepreneurs, facilitating access to networks and resources for youth-led projects, and advocating for the importance and credibility of youth-led social innovation.
“We are excited to work together again to build that model and success, and explore new frontiers in facilitating more sustainable access and strengthen the ecosystem for early to midstage social entrepreneurs.”
The YEF is funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to support the critical work being done by early and mid-stage social entrepreneurs. With flexible grants that will be sub-awarded to social innovators within LEAP Africa’s Alumni network, the Youth Enterprise Fund will support them to increase the impact of their work.
Employees of Airtel Nigeria, under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative and Employee Volunteer Scheme Initiative, paid a visit to Kuramo College, a government secondary school in Lagos, and donated modern routers, each equipped with 100GB of data and a two-month roll-over access fee.
The connection devices were donated by Airtel’s Information and Technology (IT) team, with
a mission to empower students with enhanced digital connectivity.
Speaking during the event, Director, Information and Technology, Seun Solanke, said: “Airtel aims to empower young minds by equipping them with the connectivity to imagine and unlock a world of knowledge and opportunities.
“For Airtel, it is no longer about being a smartphone network but giving people a reason to imagine, so that people can explore the possibilities
powered by technology and connectivity. The world is evolving, young Nigerians now have access to unlimited possibilities and can now create their own job titles and descriptions, which is why we now have YouTubers, social media Influencers and the likes.”
He encouraged the students to maximise the provision of connectivity to back up their future imaginations with the right information and resources, in other to ensure a bright future.
ASIWAJU TINUBU’S DATE WITH DESTINY
President Bola Tinubu cannot afford to fail, writes ABDUL OKWECHIME
See page 33
AMNESTY: FROM STIPEND TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP
KEN UGBECHIE reckons
PAPCOSOL is a reliable and practical strategy to reintegrate ex-agitators into the society
Governor Aminu Bello Masari bows out today after eight years of meritorious service to the people of Katsina State. But today is on 29 May 1950, today marks Masari’s 73 birthday, although he is not given to such celebrations. As he therefore hands over power to his successor, Masari can look back with satisfaction not only on a job well done but also for the service he has rendered over many decades to the people of Katsina and all Nigerians. From being general manager in charge of operations in the department of hydrological services, ministry of water resources to becoming the state commissioner for works, housing and transport in 1992, and then Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2003, Masari has had a distinguished career in the public service. But it is in the last eight years in Katsina that he has proved his mettle despite daunting odds.
Elected governor on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and reelected in 2019, Masari has done a lot to change the fortunes of the agrarian state. Eight years ago, Masari came up with an agenda for three critical areas: restoring education to its primacy, provision of health and infrastructural facilities and securing the state. Education, of course, was the in Katsina. Today, there is a considerable improvement in the total number of pupil enrolment and general performance in external examinations. “We have recorded external examinations,” said Masari in a rare moment of chest-beating that cannot be faulted.
See page 33
EDITORIAL
ENTER PRESIDENT
BOLA AHMED TINUBU
11 percent of pupils sat for the West African Examination Council (WAEC) while in the National Examination Council (NECO) examination, the maximum recorded was 20 daylight. The percentage of those who sat for the last WAEC examination was 69 per cent, and NECO, 91 per cent. For those who could not proceed to tertiary institutions, the state government, in partnership with United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), renovated and equipped 12 vocational training centres to cater for their needs. “Skills acquisition is key to developing small skill and medium skill enterprises as well as support daily lives. We can’t survive without bricklayers, mechanics, plumbers, carpenters, painters,” noted Masari who has over the past eight years prioritised the welfare of teacher and ensured their prompt promotion. was to clear the backlog of years of nonpromotion of teachers immediately he
Like education, Masari has paid great attention to the health needs of Katsina the healthcare system was in a shambles. The government resolved to elevate three premier hospitals (Katsina General Hospital, Daura General Hospital and Funtua General Hospital) to a level that would help them meet the health needs of the people. The improvements he brought about were in terms of equipment and numbers of personnel (doctors, pharmacists, nurses, midwives, technicians, and others). The government invited consultants from some other states to Daura, Katsina and Funtua in addition to the ones in Katsina to beef up the health services. “Our plan is to make sure any person who leaves Katsina for medical vacation is doing it based on his or her choice,” Masari had pledged while initiating the collaboration with 103 healthcare centres across the 34 local governments in the state.
In terms of infrastructure, Masari has done a lot in road construction. The completed roads include DutsinmaTsaskiya-Kukar Samu road, GoraMakaurachi-Gamzago, Dayi-Wawarkaza road, Fago-Kwasarawa-Maiadua-Koza road, and Marabar Sandamu-kwasarawa.
Some other ones like Dogon Marke to Kafur, Katsina to Dankama, Dankama to Maiadua Bumbum, Zango to Rugogo, Marabar Sandamu to Baure, Babanmutum have been rehabilitated. The government has also devoted reasonable attention to agriculture and the provision of water resources. The Ajiwa water production is performing ultimately. All the pumps, else in Ajiwa Water works, are brand new. Many reservoirs that have not worked in the last 20 years are functioning. Those in Malumfashi, Funtua, and luckily the one in Jobe is adding 60 million litres of water supply in Katsina.
As governor, one of the major challenges Masari faced is insecurity. Katsina, also the home state of the President, has become a playground for bandits, who kill, maim, and seize people for ransom. At one time when things became unbearable, the government held series of meetings with many of these criminals. As a result of the initiative, peace and normalcy returned with a resultant boom in commercial and economic activities in the state. But not for long. Barely two years later, due largely to lack of cooperation from the neighbouring states in the Northwest, banditry returned
negotiating with the bandits. “I wouldn’t have done it. They are not pushing for any ideological view; they are not pushing for any religious view. They are simply bandits, criminals, and thieves. Any person in the forest is a potential criminal and should be dealt with as such.” He learnt his lesson the hard way.
As a politician, Masari is renowned as a bridge-builder. That much was attested to by the APC founding national chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, in his recent memoir. Masari played a critical role in the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the APC presidential candidate, and he was in the forefront of Northern governors who worked tirelessly during the election. As a governor of Katsina, the home state of the president, Masari approached his duty with every sense of responsibility, and earned the respect of his people as well as those of fellow governors in the Northwest and beyond.
As he hands over the baton to Dikko Radda today on his 73rd birthday, Masari will easily be remembered by the people of Katsina State as a man who came, saw, and added value to their lives.
Ibrahim, a retired civil servant, writes from Funtua, Katsina State
As a governor of Katsina, the home state of the president, Masari approached his duty with every sense of responsibility, and earned the respect of his people as well as those of fellow governors in the Northwest and beyond
President Bola Tinubu cannot afford to fail, writes ABDUL OKWECHIME
ASIWAJU TINUBU’S DATE WITH DESTINY
KEN UGBECHIE reckons PAPCOSOL is a reliable and practical strategy to reintegrate ex-agitators into the society
AMNESTY: FROM STIPEND TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Email peter.ishaka@thisdaylive.com
It’s now time to walk the talk
This morning in Abuja, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the standard-bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 25th February election, will be sworn in as the President and Commander-inChief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. While being conferred with the national honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) by the outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari last of the occasion and the task that awaits him. “I must run this race and must do it well. On security, the economy, agriculture, jobs, education, health, and power and in all other sectors, we must make headway. The people deserve no less,” he said. with impeccable political credentials. Three decades ago, during the transition to civil rule programme of General Ibrahim Babangida, he was elected Senator. He later played a crucial role in the pro-democracy agitation against the military regime of the late General Sani Abacha as a member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) in exile. When democracy returned in 1999, Tinubu was elected governor of Lagos State where he served for eight years after which he was instrumental to the formation of the APC through which Buhari defeated the then incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015. However, Tinubu is assuming the reins of power
proportion of the population lives below the poverty line in a country often measured in superlatives. Education is limping. The hurried academic calendars which usually follow the all-too-frequent strikes by allow for very little attention to serious studies while under-funding the education sector has had collateral
EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI THE OMBUDSMAN KAYODE KOMOLAFE
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I M I T E D EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, ISRAEL IWEGBU, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU, EMMANUEL EFENI DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS SHAKA MOMODU, PETER IWEGBU, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR PATRICK EIMIUHI CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com
health sector where many of our doctors are trooping out of the country in an unprecedented wave of migration.
The enormity of the crisis at hand is compounded by the reality that several of the 36 states can hardly perform their routine duties. On the security front, Nigeria has practically become a lawless place where armed robberies, kidnappings, banditry, and terror reign supreme. Even though the nation’s armed forces have in recent weeks made remarkable gains against Boko Haram, the insurgents still constitute a grave and potent danger to the polity. From whichever angle one looks at the state of the nation today, Tinubu has enormous responsibilities on his lean shoulders. To run having a competent team and the capacity and willingness to take requirements. But much more important, now is the time for Tinubu to walk his talk on restructuring the country.
Our system, according to Tinubu three years ago, “remains too centralised with too much power and money remaining within the federal might and this imbalance leads to relative state weakness. We need to overhaul how revenues are allocated between the states and the federal government. This concept is one several decades. If we are to catch these other nations in development, it is a prerequisite that we match operations regarding the national government and our subnational political units.”
When complemented with mechanism for improving accountability, restructuring the country along the line proposed by Tinubu has the potential for strengthening good governance and human development in Nigeria. Now is the time to match his word with action.
We wish him success in his new assignment.
Letters in response to specific publications in THISDAY should be brief (150-300 words) and straight to the point. Interested readers may send such letters along with their contact details to opinion@thisdaylive.com. We also welcome comments and opinions on topical local, national and international issues provided they are well-written and should also not be longer than (750- 1000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive. com along with photograph, email address and phone numbers of the writer.
Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the beacon-bear-ing patriot certainly deserves sincere apologies, eight years after he graciously and peacefully left the corridors of political power, at Aso Rock, Abuja. And the apologies should in fact, come from the All Progressives Congress (APC) political party with its ‘Change’ mantra, which the millions of overtly naïve and gullible supporters swallowed line, hook and sinker. That played itself out of course, during its well- oiled, puerile propaganda-fuelled presidential campaigns back in the 2014/2015 season.
Nigerians should be wiser now, after the eight years of Buhari’s wasted years which some concerned analysts describe as that of the season of ‘Sorrows, Tears and Blood’ (STB), apologies to the late Afrobeat icon and irrepressible activist, Fela Anikulapo Kuti.
Lest we belittle it, the key element in driving every relationship forward is Trust. Right from the family unit, through that of our educational and religious institutions to the work place factor is violated, it leads to crisis, chaos and if not reined in it
ly, this has been the rule rather than the exception over the past fear-fuelled years of the outgoing administration of Buhari.
If in doubt, kindly consider the comparisons of the quality of life of the average Nigerian, back in May, 2015 and as at this 8.06% to 24.06%, from 2014 to 2023. We recall that petrol that sold for N97 per litre back in 2014/15 has jumped up to N200 per litre. A 50 kg bag of rice that cost N10,000 has gone up to N31,000 and above, depending on which part of Nigeria one lives or plies his trade. While a 50kg of beans sold for N16,000 back then has since galloped to N60,000.
Similarly, a tuber of yam that went for N250 then has escalated to N700 and a bag of pure water that used to sell for N50 has since jerked up to N200. The naira exchange rate that was N197 to a dollar has put on a new garb of between N459 to N765. That depends of course, on whether you are dealing with the lost, ask the Aboki Bureau de Change. He will gladly put youcurity, which is the protection of the sanctity of precious human
life, as aptly enshrined in Section 14 (2) (b) of the 1999 constitution (as amended), about 63, 111 defenceless fellow citizens were brutally killed and sent to their early graves in Buhari’s eight odd years! That is according to https://www.vanguardngr.com ›of May 20, 2023.
was acclaimed the Food Basket of the Nation, as well as the mineral-rich Plateau state have since been turned into Africa’s Buhari.
Yet, the mindless murders took place, despite the government spending (or was it wasting) the humongous sum of N12 trillion in seven years, on security!
According to ‘TheCable’ online news platform of January 17, 2019 the Buhari-led administration failed in 62 out of 73 prom-cally assessing his performance backed by the credible information from several media houses in Nigeria, covering many important aspects of our national life.
Ayo Oyoze Baje, LagosTo run an efficient government, having a competent team and the capacity and willingness to take difficult decisions are basic requirements. But much more important, now is the time for Tinubu to walk his talk on restructuring the country
Rachel Court is a beautiful sight to behold in the usually serene Gudu District outside Abuja’s city centre. The structure is a fine piece of real estate rendered by the parent company, the Black Pelican. It is a marked improvement on the equally sturdy edifice on Goshen Estate Road, LekkiEpe Expressway, Lagos. Bennett Oghifo writes
Rachel Court is a head-turner any day, and its stunning look is made more pronounced by its strategic location on Rachel T. Owolabi Close Gaduwa, Gudu District.
The building, a mix of European and oriental design, is rendered in polished ceramics cladding and a tinted blue glass facade. Rachel Court is one of a kind in Gudu, an established district in Phase 2 of Abuja city. It is also sometimes known as Apo-Gudu.
Gudu District occupies a strategic location just outside Abuja’s city centre, and it is residential but has quite an extensive commercial stretch, and this is the section IL Bagno rules. Although well-populated, it is not as dense or busy as neighbouring areas like Garki. There are plenty of opportunities for recreation and relaxation in the neighbourhood, like bars, eateries and clubs, hotels and schools. The famous Gudu Market is located here. This is chiefly an electrical parts market, although there is an assigned section for selling foodstuffs.
Rachel Court is near interesting places like Baytown Lounge, Chloe’s Cupcake
Heaven, Apo Legislative Quarters, Sentosa Park and Xcell Plus Gym & Spa.
The exquisite Court hosts IL Bagno, the regional distributor for the world’s leading manufacturers of sanitary fittings, kitchens, tiles, doors and other interior solutions. They excel in providing total interior solutions and creating unique and innovative bathroom themes for domestic and commercial markets.
“At IL Bagno, we believe that in addition to its utilitarian significance, the interior space should provide a relaxing atmosphere, reflecting the taste, personality and lifestyle of our customers; hence our design solutions provide the mood and warmth that transform an anonymous interior into a place of elegance – a sanctuary,” said the MD/CEO of the Black Pelican Group, Michael Owolabi.
Owolabi stated further, “Before now, the discerning user had little choice in the selection of appropriate fittings to accommodate both functionality and elegance that
adequately reflects their taste.”
Black Pelican Limited, Nigeria’s foremost total interior solutions provider with a track record of providing high-quality interior fittings for residential and commercial construction projects, recently marked its 19th anniversary.
In commemoration of its anniversary, the company rewarded its customers for their patronage over the years.
Black Pelican Limited is a globally recognised, award-winning company known for the highest standards in both service and product offerings.
Speaking on this milestone, Owolabi commended his team’s effort for the organisation’s success and appreciated customers’ patronage and support.
“Our team and our customers are the two most important reasons that we are a thriving business today. We have become a reference point for interior design in Nigeria solely through their contributions,” Owolabi explained. “Our gratitude to these two key stakeholders is
immeasurable. We do not take them for granted.”
With its headquarters in Lekki, Lagos, the company has expanded, over the years, with design centres in Abuja and Lagos (Lekki, Victoria Island and Ajah).
The company, which commenced operations in May 2004, was birthed to fill a gap in the sanitary ware market for quality bathroom solutions for high-end residences in Nigeria. Black Pelican Limited is now involved in the entire interior design value chain by offering other support services through its fully established subsidiaries- IL Bagno, Bathrooms Direct, BPL Logistix, Bagno Technik and BPL Wellness.
IL Bagno offers sanitary wares and solutions such as bathtubs, showers, bathroom accessories, and other interior décor products such as kitchens, furniture, fittings, tiles, lighting, and much more, all from the most prestigious award-winning brands across the globe. IL Bagno’s product and service offerings are targeted at high and middle-income earners, and the company provides innovative interior solutions for the domestic and commercial markets.
James Emejo writes on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s support for the private sector of the Nigerian economy, particularly the Dangote Refinery which promises to address some of the country’s macroeconomic challenges.
The recent inauguration of the Dangote Refinery has immense ramifications for the economy particularly in resetting the country’s wobbling macroeconomic indices including unemployment, inflation, GDP, and exchange rate among others.
One of the biggest problems confronting the economy had been its inability to produce and consume what its people need locally; importing almost everything and yet failing to produce enough for exports.
The attendant result has been the undue pressure on the nation’s external reserves and vulnerability of the local currency against major currencies around the world particularly the United States Dollar.
This further has an untold impact on living standards as jobs that should have been generated through domestic production are literarily exported to other countries, further compounding unemployment which is currently at 33.3 per cent according to official estimates by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
It is in view of these challenges that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which has the statutory mandate to ensure monetary and price stability, maintain external reserves to safeguard the naira, and promote a sound financial system among others, undertook numerous interventions in the economy in order to realise its objectives.
Oftentimes, the CBN has had to play the role of the fiscal authority realising that the activity or inactivity of government could impair monetary policy objectives as witnessed in recent times.
The CBN has in recent times pumped unprecedented sums of money into the economy to help the real sector cope with eternal competition as well as increase local production and export.
Emefiele had in his five-year policy thrust of CBN, 2019 – 2024, committed to working closely with the fiscal authorities, to among other things bring down inflation while accelerating the rate of employment; preserve domestic macroeconomic and financial stability; and improve access to credit for not only smallholder farmers and MSMEs but also consumer credit and mortgage facilities for bank customers.
The apex bank had committed to a free trade regime that is mutually beneficial but particularly aimed at supporting domestic industries and creating jobs on a mass scale for Nigerians.
The roadmap offered visible measures on supporting improved GDP growth and greater private sector investment, leveraging monetary policy tools in supporting a low inflation environment while seeking to maintain stability in the exchange rate.
Emefiele said, “We believe a low and stable inflationary environment is essential to the growth of our economy because it will help support long-term planning by individuals and businesses. It will also help to lower interest rates charged by banks to businesses thereby facilitating improved access to credit, and a corresponding growth in output and employment.”
The completion and commissioning of the Dangote Refinery and the funding support the project enjoyed from the apex bank demonstrated the character of Emefiele in matching words with action about the bank’s support to the real sector to help also help achieve the aim of monetary policy and better the lives of Nigeria through its avowed ‘people-centered’ policy by the bank.
According to Emefiele, the initial estimated cost of the refinery was about $9 billion, of which $3 billion was projected as equity investment by the Dangote Group and the balance financed through commercial loans. However, due to an array of factors, the project was eventually completed with a total of $18.5 billion with funding distributed into 50 per cent equity investment and 50 per cent debt finance.
He said, “I am proud to state that the commercial loan component of the project was financed majorly by our domestic banks with the balance sourced from foreign banks.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria also partnered, as always, with the Dangote Group in ensuring the successful completion of the project by providing about N125 billion, to cover domestic currency requirements for the venture.”
Emefiele said the Dangote Group had started repaying some of the commercial loans even before the commissioning of this facility.
He said, “I am pleased to inform everyone today that, following extensive repayments, outstanding debt has dropped appreciably from over $9 billion to $3 billion. I must at this juncture appreciate all the participating local Nigerian banks, who did not only partner with the project through effective financing but were keenly aware of the importance of the project for our nation. They provided immense support and exceptional understanding, even when interest payments and principal repayment had fallen due.”
The foregoing further demonstrated the huge role the CBN has continued to play in stimulating growth and encouraging domestic output to the benefit of the overall economy.
Emefiele pointed out that the refinery was only one of the many efforts of the central bank to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s drive to diversify the economy amid several other interventions in critical segments of the real sector.
Emefiele also disclosed that with the refinery, Nigeria will cease to import petroleum products, fertiliser and petrochemical that drained over $26 billion in import bills in 2022.
He said the self-sufficiency in refined petroleum, urea, and polypropylene, which Nigeria has attained with this project is a strong testament to how leadership, dedication, focus, commitment, and resilience have helped Nigeria on its drive towards import substitution and export orientation.
The CBN governor stressed that the take-off of the refinery and petrochemical factories comes with numerous economic benefits to the country particularly in addressing macroeconomic challenges.
He said, “In the first instance, it will have enormous impact on job creation by generating thousands of direct jobs and millions of indirect jobs, with over 135,000 permanent jobs. I understand that, so far, there are nearly 4,000 Nigerian personnel on site, excluding employment by the various contractors and subcontractors at the project site.
“I am also proud to state that the project will generate up to 12,000MW of electricity. In addition, the refinery and the other ancillary projects will have significant multiplier effects on other sectors of the economy by supporting a diverse range of sectoral value chains.
“For instance, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry noted that the project could spur “further growth and development across its valuechain, including cosmetics, plastics, and textiles, while strengthening value addition in agribusiness, including the Sugar Backward Integration projects that plan to create a strong localised supply in the
sugar industry, benefiting local suppliers across the sugar value-chain.”
He said, “More importantly, this project avails Nigeria with significant savings both in terms of foreign exchange and in easing the fiscal burden on the federal government. Available data at the Central Bank of Nigeria as of 2014, shows that at least 30 per cent of the foreign exchange required to meet Nigeria’s import needs went into the importation of refined petroleum products.
“It is instructive to note, distinguished guests, that according to the balance of payments statistics, the cost (including freight) of petroleum products imports into Nigeria doubled over a five-year period from about $8.4 billion in 2017 to $16.2 billion (indicating an annual average of $11.1 billion), before rising further to $23.3 billion by end-2022.
At this rate, the average annual cost of petroleum products imports to Nigeria could reach $30 billion by 2027 if we continued to rely on petroleum imports.
“These figures suggest that the refinery could engender foreign exchange savings, to the country, of between $25 billion and $30 billion annually.”
Emefiele said the project will equally provide support to the fiscal operations of the government as it could help ease budget constraints of funding the petroleum subsidy and engender fiscal savings.
According to him, available data indicate that, over a five-year period, fuel subsidy in Nigeria rose more than nine-fold from about N154 billion in 2017 to over N1.43 trillion before another three-fold rise to N4.4 trillion by the end of 2022.
“A simple straight-line projection suggests that this figure could surpass N7 trillion within the next three years if we do not tackle it effectively. Thankfully, the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals could spare Nigeria about N5 to N7 trillion annually in fiscal expenditure of the federal government over the next five years,” he said.
President/Chief Executive, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, was however full of praises for Emefiele and the domestic banks for the huge funding relief over the project.
According to Africa’s richest man, “As in most mega projects, financing has been a source of many significant challenges. Governor Emefiele’s belief in and commitment to this project has been awesome.
“Without Governor Emiefele’s courageous support and backing, this project would not have stood a chance of successful completion.
Governor Emiefele moved mountains to ensure the success of this project.
“Indeed, apart from the top management of the refinery itself, no one in this gathering has visited this site more times than Governor Emefiele. We are indeed very grateful.
“…I want to most especially acknowledge Access Bank Plc and Zenith Bank International Plc for going the extra mile in supporting us in this unprecedented investment.
Analysts have however lauded the central bank under Emefiele for its unprecedented funding interventions to the real sector.
Speaking in separate interviews with THISDAY on the development, Wealth Management and Business Development Consultant, Mr. Ibrahim Shelleng, said Public Private Partnerships (PPP) are the way forward for major infrastructure projects as they reduce the pressure on government coffers and de-risk the project.
He said, “Government backing tends to also make it a bit easier to raise funding. I guess the hope is that the refinery, will reduce pressure on FX. Due to reduced landing costs, it should hopefully bring down the cost of petrol and help with subsidy removal.”
Also, Managing Director/Chief Executive, Dignity Finance and Investment Limited, Dr. Chijioke Ekechukwu, justified the CBN’s funding support, noting that the refinery remained a game-changer with numerous benefits.
Ekechukwu said, “For many years, Nigerians have wished they could once again be a net exporter of Petroleum products. Dangote Refinery has come as a game changer for the country with attendant benefits. Beyond the exchange rate savings for the country, it is expected that the pressure on our foreign reserve will reduce and exchange rate may subsequently be reduced.
“Direct and indirect employment is expected to be created in large numbers. There are also myriad byproducts of petroleum refining in the form of asphalt, paraffin wax, propane, carbon black, petroleum jelly, glycerine and the like.”
According to the former director general of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), “I was, however, surprised that CBN could fund a private institution directly, much as it was considered an intervention in the interest of our country and a remedial imperative.
“The positive economic impact of the refinery will be felt in the short and long run. Even before production starts in July, economic activities are already springing up within and around the environment.
“Traction in estate and property sub-sector, and many related businesses. contribution of the oil sector to the GDP is expected to rise up to 20 per cent from 6.21 per cent currently.”
Emmanuel Addeh writes that results of recent renewed effort by the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mele Kyari, and activities to redirect the national oil company appear to be attracting positive feedback from industry operators.
Although oil theft and pipeline vandalism are not new phenomena in Nigeria, the twin menace has recently assumed a new dimension, depriving Nigeria of taking advantage of current favourable international oil prices.
In all of the turbulence, mostly in the eye of the storm was the national oil company, the NNPC, led by Mallam Mele Kyari. In August last year, to underscore the severity of the problem, Kyari disclosed that Nigeria was losing $1.9 billion monthly to crude oil theft.
Kyari who spoke when a delegation on an anti-oil theft team led by the then Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, visited the Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, said that Nigeria was hardly meeting its production quota due to the activities of the pipeline vandals and oil thieves.
“As a country, we hardly meet our OPEC production...which is currently being threatened by the activities of these economic saboteurs.
“This has done extensive damage to the environment, and losing $1.9 billion every month is colossal, considering the nature of the global economy at the moment,” Kyari said.
Kyari emphasised that the team needed the support and buy-in of the states because stopping oil theft required the concerted efforts of the federal and state governments as well as oil companies and security agencies.
Aside several visits to the creeks and collaboration with local groups and security agencies to stop the menace, Kyari’s team also visited several other leaders, including Hope Uzodinma, governor of Imo, among others to seek their buy-in into the right against oil theft.
The problem was so pronounced at the time that Businessman and Chairman Heirs Holdings, Mr. Tony Elumelu, bemoaned the fact that Nigeria was losing over 95 per cent of its oil production to thieves.
“How can we be losing over 95 per cent of oil production to thieves? Look at the Bonny Terminal that should be receiving over 200,000bpd barrels of crude oil daily, instead it receives less than 3,000 barrels, leading the operator, Shell to declare force majeure.
“Why are we paying taxes if our security agencies can’t stop this? It is clear that the reason Nigeria is unable to meet its OPEC production quota is not because of low investment but because of theft, pure and simple!” he lamented at the time. Elumelu wasn’t the only person who made public comments about the menacing problem at the time. Mostly reticent respected cleric, Pastor Enoch Adeboye also lent his voice to condemning the growing theft of Nigeria’s commonwealth.
“Who is stealing the oil? Where is the money going? What do they want to do with the money? Who are the foreign nations buying this stolen oil? How many of these nations of the world are your friends?” he asked, noting that if the issue of oil theft was not resolved, Nigeria could go bankrupt.
Aware that the problem was getting out of hand, the leadership of the NNPC decided to seize the gauntlet, going beyond its call of duty to collaborating with federal security forces, local security groups, communities and government heads in the states to curb the rising trend.
Kyari
Aside that, it floated a whistle-blowers policy which would see people who discreetly report oil theft in their communities handsomely rewarded. There’s also now some form of online real-time monitoring of activities on some of the nation’s oil assets.
In addition, it began consultations with international regulators to ensure that aside detecting stolen Nigerian crude oil, buyers of illegally sold oil are punished.
It wasn’t long before the results started to roll in. Nigeria boosted its oil production from sub 1 million barrels per day to over 1.4 million barrels per day. The figure was growing until April this year when extraneous factors, including the workers’ strike by Exxon Mobil employees negatively impacted production and causing a setback.
Industry operators and business owners who were hitherto frustrated by the seemingly unstoppable crude oil theft are now beginning to acknowledge how much things have changed since Kyari began coordinating the effort to rid the country of assets vandalism or at the least reduce it and revamping the firm.
The Chairman of Heirs Holding, Elumelu, who last year raised the alarm on how oil theft and vandalism were disrupting his business has taken notice of the efforts by Kyari.
According to Elumelu, due to the efforts of
NNPC Ltd, Heirs Oil & Gas has now witnessed 96 per cent recovery rate.
“When I listened to the Group CEO speak today, talking about us moving to 2.5 million barrels, we challenged him to do more. I believe that it is achievable. From losing 97 per cent of our 50,000 barrels production, interestingly and it will be bad of me to have this platform and not share this here.
“That day, I got a call from the GCEO and I thought he was going to kill me for speaking up, to my greatest surprise, he said to me Tony, we are sorry about what is happening, we are doing something about it, it will be corrected.
“They worked as a team and the Board of the NNPC, the federal government, the security agencies, and last month, our recovery factor was 96 per cent. So GCEO NNPC, you have delivered.
“I speak from experience, a beneficiary and one who cried out before and today standing up today to say we have improved our production and that is what we need to encourage more investments in the industry.
“Today, we lift 501,000 barrels of oil (per month) bringing our total lifting this year alone to 2.6m barrels of oil. I am a great beneficiary of the new NNPC,” Elumelu stressed.
Africa’s richest man and the Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote , has also been speaking on the changing fortunes at the NNPC. Noting that the NNPC has what
On his part, Managing Director/ Chief Executive, SD&D Capital Management Limited, Mr. Idakolo Gbolade, said the apex bank’s decision to fund the refinery remained a good and strategic move adding that the federal government part ownership was also positive for the economy.
According to him, “The refinery has been projected to generate about 20 billion US dollars annually when fully operational which will in turn end scarcity of foreign exchange in the country and strengthen the Naira.
“The country will have adequate foreign exchange to fund critical import requests from manufacturing companies and this would make
them more productive which will boost the economy.
“The partnership of Nigeria through the CBN with Dangote refinery will enable Nigeria access foreign exchange from the sales from the refinery on a steady basis and Nigeria will also cease from experiencing scarcity of petroleum products.”
He added that the economy will witness a positive turnaround with the commissioning of the refinery.
Nonetheless, Emefiele, at the recent meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said, “For us, it was history that was made through the commissioning of the Dangote refinery, it is the
single biggest train refinery in the world today. And Dangote himself has committed that by the end of July or early August, we would dispense petrol from that refinery.
“For us, that is the big gamechanger for Nigeria because we would no longer be importing and as I said, import bills consume close to $25 billion annually; you may contest the number but let’s not forget that some of those things are also going across the borders.
“But eventually, by the time that refinery comes onstream, it’s going to bring out PMS, diesel and the rest of them. And someone asked me, does it mean the price of fuel will come down? I said, come down? It cannot come down
because it would still be at market rate, however, the price at which to be dispensed when it comes out would be lower than the price it would have been dispensed if we spent dollar to import petrol from abroad.
“One, because it is local, there would be no transportation cost. Two, no storage and so all those logistics expenses…so, we see that we would be lucky to see that may be about 20 per cent savings for refining locally compared to if we were importing from abroad.”
Continuing, he said, “But the important thing here is this; we’ve reached a point whether we like it or not that we must exit subsidy and Dangote refinery coming at
it takes to become the African version of Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, Dangote pointed out that he believes that the oil giant can generate billions of dollars in revenue if the right decisions are made.
Dangote and other speakers made the remarks on at the 2023 Upstream Investment Management Services Ltd (NUIMS) Annual Value Assurance Review (AVAR) workshop in Lagos.
“I truly believe that NNPC should be our African Aramco. You have what it takes to take you up there and I am very happy. There is nothing that is impossible. You can make it possible and don’t let anything scare you,” he added.
“We need to look at our infrastructure and see how we can take ourselves to the next level and it has to be driven by NNPC because they are the largest conglomerate and whatever happens to NNPCL their assets, it actually happens to us either directly or indirectly...Without you doing well, the country cannot do well,” he noted.
Also, the Deputy Managing Director, Deepwater Asset, TotalEnergies Upstream Nigeria Limited (TUPNI), Mr. Victor Bandele, has expressed appreciation to Kyari, over what he described as his patriotic intervention that unlocked 30,000 barrels per day of new oil from the Egina and Akpo fields expected before the end of the year 2023.
Specifically, he thanked Bandele, for enabling the deepwater PSC to engage the services of Gerry De Souza Drillship to commence the long-due drilling campaign of seven development wells and one exploratory well to arrest production decline on the asset and unlock up to 30,000 barrels.
Bandele, said this as a guest at the NNPC said arresting production decline has helped in generating more value for stakeholders, improve the capacity utilisation of the best-in-class Egina Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) Vessel and ensuring the attainment of the desired benefits from the attractive crude oil prices in the market.
Bandele lauded NUIMS for always being a step ahead while pledging the commitment of the OML 130 partners to complete the ongoing drilling campaign, close out the lease renewal discussions, and turn the focus to aggressively executing the Preowei and Egina West projects. The deputy managing director also announced to the gathering that his organisation has secured the alignment of all the partners on OML 130 to progress with the lease renewal with a target to close out before the end of May 2023.
The lease renewal would pave the way to firm up discussions on the Preowei and Egina West projects lined up by TUPNI and the OML 130 partners to introduce additional volumes to the Egina FPSO, he said. According to him, the company is also on course to hitting the milestone of 1 billion barrels of crude oil production on the Akpo field within a period of 15.5 years.
He attributed this success to excellent reservoir management and the instrumental role played by NUIMS and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in providing the necessary support.
this time gives us the confidence that even if we exit subsidy, that the fuel will be available and eventually, the interplay of the market will obviously moderate the prices to the level that will help the country.
“So, we are expecting that no doubt, by the time it produces for domestic consumption, the excess will be exported by the numbers that he has talked about and which we agree with, we see close to about $5 billion to $10 billion in FX that would come into the country.
“Whether it comes to our reserves is not the point – it is the fact that the dollar would be available that would be sold into
the market so that customers of banks who need to import do not necessarily have to resort to the CBN for the dollar; they can go to their banks and Dangote will sell their banks few dollars and we are going to ensure that it is done at good market rate.
“Also, the central bank, the government and the country have helped Dangote to set up that refinery; he is a Nigerian – Nigerians must benefit from that venture and we are going to continue to engage and talk with him to ensure that and I am sure that being the richest man in Africa, I am sure he’s going to throw a few crumbs so that the price would be lower than you would expect normally.”
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has taken the sensitisation drive of e- Naira to women during the Law Ladies Day programme at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Yaba Lagos. The move according to the apex bank, is to further promote the adoption of e-Naira into the country’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), and to sensitise women, students, law students and other Nigerians who gathered for the 2023 Law Ladies Day programme.
In line with the Law Ladies Day programme themed: ‘Defying Stereotypes: Celebrating the Different Shades of Femininity’, CBN used the occasion to reach out to students and others
within the university campus to sensitise them on the benefits and importance of e-Naira transactions and why they should use the channel.
The Special Adviser Payment Systems to the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mary Fasheitan, who took women through the importance of eNaira, advantages and opportunities the digital currency offers to the financial community and women, stated that it was high time women embraced e-Naira for transactions.
According to her, e-Naira offers financial freedom and women inclusivity where other financial instruments do not provide and offers fast transaction time, cross board
payment option and gives women financial inclusion.
She said: “e-Naira provides a unique form of money denominated in Naira. e-Naira serves as both a medium of exchange and a store of value, offering better payment prospects in retail transactions when compared to cash payments. It has an exclusive operational structure that is both remarkable and nothing like other forms of central bank money.”
She observed that the whole world was going digital, hence the CBN was responding appropriately to the innovation by introducing a lot of cashless policies, of which e-Naira is one, noting that the apex bank is the first to introduce e-Naira in Africa and only the second in the world.
Nume Ekeghe
Arla Foods, maker of Dano Milk, has inaugurated its state-of-theart dairy farm in Kaduna as part of the company’s efforts to ensure sustainable milk production in Nigeria. The farm located in Damau village, Kubau Local Government Area, Kaduna State, was inaugurated May 25, 2023, by the Executive Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Governor El-Rufai described the newly commissioned dairy farm as a significant milestone and game-changer for the dairy sector in Nigeria. He commended the management of Arla Foods for having faith
and confidence in Nigeria and the Kaduna State Government.
Governor El-Rufai explained that the Arla Dairy Farm would be another testament to the commitment of the Kaduna State government to collaborating with private organisations and providing the enabling environment for businesses to set up and thrive in the state. He urged the incoming Governor of the State, Senator Sani Uba, to continue to support Arla and other companies with investments in the state for economic prosperity.
The Arla Farm – a state-of the-art Danish designed dairy farm, is the first of its kind in Nigeria and with it, Arla is creating the future of dairy in Nigeria. Designed to ensure
optimum animal welfare and productivity, the Farm will be a showcase for sustainable milk production in Nigeria. It covers 400 Ha of land, with the capacity to house 400 milking cows and 1000 animals in total. Currently, the farm is home to 216 Danish Holstein cows, which arrived in May 2023 and are settling well into their new environment.
In his welcome address, the Executive Vice President of Arla Foods International, Simon Stevens, described the completion of the farm as a massive achievement for Arla Foods in its journey in Nigeria and globally, noting that this success exemplifies the significance of solid partnership and the vast potential available in Nigeria.
The Chief Operating Officer
i-Invest, Tobi Olusoga has disclosed that in five years, the company recorded over $100 million in transactions with over 130,000 trading customers subscribed to their platform.
Olusoga disclosed this on the sidelines at i-invest 5th anniversary mixer in Lagos at the weekend.
i-invest is an investment digital app that provides access to investors to buy equities, fixed deposits, bonds, Treasury Bills and more. It is also a flagship product of Parthians Partners limited.
Olusoga said: “Today we have over 130,000 users on the platform and we have seen we see that number growing. We are seeing active activity day in and day out and the great thing is that obviously over the weekend over the holidays, we see activity and we only expect growth. Transaction value is over $100 million dollars over the five years.”
Furthermore, she noted that the investment community is optimistic with the incoming administration’s economic plans it has forecasted so far.
She added: “The sentiment has been actually quite optimistic. You know, we have had a lot of issues around policy
flip flop, but I think generally there is some optimism that there might be some more stability, more opportunity.
One of the things that I ve been questioned on over the years is foreign equities, and what’s the stance on all of that?
It hasn’t been clear, we haven’t ventured into that space, but we are optimistic that there will be clarity on policy and direction. Also, there is a new startup bill and we feel that the opportunities are great.”
Also, on Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), she added that the international investment community is waiting to see policy directions before they reverse capital flight.
Nume Ekeghe
After laying the foundation 22 months ago, the First Bank of Nigeria has inaugurated the inaugural Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) in Ijeododo Community, located in the Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State.
The facility is expected to cater to over 2000 residents residing in the community which the bank had embarked on, as part of its commitment and support for the Lagos State government’s ‘One Community at a Time (OCAAT)’ initiative.
Speaking at the commissioning in Lagos recently, the Managing Director and Chief Executive of
First Bank, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, said it was important to note that the OCAAT initiative which is an integrated, inter- sectoral and community-based programme aimed at achieving sustainable improvements in the lives of people across Lagos State, aligns with the tenets of First Bank’s Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CRS) approach.
Adeduntan who was represented by Mr. Seyi Oyefeso, noted that with the completion of the PHC, “it is heart-warming to know that beginning from today, residents of this community will no longer have to travel long distances to access a fundamental amenity such as healthcare.
“This reality in itself is one of the biggest inspirations behind our partnership with the Lagos State Government to execute this project and I congratulate everyone for being a part of the life-changing history being made today.
“At First Bank, our CRS approach is three-pronged: Citizenship, Stakeholder Management and Impact Management. While the Citizenship and Stakeholder Management arms involve considering the needs of stakeholders when making decisions, Impact Management focuses on minimising our negative impact and increasing our positive impact on the society.”
The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $84.37 a barrel on Tuesday, compared with $84.59 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations. The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), Zafiro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basrah Medium (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).
Kayode Tokede
VFD Group Plc yesterday announced that its shareholders at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos have approved a final dividend of N7.89kobo per share.
The dividend payout, amounting to a total of N1.5 billion, reflects an increase of 9.7per cent compared to the N1.36 billion payout in the previous financial year.
VFD Group has consistently paid dividends to its shareholders over the last five years, unequivocally reaffirming the group’s unwavering dedication to growing the wealth of its esteemed shareholders.
The recently released financial results unveiled a remarkable growth trajectory in both gross earnings and profit before tax, highlighting the Group’s unwavering resilience amidst a challenging business landscape.
A closer analysis of the full year 2022 report indicated that the remarkable growth in gross earnings can be attributed to significant growth of 190per cent in Placement and Investment Income.
Commenting on the financial results, the Group Managing Director/CEO of VFD Group, Nonso Okpala, expressed his satisfaction, stating, “We are pleased with our financial results for the year, which
demonstrates the strength of our business model and quality of our investments.
“We remain optimistic about the future, and while we understand that past successes have a role in telling our story, we would rather look forward to new victories.”
Looking ahead to the year 2023, VFD Group aims to intensify efforts in fostering exceptional cross-selling and collaboration among its
investee companies, thereby potentially accelerating growth. Furthermore, the Group plans to explore opportunities for geographical expansion, paving the way for exciting prospects and creating footprints in new markets.
Key highlights from the report revealed that its Profit Before Tax grew exponentially by 125 per cent to N8.8 billion from N3.9 billion in 2021, driven by 87 per cent increase in gross
earnings to N33.8billion in 2022 from N18.1billion reported in 2021.
Also, investment and similar income grew by 54 per cent to N17.7 billion from N11.5 billion in 2021 as other income grew significantly by 105 per cent to N13.0 billion from N6.6 billion in 2021.
The group closed total assets at N149.1 billion in 2022, an increase of 45 per cent from N102.8 billion in 2021.
Russia hit Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, overnight with the largest drone attack on the city since the start of the war. The attack came as Kyiv prepared to celebrate the anniversary of its founding on Sunday. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person was killed.
Ukraine’s air force said it downed more than 50 drones, but it was not immediately clear whether all the drones were over Kyiv or around the country.
“The history of Ukraine is a long-standing irritant for the insecure Russians,” Andriy Yermak, the head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, said.
“Today is another sanction day,” Zelenskyy said on Saturday. He said 220 companies and 51 individuals are being sanctioned, “most of them are Russian — who work for terror.”
“When Russia started this aggression, they looked at the world as if they were looking at themselves in a mirror,” he said. “They thought that supposedly everyone in the world was as cynical and despised people in the same way as the masters of Russia do. But the world is different — the world helps us protect life.”
US President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are urging Congress to approve an increase in the government’s borrowing limit to avoid a first-ever default, but progressive Democratic lawmakers from the party’s ideological left and right-wing Republicans on Sunday immediately voiced opposition to the deal agreed to by the two leaders.
Biden, late Saturday, said in a statement, “The agreement represents a compromise, which means not everyone gets what they want. That’s the responsibility of governing.”
He called the pact “an important step forward that reduces spending while protecting critical programs for working people and growing the economy for everyone.”
On the “Fox News Sunday” show, McCarthy said that from the Republicans’ perspective, “There’s so much in this that is positive. It will not do everything for everyone, but this is a step in the right direction.”
Incumbent Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared victory in Sunday’s runoff election.
He spoke to supporters after preliminary results gave him 53% of the vote, compared with 47 per cent for his challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
“I thank each member of our nation for entrusting me with the responsibility to govern this country once again for the upcoming five years,” said Erdogan, who had been seeking a third decade in power.
He was seen as the front-runner heading into Sunday’s vote after narrowly missing victory in the first round.
Both Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu said at last-minute rallies Saturday that turnout would be key to the outcome of the presidential poll.
According to US Africa Command, the United States conducted an airstrike on al-Shabab militants Friday in Somalia.
The strike destroyed weapons and equipment “unlawfully taken by al-Shabab fighters,” the US Africa Command said Saturday. The command did not report where the weapons and equipment were stolen from.
According to the command, the strike against the militants was conducted near an African Union Transition Mission in Somalia’s forward operating base in Bulo Marer.
The command said the strike was conducted “in support of the Federal Government of Somalia and the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia.”
The command’s initial assessment of the operation was that no civilians were harmed or killed.
China’s first domestically made passenger jet flew its maiden commercial flight Sunday as China looks to compete with industry giants such as Boeing and Airbus in the global aircraft market.
According to the state-owned newspaper China Daily, the C919 plane, built by the Commercial Aviation Corporation of China, carried about 130 passengers on the flight. The jet took off Sunday morning from Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and landed in Beijing less than two hours later.
The flight was operated by state-owned China Eastern Airlines, and the side of the plane was emblazoned with the words: “The
World’s First C919.”
The inaugural flight comes as COMAC looks to break into the single-aisle jet market in a direct challenge to Airbus and Boeing. Airbus’s A320 and Boeing’s B737 jets are the most popular aircraft for domestic and regional flights.
Ahead of Year-End National Vote
Spanish voters head to the polls on Sunday in regional and municipal elections, the results of which will serve as a barometer for an end-of-year general election.
Voting is taking place in 12 regions and 8,000 towns and cities, most currently run by the governing Socialist Party (PSOE). Polls are predicting gains for the conservative People’s Party (PP), which could unseat the current left-wing coalition if replicated later in the year.
Voting opened at 9:00 a.m. (0700 GMT) and will close at 8:00 p.m. Over 35 million people are eligible to vote.
Several controversies, from allegations of voter fraud in small towns to an unprecedented kidnapping case, have marked campaigning. Races will be tight in many areas, with few clear majorities, election polls and experts predict, except in the region of Madrid, where regional president Isabel Diaz Ayuso of the PP could win re-election with an absolute majority.
Fresh deadly clashes were reported Sunday in the remote northeastern Indian state of Manipur, although the exact number of fatalities was not immediately clear.
Manipur has been on edge after an explosion of inter-ethnic violence this month killed at least 70 people and left tens of thousands displaced.
In comments confirmed by a government official to AFP, the state’s chief minister N. Biren Singh told local media that 40 suspected militants had died along with two police in the past two days.
Dr. Hsueh Jui-yuan
As the world enters the fourth year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the situation is gradually improving. Most border restrictions have been lifted, and global health governance has shifted from pandemic response to post-pandemic recovery. Countries worldwide have stepped up efforts to achieve health and well-being for all and further the realisation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), whose progress was impacted by the pandemic.
Taiwan fully supports health-related SDGs and the World Health Organization’s triple billion targets. Indeed, Taiwan is committed to building a more resilient and equitable health service supply chain, maintaining an inclusive and equitable universal health coverage
system, and providing disease prevention and management through a robust primary healthcare system. Taiwan is willing and able to share its experience in creating a cross-sectoral, innovative, and people-centred health approach to help the international community work toward realising the SDGs related to health and well-being. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan effectively mitigated the spread of the disease, leveraging its comprehensive public healthcare system, well-trained anti-pandemic personnel, and epidemiological surveillance, investigation, and analysis systems. Taiwan’s anti-pandemic response model included advanced deployment and rapid response mechanisms. Other measures included border control policies, coordinated distribution of medical resources, and a patient transfer system to prevent and contain the pandemic at a time when vaccines and antiviral drugs were unavailable.
The Taiwanese people have played a pivotal role in the success of Taiwan’s anti-pandemic model by wearing masks, practising social distancing, avoiding crowded areas, following quarantine regulations, and getting vaccinated. Compared with the 38 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development member states and Singapore, Taiwan ranks sixth-lowest in COVID-19 mortality and case-fatality rates.
Taiwan also ranks fourth-highest for coverage rates of at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose and third-highest in terms of vaccine boosters administered.
Last year, WHO’s director-general outlined five priorities for the subsequent five years: promoting health, providing health services, protecting health, powering progress, and performing. Moreover, WHO’s Achieving Wellbeing: A draft global framework for integrating well-being into public health utilising a health promotion approach further demonstrates its commitment to health for all.
Taiwan established a universal healthcare insurance system in 1995. Since then, the government has continued to provide disease prevention and healthcare services so that people of all ages can enjoy the right to health.
Taiwan provides prenatal checkups, gestational diabetes screening, anaemia testing, and three ultrasound examinations to reduce pregnancy risks and promote maternal and infant health. To assist infertile couples and reduce the financial burdens of in-vitro fertilisation, the government has continued to expand subsidised infertility treatment programs. Taiwan also aims to create a breastfeeding-friendly environment and provide preventive pediatric healthcare and health education.
Moreover, Taiwan has established several prevention and management programmes for non-communicable diseases. For instance, programs targeting chronic metabolic diseases assist at-risk groups, providing services such as diet and exercise guidance as well as smoking and betel nut cessation information to empower people to take control of their
health. Such initiatives improve lives and reduce the prevalence of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar, often leading to chronic disease. Taiwan also supports the global fight against cancer and WHO’s goal of reducing cancer mortality 25 per cent by 2025.
In line with WHO’s Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative, Taiwan subsidises cervical screenings and human papillomavirus vaccinations. HPV vaccines have been administered to female students aged 12 to 15 since 2018. By December 2022, a coverage rate of 92.1 per cent had been achieved.
Taiwan’s National Health Insurance (NHI) is a prime example of universal health coverage, offering financial protection and access to a wide range of essential services. The COVID-19 pandemic helped the international community recognise the importance of regional cooperation and digitisation in healthcare. Taiwan is committed to promoting digital health and innovation to enhance the accessibility and quality of healthcare services, including plans for a next-generation NHI programme. Taiwan has introduced innovative healthcare services, utilising real-time telehealth consultations for patients residing in remote areas and outlying islands, and is exploring applications for artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.
During the pandemic, Taiwan issued 13 export licenses for its herbal formula NRICM101 (Taiwan Chingguan Yihau) to help countries in the region combat the pandemic. Taiwan is currently implementing preventive measures for the post-pandemic era, such as strengthening the domestic production of critical drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients to avert future drug shortages. Understanding how important it is to work with the international community, Taiwan will further share innovative technologies and best practices with partners around the world to advance universal health coverage.
Taiwan has not been invited to the World Health Assembly since 2017. Now that the COVID-19 pandemic is abating and the dialogue on strengthening health systems worldwide is accelerating, Taiwan should not be left out. Taiwan can help, and Taiwan’s inclusion would make the world healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable.
Taiwan urges WHO and all relevant stakeholders to support Taiwan’s inclusion in the World Health Assembly as an observer, as well as Taiwan’s full participation in WHO meetings, mechanisms, and activities. Taiwan will continue to work with the world to help ensure the fundamental right to health enshrined in the WHO Constitution. In the spirit of the SDGs, no country should be left behind—especially not Taiwan, which has made significant contributions to global public health.
COMPILED
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
Some downstream Strategic Business Units (SBUs) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) have listed some of their key feats in 2022, with the retail arm of the national company recording N255.6 billion revenue as at Q3,2022.
In a note from the company , made available to THISDAY yesterday, NNPC Retail, also disclosed that it achieved a 6 per cent year-on-year increase in total white product sales, N15 billion EBITDA, and N14.14 billion profit from January to September last year.
EBITDA stands for Earnings
Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation.
It further stated that it completed the construction of two standard stations in Kaduna and Kano States
and on-boarded 71 new stations within the year , with five leased and 66 affiliate stations.
Besides , the NNPC stated that its retail arm completed Phase 1 Solar Power Project with three stations in Borno, Bauchi and Nasarawa States and carried out rehabilitation and facelift of 15 company-owned stations within the network.
According to the NNPC, the retail SBU also nominated and won two awards – foremost motor fuel retailer of the year and best downstream oil and gas company from Automobiles and Road Safety Initiative and Africa Finance Award respectively.
For NNPC Trading Limited, it said that it grew former PPMC profitability by 261 per cent, from N3.59 billion in 2020 to N12.95 billion in 2021 and reduced demurrage costs by 85 per cent
“NNPC Trading Limited also secured all government crude oil and gas entitlements from International Oil Companies (IOCs) and coordinated the Pricing Transition Arrangements with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NURPC),” it pointed out.
Besides, it stated that the SBU improved former PPMC efficiency and significantly curbed product theft/ diversion through the implementation of the Trade Distribution Zones (TDZ) product allocation based on historical consumption.
“ It also served as a supplier of intervention PMS cargoes at competitive price to meet shortfall in the domestic market, successfully negotiated and executed the emergency procurement intervention for Q4 2022 and execution of CORDPA Agreement to address decline in
national production volumes to ensure national energy security,” it noted.
In addition, NNPC said that the unit processed payments for Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 export permits for crude oil, condensate and gas and successfully renegotiated lease renewal and settlement of disputes for OMLs 118, 125, 128, 130, 133 and 138.
According to the note from the national oil company, the unit also successfully processed and settled all Crude Handling Agreement (CHA) charges of NPDC and completed CNL Cheetah Cashcall Repayment Agreement in February 2022.
It explained that Total Energies Cashcall Repayment Agreement was settled in November 2022 while repayment of NNPC/FEP JV Carry Arrangement and First E&P JV Carry Arrangement were in April 2022.
As for NNPC Shipping, the
company listed its transitioning to a profit-making entity and incorporation of NNPC Shipping & Logistics Limited and update of directors records as part of its gains in 2022.
The shipping arm also disclosed that it reviewed its coastal commercial construct to eliminate FX exposure on business activities through transition from naira to dollar revenues.
It stressed that it further collected N44 billion legacy debt from internal and external customers and facilitated the alternate crude oil evacuations in OML 18 & 24.
Furthermore, it revealed that it fixed 27 international gas cargoes, nine domestic gas cargoes, nine crude cargoes, 111 Clean Petroleum Products (CPP) cargoes as at November 2022.
“ We also carried out 275 voyages on behalf of customers and moved 6.70 billion litres of petroleum products
as at November 2022,” it revealed.
On its part, NNPC Refineries and Petrochemicals listed the ongoing Port Harcourt Refinery Rehabilitation and the attainment of over 5,000,000 man-hours with zero Lost Time Injury (LTI) till date as part of its achievements.
It also stated that that the award of contract for the provision of maintenance services on the quick-fix repairs of Warri and Kaduna refineries as well as renewal and extension of contract for provision of project management consultancy as worthy of applause.
In the same vein, NNPC Downstream Investment Services said it secured NNPC board approval for award of contract for the Front-End Engineering Design of the 3x10Kbpd Condensate Refineries in Utorogu, Oben and Oredo to UOP Limited.
Stressing that Nigeria is currently polarised, in his remarks, Babangida said that Tinubu needs all the skills to be able to unite the country, expressing the view that Nigeria has some of the best brains that he can tap from to revamp every sector, including the military.
“As Commander-in-Chief, he needs to take a good look at the armed forces to reorient them, retrain them and reorganise them because the armed forces have undergone a lot of processes that need to be put together and make them more efficient,” he stated.
He also urged Tinubu to reorganise the civil service, but added that he was sure Tinubu will do what he needs to do to make Nigeria a better country. Babangida further urged opponents of the president-elect to accept the results of the last election.
He said that although Nigeria started well as a nation, there had been some ‘mishaps’ along the way, including the recent practice of the monetisation of the election process.
The former head of state called for a reform of the electoral process, including massive voter education, expressing worry that of the over 90 million registered
voters , the number of persons that came out was less than half of the total figure.
Babangida maintained that Nigeria remains blessed with everything it needs to survive, urging the new administration to redesign the economic system in Nigeria.
“I wish the new administration well. Let them put Nigeria first and the welfare of Nigerians should be paramount. Leadership at all levels is missing,” he argued , stressing that although some leaders know what to do , they should strive to rally Nigerians behind them.
The former Nigerian leader urged his countrymen to be patient, but said Nigerian leaders should have moments of reflection.
He also said he had no regrets as Nigeria’s former leader.
“ The only advice is to be patient and continue to support the new government but if they see things going wrong, they should cry out as usual, but be objective about it,” he said.
Babangida further urged the incoming government to open up the economy and give Nigerians a direction on how it intends to solve unemployment, inflation, among others.
On his part, Gowon said he was satisfied that 60 years after, Nigeria still remains as one entity
and called for massive support for the incoming government.
GowonBabangidaJonathanRemi to be patient with the incoming administration at it settles in for the difficult job of redirecting the country.
“As far as I am concerned, I am satisfied that we are still existing as a united nation after the little fracas. Thank God we made it to 60 years and I hope we make it to the next 60 years, though I might not be here. But that is my belief: to keep Nigeria one and to strive to make a better country.
“Do your best, be a loyal Nigerian, love Nigeria-good or bad. Whatever it is. If it is bad, try to make it better and if it is good, try to make it the best. This is my attitude and this is why I have always supported every government that started in this country and I will continue to support them,” he explained.
Jonathan, who spoke extensively on the election process, called for a reform of the system to ensure that persons appointed to the commission are not only of impeccable character , but go through a rigorous screening process.
“I know there are issues bordering on the election, some are happy, some are not. Some are feeling other ways,” he stated.
He added: “In my own time in 2015, my senior officials, people who worked with me , there was this fear that after losing election, what will be their fate.
“Will the new government just
throw us into jail without even giving us fair hearing, because government is next to God and could decide to do anything. That fear was in the mind of people. Some people said should I stay, or run away?
“But this is different because it is the same party that has taken over, so the tension we faced then, Buhari may not face the same tension. Yes, there may be some who may have issues that bothee them. But on the average they won’t have that kind of feeling. But it was tense and by this time , I already conceded defeat, so that was completely over.
“I knew why I conceded defeat because I was more interested in the country than myself which I also advise every politician, because without a country, there will be no president.
“The problem we have is the electoral management body and the security. If two soccer teams are playing and the referee decides to look the other way, they will injure themselves. You must not allow it.
“The electoral management body shares more than 60 per cent of the blame because if they do their work well , the politicians will have no choice than to follow the rules, they and the security and the courts.
“I believe one day we will
get there, but I feel sad now that our electoral process is still wobbly. We have migrated from card reader to BVAS, which is a superior technology. Why do we still have problems?
“For manual voting, we have problems, electronic we have problems, so where is the problem coming from? It’s the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC). INEC has to sit up so as not to throw this country into conflagration one day,” he posited.
Jonathan contended that the companies which build the machines during the elections, should be allowed to manage them, since they will want to protect their image, noting that the alleged redeployment of one IT staff of INEC during the last election wouldn’t have arisen if that was the case.
On how to resolve electoral disputes, Jonathan stressed that he was worried that elections in Nigeria are still very contentious and controversial, noting that Nigeria should be leading Africa in terms of democracy and be able to conduct free and fair polls.
He admitted that Nigeria’s election conduct remains one of the worst in the world, insisting that the system must convince people who lose elections that they truly lost. He also pointed out that frustration arising from
election could lead to unpalatable outcomes.
He said if he had the chance and Mahmud Jega’s tenure had run out during his time, he planned to make the process of appointing the person for the INEC top job more thorough.
Meanwhile, the wife of the president-elect, Senator Remi Tinubu, has said she is hopeful that her husband will succeed as president, especially with the prayers of Nigerians.
Stressing that the country’s commonwealth belongs to the entire people of Nigeria, Tinubu’s wife stated that her family will not need Nigeria’s money to survive, since according to her, they are already blessed.
“The commonwealth belongs to everyone. God has blessed my family. We don't need the wealth of Nigeria to survive, but to do the right thing and I promise you on this altar that with your help and with the help of God, we will set this nation on the right path.
“ We need your prayers. I can tell you, I, for one, I am a silent worker. I am not a noise maker but I listen and I hear. It is not out of pride, but it is about what the journey meted on us. We've been bruised. Our bodies are not like the same again. But once the spirit is strong...,” she stated.
Though weakened and fragmented due to the efforts of our armed forces and their own internal fissures, terrorists in the North continue to spread violence and fear. Extremely violent banditry in parts of the North is now almost indistinguishable from the work of the terrorist network. Various groups espousing violent agitation foment disorder in various parts of the south. Despite their names and professed goals, these violent and illicit associations are nothing more than criminal enterprises. They trade in evil, using violence as their coinage.
The fundamental responsibility of government is the protection of its citizens. We shall be committed to mobilising the totality of our national security and law enforcement assets to protect all Nigerians from danger and the fear of danger. We will expand and improve efforts to deploy cutting-edge technology, enhance recruitment of personnel and bolster existing agencies and systems to achieve this fundamental national security goal.
The present government has made important inroads. My administration will build on those achievements to completely erase this menace against the freedom, security and prosperity of this nation and its law-abiding citizenry.
We will take the following steps:
Redefine Military Doctrine & Practice
Placing great emphasis on counterinsurgency doctrine and practice (Fourth Generation Warfare), anti-terrorist battalions [ABATTS] (with attached special forces units) will be deployed in each of the six geoppolitical zones to improve the strength and rapid response capacity of our military. Units will be equipped with better tactical communications and all-terrain vehicles, giving them dual communications and mobility advantage over the extremists.
The battalions and special units will give terrorists no rest. They shall know no respite until they cease to exist.
We will also address the welfare concerns of frontline military and security personnel. Improved special, individual and family allowances, improved compensation and guaranteed medical care for the injured will be established. A special program providing housing, scholarships, stipends, and health insurance for the families of our fallen heroes will also be created.
Taking greater advantage of our aerial superiority, we shall significantly reduce the ability of terrorist
groups to strike against harmless towns and villages. This will be achieved by deploying static aerial surveillance platforms augmented by high-tech drones.
With this continuous aerial coverage, we will be able to identify, monitor, track and deter criminal and terrorist groups before they can attack civilian populations. Combined with human intelligence gathering, these assets will disrupt the lucrative supply and trade routes that feed and sustain these groups.
Secure Critical National Infrastructure Similarly, we shall initiate a comprehensive study of critical infrastructure and how to protect it. Integral to this effort shall be the use of sophisticated technological means to subdue crude oil theft, vandalisation of assets, and environmental pollution of the Niger Delta and elsewhere.
Attacks on vital infrastructure have serious implications for our economy and the overall public welfare. We shall wed increased aerial surveillance over land and sea with cutting edge technology to safeguard our oil pipelines and related installations. Technology will also be used to monitor power stations, transmission and distribution networks, sea and airports, rail transportation and other vital infrastructure.
The number of active duty military personnel are inadequate given the myriad security challenges we face. We will address this issue through incremental and voluntary recruitment into all armed forces and security services. We shall integrate at least 500,000 new, well-equipped and well-trained positions across all military and security services within the first 12 months.
Reposition The Police Police reform will better focus the institution on its primary duty of maintaining law and order through crime fighting as well as crime prevention. Police personnel will be freed from extraneous duties.
The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) shall be evaluated and reformed to enhance the capabilities of our internal security and police agencies
Win Hearts and Minds
Using targeted economic assistance programs, we shall expand the support offered by government to local communities distressed by terrorist and other violent groups. We will enhance the collection of on-the-ground intelligence in these areas to better identify and combat terrorists, bandits and violent agitators in various parts of the country.
Military and other security agencies will be
active participants and contributors to these localised assistance programs.
For example, rehabilitation of the Lake Chad Basin economic ecosystem and other subnational economic systems affected by violent groups will be prioritised under this Civilian Assistance Program.
In the Niger Delta, great emphasis will be placed on environmental clean-up and establishment of fisheries and other profitable aquacultural activities.
In the end, restoring economic hope and vitality to these regions will materially reduce the ranks of disaffected youth willing to join extremist groups out of the despair and alienation that poverty can bring. By defeating poverty, we shall do much to defeat all forms of extremist ideology.
Modernity and climate change render pastoralism increasingly disruptive and, in the long run, untenable. Through no fault of their own, herders must abandon their old ways to embrace sedentary husbandry. To minimise the dislocation and tension that accompanies such historic change, government must play an active role in easing the herders’ transition while also advancing the interests of farming communities. To achieve this, we shall:
(i) enhance deployment of law enforcement and security personnel to known trouble spots, particularly during the dry season or where there are early signs of potential conflict.
(ii) establish early warning / conflict resolution mechanisms in close collaboration with state governments, traditional rulers, community leaders, and representatives of farmer and herder associations.
(iii) with the collaboration of the states, create specially designated grazing areas, ranches and zones. The federal govrnment will purchase the land from the states at a reasonable price and provide it to herders for grazing and dairy farming purposes.
(iv) establish a fast-acting Recovery Fund for farming communities affected by conflict with herders. The fund will be used to fully compensate farmers in communities affected by violence. The fund will rebuild residences, and help farmers with seeds, implements, fertiliser, and other assistance such as short-term bridge loans to protect them from permanent economic failure due to localised clashes.
The structural model upon which our national economy has been based needs major reform. Our economy is unhelpfully designed to export raw material and import increasingly expensive finished products. Oil and gas provide over 90 percent of foreign exchange and 80 percent of governmental revenues. Over the long-term, the revenues from these natural resource exports will prove insufficient to meet the rising costs of imports let alone support the fiscal obligations demanded by modern democratic governance.
Agriculture has traditionally been the backbone of this nation and will continue to be. However, we must acknowledge the growing importance of our urban population. At independence, city dwellers represented less than 15 percent of the national population. Today, the urban populace exceeds 50 percent. Over 100 million people reside in our cities and towns.
Also, we must pay special attention to our young population. They are this nation. Youth aged 15-35, account for 65 percent or over 130 million of our 200 million people. Our youth unemployment rate as well as our overall jobless rate have always been too high. Many young people feel alienated and left out. Instead of their creative minds focusing on achieving their next goal in life, too many are worried about the basics of whether they will find a meaningful job, be able to marry or own a home or a car or simply have enough money for their daily bread. If our nation is to live up to its promise, our youth need to be given a fairer deal than this.
In my goevrnment, our cities and towns will witness a level of industrial activity unprecedented in our nation’s history. In this, our youth shall become a leading catalyst driving the economic resurgence. This goes beyond the provision of decent jobs. It speaks of empowering those who see their future as starting and owning businesses in the new economy. It goes to opening the economy in a way that encourages the best that the modern digital and IT-driven sectors have to offer.
We will improve existing industries and sectors. We will be brave and innovative enough to see how new economic vistas powered by today’s technology can create jobs, and provide goods and services that will propel us toward greater prosperity and development.
In helping to shape this more dynamic economy melding the best of the extant sectors with what is new on the economic horizon, my government will be fiscally active; yet equally prudent in the ‘how and why’ of public expenditure because public money is also a storehouse of public values and public trust.
The allocation of revenue between the federal and state governments will be adjusted to give states greater flexibility to foster grassroots economic development.
We will build an economy that produces more of the everyday items, both agricultural and manufactured goods, that define an individual’s and a nation’s standard of living.
Compelled by the unassailable fact that an economy cannot exceed the capacity of the available infrastructure to service it, we shall bring a National Infrastructure Plan to life, harmonising it with the National Industrial Plan to ensure optimal development of key sectors and rapid acceleration of our GDP growth.
We must encourage industries vital to national development. This means growing our industrial base to provide jobs to an expanding urban population.
Through the development of an industrial development master plan, we will:
(i) Extend tax and other credits such as power production and, in certain instances, even public utility consumption credits as well as urban youth employment incentives to domestic manufacturing entities. Tariffs and other measures will be implemented to safeguard such industries.
(ii) Encourage local manufacturers and producers to add value to basic products thus promoting domestic value-added industry and production. These incentives will include lower import tariffs on semimanufactured production lines such as the automotive and IT industries.
(iii) Develop major and minor industrial hubs in each geopolitical zone. Infrastructure in the form of affordable power and water will be fast tracked for industrial hubs.
(iv) Promote IT to boost industrial creativity while spurring the financial inclusion of larger segments of the population through innovative platforms like cryptocurrencies, provided they are well regulated.
(v) Provide Tax credits, holidays and reduced interest rate loans to businesses that hire a certain percent of youth in their workforce and provide genuine on-thejob training and mentoring for their young employees.
In Kano and Kaduna, new industrial hubs will focus on textiles. In Abia and Port Harcourt, a new hub and dry port will focus on labour intensive manufacturing from shoes to small appliances and other consumer goods.
In Ondo state, fine quality sand will be turned into the highest-quality glass items.
In areas with deposits of clay, household items such as dishes and pottery will be manufactured.
In Zamfara and Sokoto, clandestine, environmentally harmful gold mining will be ended. Regulated mining will be instituted such that environmental protection
is maintained and local artisans and craftsmen can earn income turning raw gold into finished jewellery.
End The De Facto Dollar Peg Budgetary custom bases our annual budget and fiscal policies on the dollar value of projected oil sales. This means our federal budget is effectively pegged to a dollar standard. This artificially restricts the government’s fiscal latitude.
To achieve optimal growth in the long term, we must gradually wean ourselves from this limitation.
A more efficient fiscal methodology would be to base our budgeting on the projected level of government spending which optimises growth and jobs without causing unacceptable levels of inflation. As part of this prudent growth based budgeting, we will establish a clear and mandatory inflationary ceiling on spending. However, we must break the explicit link between naira expenditure and dollar intake.
Much like the European Union has done, we too must be realistic and temporarily suspend the operation of the three percent deficit limit on government spending during this protracted moment of global economic weakness.
With the fiscal latitude provided by the abovementioned budgetary reform, government can hire millions of unemployed Nigerians to modernise the national infrastructure.
A truly national highway system must be built to make road transportation faster, cheaper, and safer. A national potable water campaign will be established. We must commit to a Nigeria where, by the end of this decade, no one lives more than five minutes away from a reliable source of potable water.
Major dams must be reticulated to ensure better power generation and provide water for agricultural purposes.
Small-scale irrigation and water catchment systems will be built in rural areas throughout the nation. Using technology and equipment easily maintained at the local level with minimal costs, these systems will boost agricultural production and employment while mitigating dangerous cycles of flood and drought in many areas.
The Great Green Wall of the North must be fully completed. By mitigating the effects of desertification and deforestation, this lessens forced economic migration and resultant social dislocation and instability in many parts of the country. Using commercially valuable yet environmentally viable flora to construct the green wall, the project will provide employment for tens of thousands of youths and farmers.
To encourage the use of Public Private Partnerships, a Tinubu administration will work with the CBN, federal ministry of finance and other relevant federal agencies to expand the availability and scope of credit guarantees to attract more private sector investment in needed infrastructure.
Import Substitution
We must curb our reliance on imported goods. Importation of non-essential products will be discouraged through policy measures including luxury taxes, higher tariffs, and higher processing fees.
At the same time, international brands will be incentivised with tax credits, rebates and other fiscal incentives to establish manufacturing plants in Nigeria both for export and to meet the needs of our large population of consumers.
Tax Reform
During times of economic weakness, increasing taxation is counterproductive. Higher taxes drain an already weakened private sector, inviting possible economic contraction and higher unemployment.
economic goals is limited. Fiscal policy has numerous channels and transmission mechanisms by which it can affect the economy. Unlike monetary policy, fiscal policy can be channelled directly and even exclusively toward the poorer segments of society. Monetary policy transmission mechanisms are largely limited to banks and other financial institutions. By itself, good and wise monetary policy is insufficient to produce the level of growth we seek. However, bad monetary policy is sufficient in itself to sink the best of our economic dreams.
Monetary policy must focus on the exchange rate, interest rate and price levels. This trio must serve the objective of fiscal policy, which is broadly shared prosperity.
In essence, money lends nominal economic value to anyone who owns it or anything to which a monetary price is attached. Idle people and resources are said to have scant economic purpose or value. They are wrongfully derided as “useless.” When money becomes attached to them either through a living wage or capital investment, what was once idle becomes valued and productive.
Our fiscal strategy is to spend public money in a way that maximises employment of people and resources, especially those previously idle.
Monetary policy must buttress this approach.
We shall review the corporate tax system. This will be enhanced by the use of technology and effective policies.
Reduce Fiscal Inefficiency & Waste
We will continue the work of the current administration in reforming the civil service to reduce bureaucracy, streamline agencies and decrease inefficiency and waste.
We will streamline the amount government spends on itself. A cap will be placed on fiscal expenditures for the construction of government buildings and on the salaries and related compensation packages of elected officials and senior personnel in the executive branch of the federal government. Such expenditures will have a low priority in my administration.
Bona fide hard working members of the civil service are to be commended for their public service and shall be protected. However, we will continue the process of weeding out ghost workers, as well as ghost projects and expenditures from the system.
My administration will strictly adhere to the principle that public funds are only to be spent on the public good.
The various federal agencies meant to promote home ownership are too small and fragmented. To address this estimated housing deficit of 28 million units, we will ensure greater cohesion and efficiency by forming a new, more competent agency which will inherit the functions of existing housing authorities and shall be adequately capitalised by the federal government.
The agency will have a three-fold mandate to (i) grant low interest rate mortgages directly; (ii) guarantee qualified mortgages issued by commercial banks; and (iii) purchase mortgages from private banks.
The guaranteeing and purchasing of mortgages will encourage private banks toward mortgage lending and will deepen the secondary market.
Banks will also be encouraged to engage much more in the provision of affordable consumer loans for automobiles and high-cost appliances. A certain portion of bank lending must be earmarked for the consumer. All non-compliant banks will pay a penalty to government. Compliant banks will be entitled to tax breaks and credits as well as favourable treatment by the CBN regarding inter-bank transactions.
Home ownership is a source of prosperity, social stability and individual pride. A vibrant residential construction industry is essential to a healthy modern economy.
In conjunction with the National Assembly and state governments, we will review and revise the Land Use Act. We need to streamline and rationalise the land conveyance process. In this way, we lower costs and delays. In this way, we promote more efficient allocation of land. This more efficient allocation will bolster the housing industry and lower costs.
Working with state governments, we will provide credits and incentives to developers of housing projects that set aside a significant portion of their projects to affordable housing. We will establish a coherent federal program to provide eligible and meritorious civil servants with federal payment guarantees for fixed-rate, long term mortgages for their homes.
To achieve optimal growth and broadly shared prosperity, monetary policy must complement fiscal goals.
The efficiency of monetary policy in driving overall
The exchange rate is perhaps the most evocative monetary issue of the day. It stirs emotions and feelings of national pride or embarrassment, depending on the rate of the day and the trend it suggests.
The exchange rate influences the costs of imports, competitiveness of exports, and net capital flows among other things. It cannot be ignored nor left to the vagaries of an unrestrained market.
Yet, we must be precise regarding economic cause and effect. The current dip in our exchange rate has much to do with global supply and production shortfalls that have caused prices of goods to rise across the globe. Our low production of oil and the modest capacity of our manufacturing sector serve to compound the pressure on the naira.
Further compounding our difficulty is the fact that we are tied to a regime of multiple exchange rates. This situation gives rise to currency arbitrage, as rentseekers can make inordinate profit simply by exchanging naira at one rate and trading it for dollars at another. This practice diverts much needed funds from productive endeavours that could employ hundreds of thousands of people and create products that improve average living conditions. Instead, the funds create virtual financial windfalls for already wealthy people who need no such assistance.
The multiple exchange rate regime creates a sort of welfare program for a segment of the elite. Our exchange rate regime should be amended to promote the goals of widely shared growth and prosperity by ending the regime of multiple exchange rates and steadily converging them into one unified rate.
To achieve a unified rate, a managed float shall be implemented and maintained. In this way, we hedge against great surges of inflation while permitting sufficient leeway for market forces to establish the true value of our currency. Hopefully, this will spur export driven manufacturing and reduction of non-essential imports, particularly of luxury items.
The current surge of inflation is essentially driven by global supply and production disruptions beyond the control of any one government, including Nigeria’s. This is supply-driven inflation, not inflation caused by excess demand in an overheated economy.
To impose the usual anti-inflation medicine of higher interest rates and tighter money-supply will only serve to weaken the patient. The answer to supplydriven inflation is not to suppress normal aggregate demand levels. The better solution is to find ways to increase production and supply. To suppress demand will contract the economy, resulting in the overall loss of economic activity and jobs. Worse, since the inflation is grounded in supply side issues, placing this weight on the demand side will do little to answer the root causes of current inflation. In short, we punish the national economy and the people without deriving any meaningful benefit.
In this complex economic environment, we must more studiously assess the sources and causes of inflation so that we deploy the right mix of fiscal and monetary tools to contain it.
We better protect our exchange rate, guard against inflation and preserve foreign currency reserves by limiting our exposure to large debt obligations denominated in a foreign currency.
My administration will engage in extraordinary prudence in contracting debt in foreign currency. Our policy will be such that new debt obligations will be limited to only those essential matters such as national security, health care emergencies and essential infrastructure that cannot be addressed by either naira denominated expenditures or debt obligations.
Peter Uzoho
As Nigeria's president-elect, Senator Bola Tinubu, readies to be inaugurated today as the country's 16th president, some economic policy analysts and oil and gas operators have charged him to take priority steps to reposition the nation's oil and gas industry in order to attract more Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and increase earnings from the sector.
They also urged Tinubu to move swiftly upon assumption of office to tackle the perennial oil theft, raise the nation's oil production from the current low position and end the controversial petrol subsidy.
The speakers equally called on Tinubu to appoint knowledgeable and competent industry professionals to superintendent the petroleum and power ministries as well as heads of agencies and parastatals under the ministries.
The Partner/Head, Energy and Natural Resources, KPMG Professional Services, Mr. Ayo Salami and the immediate-past Chairman of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Mr. Adetunji
Oyebanji made the advocacies in separate chats with THISDAY.
During the 2023 electioneering campaigns, Tinubu, who won the election on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had vowed to ramp up Nigeria's oil production from the low of 1.5 million barrels per day (mbpd) in March 2023 to 2.6mbpd by 2027.
He had also promised to strike early deals with oil companies to reverse the gale of divestments by international oil companies (IOCs) and agree on improved fiscal regimes in a bid to boost oil and gas production and stimulate Africa’s biggest economy.
Tinubu also promised to abolish the perennial controversial petrol subsidy that has only contributed in worsening the bleeding of Nigeria's economy.
However, sharing his views and expectations from the presidentelect, Salami in an email response to THISDAY's questions, said he expects Tinubu to hit the ground running, stressing that the country was running out of time.
He said he was sincerely hoping that the incoming president had used
the interregnum between when he was announced as the winner of the election and his inauguration today to assemble a team of professionals and technocrats who will support him to deliver the country from the doldrums.
According to him, "there is really no time. He would have to act fast."
Commenting specifically on the petroleum sector, Salami said Tinubu must reposition the sector and must run it, "in a world class manner, akin to what we have in Saudi Arabia or in North America and Europe. The provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) must be implemented to the letter.
"The president-elect should break the tradition of doubling as the Minister of Petroleum Resources (MPR). In essence, we must have a substantive MPR to superintend this extremely important sector. Such person should exercise the executive powers given to him under the PIA."
The KPMG analyst said Nigeria must leverage technology to track and identify oil theft and infractions on the nation's oil infrastructure and punish offenders and culprits.
Salami said government must be seen to respect the rule of law and agreements with third parties, adding that he also expects Tinubu to give impetus to one of the constitutional amendment bills recently passed into law by the incumbent, to ensure that states across the country are be able to licence, generate, transmit and distribute electricity.
This, he explained, would assist to stimulate competition, reduce production cost and make Nigerian businesses more competitive, particularly, in view of the large market offered on the back of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
He said the incoming president must prioritise certain issues as contained in his campaign manifesto, which were clear and unambiguous.
Salami maintained, "And I am glad that his party’s manifesto speaks to some of them. For example, he has promised, as articulated in the manifesto, to ramp up oil production from the lows of about 1.5mbpd in March 2023 to 2.6mbpd by 2027, the end of his term in office (of which over 1mbpd must be from indigenous
In an emergency plenary session yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a bill which seeks to amend the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act regarding the Ways and Means Advances to the federal government.
The amendment specifically seeks to increase the total CBN advances to the federal government from five per cent (5%) to a maximum of fifteen percent (15%).
However, during consideration of the bill's clauses at its Committee of the Whole, the Chairman, House Committee on Water Resources, Hon. Sada Soli kicked against the rationale behind the increment. He said: "Mr. Chairman does it mean with this amendment that the CBN somehow advances to the government at 10 per cent or is it a wakeup call at the twilight
of this government that we are changing this from five per cent to 15 per cent?
“Can the Chairman, Banking and Currency kindly exchange this explanation not only to the National Assembly, but to Nigerians.
“Does it mean the CBN granted this advances at 15 per cent or what is going on? This is what we don't know Mr. Chairman. I'm a member of the Committee on Banking and Currency. I didn't know when this discussion took place.
“I can stand on privilege Order 6 to call for an explanation as a member of this Committee, how did we reach at this amendment, please?"
Reacting, the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Idris Wase who presided over the Committee of the Whole said:
"Hon. Sada the only explanation I may attempt to give if I listened
to you very carefully is this: The Chair has the right to commit after second reading any bill to the Committee of the Whole. It is there contained in our Standing Order.
“It depends on the importance and the exigency of the moment. And in light of this I want to beg our Colleagues to please consider this amendment and we pass it so that we have the right thing done."
Also during the session, the lawmakers passed through third reading a bill seeking to extend the implementation of the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Act from 30th June, 2023 to 31st December, 2023.
However, the House deferred the consideration of a bill seeking to repeal the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission Act, 2004 and enact the Revenue
Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission Bill to grant the Commission enforcement powers in the monitoring of accruals to and disbursement of revenue from the Federation Account and to bring the Act in conformity with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The bill was transmitted to the Senate for concurrence and slated for consideration at the Committee of the Whole.
Meanwhile, a member of Social Democratic Party (SDP), Hon. Cook Olododo from Kwara State, formally announced his defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The notice was contained in a letter read by the Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila on the floor of the House.
Thereafter, the House adjourned plenary to Tuesday, 30th May, 2023.
producers).
"This production level is projected to peak at 4mbpd by 2030. I would like to see real action towards achieving this goal (e.g., curbing oil theft). He must articulate clear policies beyond the PIA to attract significant foreign investment, which has eluded us in the last couple of years, into the sector.
"His promise to grow our gas production by 20 per cent and complete critical gas infrastructure by 2027 is commendable. However, he must walk the talk! I would expect him to challenge his MPR to achieve these lofty goals without excuses, as they align with our ESG strategy of using gas as a transition fuel towards achieving net zero carbon emission by 2060.
"I also expect him to deregulate the downstream petroleum sector completely (that is remove the subsidy). He made this promise during his response to questions at the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG’s) town hall engagement early 2023.
“There is no gain saying that the subsidy regime, apart from being a significant drain on the country’s hard-earned FX resources, stifles competitive spirit of Nigerian entrepreneurs in that sector, which indirectly stagnates its growth."
On power sector, the KPMG Partner, who commended Tinubu's party’s manifesto around how to begin the transformation, however, stated that he expects the new government to at least fix the transmission and distribution challenges faced by the subsector.
He said resolving the challenges would enable Nigeria to at least transmit and distribute the 12,000MW installed generating capacity that the country currently has, which would be a prelude to more significant investment in the off-grid and renewable energy solutions.
Salami also called for the appointment of more of technocrats and professionals, and less of politicians to superintendent the petroleum and power ministries.
According to him, "That is the only way to salvage both the petroleum and power sectors and put them on the path of sustained growth into the future. Again, there must be a substantive MPR -Minister of Petroleum Resources."
The analyst also called on the Tinubu government to remove fuel subsidy upon assumption of office,
saying abolishing subsidy in June was feasible.
Salami added, "Also I think that the removal of oil subsidy in June is feasible. However, we will need to resolve a few matters to facilitate the policy.
“First, we need to fix the exchange rate problem and the under-performing refineries. There is also dearth of information and knowledge about how the subsidy regime works.
"I think that the ordinary Nigerians don't know the devastating impact it is having on government revenues. We need to cure this ignorance is completely. Thus, there is need for sustained public enlightenment. Otherwise, the policy may be met with resistance from Nigerians, particularly, the organised labor.
"In a nutshell, the solution is deregulation of the sector, but with government providing some social safety net for the vulnerable people. The merit is that it encourages private investors to invest in new refineries and perhaps, import white products (if we are unable to meet local demand from domestic production).
"When that happens, producers will sell at competitive prices. The product may be expensive in the very short run, but ultimately, in the long run, equilibrium will be reached, and consumers will be the better for it.”
However, in a separate telephone chat with THISDAY, Oyebanji, who is also the Managing Director of 11Plc, harped on the need for the Tinubu administration to herald a positive change in the oil and gas industry and the economy in general.
Oyebanji advised the incoming administration to endeavour to put competent technocrats and industry professionals in charge of the petroleum ministry and its agencies and parastatals.
He pointed out that the mistake of appointing square pegs in round holes because of political considerations had been the bane of the nation's key economic sectors and growth.
Oyebanji said, "Anytime there is a change, there is opportunity for improvement, opportunity for growth. So we are hopeful that his government heralds positive changes for the industry. He knows that we are coming from a situation where things have been very tough, but we cannot but look forward to the future with hope and expectations that things would be better.
L-R; Registrar, Institute of Chartered Accountant of
The Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria (MTNN), Mr. Karl Toriola, has pledged to dedicate 70 per cent of the telcos staff recruitments and promotion to women in order to enable the company attain gender equality by 2030.
Toriola made this disclosure at the weekend, during MTNN’s official public signing ceremony of the United Nations Women Empowerment Principles (UNWEPs).
He said MTNN was firmly committed to gender balance not because it works and something good to put in its sustainability report but because, “we do believe that gender equality and balance is good for the company and is good for the society.
“We do this through a deliberate action and we are thinking on a principle that any recruitment and promotion that happen in the company, we are going to do our best to reserve up to 70 per cent for women.
“Because we have calculated that to meet our commitment at achieving gender equality by 2030, we have to consciously be reserving posts with those numbers every year in that direction, else we won’t hit that target.”
He expressed hope that MTNN would be able to use the signing and its position as Nigeria’s largest public quoted company by revenue to influence other corporate entities to do something to eliminate gender inequality in the workplace.
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has inaugurated twin lecture theatres at the Kaduna State University (KASU) and an Entrepreneurship Centre in Zaria. Speaking at the inauguration of the two projects at the weekend in Kaduna and Zaria, outgoing Minister of Transport, Alhaji Mu’azu Sambo, commended the agency for embarking on projects that are aimed at poverty alleviation and the development of human capacity.
According to him, “the projects are a testament to the unending commitment of the federal government to building structures with long-lasting socio-economic rewards.”
Sambo said the projects would have a life-changing impact on the people.
He said, “Over the past few weeks, we have travelled across the nation to commission lofty projects initiated and completed by NIMASA.
“NIMASA has proven to Nigerians and indeed the whole world that it is a socially responsible organisation, playing its part in poverty alleviation through the implementation of projects targeted at human capacity development”
He said, the twin Lecture Theatre donated to KASU by NIMASA would further provide a comfortable learning environment for students and serve as a centre for the development of
competencies in the maritime sector.
The minister noted that KASU was one of the budding universities in the country that deserves every attention and support to make it compete with other institutions of learning across the globe.
“Indeed, the delivery of the twin Lecture Theatre which is fitted with modern learning gadgets will further advanced the university’s reputation,”, he added.
The minister commended the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, for completing the projects.
He further commended the Kaduna state government for its support throughout the delivery of the projects.
Speaking earlier, the NIMASA DG, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, said the intervention projects were part of the agency’s policy on infrastructural development of educational system in the country.
“We are doing similar projects across the six geo-political zones of the country.
“We have selected two key areas where we believe if we tackle them head-on, we will be able to address so many of the challenges that we are having in terms of security. “These areas include education and job creation.
“This is why in Zaria, we are commissioning skill acquisition centre to address the challenges of job creation of over 60 per cent of the teeming youths in Nigeria”, Jamoh said.
Toriola added that the MTNN’s statement of support for women empowerment programme was that, “as a business and as a part of the MTN Group, we are committed to our diversity and inclusion vision: ‘to be the most inclusive and successful organisation across Africa and the Middle East, putting diversity into action to help employees, customers and communities to thrive.’ Diversity and inclusion sit at the heart of our identity and organisational culture.
“On behalf of my management team and board, with this signing, I am delighted to again speak up about MTNN’s commitment to women’s advocacy as a diverse, inclusive and equitable workforce is critical to the success and sustainability of our business.
“We commit to promoting gender inclusiveness, equality and empowerment, internally as well as across our ecosystem to ensure that interventions are holistic and position women to thrive effortlessly.
“For us, addressing gender gaps benefits not just MTN, but the larger society as well.
“So we will leverage our partnership with UNWEPs to deepen our efforts toward reducing gender gaps through collaborations with stake holders.”
Speaking during the signing ceremony, the International Finance
Corporation’s (IFC) Senior Country Manager, Nigeria, Mr. Kalim M. Shah, stated that Nigeria’s economy would expand by 58 per cent if the country would attain gender equality in its workforce as have been shown by the World Bank.
Shah said: “If Nigeria could reduce gender inequality, its gross domestic product (GDP) could grow by an additional 58 per cent.
“Research shows that societies with more gender equality tend to be more resilient, and organisations that reduce barriers to women in the workplace grow more quickly. Conversely, organisations that fail to address gender gaps risk getting left behind.
“For these reasons, through our investment and advisory expertise, IFC supports companies to promote women’s advancement as leaders, entrepreneurs, consumers, employees, and business leaders because, it is not only a moral imperative, but also a smart business strategy.
“Today’s event once again highlights the importance of gender equality for economic development and growth. It brings attention to the pivotal role the private sector can play in advancing gender equality to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and to raise awareness about the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs),
which emphasises the business case for corporate action to promote gender equality and women's empowerment.”
The event was also attended by the CEO of Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), Mr. Temi Popoola, who said that, “the MTN Nigeria has single handedly catalysed women participation in the capital market,” with its public offering.
Similarly, the Acting Regional Director of the UN Women, Ms. Florence Raes, who is also United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Representative, said a lot needed to be done to make today’s commitment a success for not only Nigeria but for countries across West and Central Africa sub-regions.
Raes, who was a virtual participant in the signing ceremony, said: “We are looking at the signature today on the trend that it will blaze in Nigeria and for the region. As I mentioned this is a starting point. Diversity in a company makes for good business. It is also good for economy and growth.
“The financial support and access to capital and capacity building opportunities for women entrepreneurs is really helping to foster enabling environment for women to thrive, grow for posterity in coming years.”
Speaking in the same vein, the
Executive Director of UN Global Compact Network Nigeria, Ms. Naomi Nwokolo, said MTNN is a participant of the UN Global Compact and a board member of UN’s Global Compact Network Nigeria. Nwokolo, who was also a virtual participant, described the MTNN’s gender equality journey as remarkable and noteworthy, adding that, “this momentous occasion not only highlights MTNN’s commitment to advancing gender equality but also signifies an important step toward creating a more inclusive and empowering business environment in Nigeria.”
She said: “MTN Nigeria’s decision to join the WEPs exemplifies their dedication to promotion of women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and the community.
“By signing on to the WEPs, MTNN is making a bold statement that they value diversity, inclusivity and equal opportunities for all.”
The Chief Human Resources Officer of MTNN, Mrs. Esther Akinnukawe, described the partnership as “having the icing on the cake to make sure that we have the tools and the knowledge base to be able to advance the objectives we have set out and to ensure that we move in leaps and bounds in this gender equality both in the workplace and marketplace.”
Alex Enumah in Abuja
An advocacy for good governance and anti-corruption group, the Registered Trustees of Women of Faith All Round Initiative, has approached the Federal High Court, Abuja, for leave to apply for an order of mandamus compelling the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to file charges against the Rivers State Governor-elect, Fubara Siminayi and three others, over their alleged indictment in corrupt practices, fraud, money laundering, misappropriation of public funds to the tune of N117 billion.
The plaintiff predicated its request on the grounds that the EFCC having in a public notice declared Siminayi and the three others wanted over an
alleged crime and having concluded their investigation on the matter, ought to file charges against them.
In an ex parte application dated May 19, and filed same day, the applicant stated that the EFCC which is the sole respondent in the suit, "since they declared the said persons wanted have failed to take further steps to file a charge before the court in line with its mandate to prosecute all act of financial crimes and other related offences."
According to the applicant, the defendants; Fubara Siminayi, Harrisonba Bessi Princewill, Lekia V. Bukpor and Dagogo Rodderick Abere, who had been declared wanted by the anti-graft agency were not in hiding and had been parading themselves in Rivers State, in addition
to running for political offices.
"That one of the said persons, Fubara Siminayi still went ahead to become the Rivers State People's Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate for the 2023, governorship election in Rivers State," applicant submitted.
Based on the following, the applicant said it wrote the commission on April 18, 2023, requesting that the EFCC, "prosecute the defendants but that they have failed to do till date.”
"That the respondent has failed to act in accordance with its establishment Act as it relates to the prosecution of financial crimes and other related offences in Nigeria.
"That the intervention of the court is required to compel the respondent to comply with the clear
and unambiguous provisions of the Freedom of Information Act." They therefore prayed the court for, "An order granting leave to the applicant to apply for judicial review in terms of an order of mandamus compelling the respondent to comply with the provisions of Section 7(2) of the EFCC Act, 2004, by way of filing a criminal charge before this court against one Fubara Siminayi, Harrisonba Bessi Princewill, Lekia V. Bukpor and Dagogo Rodderick Abere whom the respondent in a public notice declared wanted over suspected N117 billion fraud, alleged criminal conspiracy, money laundering, and misappropriation of public funds and abuse of office having concluded their investigation on the matter".
Nigeria (ICAN), Prof. Ahmed Kumshe; ICAN retiree, Mr. Gabriel Ogochukwu; ICAN President, Mallam Tijjani Musa Isa; ICAN retiree, Chief Odeyemi Olusola David; and ICAN Vice President, Dr. Innocent Okwuosa at the ICAN 2023 staff long service award and send forth ceremony, held in Lagos… yesterday
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Some people suspected to be Yoruba Nation agitators, in the early hours of yesterday, seized Radio Nigeria, Amuludun FM 99.1 in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, taking over broadcast for more than one hour.
It was learnt that the agitators, who besieged the station around 5:40 am in an 18-seater bus, were armed with dangerous weapons and charms, threatening to deal decisively with any staff member who refused to cooperate with them.
However, the state Police Command disclosed that it has arrested five suspects in connection with the hijacking of the radio station
It was gathered that one of the arrested agitators, who sustained gunshot wounds, had rushed into the studio to tell others that security operatives had taken over the nooks and crannies of the station with
blood stain seen in the studio.
It was further learnt that after holding some night duty staff and security guards hostage, the agitators hijacked the studio and announced live on radio “Welcome to Yoruba Nation", threatening staff members to remove all Nigeria flags in the station and replace them with Yoruba Nation flags, saying they had already taken over the Government Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan.
The swift response of policemen from the Moniya Divisional Police headquarters and Moniya Area Command; Oyo Station Joint Security Patrol team codenamed, Operation Burst; and soldiers from 2 Division of Nigerian Army, Odoogbo, Ojoo, Ibadan, terminated the siege laid by the hijackers.
They had responded to distress calls from critical stallholders. The security agencies were able to arrest five of the suspects, who have been taken to the Oyo State
Task Systems Limited, a pioneering force in the West African Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, has announced the appointment of Mrs. Gozy Ijogun as its new Managing Director.
The appointment became effective on April 1, 2023, according to a statement yesterday.
“Gozy Ijogun, known for her transformative leadership, has a rich professional history in the digital technology realm. At the age of 25, armed with a degree in Chemistry from University College London and a Master of Science degree in Accounting, Organizations, and Institutions from the London School of Economics, Gozy made a significant impact on the digital landscape of Nigeria by setting up TD-Mobile, Nigeria's first structured mobile devices distribution company.
“She propelled the company to generate a substantial N38 billion in revenue within its first year of operation, guiding the organisation from its initial team of seven to become TD Africa Distributions Ltd., now a dominant player in technology distribution in sub-Saharan Africa, representing more than 25 top global brands and introducing a plethora of ICT solutions that consolidated its standing as a solutions-focused tech firm,” the statement added.
Commenting on the appointment,
the Chairman of Task Systems Ltd, Leo Stan Ekeh said: "Gozy’s proven leadership, strategic acumen, and her passion for technology make her the perfect fit for Task Systems Ltd.
"Her impressive track record and innovative vision align seamlessly with our growth trajectory. We are excited to usher in this new era under her stewardship."
Reflecting on her appointment, Ijogun said, "I'm honoured to join Task Systems, a company that has consistently been at the forefront of tech innovation.
“We have a remarkable opportunity to grow and become the leading integrated technology and services company in Africa, and I am enthusiastic about leading Task Systems into this future."
Apart from her commercial accomplishments, Ijogun is also deeply committed to social change.
She was instrumental in launching "This is Me", a Corporate Social Responsibility initiative championed by TD Africa to aid individuals and uplift their dignity.
With 36 years of industry leadership, Task Systems has consistently provided innovative ICT solutions across various industries, including oil, banking, media, manufacturing, and the public sector. The company has received over 27 global awards for its exceptional contributions.
Police Command, Eleyele, Ibadan, where they were paraded yesterday.
It was further gathered that they initially hijacked some commercial vehicles (Micra) to block the main road
The most senior staff on duty, Ajayi Omotola, speaking on the incident, said “They told us that they are Yoruba Nation agitators. And on their T-shirt, there were that inscription there. They wrote Yoruba Nation. Only six persons came inside the studio with different charms threatening to kill us if we failed to cooperate. Others were outside manning security at different areas within the premises.
“They collected all our phones and threatened to kill us if we made any noise or phone calls. They said they wanted to broadcast live that Yoruba Nation has taken over. We should remove all Nigeria flags in our studio and replace it with their own. They didn’t allow anybody to go outside.
“The Area Commander came, addressed and even pleaded with them but they ignored him. We later
heard sporadic shooting outside. So, one of our staff members then came inside to inform us that police and soldiers had arrived."
Normalcy has however returned to the station with stern-looking security operatives on standbys.
Meanwhile, the state Police Command yesterday, paraded five suspects arrested in connection with the hijacking of the radio station.
The state Police Commissioner, Adebowale Williams, while parading the suspects including one woman, Noah Atoyebi, Gbenga Adeleke, Abdulganiyu Kolawole, Bashiru Kehinde and Elija Fajola, said their intention was to declare liberation from the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He said he had detailed an investigation team led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department to demystify circumstances around the incident and as well expand the network of arrests through thorough, painstaking intelligence driven investigation.
While declaring the act as criminal, unpatriotic and a clear case of terrorism which would be meted with adequate sanctions under the laws of the land, the CP assured the citizens of the state that the security architecture of the Command in concert with relevant sister agencies has been strategically modified for optimum effectiveness not only for the epoch making ceremony of the second term inauguration of Governor Seyi Makinde but beyond.
The CP also charged parents, guardians and leaders who wield various degrees of influence to prevail on their children, wards and proteges against being used to disrupt the event as heavy sanctions await defaulters and other unpatriotic elements sharing the same sinister motives.
In the meantime, the leader of the umbrella body of Yoruba Nation Self Determination Struggle, Emeritus Prof. Banji Akintoye, has condemned the invasion of the radio station, describing their action as lawless and profoundly criminal.
Akintoye in a statement by his Assistant Director of Programmes, Dr. Olatunde Amusat, said the group led by a woman which carried out the action had been warned repeatedly to stop engaging in criminal activity but they refused to change, stating that the Yoruba Self Determination led by him runs a struggle that is totally peaceful and law abiding.
The statement read in part, "We have even written a 34-page manual to guide our followers and all Yoruba people about peaceful and law abiding self-determination struggle. We have written to the outgoing President of Nigeria and to the Secretary General of the United Nations about our legitimate demand for self-determination for our Yoruba nation.
“We have emphasised in every one of those letters that our struggle is peaceful and law abiding.
"We have no relationship whatsoever with the group that has repeatedly engaged in crime and we have no hands in their criminal conduct."
The outgoing Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) at the weekend launched a 10- year National Housing Strategy (NHS), which he said would unleash the power of private capital in the sector when implemented. Fashola, maintained that government alone cannot provide the totality of housing needs for Nigerians, hence the need to create an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive.
According to the minister, the 10-year strategic blueprint was designed to harmonise all extant housing initiatives by various stakeholders into a single national housing strategy. The document which was presented in Abuja was put together in collaboration with FMDQ Holding Plc.
Fashola explained that despite the numerous housing programmes initiated by the current administration for affordable housing, it still did not provide more homes than private enterprises, stating that the private sector remains the real driver of housing solutions in the country.
“There is nothing the government
does in the housing sector that can compete and provide more than what the private sector can do, whether it is a state government building or the federal government. The real drivers at the end of the day is the capacity of private capital for providing more houses," he said The minister stated that the scope of land holding resides mainly within the state governments that own the bulk of land, maintaining that the federal government does not have as much land as the collective land holding in the hands of the private sector.
Fashola reiterated the need for reliable data on housing deficit, assuring that the scheduled population census will reveal the real size of housing problems in the country.
“I am launching this document with mixed feelings and I say that because as an initiative of the private sector, the document is an alternative solution to the housing problem.
“One of the data that will be collected will be who lives in a rented house; who owns his house; those who have other houses, and what type of house people live in. So, let’s hold our breath and when the
figures come, it will be very reliable and upon which we can see the real size of the problem,” he added.
Earlier, the Director overseeing the office of the Permanent Secretary, Folorunsho Esan stated that the blueprint was an outcome of the collaborative effort among the Office of the Vice President of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, PricewaterhouseCoopers and FMDQ Holding PLC.
He explained that the project working group had worked tirelessly to produce the strategic compendium being launched.
In his response, the Senior Vice President, FMDQ Group Plc, Mr. Emmanuel Etaderhi, acknowledged the support and commitment of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and Fashola for his guidance along every stage of the drafting of the strategy document.
Fashola also signed the ValueAdded Concession (VAC) under Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI, noting that it was another demonstration of the ministry’s commitment to fixing the nations’ federal road network.
He said the HDMI was created to develop and manage the federal
road network with the objective to attract sustainable investment and funding in the development of road infrastructure across the nation.
The Managing Director of Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Micheal Ohiani, in his address, stated that the primary objective of (HDMI) pilot scheme was to leverage private sector investment to improve facilities and operations on selected routes.
He added that it was also being deployed in infrastructure development by applying a commercial approach that bridges the funding gaps in annual capital budget expenditure, thereby reducing the dependency on budgetary allocations.
Meanwhile, Fashola and the Minister of State, Umar el-Yakub, handed over the mantle of leadership of the ministry to the director overseeing the office of the permanent secretary, Esan .
Fashola argued that in the last eight years of the Muhammadu Buhari's administration, it did its best in making sure that the promises made to the citizens were kept, saying that though some may not like them, but they would like the work they did.
Alleges minister repainted Ethiopian aircraft to pass off as Nigerian airline Accuses minister of desperate attempt to justify N15.9bn appropriated by the federal government to Nigeria Air since 2016 Wants share agreement that gave Ethiopian Airlines 49%, other undue previlleges, 3% to Fairfax Ltd probed Says act in disobedience of existing court orders
Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
An anti-corruption group, SecureWorld and Liberty Initiative for Peace (SELIP), at the weekend, petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) and urged the anti-graft agency to probe the outgoing Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, over alleged use of the establishment of a national carrier, Nigeria Air, to perpetrate fraud and commit economic sabotage.
The petition, which was addressed to the EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, was signed by the Executive Director of SELIP, Mark Adebayo.
The group called on the commission to investigate the outgoing minister for undertaking ventures designed to benefit a few individuals and lead to the eventual collapse of the aviation industry, a critical sector of the Nigerian economy.
It noted with dismay the unveiling of an aircraft last Friday, in Abuja, purportedly belonging to Nigeria Air, despite an existing court order restraining the minister from taking any action regarding the project.
The group alleged that in a desperate bid to hoodwink President Muhammadu Buhari's government and the generality of Nigerians, the
minister imported a repainted aircraft owned by Ethiopian Airlines and passed it off as the maiden flight belonging to Nigeria Air.
The civil society group averred that the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos headed by Justice A.L Allagoa, in a suit filed by the Airline Operators of Nigeria, had granted three separate orders of injunctions, restraining the federal government from taking any step about the Nigeria Air project "but the minister in a desperate bid to cover up the monumental fraud in the deal elected to flagrantly disobey an order of a court of competent jurisdiction and produced a sham called unveiling of Nigeria Air flight last Friday."
"We are compelled to bring to your attention that the aircraft purportedly unveiled on Friday, May 26, 2023, by Minister Sirika, as the first flight of the national carrier, Nigeria Air, is still in active service of Ethiopia Airlines. We can confirm that the aircraft, a Boeing 737-800 with the registration number ET-APL, has since left the country this weekend for Turkey according to a check on the flight radar; it only transited Nigeria for the farce of a show put up by the minister.
"The flight landing in the country with Ethiopia Airlines' registration
number means Nigeria Air has no Air Operator Certificate (AOC). No aircraft can be registered in Nigeria without the carrier having an AOC which means that the aircraft does not belong to Nigeria Air either as leased or owned equipment. So, Sirika should not be allowed to fool Nigerians," the petitioner said.
The group, therefore, urged the anti-graft agency to make Sirika account for a whopping N15.9 billion that has been committed so far to the project by the federal government, alleging that the desperation by the minister is geared towards covering up the misappropriation of funds and monumental fraud.
"The unveiling was a desperate attempt to justify the N15.9 billion appropriated by the federal government to Nigeria Air since 2016. The phantom project has continued to lick up budgetary provisions.
"N1.3 billion was allotted to it in the 2023 budget with an additional N700 million as ‘working capital’ and N200 million as consultancy fee so, the minister must not be allowed to hoodwink Nigerians with the importation of a rented aircraft into the country and pass it off as a step to the commencement of the operation of the airline days to his exit from office. This act of
fraud and economic terrorism must not be allowed to go unpunished," the petition read.
It said Sirika claimed that Nigeria Air Limited was a private sector-led airline, with only five per cent of the company owned by the Nigerian government. The minister had also added that a consortium of entrepreneurs in Nigeria owns 46 per cent while investors in Ethiopian Airlines retain 49 per cent of the shares.
However, SELIP in the petition, countered the minister saying the conception and implementation of the national carrier project were shrouded in ambiguity and designed to defraud the people of Nigeria by a few Nigerians in connivance with their international collaborators.
"The lack of transparency on funding and alleged zero consideration for local players and national interest is frightening as the proposed shareholders' agreement reserves all executive directors positions for the Ethiopians with Nigerians as deputies," it stated.
SELIP said Sirika must be compelled to explain why in the proposed shareholder agreement, Ethiopian Airlines will also collect millions of dollars
The Catholic Bishop of Enugu Diocese, His Lordship, Most Rev. Dr. Callistus Onaga has prayed for the success of the incoming administration of Dr. Peter Mbah in Enugu State.
He also called on God to give him the strength, courage and wisdom to transform and lead the state to the promised land even as he extolled the peaceful virtues embodied by the outgoing Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s administration.
According to a statement yesterday, the bishop, in a thanksgiving/ inauguration celebration at the Holy Ghost Cathedral, Enugu, tagged “Transition Thanksgiving Mass” organised by the State Government to appreciate God for the successful completion of two terms of eight years of the Ugwuanyi administration and the inauguration of the Mbah
administration, prayed for sustained and peaceful transition of government on May 29, 2023.
The clergy who noted that Mbah’s victory at the March 18 governorship election was an act of God already designed for that purpose, called on all residents and citizens in the state to support the new administration in order to bring the much desired positive change that would impact on the lives of the people.
He also stated that the Church was having double celebration because of the Feast of the Holy Spirit popularly called Pentecost Sunday, saying the Cathedral took its name after the feast, while adding that the state had every reason to be grateful to God for the journey so far.
Ugwuanyi and the Deputy Governor of Enugu State, Mrs. Cecilia
Ezeilo were present at the celebration. Also, both the incoming governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, and his deputy, Ifeanyi Ossai attended with their spouses, Mrs. Nkechinyere Mbah and Mrs. Adaeze Ossai, respectively.
In his homily, Monsignor Prof. Obiora Ike enjoined Christians and all people around the world to see the Feast of the Holy Spirit and what it represents as an opportunity to unite and live in peace amongst themselves.
While calling on public servants in the country to see themselves as people called to serve and not to enrich themselves with public funds, the Monsignor urged them to shun corruption and prioritise the needs that would advance the common good of the public.
Expressing optimism that the governor-elect would not only
transform but also industrialise the state through his robust programmes and policies, the cleric further commended him as a rare technocrat who has cut his teeth in the private sector where his company is presently the dominant player in the oil and gas downstream sub-sector of the Nigerian economy.
While observing the cordial relationship among the three arms of government in the state under the Ugwuanyi administration, Monsignor Ike enjoined Mbah to consider only technocrats and experts in his appointments to fast track the implementation of his agenda for the overall benefit of the state.
According to him, the governor-elect should avoid career politicians with little or nothing to contribute to his programmes as contained in his manifesto.
yearly as management fees despite having 49% shares and why the East African company will attract such grace by using just their own planes as contributions to the project.
The group also charged the EFCC to probe the 3% of the total shares allocated to Fairfax Ltd which was appointed as the transaction adviser to the project.
SELIP appealed to the anti-graft agency to probe the deal that granted Fairfax Nigeria Limited the shares without paying a dime.
"This company will also be paid millions of dollars monthly and will be in charge of procurement for
Nigeria Air. There is overwhelming evidence that Sirika has a substantial interest in Fairfax Nigeria Limited albeit by proxies, and one of the most curious things is why a firm incorporated in March 2021 without robust experience in the aviation industry will be factored into such a monumental project.
"Please, use your good office to probe the perpetration of conflict of interest and grand fraud against the Nigerian people so that sanity will be restored in that sector and cause a rebound in the confidence of investors in the industry," the group said.
The Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) has announced the appointment of Babatunde Lasaki as its new General Manager, Corporate Communications and Strategy.
This followed the retirement of Godwin Idemudia, who previously served in the position.
In an official statement, the utility company thanked Idemudia for his service and wished him well on his retirement.
“We are proud of the work that Mr. Idemudia did at EKEDC and remain grateful for his long and impactful service. The foundation he laid will remain his enduring legacy even as those inspired by him continue to work for a better department and company,” the statement read.
Prior to his appointment, Lasaki was the company’s Assistant General Manager, Corporate Communications and Strategy. According to the statement, Lasaki comes to the role with a rich educational background in media and communications, and far-reaching experience in media, communications, brand management and strategy.
“Lasaki holds a BA, Communication and Language Arts from University of Ibadan, an MBA, Marketing Management from Lagos State University, and an MSc, Media and Communication from Pan-Atlantic University,” the statement added.
“He has also earned certificates from reputed local and international
institutions, including Strategies for Optimising Corporate Communication Skills from of School of Media and Communication (SMC), Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos; Competitive Intelligence and Customer Satisfaction from Lagos Business School (LBS), Lagos; Strategic Communication and Crisis Management, from Hundfold Global, Johannesburg; Crisis Management for PR Managers in Financial Sector, at PRWeek, London; Strategic Communication and Stakeholders Engagement from Int.l School Of Communication, Dubai; Advanced Crisis Management Strategy from PRSA, Dallas, Texas. USA, and Advanced Diploma in Strategic Brand Management from London School of Business and Finance”, the statement added.
The new General Manager enjoys membership in several professional associations including, Nigeria Institute of Public Relations, (NIPR); National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN); Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), and African Public Relations Association (APRA).
Prior to joining EKEDC in 2019, Babatunde Lasaki had worked with First Bank of Nigeria Limited where he served as the Head, Media, and External Communications.
EKEDC expressed confidence that Lasaki’s reign would help accelerate the company’s public engagement objectives, given his experience as an “adroit communications strategist and media practitioner.”
Emameh
Ahead of today's inauguration, Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has once again expressed disatisfaction with the conduct and outcome of the February 25 presidential election, which he is currently challenging in court.
Obi has also raised the alarm over a sinister move by some persons in government to drag his image to the
mud as part of what he described as a well-orchestrated strategy to weaken his support base and throw his supporters into confusion.
This was as the leadership of the Labour Party, has said the inauguration of Tinubu notwithstanding, the party would still retrieve its stolen mandate.
The former Anambra State governor, who lamented the current declining state of the country in all facets, said things must not continue
Cross River state owned Cally Air, may become the first source of conflict between the outgoing governor, Prof. Ben Ayade and the in-coming governor, Bassey Ottu, as the later stood in the way of the plan to concession the airline to a private company.
Cally Air was wholly owned by the Cross River state government with the acquisition of Boeing B737 classics in 2021, but now that Ayade is leaving office, there are plans to cede the two aircraft to a private company with somewhat blurred agreement, which the in-coming governor it was gathered had kicked against.
THISDAY learnt that the status of the two aircraft under Cally Air was that they are allegedly grounded. One is undergoing C-check while the other was down because of the refusal of the Cross River state government to pay the aircraft insurance.
Although Cross River state government registered an airline, Cally Air, but the airline was yet to have Air Operator Certificate (AOC) so the aircraft were being operated by Aero Contractors before they were grounded.
THISDAY learnt that while the outgoing governor wanted its aircraft, Boeing 737-300 with the registration number: 5N-BYQ to be brought to Calabar for “concessioning”, it was learnt that the incoming governor suspected foul play in the entire arrangement.
Apart from this, the outgoing governor had earlier in the year listed some of the state’s assets to be concessioned to private firms and included Cally Air as one of such assets.
The plan to concession the state’s assets did not however, go down well with some of the state indigenes as
one Mr. Mba Ukwenu, immediately sued the State government in court to stop it from going ahead with its plan. A source close to the State Government told THISDAY that the Cross River State Government planned to “concession” the airline to its consultant and asset manager (coordinator), IRS Airlines Limited.
Also, Aero Contractors, which had been operating and managing the airline since it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the State Government on April 30, 2021 for operations and maintenance of the airline until recently, was reluctant to release the aircraft to the State government over an alleged breach of agreement by the government.
THISDAY gathered that the government was owing Aero Contractors over N900 million for services rendered to it on the operations and maintenance of Cally Air for over 24 months.
The MoU was signed among Cross River State Government, IRS Airlines Limited and Aero Contractors for the operation, commercial profit and maintenance of two Boeing 737 aircraft.
According to the MoU, which was made available to THISDAY, the Cross River State Government, acquired two airplanes - 5N-BYQ and 5N-GRS - and selected IRS Airlines Limited as its consultant and asset manager, while Aero Contractors was designated as the operator and expected to provide licenses, permits and certificates necessary for the airline to operate a passenger transport aircraft.
The B737-300 with the registration number: 5N-BYQ was still parked at the Aero Contractors hangar, while the other B737-300 with the registration number: 5N-GRS was supposed to be undergoing C-check but needed some spares that would be made available by Boeing.
the way there were, assuring his supporters not to be detterd as there was a greater future ahead.
Obi, in a statement, called on Nigerians to re-examine their assumptions and hopes in a moment in time he said the people must collectively come to grips with the reality of "our injured destiny as well as the reasons for that injury. It is for us to reassess our plight as a young democracy and identify clear pathways to a better and greater future for us all.
"The conduct and outcome of the last National elections have showcased the troubled state of our democracy. While a minority, indeed a handful of partisans, seem satisfied with the conduct of the election and the results, the majority of Nigerian voters and many international observers remain confounded by the process and the outcome. Serious reservations have been expressed by a significant
majority of stakeholders about the shortcomings of the elections. But it is not for anyone to take the laws into his hands.
"As we await the verdict of the election tribunal, I urge all Nigerians to use this opportunity to renew their commitment to the Nigerian ideal. That ideal remains noble and worth every sacrifice we can make. Nigeria remains our only patrimony and it is a patrimony we must protect, rather than violate. We have no other nation but this, so let us remain committed to rescuing and rebuilding it.”
Obi, who has continued to expressed confidence in the judiciary, described the institution as a critical part of the democratic enterprise and a critical governance tool for determining the propriety of the decisions and actions of every citizen and every institution of state, saying the judiciary should be treated with the respect
and dignity it deserves.
"We expect that the Nigerian judiciary will use the election cases now before it to reaffirm its independence and integrity. It has to do so, for all our sakes and for itself. Nigerians must, therefore, remain peaceful and law-abiding. No matter the depth of anyone's reservations about what is going on in the polity today, no matter the real and imagined provocations, and no matter the disagreement out there, we should remember that this will not last forever,” he said.
He, however, seized the opportunity to disclose the knowledge of an alleged plot to set him up and disperse his supporters by people in government but has vowed not to be intimidated by such desperate politics.
"I am aware of some evil designs being hatched against me and my supporters in the coming months.
Efforts will be made to taint my image. Campaigns of calumny are being perfected to defame my character and diminish my hard-earned integrity. These schemes will aim at degrading our support base and confusing the public.
"But, no evil campaign will alter the substance of my character or diminish my patriotic commitment to a better Nigeria. It is not about me. It is about a better Nigeria. It is about the future of our youths. It is about ending the Years of Locust," he said.
Meanwhile, the LP leadership has called on its supporters to continue to express their passions, emotions and frustrations, within the confines of the law, assuring them that there was no doubt that in the fullness of time as long as they know the truth and were prepared to keep standing by the truth, Justice shall prevail.
Chuks Okocha and Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
Ijaw leader and elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, yesterday, reviewed the eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, and declared that it was a total failure.
The 96-year-old Niger Delta elder handed down his submission at a news conference in his Asokoro, Abuja home, saying all the promises made by the Buhari administration to the people of Niger Delta were not fulfilled.
This came as the Defenders of African Democracy (DAD) and Hope Africa have described the farewell broadcast of the outgoing president that Nigerians should follow and obey election tribunal’s decisions as a ruse and charade, when his administration paid little or no regard to court decisions and orders.
Speaking, Clark said, "The truth is, President Muhammadu Buhari is leaving the nation, especially the Niger Delta region, worse than he met it. He is bequeathing bouquet of unfulfilled promises, divided nation and myriad of critical federal infrastructural projects in shameful states, especially roads, and particularly in the Niger Delta region."
He said there was terrible state of insecurity insecurity in most parts of the country, being perpetrated by the menacing killer herders, Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists, heinous bandits,
kidnappers and sundry criminals.
As a result of that, he said, "A vast majority of citizens, particularly, the youths, are gripped by feelings of annihilation, fear and desperation due to lack of adequate protection by the government"
The development, he added, had resulted in the now common "japa syndrome", where the youths are leaving the country has become the aspiration of most active Nigerians.
Clark said, "Sadly, a sizable number of the Nigerian youths, particularly the professionals are leaving our dear country in droves to other climes particularly; Canada, Britain, USA, among others.
"There was a particular occasion in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, when about 50 medical doctors were going to Britain for greener pastures, and they were returned at the airport by the immigration, but nobody knows how these Doctors later found themselves in Britain within two weeks.
"Today, we have a lot of Nigerian nurses scattered in Britain and other nations of the world. I am 96 years old now, and I have been actively involved, by the Grace of God, in the affairs of Nigeria and the Niger Delta region, for over 70 years, I have seen it all.
"In the past eight years, President Muhammadu Buhari has demonstrated in most cases that he did not belong to the whole country
but to a group; his tribe and religion, which is contrary to what he said in his inaugural speech that he belong to everybody.
"For instance, he appointed fourteen out of seventeen security Chiefs from one section of the country. So, the declaration that he belongs to everybody and nobody, was a sham. I make bold to say that the reverse has been the case, he belongs to some people, but not the entire Nigeria.
"Even in simple matters like extending the good wishes of the government to notable personalities in the country on their birthdays or other landmark attainments, the Muhammadu Buhari administration was selective and biased in who it chooses to recognise or consider worthy of goodwill messages.
"Muhammadu Buhari’s team has publicly recognised the anniversaries of people who in all humility are either much younger than me, or have contributed much less than I have, to this country. On my 91st birthday in 2018, I protested this anomaly in an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari. I became 96 on Thursday last week; the Buhari administration did not deem it fit to send a goodwill message to me.
"Given my patriotic services to Nigerian, three of my colleagues in General Yakubu Gowon’s government’s cabinet became Heads of State and President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, mainly,
General Murtala Mohammed, General Olusegun Obasanjo, and Alhaji Shehu Shagari, over the past 70 years.
"I regard myself as a senior citizen of this country. I am convinced that if President Muhammadu Buhari was not illiberal and ‘belongs to everybody’, he would have been consulting me for advice.
"At my age, the present government had treated me with ignominy to the extent of sending armed policemen in loaded vans to my Abuja residence on 4th September 2018, to search my residence with a warrant procured from a certain Magistrate Court with the false allegation that I was stockpiling arms and ammunition from the Niger Delta.”
On their parts, the Defenders of African Democracy and Hope Africa, said the Buhari farewell broadcast was a further confirmation that the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) used the courts and security agencies to intimidate the opposition political parties.
The two groups said this was more so, coming after the recent dramas exhibited by the some courts recently making what is considered politically induced unwarranted levying of unethical and obscene fines against key opposition personalities, presidential candidate and political parties whose crime was that they sought legal interpretation on the vexed issues of law relating to tardiness in the conduct of elections held in Nigeria.
Tinubu’s swearing-in won’t stop us from reclaiming stolen mandate, LP vowsL-R: Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat; Board member representing South West zone, Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), Professor Samuel Ogundare; Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Lagos State Director, CCB, Mrs. O. Popoola and former Speaker of Ondo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Abdulsalam Taofeek Olawale, when Governor Sanwo-Olu and his Deputy submitted their Assets
L-R: Sen. Uba Sani; Sen. Ibrahim Oloriegbe; Mr. Oke Epia, Founder/Executive Director of OrderPaper Nigeria and Convener, MVP Hall of Fame; Hon. Sam Onuigbo; and Prof. (Hon.) Ali Ahmad, Member, Panel of Expert, during the induction of finalists into the MVP Hall of Fame held on May 21 in Abuja
Deji Elumoye in Abuja
In one of his last acts as sitting president, Muhammad Buhari, has directed that the control of Obalende Eid prayer ground be returned to the Lagos Jama'atul Muslimeen Council of the Lagos Central Mosque.
In giving approval to the report
of a Special Committee he set up to investigate and report to him the issues in conflict between the Lagos Muslim Community on the one hand and the federal government Agencies, particularly those stationed at the Dodan Barracks concerning the management and control of the land on the other hand, Buhari
directed all agencies to recognise and respect the fact that the Obalende prayer ground legally belongs to the Jama'atul Muslimeen Council of the Lagos Central Mosque.
According to a release by presidential spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, the president directed that the "desecration of the Obalende Eid
Prayer Ground by its profane use as a dump site should stop with immediate effect" and to this effect, the Dodan Barracks authorities should remove all containers and debris from the prayer ground. President Buhari also directed that the Dodan Barracks authorities "ensure that the Muslim Communities and
the Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR), the country’s highest national honour, and the vice president-elect, Kashim Shettima, as Grand Commander of Order of the Niger (GCON).
Speaking at the inauguration dinner, Tinubu vowed there would not be excuses for failure.
He said, "We must fight corruption, poverty, inconsistencies in policies and many other problems confronting us. But don’t pity me, I asked for the job, I campaigned for it, no excuses. I will live up to the bill delivered. I promise you.
“To the many heads of states present here, our brothers and sisters, celebrating with us, I thank you. But I want to say clearly for us to take away, what lessons has Nigerian democracy taught the rest Africa, if not the whole world.
“Resilience, determination, courage, love in diversity, though our tongues and tribes differ. By tomorrow afternoon, my predecessor is heading to Daura, on the border with Niger, but I have told him not to worry, he will still get a knock on his door. No matter how short a man is, he will see the sky. I will still be able to find him when I need his help.
“Here is a country that has stumbled a number of times, but has never faltered. We can be squeaky like old mama’s car, but we will never break apart. We are just a unique country."
Buhari stated that the electoral process had given power back to the Nigerian electorate.
He said, “I congratulate fellow Nigerians who have realised their power, that their votes count. I'm looking forward to tomorrow to fly to my base and go back to my cows and sheep, which are much easier to control than fellow Nigerians.
“Your Excellences, heads of state and government, and their representatives that have come to share this day with us, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I thank you very much and I say goodbye to you and wish us the best of luck.”
Earlier, First Lady, Aisha Buhari,
in company with Tinubu, his wife, Remi Tinubu, Shettima, and his wife unveiled a book titled, “Renewed hope, Greater together.”
Some of the world leaders present at book launch included the presidents of South Africa, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Burundi, Liberia, Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Central Africa Republic, Gabon, Prime Minister of Morocco, and Vice President of Venezuela.
Osinbajo Prays for Success of Tinubu's Presidency
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday, prayed for God's blessings not only on the Nigerian nation but also for the success of the incoming administration of Bola Tinubu.
Osinbajo offered the prayers in Abuja at an inter-denominational church service organised as part of activities marking the 2023 presidential inauguration.
The vice president said, "Tomorrow, a new government will be born. Concerning Jesus Christ, scripture says from birth He grew in stature, wisdom and favour with God.
"So, I pray in those same words for the president-elect, Senator Bola Tinubu, and the vice president-elect, Senator Kashim Shettima, and the new government that as their days in office, so shall they grow in stature, in wisdom and in favour with the Almighty God.
"I pray for our nation, I pray that the Lord will prosper this land, that our land and its people will live in peace and security. And I pray for all who are here, each and everyone of you will be blessed in this land and you will live long to enjoy the fruits of God’s blessings on this land. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria."
The service featured special intercessory prayers and messages from clergymen and songs ministration from respected ministers of God.
Below is the full text of the vice president’s last official speech at the church service.
"Today, for the seventh time in our political history, we stand on the
threshold of a peaceful transition from one democratic government to another. From the Buhari administration to the Tinubu administration.
"For the Buhari administration’s eight years of two complete terms, which we are alive to witness this day, we bless the name of the creator of heaven and earth, the one to whom life itself belongs. And, so on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari, his family, and his administration, I thank the almighty God, for his grace, mercy and generosity to us.
"God is interested in nations. When he speaks to a person, it is as a proxy to a nation. Speaking to Abraham as soon as He called Him to service, He said, I will make you a great Nation. And in Gen 22.18 he spoke to Abraham concerning Isaac-in your seed all the Nations of the earth shall be blessed.
"Speaking in 1 Peter 2:9 about born again Christians, he speaks, again about a nation. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
"And God is the real builder of nations. And He is certainly interested in building nations and prospering them. We must involve Him and listen to Him as we build our nation. According to Solomon in Psalms 127:1, Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
"God is the builder and protector of Nations. But then he has two instructions. One to leadership the other to the people. To leadership, the Word of God says in Proverbs 14:34, Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people. Every successful nation requires integrity at the highest levels of governance.
"When we say leadership we are referring to the elite. The political, business and religious elite of any society. That is so whether it is Dubai or Nigeria or Tanzania. No country can be great if it’s elite is corrupt, selfserving and living for themselves. To
the people God instructs in Jeremiah 29:7( NLT) And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.
"1 Timothy 2:1-2, 1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.
"God instructed the captives of Nebuchadnezzer King of Babylon from Jerusalem to pray for the peace of the city where they were held captive because they would find their own peace and prosperity. The people of God have a duty to pray and work for the peace and prosperity of the nation. Regardless of party or other parochial considerations.
"Tomorrow, a new government will be born. Concerning Jesus Christ, scripture says from birth He grew in stature, wisdom and favour with God. So, I pray in those same words for the President-elect, Senator Bola Tinubu and the Vice President elect, Senator Kashim Shettima and the new government that as their days in office so shall they grow in stature, in wisdom and in favour with the almighty God.
"I pray for our nation, I pray that the Lord will prosper this land, that our land and its people will live in peace and security. And I pray for all who are here each and everyone of you will be blessed in this land and you will live long to enjoy the fruits of God’s blessings on this land. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria."
The ninth Senate congratulated the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, and his deputy, Alhaji Kashim Shettima.
The Senate, in a statement by its spokesperson, Ajibola Basiru, also congratulated all Nigerians, who participated in the election process, whether as voters, policy makers,
their agents have unrestricted access to the Obalende Eid Prayer Ground at all times."
Lastly, he advised the Lagos State Government, "If deemed fit, (to) grant the Jama'atal Muslimeen Council a Certificate of Occupancy over the area identified in the Survey Plan."
The Committee that carried out
umpires, politicians, commentators, or legislators.
The Senate said, "While we rejoice with Your Excellency, we are not oblivious of the arduous tasks of state before your incoming administration.
"We are rejoicing with Your Excellency and we pray it will be Your Excellency that God will use to move this nation to where it should be among the comity of nations and take the nation to greater heights in all spheres.
"Nigerians will hold Your Excellency responsible to your promises of food security, power generation and supply, massive job creation and youth employment, among the myriads of needs confronting our nation.
"Nigerians will not be bothered about ethnicity, religiosity, or any other sentimental colouration, of any kind, if they see genuine hope of transformation. Nigerians are hungry and crying, as never before for hope, and we pray, they may see hope in your slogan: Renewed hope.
“While committing you to the hands of the Almighty God, we also say you should take heed in your appointments so that you can put in place those who will key into your set out agenda and work for Nigerians."
The Senate urged Tinubu to make his appointments based on justice, merit, competence, and balancing by all means.
Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, expressed the hope that the new government in Nigeria under the leadership of Bola Tinubu would herald a new lease of life in the country.
Afenifere also set agenda for the new government, and appealed to separatist agitators to give the new government a chance to deliver on its electoral promises.
The affirmation was contained in a statement yesterday issued by National Publicity Secretary of the
the assignment as directed by the President under the leadership of Professor Ibrahim Gambari, the Chief of Staff included the Minister of Works and Housing, the Minister of Defence, the Director-General of the DSS and the Chief of Defence Staff and the Permanent Secretary, State House.
organisation, Comrade Jare Ajayi.
According to Afenifere, Tinubu, by his antecedents, has what it takes to take Nigeria to a greater height.
The group stated, "We are confident that he will assemble a goals-getting team that will enable him translate his dreams for new and better Nigeria into reality. These dreams include calming the frayed nerves among various sections of the country, restoring security and safety of lives and property.”
Afenifere also said Tinubu needed to, “Shore up the economy, revamp our collapsed educational system, overhaul the dilapidated infrastructure, create jobs and restore the dashed hopes of youths in the country.”
That was in addition to “setting Nigeria on the path of industrialisation and bringing her into the comity of most advanced countries in the world in social, economic and political terms within the shortest time possible,” Afenifere said.
Afenifere submitted that for the above to be achieved, the new president needed to consider some key areas, which deserved urgent and critical attention. It listed the areas to include insecurity, economy, rekindling a sense of unity and patriotism among Nigerians, revamping agriculture, power, health and infrastructure.
According to the group, “Cutting down the cost of governance is one of the ways to start with. Doing so, without favouritism will make resources available for critical sectors, block cesspools for corruption and make public officials to be more productive.
“Incidentally, both Asiwaju and his vice, Senator Kashim Shettima, are well-suited in this respect going by their experiences as former governors, former senators and equally importantly, their educational backgrounds.
“Asiwaju studied Accountancy at Chicago State University in America, while Senator Shettima studied Agricultural Economics at the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria.”
L-R: Executive Director, Business Development, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS), Ngover Ihyembe-Nwankwo; MD/CEO, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Wole Adeniyi; Ag. Company Secretary, NIBSS, Kelechi Keke; Chairman, Board of Directors, NIBSS/Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, CBN, Aishah Ahmad; MD/CEO, NIBSS, Premier Oiwoh; MD, Guarantee Trust Bank, Miriam Olusanya,and ED, Technology & Operations, NIBSS, Aminu Maida, at the 29th Annual General Meeting of NIBSS held… weekend
The exchange rate between the naira and the United States dollar on the Investors and Exporters’ (I&E) foreign exchange (forex) window recorded an unprecedented sale Friday, as it depreciated to N632/$ on that day due to demand pressure
before it closed at N464.51/$1.
The market at the end of last Friday’s trade recorded a total of $144.72 million transactions. The highest spot rate for the day was N632/$1 while the lowest was N410/$1.
Data from FMDQ showed that the opening sale price for Friday was N463.75/$1, but it declined
...Arrests Cameroonian in Nigerian military uniform
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a consignment of 32 pieces of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) believed to be for bandits’ camp in Niger state.
The spokesman of the antinarcotics agency, Femi Babafemi, in a statement yesterday, said this was part of the clampdowns during raids of drug joints and routes nationwide ahead of today’s inauguration of new administrations across the country.
According to Babafemi, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd) has since ordered the immediate transfer of a suspect, Musa Muhammadu, caught with the explosives last Monday, along Wawa road, Kainji, Niger state to the military.
In addition, he stated that barely a week after NDLEA operatives at the SAHCO export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos, intercepted a consignment of 30.1 kilogrammes methamphetamine going to London, UK, another shipment containing 379 grammes of the same illicit substance concealed in false bottom of six black soap containers, packed in a carton containing local hand fans, heading to Cyprus in Europe, were recovered at a courier company in Lagos, by officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, DOGI, in the agency.
He disclosed that in Adamawa state, operatives on stop and search patrol along MichikaBazza road last Friday, arrested a Cameroonian, Ndawai Emma Ngalou with a pair of
Nigerian Army camourflage uniform bearing Sunday U and two ATM cards belonging to Turaki Mohammed and Ekene Izuegunam.
“Two ladies: Bilkisu Yusuf, 33, and Kauna Katsina, 25, were last Monday arrested in Ningi town, Bauchi state with 11,080 pills of tramadol, while Uche Shadrach, 22, was arrested with 20,480 pills of the same pharmaceutical opioid last Wednesday along OkeneLokoja highway, Kogi state on his way from Onitsha, Anambra state to Minna, Niger state.
“In the same vein, two suspects: Surajo Adamu and Muhammad Ali were arrested last Friday with 379,200 tablets of diazepam in Alimosho area of Lagos, while the MMIA Command of the agency took custody of 22 cartons of tramadol 225mg weighing 1,144.3 kilogrammes and 12 cartons of tramadol 120mg with a total weight of 320 kilogrammes, all containing 2, 317, 400 pills transferred to the agency by the Airport Command of the Nigeria Customs Service last Thursday.
“In Delta state, NDLEA operatives supported by men drawn from the Nigerian Army, NSCDC and the Police last Wednesday, raided the notorious Abbi town, Ndokwa West LGA where three suspects: Eunice Eneh, 52; Animan Ifeoma, 26, and Chuks Dennis, 35, were arrested with a total of 343.9 kilogrammes cannabis recovered from them.
“A similar mop up operation in Bayelsa has led to the arrest of a wanted suspect, Ozoemena Egbochue, 38, at the Swali market in Yenagoa last Monday following the earlier arrest of his sales boy, Morgan Eredeowei with 11,748 pills of tramadol and diazepam,” the statement added.
marginally by 0.18 per cent to close at N464.51/$1.
On the other hand, THISDAY’s finding showed that the parallel market (black market) last week also recorded demand pressure as the naira exchange rate fell from about N735/$1 last Monday, to N772/$1 as of yesterday.
A currency dealer who spoke to THISDAY on condition of anonymity, said the depreciation was likely to continue as persons suspected to be politicians were making more demands for the greenback.
Also speaking at the i-invest 5th anniversary in Lagos, the Founder of Nairametrics, Ugo Obi-Chukwu, argued that there was likelihood of devaluation with the naira officially trading as low as N632 on the official I&E window
He said: “The I&E window has a high and closing rate and because it is a market, people can
buy at a high price and people can buy at a low price and then at the end of the day they have a closing price.
“But if you look at the FMDQ website on Friday, someone did buy at N632. So, what does that tell you? It is indicative of where the official rate is likely going to which is not too far from the black-market rate.”
Analysts at Cowry Research noted that demand pressure was observed in the forex market as various users, including manufacturers, importers, students, and travellers, embark on their search for alternative sources.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange Forward Contracts market, the spot exchange rate remained unchanged as it closed at N462 to the dollar.
“In our analysis of the naira/ dollar exchange rate at the weekly Naira FX Forward Contracts
Markets, the naira reigned with positive appreciations across all forward contracts tenor.
“Consequently, the naira strengthened by +1.45 per cent, +4.29 per cent, +6.22 per cent, +9.15 per cent and +6.27 per cent w/w to close at N470.76/$1, N478.91/$1, N485.78/$1, N506.61/$1 and N538.72/$1 at all tenor contracts respectively,” the Lafos-based research and investment company stated.
It anticipated that this week, “the naira will trade in a relatively calm band across various market segment barring any market distortion and as the apex bank continues its weekly foreign exchange market intervention to defend the value of the naira.”
For their part, analysts at Cordros Research stated: “Nigeria’s forex reserve shed the previous week’s gain, as the gross reserve position declined by $16.25 million week-on-week to close
at $35.18 billion as of May 23.
“The naira depreciated by 0.3 per cent to N464.51/$ at the I&E window. On activity levels, the total turnover, May 25 at the I&E Window fell by 13.7 per cent week-to-date to $557.31 million, with trades consummated within the N449.92 – N632.00/$ band.
“We believe the forex liquidity issues will remain over the short-to-medium term as we do not see any positive signal that denotes an improvement in forex supply relative to the pre-pandemic levels.
“Moreover, considering the tepid accretion to the reserves given low crude oil production and elevated petrol under-recovery costs, foreign portfolio investments which have historically supported supply levels in the I $E Window will be needed to sustain FX liquidity levels in the medium to long-term.”
The Governor-elect of Benue State, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia, yesterday, called on Christians and other faiths in the state to offer prayers for him and other elected officials of the state as they assume offices today.
Alia made the request at a thanksgiving Mass organised in his honour at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral, Makurdi by the Religious
Subcommittee on inauguration headed by Rev. Frederick Lanshima Ikyaan.
The governor-elect, who recalled the classical saying by J.S. Mbiti, that, "I am because you are" said his administration could only be made excellent through the collaborative efforts of all Benue people, and therefore called for prayers, saying they needed God's wisdom for the promotion, progress and development of the state.
Alia thanked the homilist, Most Rev'd Dr. Isaac Dugu, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Katsina-Ala for speaking the minds of the common man and also unveiling the position of the Church about his administration.
Bishop Dugu while giving the homily called for a strong collaboration and partnership between, the government, the church and the traditional institutions for a peaceful and
progressive Benue society. He advised the incoming administration to remain prayerful and work for the common good of all Benue people, even as he said the Benue people were anxiously waiting with hope that the new administration would use past tenses (I have paid salaries, I have constructed roads, etc and not I shall pay salaries, I shall construct roads) after hundred days in office.
John Shiklam in Kaduna
Less than 24 hours to leaving office, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has declared the Atyap Community Development Association (ACDA), as unlawful and signed an order to proscribe it.
The ACDA is a socio-cultural association of the Atyap ethnic nationality in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of the state.
In a statement, yesterday, spokesman of the outgoing governor, Muyiwa Adekeye, said the ACDA, “has constituted itself into a society that is inimical to the peace of the state and
has been covertly involved in acts capable of endangering the peace, tranquility, harmonious coexistence and good governance of Kaduna state.”
The statement said, “Governor Nasir El-Rufai has signed the Atyap Community Development Association (Proscription) Order, 2023 in the exercise of the powers conferred by Section 60 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law No. 5 of 2017, and Section 5 (2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” Adekeye added that the proscription order became effective on May 24, 2023.
“The proscription order noted
that Sections 38 and 40 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, guarantee the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion and also the right to the freedom of association and peaceful assembly to all citizens.
“It also noted that Section 45 (1) of the1999 Constitution vests in the Governor the powers to take such measures and actions as are necessary for the promotion and protection of public safety, public order, public morality or public health, or the rights and freedom of all persons in Kaduna state,” the statement said.
Reacting to the development, in a telephone interview, President of ACDA, Dr. Samuel Ache, said the proscription was an infringement on freedom of association and would be challenged in court.
This is not the first time El-Rufai will be declaring an organisation illegal.
On October 7, 2016, he declared the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), popularly known as Shi’ite, an unlawful organisation and proscribed it. He said the banning of the religious group was done “in order to preserve the peace and security of the state.”
L-R: Abia State All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship Candidate in the last elections, Chief Ikechi Emenike; Prophet Prakash
Denominational Presidential Church Service held in Abuja...yesterday
Laleye Dipo in Minna
The Senate President, Alhaji Ahmad Lawan, has advised state governors to work in concert with their lawmakers for the enactment of laws that will improve the living standards of the people.
Lawan made the plea in Minna after inaugurating the new
Niger State Assembly complex constructed by the administration of outgoing Governor Abubakar Sani Bello.
The senate president noted that both the executive and the legislative arms of government are working towards achieving the same goal, improvement in the condition of living of the people hence nothing should serve as
Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja
Ahead of November 11 governorship election in Kogi State, Governor Yahaya Bello has received more defectors from the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) as former Commissioner for Environment and former Acting Chairman of the PDP, Mohammed Sule, and former member of the State House of Assembly, Mrs .Agnes Ojeba Oziweere visited the governor at his residence in Abuja. This was contained in a press statement signed by the Chief
Press Secretary, Muhammed Onogwu, copy of which was made available to the newsmen in Lokoja yesterday.
Governor Bello, who welcomed the former PDP members, emphasised that Kogi State, under the APC, is open to accommodating all citizens who are willing to contribute to the state’s development.
He expressed no surprise at their departure from a struggling party and highlighted the need to integrate them into the progressive movement of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Kemi Olaitan inIbadan
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, has called on governments at all levels to invest more in the education of the youths for a better tomorrow for the country.
He made the call at the weekend during the Roseline Etuokwu Sigma Secondary School Quiz Competition for schools in the Southwest organised by the Sigma Club, University of Ibadan, to mark this year’s Children’s Day anniversary. Adebowale, who was represented by the Warden of Tedder Hall, Dr.
a wedge between the two arms of government.
Working at cross purposes Lawan said will not be in the interests of the ordinary Nigerian and will be capable of bringing
about insecurity.
Ahmed Lawan applauded the effort of the Niger state government for the completion of what he described as “this befitting new House of Assembly
complex” saying “ it is an indication of good working relationship between the governor and the lawmakers.”
Senator Lawan explained that the construction of the complex
“is a sign that Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has paved way for effective legislative decisions by the next set of lawmakers to enhance the socio economic well being of the people of the state.”
George Okoh In Makurdi
Out-going Governor of Benue State, Mr. Samuel Ortom, yesterday handed over a debt profile of N187.56 billion of Benue state to the in-coming governor, Rev.Father Hycinth Alia.
In a summary hand-over note by Ortom to Alia,he said the total indebtedness of the Benue
state government “At this time of the exit of my administration from office is N187.56 billion this is inclusive of salary and pension arrears, loans and bonds as well as outstanding contractual obligations, debt swap; expected inflows and debt reduction.
He said although the debt situation of the state government at this time of
the exit of his administration might appear on the high side, he assured them that his administration had taken proactive steps to negotiate, ensure significant debt reduction/reliefs.
“Debt swap between Benue state and Federal government.
Total Debt Swap for State and Local government councils(N71.6 billion); In flows being expected
backlog of accumulated Stamp Duties (N48 billion); refund from Debt Swap with Federal Government (N22.95 billion). TotalingN70.95 billion.
“Thus, by the time you discount or factor in the negotiated debt swap and the expected inflows, the State would attain a debt reduction and bringing down the state’s debt profile to N45.2billion.”
The appointment of Director General/Chief Executive Officer of The National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM) Ile-Ife, Osun State, at the weekend sparked protest as the Institute’s union vowed not to allow Dr
Olusola Odusanya, who was appointed via a letter signed by Henry Ikoh, the outgoing Minister of State for Science, Technology and Innovation to stand.
The protest was directed by the Chairman, Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), NACETEM branch, Comrade Funminiyi Gbadamosi.
NASU Chairman alleged that the appointment of DG/CEO was a corrupt recruitment carried out by Ikoh.
According to him, “We read on the pages of newspapers, with utter dismay, about the eventual appointment of a candidate for the post of Director
General/Chief Executive Officer of NACETEM following a grossly flawed process championed by the Honourable Minister of State for Science, Technology and Innovation. One Dr Olusola Odusanya has been reported to have been appointed via a letter signed by Henry Ikoh, the Minister of State.”
Rahman Abu, said organising educational competitions for students from primary to university levels would bring out the best in them, stating that talents would also be discovered.
He maintained that the education sector in Nigeria would record significant improvement if governments promote academic programmes rather than entertainment shows which have become the order of the day, noting that the time has come to rescue the country from the backwardness the education sector has fallen into.
At last, Abia State has got a befitting government house following the completion of the edifice built by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu at the twilight of his eight-year tenure.
Ikpeazu presided over the last meeting of the State Executive Council (SEC) at the new government house yesterday, and thereafter dissolved his cabinet.
He thanked the SEC members for their dedication to service and
diligence in carrying out their assignments.
The governor stated that while he would share with members of the council the successes of his administration, he would accept the responsibility for the failures.
The last SEC meeting was the first and last official function that Ikpeazu held at the new government house after its inauguration last Saturday.
The seat of power in Abia State has been operating on a rented building since the creation of the state 32 years ago.
Okon Bassey in Uyo
A former Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, last weekend inaugurated the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility and a new international terminal building at the Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
The MRO facility, said to be capable of maintaining two Boeing 747 aircrafts simultaneously, is also said to be first of its kind to be undertaken by any sub-national in Africa.
Inaugurating the projects at the Victor Attah International Airport, Saraki called for necessary support and timely approvals
by the federal government to enable the facilities to function effectively.
He commended ex-Governor Udom Emmanuel for his insight to further expand the airport development by introducing other innovations that would make Akwa Ibom, and by extension Nigeria, the hub in
aircraft maintenance in Africa. Speaking at the gathering, Emmanuel listed projects lined up for inauguration at the airport to include the new International Smart Terminal Building, the Maintenance, Repairs and Overhaul hanger, and the new Taxiway, which would also serve as a second runway.
Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano
Kano State Security Council has declared phone snatching as an armed robbery and and individual or group caught in the act would be treated as such.
The outgoing Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs, Mr. Muhammad Garba, disclosed this in a statement he
issued to newsmen in Kano yesterday.
Garba said that the council, which was presided over by the ex-Governor of Kano State Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, during its valedictory session, noted that perpetration of the act in recent times has reached a worrisome proportion and, therefore, needed drastic measures.
He also stated that the council agreed to put in place a special squad within the security system to deal with the menace and other acts of criminality in the state.
The former commissioner added that all necessary measures have been taken to ensure peaceful transition ceremonies to the new administration and
warned that miscreants who might be used to cause violence in the name of celebrations to refrain from such act.
He said: “Destruction of properties belonging to the public, individual or the opposition will not be tolerated as adequate measures have been taken to deal with such act decisively.”
NASCON Allied Industries Plc recorded impressive growth in all performance indicators for the year ended December 31, 2022, with profit after tax surging by 84 per cent to N5.47 billion from N2.97 billion in 2021.
Analysis of the food seasoning company’s annual report indicated
that profit before tax rose significantly by 98 per cent, from N4.24 billion to N8.37 billion, representing an increase of N4.12 billion. Turnover was on the upswing, increasing from N33.28 billion to N58.79 billion, showing a 77 per cent increase compared to 2021. Earnings per share also increased to 206 kobo in 2022, up
from 112 kobo in 2021.
Based on the performance, a total of N2.65 billion, that is 100 kobo per share was paid to paid as dividend compared to N1.06 billion or 40 kobo paid in 2021.
Shareholders at the company’s 2022 annual general meeting (AGM) held at the weekend in
Lagos commended the board and management of NASCON for consistent payment of dividends.
Speaking at the AGM, a shareholder, Mr. Tunde Badmus, applauded the management for the impressive performance and efficient running of the company, amid harsh economic environment.
go in. The next problem is, at precisely what time will Tinubu become President of the Federal Republic and Commanderin-Chief? Everyone has been saying that he will become President on May 29. Since there are 24 hours, 1440 minutes and 86,400 seconds on May 29, we should be more precise than that in order to avoid a constitutional crisis. On January 20, 2009 when Barack Obama was being sworn in as 44th US President, the official program had it that the Chief Justice of the United States will administer the oath of office on him precisely at noon. But there was some delay in the program and when the clock struck noon, they had not reached the point where Obama will take the oath of office.
However, at the stroke of the hour, all the television networks zeroed in on Obama as he patiently sat on his chair. They declared that he was now President of the United States, oath of office or no. This was very important because if, God forbid, someone launched nukes at the United States, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will know who to take orders from at the stroke of noon. Our National Assembly should therefore buckle up and pass a law to fix the precise hour, minute and second at which the new president will take over, even if the Government Printer forgot to send a copy of the oath of office to Eagle Square.
What about if there is a mistake in the oath? On the day Obama was being sworn in, Chief Justice John Roberts told
Obama to recite after him, but he made a mistake in reading the lines. Obama, who is very smart, noticed the mistake, smiled and recited the correct sentence.
US newspapers later reported that the Chief Justice went to the White House the next day and administered the oath anew on Obama, this time correctly. In Nigeria here, if such a mistake is made in administering the oath, however minor, Obidients will rush to court and ask for the Inauguration to be declared null and void on account of it.
The Nigerian propensity to go to court after every election, when will we ever overcome it? On the day he lost the US presidential election in November 1960, Richard Nixon’s aides had some reason to think that the election results from Illinois were rigged. Northern Illinois, which is urban including the huge city of Chicago, usually votes Democrat while southern Illinois, which is rural and conservative, usually votes Republican. At some point the race for Illinois was neck and neck and television networks projected that whoever won the state will win the election. So, a nervous Democratic candidate John Kennedy put a call through to Chicago Mayor Dick Daley, the original political godfather. With results still uncertain, Daley told Kennedy, “Mr. President, don’t worry. You will win this state.” But when his aides advised that he should contest the Illinois results in court, Nixon stoutly refused, saying it would harm America’s image abroad. Those people here who are busy writing to the White House not to
conscious of the fact that we are dealing with the same party platform so there will be some level of continuity.
The past few months have seen the justling for positioning, the bravado of close allies to the presidency, and the intrigues and shenanigans of power brokers ever ready to hijack the political system, structures, and processes. This administration's success depends significantly on managing these complexities while focusing on what is best for Nigeria.
This administration must overcome these challenges and start from day one to show Nigerians and the world that it is ready for business – the business of leading Nigeria in a democratic way to give all dividends of democracy.
It is imperative that from day one, this administration is perceived as serious, focused , and dedicated to improving the quality of life of Nigerians. The first time is always the best time to create a lasting positive impression, and this administration must shape public perception of what it wants to project from today and maintain that.
This inauguration is a significant milestone in our democratic consolidation . It is the 7th consecutive inauguration. Although our democracy has its faults, this is a feat worthy of celebrating. Nigerians are celebrating and hopeful for a better future. Ordinary Nigerians want a government that works from the new sheriffs in town. Let us consider three agenda items the government may focus on and three roadblocks we must contend with immediately.
The first agenda item is that the government must create a clear roadmap for Nigeria's critical issues. They must have definitive roadmap on energy subsidy, insecurity , fixing the economy, food security, power, technology, education, health, corruption, unemployment, and others. These roadmaps should be clear for all Nigerians to see how the government defines the problem and its strategies and definitive action to solve the issues. Nigerians are expectant, and rightly so and want to know ab initio that the government is serious about dealing with the myriad of problems they are encountering daily.
The second agenda item is that government should articulate critical policy statements on many contentious issues the past government shied away from. These issues include the removal of fuel subsidies, parallel foreign exchange regime, debt profile, national census , public workers' agitation for pay increases and improvement of service, approaches to tackling poverty and health inequality, insecurity (successionist agitations,
Tinubu
farmer-herders crisis, terrorism, kidnapping and armed banditry), and environmental degradation inclusive of climate change.
The third agenda item is inclusiveness. Given the prevailing perception of marginalisation by some groups in the country and the divisive nature of the last general elections, the critical job of this administration is first to create unity in the country.
The need for national unity and viability is more important now than ever in our history. Without a substantive Nigerian nation , all our best efforts and fancy programmes will come to nought . Now is the time to pull the country together by being inclusive in the government. Thankfully, the Vice Presidentelect at every occasion has insisted there is no islamisation or ethnic dominance agenda. As good as these agenda items are, their success depends on how the government navigate the many roadblocks that are evident in truncating them. These roadblocks are
recognize Nigeria’s election results, did any American write to foreign countries in 1960 and asked them not to recognize Kennedy’s victory because of what Dick Daley may have done in Chicago?
When President Tinubu is settling down in his office, which newspaper articles should he be worried about and which calls from media editors should he personally answer? Well, there are some guides, again from the United States. In 1977, new US President Jimmy Carter read an opinion article critical of himself in the New York Times. He picked his pen, wrote a rejoinder, signed it and sent it to his Press Secretary, Jody Powell, for dispatch to the paper. Powell decided that it was beneath the President’s dignity to respond to a letter to the editor, so he put Carter’s letter aside and wrote his own.
Editors can be very imperious. In 1964, Managing Editor of Time magazine, Otto Fuerbringer, phoned the White House and asked to speak to President Lyndon Johnson. He was told that the president was attending a function, so he said, “When he returns, tell him to call me back. It is important.” Johnson was annoyed when he heard the editor’s order, but he called back. With his well-known habit of mutilating people’s names, Johnson said, “Who is that Foos-binger who said I must call him back?”
Smart Press Secretaries also know that it is not every presidential order that is to be obeyed. An order issued by the president in a fit of rage, one that could ruin the presidency, is not to be quickly
obeyed. US President John Kennedy, who was very smart, was once so angry with CBS television network that he ordered his press secretary, Pierre Salinger, to call Federal Communications Commissioner and tell him to revoke CBS’ TV license. An hour later, President Kennedy emerged from the Oval Office, accosted Salinger and said, “Have you carried out my order?” Salinger said, “No, sir.” Kennedy said, “Thank you!”
For that matter, an editor should not cave in to every presidential threat. In 1961 when New York Times scooped the story of the CIA’s impending Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, President Kennedy called Times’ publisher Arthur Hays Sulzberger and said if he published the story, American soldiers’ blood will be on his hands. Times withheld the story and when the invasion failed, Kennedy said Sulzberger should have published the story, which would have forced a cancellation of the invasion and would have spared the President terrible embarrassment.
Correction
On this page last week, a photo of Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni was used to illustrate the column titled Governor Without a Program. Some readers got the impression that he was the governor without a program. This was totally erroneous. While the episode in question happened in 2007, Buni only became a governor 12 years later. He is a dynamic governor with a coherent governance program. The wrong impression created is sincerely regretted.
economic planning, law and order, education, infrastructure, power, trade and investment, ICT and innovation with a clear vision and mandate will send strong signals that this administration is ready to deliver service. A competent chief of staff to the president will strengthen the coordinating capacity of the presidency.
It is no more news that Nigeria is in a deep financial crisis. The Nigerian external debt is more than $40bn plus domestic debt of over N41 trillion and Nigeria spends most of its revenue on servicing debts. Nigeria's primary source of foreign exchange earning is crude oil. And Nigeria's finances follow the fluctuations and instabilities of the price of crude oil in the international market.
The outgoing government borrowed heavily to improve infrastructure, and the dividends of this infrastructural development to the economy are more medium to long-term than shortterm. The money to run the government and provide the dividends of democracy promised to the electorate may not be there to achieve all the promises. This takes us to the urgent need for diversification of the economy as a solution .
The need for the government at all levels to creatively raise revenue without putting new tax burden on the people is urgent. This new administration must look for ways to increase revenue and cut down on waste, corruption, and the cost of government. It must make revenue mobilisation a focal point of the administration.
the quality of the cabinet, money to finance the government, and national reconciliation. The quality of the president's cabinet can be a roadblock or a source of strength.
Acknowledged there are political IOUs to be paid; however, it should not be with the country's future and the government's reputation. It is not in dispute that whether a president succeeds or fails, or whether he is remembered by history or not, is determined by the quality of his cabinet. A cabinet of mediocre, failed former political office holders, inexperienced, ill-informed, without character and dishonest persons will be a terrible roadblock to the success of the incoming administration.
A cabinet of knowledgeable, honest, competent, and experienced persons will shore up the profile of the government and its acceptability. A core cabinet team of professionals of ten persons around finance,
The third roadblock is national reconciliation. The success of this administration depends on how the constituent parts of Nigeria come together in peace and unity. Government must douse the tension in the country and address all secessionist tendencies, and it must intentionally heal the wounds caused by actual or perceived injustices.
This administration must pursue total national reconciliation as a critical building block of nationhood, law and order , and progress.
There is no doubt that Nigerians today are revelling in the new dawn of a new era. Tinubu-Shettima's presidency carries the hopes of millions of Nigerians who feel that this is the beginning of a fresh start, and that this administration will get things right this time.
I implore the presidency to live up to the essence of these hopes and champion a genuinely united Nigeria where millions of Nigerians will look to the future with happiness. Today is the first day of the first four years of your administration. Let the ride begin!
Duro Ikhazuagbe
The sports sector in the country was honoured in outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari’s parting gifts to Nigerians yesterday as Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, Immediate past NFF President and FIFA Council Member, Amaju Melvin Pinnick and Napoli front man and leading goals scorer in the Italian topflight, Victor James Osimhen were conferred with national awards.
Dare whose tenure as Nigeria’s sports minister will expire today, was conferred with the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) while Pinnick who served two terms as NFF President between 2014 and 2022 and was elected FIFA Council member got the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR).
Osimhen on the other hand, was conferred with the Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR).
In the congratulatory messages sent to the awardees by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), “The National Award of CON conferred on Chief Sunday Dare by Mr. President goes a long way to underscore the character, diligence, competence and drive that the man brought to the job.
Chief Dare worked assiduously to reposition Nigeria sports generally and posterity will be kind to him.”
Also, the federation President expressed joy at Pinnick’s award.
“I am very happy to celebrate a goalgetter, an achiever, an accomplished administrator and an eminent world citizen, Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick on this award. He is quite deserving but
I must thank President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR for recognizing the hard work and diligence of Mr. Pinnick in Nigeria, African and world football. “On behalf of the Board, Man-
agement and Staff of the NFF, I congratulate Mr. Pinnick and I believe this prestigious OFR National
Award will serve as an impetus for him to do even more for Nigeria, African and world football.”
The NFF also praised President Buhari for recognizing and including a footballer on the national award roll of honour.
“The award to Osimhen means that even as a football player, you can be honoured by your country for exceptional service and also for the way you represent the country abroad. We are proud of Osimhen and what he has done and continues to do with Napoli SC in Italy and for the Super Eagles.”
Osimhen has been the star-man for Napoli SC of Italy as they won their first Italia Serie A title in 33 years a few weeks ago, and only yesterday the Super Eagles frontman scored his 25th league goal of the season for the Naples-based club.
Duro Ikhazuagbe
Just as it happened last term, Nigerian international, Alex Iwobi and his Everton side staged yet another final day Great Escape from relegation from the Premier League. It was however not so for Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi, who sadly dropped down to the second-tier English Championship.
Even before this final day relegation drama, two other Super Eagles players, Joe Aribo and Paul Onuachu had confirmed their status in the lower division as their club, Southampton got rooted to the bottom of the English Premier League table.
Everton, who started Iwobi, pipped Bournemouth 1-0 to stay up in the English topflight on 36 points from 38 matches.
Leicester City also got the home win they desperately needed against West Ham, but they also needed Everton to drop points so they could leapfrog them to safety.
The 2-1 win meant they finished
on 31 points, but it was two points shy of safety.
Iheanacho started the game, while Ndidi could not fully recover from a hamstring injury that dogged him season and so was not listed for the match.
Leeds, who fell 4-1 at home to Spurs, were the other team to join bottom club Southampton as they finished on 31 points.
Elsewhere, Taiwo Awoniyi scored his 10th goal in his first season in the Premier League for Nottingham Forest to draw 1-1 at Crystal Palace.
The striker opened scoring for Forest on 31 minutes.
The home team will eventually draw level in the second half.
He got his 10 goals plus an assist in 17 Premier League starts.
In this month alone, Awoniyi scored six goals to ensure his club stayed up in the top flight in England.
The 26-year-old striker finished as his club’s top scorer this campaign despite missing several weeks due to injury.
Kunle Adewale
It was table tennis at its rare best as curtain falls at the finals of the second edition of the REIS Table Tennis Tournament held at the Oba of Lagos Sports Hall, Eko Club, Surulere, on Saturday with six final games in different categories decided.
The finals which kick started with the Mini Cadet category, saw Adebayo Aliamin of Lagos State defeating Oyo State representative, Ayoola Usman by three straight sets.
In the Cadet Girls, Akanbi Taiwo of Lagos State defeated Emmanuel Joy also of Lagos State by three sets to one.
It was another all-Lagos State affair in the Cadet Boys as Adebakin Tobi got the better of Emmanuel Joseph, by three sets to one.
It was a three straight win in the Veterans Final as Bambo Emmanuel out classed Adebayo Fatai.
In the Women’s Singles final, Durosimi Etti of Lagos State, bounced back from a set down to get the better of her opponent and Lagos State counterpart, Bosede Akinsete, 3-1.
It was however a dramatic encounter in the Mens Single final, which was the blue ribbon of the tournament. An encounter that not only lived up to its billing but kept the capacity filled hall at the edge of their seats for the whole period of the seven sets, as the duo of Bayelsa State representative, Orok
Etim and Ahmed Bello from Delta State thrilled fans to a scintillating game of table tennis.
Etim came from three sets down to beat his National Sports Festival gold medallist opponent, 4-3, to the amusement of the roaring crowd.
An obviously elated founder and convener of the tournament, Olaseni Reis expressed satisfaction at the tournament just as he promised that the next edition would be bigger.
“This second edition has really been a big success in terms of the quality of organisation and I think the tournament is now well known now-courtesy of the media and the quality of players on parade,” Reis told THISDAY.
Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City
Bendel Insurance Football Club of Benin, yesterday afternoon defeated Sunshine Stars of Akure 1-0 to book semifinals stage ticket of the ongoing 2023 Federation Cup. Imade Osarenkhoe scored the only goal of the match at the Awka City Stadium in the 56th minute of play after converting a deserved
spot kick to put the Benin Arsenals in front.
Stars defender Ogbuagbu Emmanuel was penalized for hand ball in their box. Insurance FC had missed several scoring opportunities,credit to Sunshine's goalie Mustapha Lawal whose sharp
reflexes denied Imade and Echeta first half goals to keep the half at 0-0 before the referee's whistle.
With this victory, the Benin Arsenals have remained invincible in all competitions this season, after edging Sunshine Stars whose Chairman Tunde Ogunja had boasted before Kick off that the Owena Whales will end Insurance FC unbeaten glory in Awka by
giving the Edo team bitter pills to swallow. Insurance FC however proved to his team why they are dominant this season.
Insurance will be facing Warri Wolves in the semifinals match which is likely to hold after NPFL Super Six tournament holding in Lagos between June 1st and 11. Warri Wolves dumped out Lobi Stars 2-1 in Ijebu Ode.
David Ekpenyong and MaryLove Edwards at the weekend emerged winners of the 45th CBN Senior National Open Tennis Championship men and women’s singles events in Abuja.
Tournament number two seed
David Ekpenyong won his first CBN Senior Open title after his opponent, number one seed Uche Oparaoji was forced to retire with an apparent shoulder injury while trailing 6-1, 4-1.
The 17-year-old described his victory as a sweet one as he avenged his earlier defeat in the final to his
fierce rival.
He expressed elation at winning his first CBN Senior title which had been his life-long dream to win having won the junior U-14 category.
“I come here to participate in this tournament every year and also watch people win the final; I always wished it would be me and here I am now holding the much coveted trophy.
“My opponent is someone I am very much familiar with having played him four times now.
“He beat at the Dala Hard Court tournament in Kano in November,
before I returned the favour at the Rain Oil tournament in Lagos in December.
“I also lost to him at the Vemp Open final here two weeks ago and so besides winning my first CBN title, I was also determined and focused on winning today so as to even our head-to-head record,” he said.
Oparaoji on his part, admitted that he had been nursing the shoulder injury right from the outset of the tournament, adding that he kept playing through the pain until he couldn’t hold it any more.
“I tried my best to play and tried very hard to endure the excruciating pain until I couldn’t manage it anymore.
“The doctor advised me to take a two- week break from playing and that’s why I had to retire in the second set,” he said.
In the women’s singles event, first seed Edwards continued with her ruthless form as she dismissed number two seed Aanu Aiyegbusi 6-2, 6-3 to claim a third straight title in a row in Abuja.
The country’s top ranked female player had won both the 2023 VEMP
Open as well as the DavNotch Tennis Open Championship titles respectively in Abuja coming into this tournament.
Matthew Abamu and Chima Michael teamed up to defeat the pair of Albert Bikom and Peter Lawal who had to retire 7-5, 4-4 with scores even in the second set, to win the men’s doubles event. The Acting Director, Corporate Communication Department, CBN, Dr. Isa AbdulMumin, praised the winners for their doggedness and encouraged the losers for displaying the spirit of sportsmanship.
“AccordingtothedatabytheCentralBankofNigeria(CBN),Nigeria'sinflationratein May2015whenBuharitookoverleadershipwas9.0percent.ButNigeria'sinflationrate jumpedtoa17-yearhighof22.04percentinApril2023,accordingtotheConsumerPrice Index(CPI)reportreleasedbytheNationalBureauofStatistics(NBS).Nairatodollarin May2015waslessthanN200,buttodayithasgoneashighasN800attheparallelmarket” –HumanRightsWritersAssociationofNigeria(HURIWA)NationalCoordinator,Emmanuel Onwubiko,scoresBuhari'sadministrationF9inallsectors of governance.
The new President of the Federal Republic who is being sworn in today, what name is he going to be known by? This is a matter of the least concern for social media writers but for old-time media practitioners, this is a serious matter of professional etiquette.
In 1976 when the little-known Georgia State Governor Mr. James Earl [Jimmy] Carter began his run for President of the United States, American newspapers did stories asking, Jimmy who? He won the race and on the eve of his inauguration in January 1977, the White House announced that he should be known as President Jimmy Carter. Another furor immediately erupted in the media, which Time magazine summarized in a story titled Who Carter?
The BBC Board of News met in London for 12 hours and debated whether it was appropriate for a serious news medium to refer to a president by his informal nickname. The BBC editors then heard that the Board of Editors of New York Times had been meeting non-stop for 24 hours over the same issue. The BBC editors then adjourned their meeting and decided to abide by the New York Times’ decision. The next day, NY Times’
Tinubu lead story referred to the new leader as “President Jimmy Carter…” BBC and all the world’s media then followed suit.
Sixteen years later when US President
William Jefferson Clinton said he should be known as “Bill” Clinton, there was no fuss because a precedent had already been set. Or when the current US President is known as “Joe” Biden, something that would have been unthinkable for the media in the 1960s.
Which Editorial Board in Nigeria has given a thought to the name of President Tinubu? Since 1992 when he burst into the political scene as a senator of the Federal Republic, and especially since 1999 when he became governor of the country’s most populous and most cosmopolitan state, every media house in Nigeria has called him Bola Tinubu. More recently, when he became his party’s presidential candidate, his middle name “Ahmed” began to appear frequently in the news. The new president however has another name, Adekunle, which hardly features in news stories. And for that matter, Bola is not a full name. The new President’s full name is Abimbola. If the Nigeria Guild of Editors is alive to its responsibilities, it should set up a committee of veteran editors to receive from Aso Rock an official statement about the name that the new President wishes to be known, debate whether it is an appropriate name and adopt the
name that the media should use. Name is only the beginning of the problem. What about the size of the crowd at Eagles Square that will witness the swearing in ceremony this morning?
Remember that in January 2016 when he was sworn in as US President, Donald Trump created controversy when he estimated the crowd that attended his inauguration at one and a half million. The media estimated the crowd at 250,000. The US Park Service, which has charge of Washington DC’s National Mall, has a method of estimating the number of people that crowd into the mall because on previous occasions, organisers of some events often exaggerated the turnout at their rallies. In Nigeria here, which agency do we have that can reliably estimate the number of people at Eagle Square? In any case, the number of people that turn up today at Eagle Square is not a measure of the new President’s popularity because strict security measures are in place, including the declaration of a work-free day, cordoning off of the Federal Secretariat and all the adjoining roads and strict security checks at the gates, so not every well-wisher can
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Nigerians will pause today for the inauguration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kashim Shettima as President and Vice President of the country, respectively. It will mark the end of one era, the Buhari-Osinbajo era, and the beginning of a new era.
There are understandably mixed reactions or verdicts on the Buhari era. President Buhari entered office in 2015 with solid political capital, enormous goodwill, and public approval; he is leaving against the background of widespread discontent and a low popularity rating.
Fortunately, the ultimate verdict of history is incorruptible. Buhari's successes and failures are left for posterity and historians to articulate and pontificate on. Nigerians lived experiences, left in the sands of time during his administration, will form the ingredients of such historical evaluation.
It is now time to put behind us whatever views, disenchantment, or even praise we have for the Buhari era and build on whatever successes he achieved and fix
the areas he failed, mindful of the fact that no leader is infallible. Moreover, Nigerians romanticise past administrations when current administrations dash their hopes and aspirations. Little wonder, people reminisce and glorify the days of former presidents they felt were terrible before leaving office when faced with the harsh realities of the new administration.
In Tinubu-Shettima, we are not expecting a perfect president and vice president, but at least it is a new dawn - a new beginning for a country in dire need of unity, peace, and progress. All Nigerians are beckoning on the new administration to create a new vision of Nigeria and work hard towards actualising that vision.
Nigerians are holding on to the renewed hope this administration promised during elections – an audacious hope of a better Nigeria built on our strength in diversity, harnessing our great human and natural resources, and leveraging the successes of past administrations in creating the Nigeria of our dreams.
We recognise that the road ahead is bumpy and rough, but we trust the instinct of Nigerians who gave Tinubu-Shettima the mandate to drive them through this rugged terrain and their undeniable belief in their ability to take them to safety and progress.
Most Nigerians, suffering from adverse economic hardship, poverty, insecurity, and poor living standards, view this new dawn as a good situation, a ray of hope and an opportunity to start afresh. As Tinubu- Shettima assumes office, they must recognise the enormity of the weight of the hopes of millions they are carrying.
Millions of Nigerians are not asking for much from this administration; they want a better life for themselves and their families, and they believe that brick by brick, this new administration will create the enabling environment that will make life good for many people.
The inauguration marks the end of politicking, and all opposers to the administrations are left with the judicial
process to seek redress for any perceived electoral maleficence. As the TinubuShettima administration is sworn in, they are now the president and vice-president of Nigeria. As advised by ex-President Uhuru Kenyatta in the pre-inauguration lecture in Abuja, they must rise above party politics and assume the leadership position of the presidency entrusted to them. “The contest is now over and the hardwork of building a prosperous and United Nigeria begins,”enjoined Kenyatta.
But we know that managing victory is even more complex than securing it. With electoral victory comes the laborious act of managing the expectations of multiple stakeholders, managing claims and counterclaims of people who participated in securing the win, managing politicians and your party, and managing the hopes and aspirations of Nigerians. While it is legitimate to expect new energy and new approaches to familiar problems, let us be
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