MONDAY 5TH JUNE 2023

Ebenezer Onyeagwu Emerges Best Banking CEO in Africa in International Banker Awards

Oluchi Chibuzor

The Group Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank Plc, Dr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu has been named ‘Best Banking

CEO of the Year in Africa’ in the International Banker 2023 Banking Awards. The award, published in the Spring 2023 Issue of the International Banker Magazine,

saw Onyeagwu honoured alongside other individuals and banks from the Middle East and Africa. Expressing gratitude over the recognition, Onyeagwu, in

a statement yesterday, commended Publishers of the International Banker for considering him a fitting recipient of the ‘Best Banking CEO of the Year in Africa’ award.

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high ethical standards, which have become integral to our overall strategy as an institution.” He dedicated the award to

He stated, “This award reflects the bank’s position as a leading financial institution in Nigeria and the African continent. It also attests to our commitment to principles of sustainability and Continued on page 5

Bandits Kill Scores in Sokoto over Refusal to Pay Imposed Levy...

NNPC Ends Crude Swap Contracts with Foreign Refiners

Says private marketers may resume petrol importation this month

IPMAN: For subsidy removal to make sense, FG must break national oil company’s monopoly on importation

Continued on page 5

NLC Absent as FG, TUC Agree on Wage Increase to Cushion Effects of Subsidy Removal

Trade union centre presents list of demands to govt FG: Demands not impracticable, to set up tripartite committee

Parties to reconvene tomorrow to finalise discussion NNPC lacks power to fix petrol price, NLC insists

Maintains there's appropriation for subsidy till end of June

Declares no division among its members ahead of strike

Electricity, judiciary workers mobilise for planned nationwide strike PDP urges Tinubu to engage labour, blames FG for lack of adequate consultation Apologise to Jonathan, Okonjo-Iweala, Obi, Atedo Peterside tells Tinubu, others

Deji Elumoye, Chuks Okocha, Onyebuchi Ezigbo, Sunday Aborisade in Abuja, Raheem Akingbolu and Peter Uzoho in Lagos

Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) was absent yesterday at the reconvened meeting between the federal government and representatives of the organised labour centre at the State House, Abuja.

The first meeting held last Wednesday to discuss the contentious issue of withdrawal of fuel subsidy by the federal government was attended by representatives of both NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC). But at the reconvened meeting yesterday, representatives of NLC did not turn up, just as TUC presented its demands to government, with minimum wage review topping the list.

President of NLC, Joe Ajaero, while speaking in an interview on ARISE News Channel, yesterday,

Continued on page 5

yesterday

R-L: Senator-elect, Edo-North senatorial district, Adams Oshiomhole; CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele; a former Commissioner of Information in Lagos State, Mr. Dele Alake; newly appointed Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, and GCEO of NNPCL, Mele Kyari during FG /TUC meeting on the removal of fuel subsidy held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja...

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja APeter Uzoho in Lagos Group

IATA: Foreign Airlines’ Trapped Funds in Nigeria Have Risen to $812m

Optimistic new govt will resolve issue

Chinedu Eze in Istanbul

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has confirmed that foreign airlines’ revenue not yet repatriated from Nigeria has risen to $812.2 million.

This was disclosed by the IATA’s Regional Vice-President, Africa and Middle East, Kamil Al- Awadhi, at the on-going 79th AGM and World Air Transport Summit in Istanbul, Turkey. He warned that rapidly rising levels of blocked funds were a threat to airlines’ connectivity in

the affected markets, disclosing that the global industry’s blocked funds increased by 47 per cent to $2.27 billion in April 2023, from $1.55 billion in April 2022.

IATA said the top five countries accounted for 68 per cent of blocked funds. These included Nigeria ($812.2 million), Bangladesh ($214.1 million), Algeria ($196.3 million), Pakistan ($188.2 million), Lebanon ($141.2 million) and Ethiopia ($126 million).

Al- Awadhi explained that the countries with the trapped funds were unable to pay the airlines

for different reasons, stating that Nigeria had been responsive in helping the airlines repatriate their revenues, but may have delayed due to the transition to a new government from the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

He expressed hope that before the end of one month, the President Bola Tinubu’s administration would facilitate airlines to repatriate 50 per cent of the trapped revenue and in the next six months complete the repatriation of all the funds.

Al- Awadhi lamented that after the COVID-19 airlines came out

with little cash so, “they are in dire need of operational funds; therefore, holding down their revenue is pulling them down.” The world body urged governments to abide by international agreements and treaties to enable airlines repatriate funds arising from the sale of tickets, cargo space, and other activities.

Also reacting to the trapped funds, IATA’s Director General, Willie Walsh said, “Airlines cannot continue to offer services in markets where they are unable

to repatriate the revenues arising from their commercial activities in those markets. “Governments need to work with industry to resolve this situation so airlines can continue to provide the connectivity that is vital to driving economic activity and job creation.”

Appraising airlines’ performance in Africa and Middle East, AlAwadhi said there have been improvement in air transport in Africa and Middle East, especially in the Middle East and disclosed that IATA has prioritised

NLC ABSENT AS FG, TUC AGREE ON WAGE INCREASE TO CUSHION EFFECTS OF SUBSIDY REMOVAL

accused the federal government of foul play, insincerity and insensitivity on the subsidy matter. NLC insisted that the federal government lied in its declaration that there was no appropriation for subsidy beyond May 2023.

The NLC also stated that all its branches and affiliates across the country were united in the struggle to reverse the unilateral increase in pump price of petrol.

However, following the directive by the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) to its members to withdraw their services nationwide from Wednesday, and join the planned strike called by NLC, some industry

analysts warned workers against downing tools, saying it portends national security risk. They stressed that the law clearly stated that it was an offence for anyone or group to prevent or obstructs the transmission of electricity through any electricity or main transmission line.

Similarly, Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), in a letter dated June3, 2023, started mobilising all its chapters and members for the nationwide action and withdrawal of service from Wednesday.

“This followed a decision of the NEC of the NLC at her meeting on June 2, 2023, over the increase in the pump price of PMS by the federal

government,” the letter signed by JUSUN General Secretary, M.J. Akwashiki, read.

“All zonal presidents are to coordinate their zones by ensuring that branch and chapter chairmen mobilise their members for total compliance,” the letter added.

Weighing in on the subsidy matter, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, called on the federal government to engage the organised labour to find solution to the raging dispute.

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and former leader of the Senate, Mohammed Ali Ndume, yesterday, appealed to the national

NNPC ENDS CRUDE SWAP CONTRACTS WITH FOREIGN REFINERS

private oil marketing companies in Nigeria could begin importing petrol as early as this month.

However, as the fuel subsidy removal continued to generate angry debate nationwide, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (lPMAN) called on President Bola Tinubu to walk his talk on the total deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector.

Kyari said, according to Reuters, “In the last four months we practically terminated all DSDP contracts. And we now have an arm's-length process where we can pay cash for the imports.

"This is the first time NNPC has said it is terminating crude swap contracts. By importing less petrol, as private companies import the bulk, NNPC will be able to pay for its purchases in cash.”

The move was part of Tinubu's plans to deregulate the petrol market and reduce the burden of subsidy payment on government finances.

NNPC had been importing petrol from consortiums of foreign and local trading firms and repaying them with crude oil through the DSDP contracts since 2016, as it did not have enough money to import on a cash-and-carry basis.

Nigeria is Africa's biggest crude producer, but it imports most of its refined products after running down its refineries.

A significant drop in oil production last year, coupled with high global fuel prices due to the war in Ukraine, pushed NNPC's debt to traders higher.

It owed the consortiums about $2 billion, Reuters quoted a September 2022 NNPC report to the Federation Account Allocation Committee as revealing.

Reuters quoted an in industry source with direct knowledge of the matter as saying that NNPC was still allocating crude for fuel swaps for July loading, though less than in previous months.

In its report detailing March crude

oil loadings, NNPC allocated crude to the swap contracts held by the consortiums, the report said.

Kyari said NNPC's monopoly on petrol supplies was ending and private firms could start importing as early as this month. He added that Nigeria's total crude and condensate output was at 1.56 million barrels a day (bpd) as of Friday.

Nigeria has struggled to meet its Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil quota of 1.742 million bpd due to grand oil theft and illegal refining. That has raised doubts on whether Nigeria could meet supplies for the 650,000 bpd newly-inaugurated Dangote Refinery. NNPC has a contract to supply 300,000 bpd to the refinery.

NNPC had last week adjusted the pump price of petrol by nearly 200 per cent, from N195 per litre to between N488 and N557 nationwide.

The development followed the announcement by Tinubu during his inaugural address on Monday

EBENEZER ONYEAGWU EMERGES BEST BANKING CEO IN AFRICA IN INTERNATIONAL BANKER AWARDS

the Founder and Chairman, Jim Ovia, CFR, for his guidance and mentorship; the bank’s management team and staff, for being the shoulder upon which his achievements and success as CEO rests; and the bank's customers for making Zenith Bank their bank of choice.

Onyeagwu’s outstanding career has led to him receiving multiple awards, including Bank CEO of the Year (2019) by Champion Newspaper, Bank CEO of the Year (2020, 2021 & 2022) by BusinessDay Newspaper, CEO of the Year (2020 and 2021) – SERAS Awards, and CEO of the Year (2022) – Leadership Newspaper.

As Group Managing Director/ CEO, Onyeagwu has led Zenith Bank to achieve tremendous feats and milestones in financial performance (including 47 per cent growth in the bank’s market capitalisation in four years), financial inclusion, corporate governance and sustainability.

These efforts have culminated in several local and international awards and recognitions including being recognised as Number

One Bank in Nigeria by Tier-1 Capital, for the 13th consecutive year, in the 2022 Top 1000 World Banks Ranking published by The Banker Magazine; Bank of the Year (Nigeria) in The Banker’s Bank of the Year Awards 2020 and 2022; Best Bank in Nigeria, for three consecutive years from 2020 to 2022, in the Global Finance World’s Best Banks Awards; Best Commercial Bank, Nigeria 2021 and 2022 in the World Finance Banking Awards; Best Corporate Governance Bank, Nigeria in the World Finance Corporate Governance Awards 2022; ‘Best in Corporate Governance’ Financial Services’ Africa, for four consecutive years from 2020 to 2023, by the Ethical Boardroom; and the Most Responsible Organisation in Africa 2021 by SERAS Awards.

On March 25, 2023, he was conferred with a Doctorate Degree in Business Administration by the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria's first indigenous University, in recognition of his immense achievements as Group Managing Director/CEO of Zenith

Bank as well as his contributions to the growth of the financial services sector in Nigeria and across the African continent. The award was given during the 50th convocation ceremony of the University.

Published by Finance Publishing Limited, the International Banker is a leading global source of authoritative analysis and opinion on banking, finance and world affairs. Its influence, integrity, accuracy and objective opinion have earned it global recognition.

The International Banker Awards strive to recognise worthy financial institutions around the world - those not just doing their jobs well but exceptionally wellthose operating at the industry’s cutting edge and setting new performance levels to which others will aspire.

The 2023 Banking Awards focused on various criteria, including the provision of much-needed capital for economic growth, cutting-edge innovation to enhance security and efficiency, and intelligent investing to maximise profits and shareholder value.

leadership of NLC not to embark on its proposed nationwide strike, saying Tinubu means well for the country. But founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc. and Anap Foundation, Atedo Peterside, yesterday, called on Tinubu and others in the present government, who had in 2012 opposed the removal of fuel subsidy by the administration of then President Goodluck Jonathan, to tender an unreserved apology to the former president as well as Nigerians. In a tweet on his handle, Atedo pointed out that following the decision of Tinubu to end the fuel subsidy regime, the president and some members of his party, who vehemently protested against subsidy removal

that fuel subsidy was “gone”. Tinubu promised to re-channel the expected savings to education, health and other sectors.

But the development did not go down well the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), which described the new pricing template as vexatious. Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had expressed displeasure over the, describing it. NLC has announced plan to commence a nationwide strike from Wednesday.

IPMAN: For Subsidy Removal to Make Sense, FG Must Break NNPC's Monopoly on Importation

IPMAN called on Tinubu to walk his talk on the total deregulation of the downstream of the petroleum sector.

In a statement signed by IPMAN’s President and National Secretary, Debo Ahmed and Chief John Kekeocha, respectively, the association stated that having taken a decisive position on the removal of subsidy on fuel, Tinubu must proceed to ensure that the sole right of the national oil company to import petrol was broken.

That came on the heels of divergent opinions on the new price increase by the sole importer of the product, NNPC. NNPC’s four refineries with 445,000 barrels per day combined refining capacity had not been functioning at optimal capacity, while the Dangote refinery recently commissioned with 650, 000 barrels per day refining capacity was yet to commence operation.

But IPMAN urged Tinubu to ensure that other downstream sector players, aside NNPC, were allowed to partake in the importation of petrol into Nigeria.

IPMAN stated, "The primary essence of removing subsidy is to free the market and make it competitive." it explained that allowing other interested parties into the petroleum supply network, either through local refining or importation, will guarantee adequate production and supply and ultimately crash prices.

"This will precipitate reasonable reductions in the high price that is being witnessed at this initial take off," IPMAN stated.

areas it would help to boost air transportation in the continent.

IATA said it would help airlines in Africa improve their operational safety through a data-driven collaborative programme to reduce safety incidents and accidents, in the air and on ground.

It said it would facilitate the growth of efficient, secure and cost-effective aviation infrastructure.

In the area of connectivity, IATA said it would promote the liberalisation of intra-African market access through the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM).

by Jonathan, ought to apologise to Jonathan, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Peter Obi, and other members of the 2012 Economic Team.

Peterside wrote, “The petrol subsidy removal is complicated by the fact some liars who held sway in 2012 are now singing a different tune in 2023. They should apologise to @ GEJonathan @PeterObi @NOIweala & others in the 2012 Economic Team and beg Nigerians for forgiveness so we can move forward.”

NNPC had last week adjusted the pump price of petrol by nearly 200 per cent, from N195 per litre to between N488 and N557 nationwide. The development followed the

The statement also enjoined the federal government to ensure that Nigerians at the receiving end of the subsidy removal felt the dividends in the areas of infrastructure development, health sector, as well as well as education and basic social amenities.

The statement said, "As the NNPC continues to justify its price template for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), IPMAN wishes to lend its voice in support of the current removal of the long awaited petroleum subsidy, which had lingered for more than 20 years.

“It goes a long way to demonstrate the very strong will and dexterity that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has in his promise to liberate Nigerians from perpetual indebtedness and easy borrowing, which has jeopardised all efforts for reasonable progress in the country.

"It is our belief and hope that the NNPC will ensure that the product is made available for Nigerians and that the NMDPRA ensures adequate monitoring and distribution, making sure that the policy takes place seamlessly.

“However, it's important to state here that the primary essence of removing subsidy is to free the market and make it competitive. This is by allowing other interested parties into the petroleum supply network.

“This is either by engaging in importation or local refining. It's the duty of government to ensure that all bottlenecks and frustrations in this regard are removed so that adequate productions and supplies will eventually precipitate reasonable reductions in the high price that is being witnessed at this initial take off.”

IPMAN stated that while many Nigerians welcomed the policy “with a pinch of salt”, it believed that the constraining sacrifices of the people in “swallowing this bitter pill” will be compensated with obvious and empirical proofs of how the dividends of the subsidy removal positively impacted their lives.

The group promised to align with the present administration in the “social contract” by playing according to the rules and believing that the policy will be a milestone in repositioning Nigeria’s ailing economy.

announcement by Tinubu in his inaugural speech on Monday that fuel subsidy was “gone.”

Tinubu promised to re-channel the expected savings to education, health and other sectors.

But the development did not go down well with NLC, which has announced plan to commence a nationwide strike from Wednesday.

NLC Absent as FG, TUC Agree on Wage Increase to Cushion Effect of Fuel Subsidy Removal

Speaking with newsmen after the meeting between the TUC leaders and federal government’s representatives, held at the conference room of the Chief of Staff's office, both sides disclosed that negotiations would continue from tomorrow, when the federal government would be taking labour’s demands to President Bola Tinubu. The meeting lasted about two and a half hours.

The government was expected to come with answers to labour's demands.

Apart from the demand for a review of the minimum wage, TUC demanded a tax break for Nigerian workers. It said it would leave the remaining items on the list undisclosed until the government representatives must have relayed the list to the president and come back with positions.

Spokesman of the government’s side, Mr. Dele Alake, expressed satisfaction with the proceedings. Alake hinted that the demands by TUC were not impracticable. But he noted that the president must be allowed time to consider them.

According to Alake, government would look into the issue of minimum wage, since the removal of subsidy has the immediate consequence of reducing the purchasing power of the people. He added that government would be putting a tripartite committee together to study all dynamics relating to the subsidy.

Alake said, "Well, as you all know, we had this reconvened meeting today as we promised you few days ago when we had the initial meeting with the labour movement. We said we were going to reconvene today to keep the engagement on, in order to diffuse the tension in the land as a result of the withdrawal of subsidy, which is a reality. Now, we are very happy to announce to Nigerians that this engagement has been very productive.

"The TUC that attended today’s meeting presented a list of demands and those demands we have studied and we are going to present to Mr. President for his consideration. But those demands, we can announce to Nigerians that a lot of the items on the list are not impracticable.

“What we need to do is to study the numbers very well, then we have asked the TUC to also give us a leeway to consult very exhaustively and reconvene on Tuesday to actually look at the numbers’ viability, practicability of all the items that have been presented to us.

WASHINGTON DINNER FOR OMFIF LEADERS…

Nigeria Agrees to Cut Oil Production to Stabilise Crude Supply Market

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Nigeria has agreed to cut its Organisation of Petroleum Organisation (OPEC) crude production, to ensure global oil market stability, a statement by the country’s delegation to the meeting in Vienna, said yesterday.

Alongside other African countries which have struggled in the last few years to meet their production quota, the delegation stressed that the country’s output will now be hinged on its highest volume in the last six months which is 1.38 million barrels per day.

“Nigeria alongside other OPEC and Non-OPEC members at the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) meeting agreed to cut production volumes in order to ensure global oil market stability.

“Furthermore, Nigeria, Congo and Angola have agreed that the highest production volumes of the last six months (November 2022 – April 2023) be used as the basis for the determination of their 2024 production quota,” the statement added.

The country has recently blamed massive oil theft as well as years of underinvestment for the development, but has since August last year moved to end the menace by ramping up security in the Niger Delta.

“ Nigeria’s highest production of crude oil only of 1383KBD was achieved in February 2023. OPEC has also agreed to allow these countries to continue to produce maximally to their OPEC quota of 2023.

“This implies that Nigeria can ramp up its production up to its current quota of 1742KBD and

subsequently be capped at 10 per cent less as its quota for 2024 subject to verification by independent secondary sources,” it stated.

Besides , the Nigerian delegation said it was confident that the ongoing security intervention under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu will enable the restoration of the country’s production to the tune of 1580KBD crude oil.

“This will be complemented by condensate of about 400KBD. This will ultimately enable Nigeria’s crude oil and condensate production of about 2 million barrels per day in 2024,” the delegation said.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's state oil firm, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), is winding down crude swap contracts with traders and will pay cash for petrol imports, its Chief Executive, Mallam Mele Kyari, told Reuters.

Adding that private companies could begin importing petrol as soon as this month, the firm stated that the move was part of new Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu's plans to deregulate the gasoline market and reduce the burden on government finances.

Tinubu has already scrapped a costly fuel subsidy, effective from last Tuesday, a decision which tripled petrol prices, angering labour unions who have called for a strike starting on Wednesday if the decision is not reversed.

NNPC has been importing gasoline from consortiums of foreign and local trading firms and repaying them with crude oil via what are known as Direct Sale Direct Purchase (DSDP) contracts since 2016 because it does not have enough cash to pay for the purchases, data and

trading sources said. "In the last four months we practically terminated all DSDP contracts. And we now have an arm's-length process where we can pay cash for the imports," Kyari told Reuters in an interview late on Saturday.

This is the first time NNPC has said it is terminating crude swap contracts. By importing less petrol as private companies import the bulk, NNPC will be able to pay for its purchases in cash, Kyari said.

Nigeria is Africa's biggest crude producer but imports most of its refined products after running down its refineries.

A significant drop in oil production last year coupled with high global fuel prices due to the

war in Ukraine pushed NNPC's debt to traders higher. It owed the consortiums about $2 billion, a September 2022 NNPC report to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) showed.

An industry source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters that NNPC was still allocating crude for fuel swaps for July loading, though less than in previous months. In its report detailing March crude oil loadings, NNPC also allocated crude to the swap contracts held by the consortiums.

Kyari said NNPC's monopoly on gasoline supplies was ending and private firms could start importing as early as this month.

Kyari added that Nigeria's total

crude and condensate output was at 1.56 million barrels a day as of Friday. Nigeria has struggled to meet its OPEC oil quota of 1.742 million bpd due to grand oil theft and illegal refining.

That has raised doubts on whether Nigeria can meet supplies for the 650,000 bpd newly commissioned Dangote Refinery. NNPC has a contract to supply 300,000 bpd to the refinery.

In the same vein, Nigeria’s daily crude oil production has surged to about 1.6 million barrels per day, and it’s expected to hit 1.8 million barrels per day, according to the Chief Upstream Investment Officer of the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services, Bala Wunti. Wunti made the disclosure on

Saturday at the 186th meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The NUIMS boss was also confident that with the technology deployed, Nigeria’s oil production will hit 1.8 million barrels by July or early August.

“It is what we are harvesting already, and the result of the security collaboration is what actually reversed the trend of our declining production.

“That we are back to about 1.6 million barrels today is a result of the collaboration. Everybody is working, the security agencies are working in synergy with the industry, the regulators are working and the communities,” he said.

One Year after His Abduction, College of Medicine Provost, Iweha Still Not Found

The whereabouts of the Provost College of Medicine, Gregory University Amachara, Abia State, Prof. Uwadinachi Iweha has remained a mystery 12 months after he was abducted by assailants. Iweha, who had served as the Chief Medical Director(CMD) of Abia State University Teaching Hospital(ABSUTH), Aba and CMD Abia State Specialist Hospital Amachara, was whisked away on June 5, 2022, at his home in Umuajameze Umuopara, Umuahia South Local Government of Abia State.

Though an undisclosed sum was eventually paid as ransoms to his abductors, the family of the missing medical doctor told journalists at a press conference weekend that nothing has been heard about their father.

The first son of the Professor of medicine, Engr. Chukwudi Iweha, who spoke on behalf of the family, said the family, "is still in shock and distress," due to absence of any concrete information about what has become of their father since his abduction.

"As a family, we cannot discern the motive behind this evil act or even point any accusing finger at anybody; we have our trust in God

that he will return and be reunited with us," he said.

Iweha lamented the, "unnecessary delays" in police investigations to unlock the mystery behind his father's ordeal and pinpoint the main sponsor(s) of the abduction.

He stated that having recovered the handset of Iweha from a suspect which led the police to arrest four others, it was expected the security agencies should have solved the case 52 weeks on.

Iweha, disclosed that the family has learnt that the police had already arraigned two of the suspects in court but the matter got stalled due to the ongoing strike by judicial workers which led to closure of

courts in Abia.

However, he reasoned that having arrested some of the suspects and even has even gone to the extent of charging two of them to court, the police should have by now been in a position to tell the Iweha family where exactly the abductors said they kept him.

The Iweha family spokesman took a swipe at people spreading insidious rumours that Iweha had been freed and flown abroad for medical attention, saying that nothing could be further from the truth.

"This (unfounded rumours) adds to our pains. We are still looking for our father," Chukwudi said in anguish-laden voice.

Recurrent Leadership Change in PAP Impacts Policy Implementation, Says N’Delta Youth Leaders

A development expert and a Niger Delta youth leader, Dr. Matthew Ayibakuro, has expressed concern that frequent change of heads of public institutions and interventionist agencies distort their plans, policies and programmes of such organisations.

He cited the current Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Major General Barry Ndiomu (rtd), saying

it would be unfair to assess his performance in office because he had spent only few months.

Ayibakuro, said in Yenagoa the Bayelsa State capital that frequent leadership changes make it impossible to assess them whenever the leadership is removed from office, saying the period they spent would have been grossly insufficient to make any real or meaningful impact.

He stressed that some good

intentions and well-thought out plans of heads of such agencies of government are easily truncated when they abruptly leave office, leading to avoidable waste of public funds.

He, however, lauded Ndiomu’s effort to create sustainable partnerships between PAP and other public as well as private institutions, noting that, if he succeeds, it would be for the benefit of ex-agitators in

the Niger Delta.

In Ayibakuro’s words: “I think it’s a bit early to form any strong perspective of him (Ndiomu), I think that six months is a very short time in a programme like PAP to do that.

“I’ve seen him try to form partnerships, I don’t think that six months is a good enough time if anybody is being objective to say he has been effective or he’s not been effective.

“You have to give people the benefit of the doubt. But then that takes me back to the point: are we going to have him for two years so that we can actually assess what he has achieved?

“If it’s a training programme, if he came in you don’t expect that he’s going to start new training programmes on his own, there were training programmes already existing.

“So six months is a short time within training circles for you to be able to say the person in office has been successful or not successful.”

Another youth leader and chairman of the Ondo State Chapter of the Niger Delta Amnesty Delegates Network, Ominidougha Richard, also opined that it was too early to assess the performance of Ndiomu “given that it is barely a year”.

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

L-R: Chief Representative of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) for Asia and the Pacific and former Director of the Strategy and Policy Department of the International Monetary Fund, Siddharth Tiwari; US Chairman of OMFIF and former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Monetary and Financial Policy, Mark Sobel; Member, Advisory Council of OMFIF and former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Kingsley Moghalu, and Chairman of OMFIF, David Marsh, at a dinner of OMFIF leaders at the Metropolitan Club in Washington DC… recently. OMFIF, headquartered in London, is an independent network of asset management firms, hedge funds, sovereign and pension funds and central banks with a combined $43 trillion dollars in investable assets

SANWO-OLU'S SECOND TERM INAUGURATION THANKSGIVING SERVICE…

L-R: Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; his wife, Mrs. Oluremi; wife of the Governor, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu; Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and CAN chairman, Lagos state chapter, Most Rev Stephen Adegbite, during the second term inauguration thanksgiving Service of Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat, at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina ... yesterday

Why Double-Digit GDP Growth Eludes Nigeria, by Kale, Nevin, Yusuf, Others

Dike Onwuamaeze

Economic experts have identified governments’ willful implementation of bad decision, disinterest in strategic economic planning, over-reliance on crude oil, stifling taxation and insecurity as among factors that have hindered Nigeria from optimising its resources to attain double digit economic growth.

They also expressed the view that the only areas where Nigerians have excelled globally were those outside the control and influence of Nigeria’s government.

These views were shared by former Statistician General of Nigeria Bureau of Statistics of Nigeria, Dr. Yemi Kale, who is currently partner and chief economist of KPMG Nigeria; the Financial Service Leader and Chief Economist of PwC West Africa, Dr. Andrew Nevin; an Economist and Founder of Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprises (CPPE), Dr. Muda Yusuf.

Others were Chief Economist and Head, Economic Research/ Intelligence, Coronation Merchant Bank, Ms. Chinwe Egwim and CoFounder/Chief Executive Officer, Cowrywise, Mr. Razaq Ahmed.

The experts shared these views during the Nairametrics Economic Outlook with the theme: “Fostering Economic Resilience: Harnessing Opportunities for Development,” which was held virtually.

Chief Analyst, Nairametrics, Mr. Ugo Obi-Chukwu, attributed Nigeria’s fiscal challenges to shortfall in public revenue.

Speaking further, Kale stated that, “almost every economic activity in Nigeria is underperforming and that is why we have not been able to grow anywhere close to our real potentials growth, which is double digit,” in spite of Nigeria’s advantageous entrepreneurial youthful population, diverse natural resources and geographical location that arguably no other African country possessed in greater quantity than Nigeria.

He added: “We are moving from start, stop and reset and that has limited Nigeria’s ability to realise that huge potential. Secondly is what I may like to call unforced errors because they the things that we did to ourselves like very bad policies, very bad strategies and when the government is told that these strategies are not working it intend to just continue doing them.

“The most obvious of all is over dependence on oil. Associated to these are our disinterest in proper planning, which is a major difference between Nigeria and many of the (Asians) countries that we are either better than or at the same level in the 1960s who has long left us behind.

“The main difference is that they kept faith with proper strategic planning and continued to be doing

so while we abandoned it and relied on agenda decision making and relying on oil production that we kept consuming rather than building with our oil wealth.

“Currently there is a very weak link between data and policy design and implementation. That focus on oil earning for consuming and the presence of inadequate planning over the years has now lead to other issues that is making realising that vast potentials a challenge.

“We also failed by relying on subsistence farming and anything that we cannot grow by subsistence agriculture we just decided to use our oil revenue to import them.

“We will also take into consideration the refusal of the government over the years to move solid minerals from the exclusive list to concurrent legislative list and develop a proper mining framework that can unlock investments into developing solid minerals from supply chain to heavy industries.

‘But they are all tied to these three main issues of over dependence on oil, unforced errors and nonadherence to proper planning. These are the things that I think have prevented us from taking advantage of our huge potentials.”

He added that the first quarter of 2023 was, “the first time agriculture has contracted since 1982 but it is tied to the Naira redesign policy and the dominance of subsistence

farming.”

According to Nervin, the sectors where Nigeria has been doing well on the global scale are sectors that government has not been involved in.

He said: “Let me list the things that we (Nigerians) are successful in: Nollywood is a success, Nigerian music is a success all over the world, financial services that are spread across Africa is a commendable success.

“The biggest global export that Nigeria ever had are Nigerians in diaspora that include soccer super stars, digital franchise, basketball, premier league. Nigerians already have large things that we are doing at the global stage that we are very successful at.

“And one thing that is very interesting is that the government has nothing to do with them. The sectors that have been doing well on the global scale are sectors that government has not been involved in.

“There is no large scale mining, no world class mining in Nigeria in spite of all these world class mineral deposits. Where Nigeria has succeeded in the world stage is where there is no government presence. Where we struggle is where the government brought complexities.”

In his own contribution, Yusuf, who was the immediate past director general of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce, noted that fighting

Resident Doctors Urge FG to Invest Proceeds of Subsidy Removal in Health, Education

Opts for more time to resolve dispute with FG

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

Nigerian doctors under the aegis of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has advised the federal government to ensure that monies saved from the removal of fuel subsidy are judiciously used.

They said such saved funds should be put into meaningful investments that would better the lives of all Nigerians, especially in health and education sectors.

NARD said they have resolved to give the new government some time to quickly resolve the issue which was at the root of the current spate of massive brain drain in the sector.

In a communique issued at the end of its Ordinary General

Meeting (OGM) held in Lagos, NARD urged the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to as a matter of urgency put measures in place to cushion the effect of subsidy removal on poor Nigerians.

"We advise the government to ensure that monies saved from the removal of subsidy are judiciously used and put into meaningful investments that would better the lives of all Nigerians. In this case, health and education should be prioritised," he said.

The association urged Tinubu to as a matter of urgency declare state of emergency in the Nigerian health sector, stressing that the era of paying lip service to the monster of Brain Drain should be over.

It urged the federal government to set up a high-powered panel to review and harmonise reports from the former President Obasanjo Health Agenda for Nigeria committee and the former vice President Osinbajo-led health sector reform committee, in order to generate a plan of action in the health sector for the Tinubu-led Administration.

However, the doctors said they were insisting on their demand for at least 200 per cent increment in the CONMESS salary structure and, “the associated allowances as contained in our letter to the government dated 7th July 2022.”

"We have resolved to give the new government some time to quickly resolve this issue which is at the root of the current spate of

massive brain drain in the sector.

"We call on Governors Adedapo Abiodun of Ogun State, Alex Otti of Abia state, Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers state, Seyi Makinde of Oyo state, Abdurahman Abdulrasaq of Kwara state and the FCTA Administration to urgently look into the situation in the health sector in their states as mentioned in the observations above since these are capable of breaking down the industrial peace in their states," they added.

In addition, NARD urged the management of LASUTH and the Lagos State Governor to discontinue the demand for bench fees as this contravenes the decision of the National Council on Establishment to abolish the fees.

insecurity would impact positively on Nigeria’s economic growth because the risk of investment is correlated to the risk that you have in the environment.

He said: “Insecurity has affected some major segments of the economy, including agriculture that accounts for 23 per cent of our GDP.

“We know the impact of insecurity on the agricultural sector that virtually crippled it. We know the implication for that on food inflation and the implications of inflation on poverty.

“Again, on the perception of the country as an investment destination, the news headlines about number of people killed by bandits and insurgents is enough to scare away any person watching Nigeria from afar.

“We have investors that have extremely high risk evasion appetite but those with average risk appetite

will just run away. That is why we mostly have Asian investors whose risk appetite are extremely very high.

“If we have much better environment as far as security is concerned, we will be able to attract more investment from the West. It is good to have a very good defence budget but again we have deprived a number of sectors of very valuable resources.”

Egwuim, in her contribution, observed that Nigeria has not exploited its demographic dividend maximally and highlighted the need to keep the strengthening of the country’s educational system at all levels, including vocational training at the front burner.

Speaking on the same vein, Ahmed harped on the need to boost Nigeria’s human capital development, adding that emigration is draining the country’s pool of skill labour force.

Group Seeks Appointment of More Women in Tinubu's Govt

President's daughter rallies support for her father's administration

Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

A women group, Evolving Women in Politics (EWIP) at the weekend called on President Bola Tinubu to priortise the appointment of more women in government.

The group also hosted the president's daughter, Mrs. Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, who is a grand patron of the association, for her contributions in mobilising women for politics.

This was just as Tinubu-Ojo sought the understanding and support of Nigerians for her father in his quest to make Nigeria a better place.

Speaking at the event organised to celebrate Tinubu’s victory at the election and his inauguration as the president, National President of the Association, Fatimah Bello, urged Tinubu to deliver on his promise to involve more women in government.

"As women we multitask, we take care of the home and so excellently well. The president promised to bring more women into his cabinet and we trust that he will deliver.

For women, this is our time and we call on women to join EWIP", she said.

In his remarks, Former Managing Director of Nigerian Communications Satellite, Ahmed Rufai, who is also a patron of the association, urged the president to raise the bar in the appointment of women to his government by moving away from

the 30 per cent Beijing Declaration to 50 per cent.

"Tinubu should make a departure from the 30 per cent Beijing Affirmative action to 50 per cent in terms of assigning responsibilities to women," he said.

Rufai, who is also a member of Tinubu-Shettima Vanguard, said Nigerians were desirous of a secure and safe society.

"We want a Nigeria where doctors treat our patients, where our educational system works, where our engineers build our roads. A Nigeria where people live above poverty line, where we can sleep with our two eyes closed, where we can travel freely", he said.

Meanwhile, Tinubu-Ojo sought the understanding and support of Nigerians for her father in his quest to make Nigeria a better place.

"I seek fellow Nigerians’ understanding and support for our President to succeed. I also want to appreciate Nigerian women. This is our turn; our hope is renewed. I must appreciate the commitment of this group, EWIP, for what we have done, the love is overwhelming.

“All that you have committed to this cause, may God return it to you in a million fold. What you have done for someone else, may your children enjoy it while you are alive. Thank you for the show of patriotism," she said.

WITH LOVE FROM BRITAIN…

L-R: Director of Marketing, Charterhouse Lagos,

Trade Envoy to Nigeria and

PwC: Why Local Refining Won’t Crash Fuel Prices

Says current subsidy structure not benefitting Nigeria’s poorest Advocates evidence-based palliatives to cushion impact

Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) has argued that in-country crude oil refining may not significantly reduce petrol prices because the costs of haulage, insurance and associated cost of importation do not constitute the most significant component of cost across the value chain.

In a report released by the global organisation which offers clients various professional business services, including accounting, auditing, human

resources consulting, and strategy management, it picked holes in the general belief that local refining of crude oil could potentially eliminate the need for petrol subsidies altogether or make the market price affordable.

It argued that unless the international price of crude oil falls below a certain level, while local refining will provide a price cushion, it is not a silver bullet that would magically solve the subsidy problem.

While noting that currently, Nigeria imports its refined

PIA: Delta Community Suspend Protests against Chevron, Gives SPDC June 9 Deadline for Engagement

Sylvester Idowu in Warri

Relief has come the way of Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) as the people of oil rich Ugborodo in Warri South West Local Government area of Delta State have suspended their siege to the company in protest against it's non implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act ( PIA) in the community.

The indigenes of Ugborodo Federated Communities had since May 20, been protesting at the Chevron terminal over failure of the oil company to engage them in the implementation of the PIA as enshrined in the act.

A prominent leader in the community, Mr. Alex Eyengho, who addressed journalists at the end of a general meeting held at the community town hall at Ode-Ugborodo, over the weekend, said the people of the community have suspended further protests against Chevron to give room for further negotiations.

According to him, the community had held several meetings with Chevron management since the commencement of the protests and had to suspend their action for more engagements towards finding peaceful resolutions to their demands.

Eyengho, also said there had been a tripartite meeting between Ugborodo Community, Chevron and the Nigeria Upstream Regulatory Commission over the matter adding "Chevron is showing some commitment as it concerns the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA." For peace to reign and make the environment conducive for business operations of Chevron, the community leader disclosed that

Ugborodo Community demanded a "Trust" different from others in Itsekiri land.

He said indigenes of Ugborodo community resolved as an autonomous Community that its Trust should now be known as "Ekpere Host Communities Development Trust".

He stressed that the action was not a disrespect to anyone but in compliance to what the PIA stipulates.

Eyengho also disclosed that the oil-rich community had issued Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), which also operates in its domain a seven-day notice to come and negotiate with them directly the way CNL is currently is doing.

"The PIA is clear. It's host community based. Follow the law to the latter," he said, warning that should SPDC fail to heed to its demands, Ugborodo Community would do what's right within the ambit of the law in a peaceful protest against the oil company.

"CNL is doing the right thing. We have served SPDC seven-day notice to comply with the extant law guiding the PIA", he added.

The Personal Assistant to the Eghare-Aja of Ugborodo community, Joseph Uwawah, corroborated the claims of Mr. Alex Eyengho, insisting that PIA, " is purely community based" and expressed hope that the ongoing discussions between Ugborodo and Chevron Nigeria Limited, results in fruitful conclusion.

He maintained that people of Ugborodo, would continually stand against any company operating in their land and dealing with people whose tenure have elapsed, describing such people as fifth columnists and impostors.

petroleum products due to limited or no domestic refining, it explained that this makes the country’s fuel price not only dependent on global oil prices and exchange rates, but also importation and handling charges.

“However, other than the costs of haulage, insurance and associated cost of importation, (these) materials do not constitute the most significant components of cost across the value chain.

“This implies that the pump price without subsidy would still be higher than the regulated price unless the international price of crude oil falls below a certain level.

“While local refining will provide a price cushion, it is not a silver bullet that would magically solve the subsidy problem,” the organisation stated.

PwC added that fuel subsidy in Nigeria had been fraught with issues of corruption and inefficiency while palliatives had been suggested by some as a possible way to alleviate the suffering of those that will be most affected by subsidy removal.

But it said that while palliatives may help to mitigate the immediate impact of rising prices such as cash transfers, provision of buses to the Labour Union or other forms of assistance, the effectiveness of palliatives depends on several factors.

For one, PwC argued that it is difficult to identify and sufficiently cover the vulnerable population that will be most impacted, especially given the lack of reliable demographic data.

According to the firm, in reality, palliatives can be expensive yet ineffective in addition to their being

prone to corruption.

However, it suggested that a multifaceted approach that involves evidence-based identification of the most vulnerable population, and a robust palliative administration with in-built controls would provide a more sustainable and long-term solution.

Writing on the unsustainable financial cost of subsidy, it said that according to the World Bank, Nigeria's total revenue in 2000 was $10.8 billion, explaining that by 2010, this amount increased to $67.9 billion, yet the Nigerian government had spent over $30 billion on fuel subsidies over the past 18 years.

In addition, PwC noted that this has had a significant impact on funds available for critical infrastructure and other essential sectors such as education, health, and defence.

It maintained that fuel subsidy payments have also distorted the economy, stressing that according to a report, households in the bottom 40 per cent of the income distribution account for less than 3 per cent of all fuel purchases.

Furthermore, it is pointed out that that three-quarters of all fuel sold in Nigeria is consumed by private firms, public transportation services, government agencies, and other businesses.

Most vehicles used for carrying large numbers of people (such as molue) and goods, it said, are diesel-powered, a product that is already deregulated.

Also, it said that household kerosene which is mostly used by the poor is no longer subsidised, meaning that the poor are already

to a large extent paying market prices for their fuel.

“This effectively means that the government is subsidising mostly those who can afford fuel (PMS) at market rates and not the poorest of the poor who need subsidy.

“This is one of the major problems with the way fuel subsidy is being implemented in Nigeria. For the benefit of subsidy to reach its intended recipients, the current structure will need to be reviewed and creatively restructured,” it argued.

Besides, the global company said that the porous borders between Nigeria and neighbouring countries have created an enterprise for smugglers who purchase large volumes of petrol at a subsidised rate in Nigeria and sell at market prices in neighbouring countries.

It quoted a report published by Chapel Hill Denham, as estimating that 15.64 million litres of petrol are smuggled out of Nigeria daily as the retail price of Nigerian petroleum products on average is 3.7 times cheaper than those of its neighbours, which has given smugglers undue opportunities for arbitrage.

It posited that since the subsidy point for fuel is importation (or supply) rather than at the pump for eligible users only, subsidy in the current form encourages arbitrage and other forms of corruption.

It said that subsidy has also scared investors in the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry, leading its having the least foreign direct investment compared to the midstream and upstream sectors.

“ The reason for this is not far-fetched. The current subsidy regime and the legal framework

of the downstream sector generally discourages investments.

“The downstream sector needs full deregulation if it would attract more private investors, and one of the impediments that will need to be removed upon full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) is fuel subsidy,” it asserted.

It added that the federal government’s COP26 commitment in Glasgow, Scotland in 2021, was a contradiction for the country to subsidise consumption of fossil fuel while at the same time seeking to reduce the country’s carbon footprint. “Rather than subsidising fossil fuel, the country should encourage green and renewable energy,” PwC said.

On the relationship between petrol price increases, inflation and cost of living, it said that while petrol price deregulation can contribute to higher costs of living and inflation, the impact can be moderated if complemented with effective policies and well-thought out implementation strategy.

It also opined that the argument that Nigeria, being an oil producing country should be able to sell petrol at the regulated price without incurring significant subsidy costs is not supported by evidence.

Subsidy removal, it said will lead to creation of jobs, enhance the country's energy security and reduce dependence on imported petroleum and increase investment flow to the downstream sector as well as reduce government borrowing.

It therefore backed a fully deregulated downstream sector and complete remove petrol subsidy as well as provision of credible, evidence-based palliatives.

End Cycle of Corruption Now, Kaigama Urges New Leaders

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The Catholic Archbishop of the Abuja Metropolitan Archdiocese, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama has admonished leaders of government at the national and state levels to put a stop to the network of corruption and reduce the high cost of governance which according to him are mainly responsible for poverty and lack of infrastructure in the country.

Kaigama, who made the call yesterday, during his Homily at Our Lady Queen of Nigeria Pro-Cathedral, Parish in Abuja, also urged the new leaders to also end the reckless borrowing of huge sums of monies.

"We call on our leaders to

restore security, break the network of corruption and reduce the high cost of governance which are mainly responsible for the poor infrastructure and people rationalising acts of corruption.

"We hope that there will be an end henceforth to borrowing huge sums of money (piling humongous debts) and not putting them to productive use.

“Nigeria is unable to construct excellent hospitals and schools and our leaders with the means are often seen patronising these institutions abroad where things are working normally, instead of replicating the same facilities at home. We hope decency will be enthroned again from top to bottom," he said.

Kaigama gave a personal

experience of the consequences of corruption in the country's affairs saying: "On Friday evening when we arrived from abroad and while waiting at the airport for our luggage, the light went off and the conveyor belt stopped. Many chorused: “Welcome back to Nigeria.”

He further said: "After finishing with my passport, the official said, “na only blessing remain” (not spiritual blessing of course). Another official said, “Daddy welcome, anything for us?” We beg the government to give workers their proper entitlements to do away with these shameful and embarrassing begging attitudes."

Kaigama said his work as a priest was to pray and preach and

urged all to grow in the true love of God, love of one another and to be truly companions along this life’s journey to eternity.

While explaining the meaning and essence of celebration of the Holy Trinity Sunday, Kaigama said the Blessed Trinity, “is a model of community life and love.”

"What today we celebrate is the central mystery of our faith and the essence of God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: “The Trinity is One. We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three persons….” (cf. nos. 253-255). We cannot rationally or scientifically explain God. He is a mystery, a reality that is to be believed and lived through the eyes of faith," he said.

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Damilola Olatunbosun; Chief Operating Officer, Charterhouse Lagos, Angela Hencher; British Deputy High Commissioner, Ben Llewellyn-Jones OBE; UK Prime Minister's

Special Envoy on Girls' Education, Helen Grant MP; and Head, Charterhouse Lagos, John Todd, during the visit of the British Deputy High Commissioner to Charterhouse Lagos...recently.

OSINBAJO, OLD IGBOBI STUDENTS PAY CONDOLENCE VISIT TO BALOGUN FAMILY…

Bandits Kill Scores in Sokoto over Refusal to Pay Imposed Levy

Police confirm attack as PDP condoles victims’ families

Onuminya Innocent in Sokoto

No fewer than 50 persons were reportedly killed in Gwadabawa and Tangaza Local Government Areas of Sokoto State by bandits last weekend after locals refused

to pay illegal levies imposed on them.

Sokoto Police Command PPRO, ASP Ahmad Rufa’i, who confirmed the attacks, yesterday, assured the people that the command was on top

of the situation and promised to give update on the attacks.

Hours after the attack on three communities in Tangaza council, corpses of 37 persons were yet to be buried. The communities attacked were Raka, Raka Dutse,

UN Observance Days Require More Actions, Says Asije

International Society of Diplomats (ISD) Special Emissary on Media to Nigeria, Mr. Victor Asije, has said the United Nations (UN) Observance Days urgently requires more follow-up actions globally to achieve their desired objectives.

Asije said in Lagos, “that UN Days, with the emerging national and global challenges needed less parties, speeches, branded T-shirts, caps, jeans, hugs, group pictures, backslapping and exchange of contacts.”

A statement at the weekend, quoted him to have said national governments, international organisations, communities, private organisations, NGOs, the media, must know that the essence of these special days was beyond just the international dates.

"These Observance Days, which the UN observes globally on certain days, weeks and years, are meant to promote awareness and action to match strides with emerging environmental and other national and global challenges.

"But more prominence has over the decades been given to awareness creation than an all-out follow-up actions to make our silo-bunkered speeches, suggestions, recommendations and expertise yield the desired results.

"We need to reduce to the barest minimum, the huge amount of money we budget and spend on renting attractive hotels, halls, preparing banners, T-shirts, caps, jeans , snacks and drinks," he said.

Asije observed that there was usually a disconnect and inaction between the observance day in one year and the next, a situation he described as "sleeping on duty."

He said during the gap between one the celebration of a day in a year and the next, challenges that were supposed to had reduced had always increased.

"We must know that as we embark on creating awareness in these beautifully decorated halls, through the media and other means, with experts and other speakers taking turns to offer possible solutions to our environmental challenges, what is most needed now and going forward, is our all-out actions at making our suggestions and recommendations here a reality.

"Because the environmental challenges and other earthly emerging challenges are out there to affect us all, then, we all must humble ourselves, irrespective of our positions and social status, roll up our sleeves, and daily, actively keep pressure on what these observance days are meant to achieve," he said.

Asije, who said that the World Environment Day(WED) and other UN special days should not be seen as annual routine for making speeches, noted that, for instance, that trees planted in Nigeria, African and other developing countries were either usually destroyed by flood, human and vehicular movements or poorly nurtured.

He, thereof, called on governments and other relevant stakeholders and organisations to rededicate themselves and resources to afforestation programmes as a means to mitigating the effects of climate change.

The Special Emissary said it was imperative for governments, international organisations, communities, private organisations

and NGOs to prepare for more uncertainties in the years ahead.

Asije expressed the International Society of Diplomats (ISD) readiness to partner, through its team of experts on environmental sustainability, with governments, embassies, Consulates-General, High Commissions, United Nations agencies, research institutions, foreign academies, educational institutions and Ministries of the Environment, in achieving sustainable environment globally.

and Filin Gawa.

The immediate chairman of Tangazaa, Bshar Kalenjeni, also confirmed the attacks, saying,18 persons were killed at Raka, 17 at Filin Gawa and two at Raka Dutse.

In his narration, Kalenjeni said, “The bandits sometimes impose levies on the communities to be paid within a stipulated time and also want to be dictating to the residents on what to do. The offence of the villagers was their refusal to pay the levies imposed on their communities and succumb to the bandits threat.

“Angered by the villagers bold face, the bandits struck Saturday evening, killing 37 persons while several others with various degrees of gunshot injuries are currently receiving treatment at General Hospital, Gwadabawa.

“We wanted to bury those

killed in the night but the bandits came back and dispersed us. As at this morning, the deceased are still there, yet to be buried. As this moment I am talking to you, we are waiting for security operatives to lead us to the villages in order to bury the dead ones and comb the surrounding areas in search of those missing.”

A source in Gwadabawa said, “Some of the bandits were already in the town unknown to residents of the affected communities before others arrived in the evening to strike. The operation started after evening prayer, where they attacked the two most populous villages of Sakamaru and Bilingawa, simultaneously.

“In Bilingawa, not less than 18 people were killed with Sakamaru being the worst, where scores of people were slaughtered and others shot dead. After killing them, they set their corpses and

that of their animals on fire by ensuring that most of them were burnt beyond recognition,” he said.

The Sokoto State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has, however, expressed sadness over the attacks.

Chairman of the party in the state, Alhaji Muhammadu Bello Aliyu Goronyo, condemned and described it as callous and dastardly.

Speaking through the party's Publicity Secretary, Hassan Sahabi Sanyinnawal, he expressed dismay over the death of the helpless citizens during the attack.

The party also condoled families of the victims as well as the people of Gwadabawa and the state in general over the unfortunate incident.

The PDP also extended similar condolences to the people of Kware Local Government and Raka in Tangaza.

NDLEA Destroys Three Tons of Skunk in Edo Forest, Seizes 76.9kg Loud from Canada

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in an invasion of Edo State forest, destroyed a large warehouse of skunk, used to store 231 jumbo bags of the psychotropic substance weighing 3,003 kilograms (over 3 tons).

A statement yesterday, by the spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi, stated that the operatives stormed Iwe forest in Iwe community, Owan West local government area of Edo state, where they located a large warehouse of skunk, used to store 231 jumbo bags of the psychotropic substance weighing 3,003 kilograms (over 3 tons), which was set ablaze. Babafemi, disclosed that the operation involving hundreds of well-armed NDLEA operatives in the early hours of last

Tuesday, which followed intelligence that a wanted drug kingpin had stored tons of the illicit substance in the forest ready for distribution to other parts of the country.

“In other clampdowns across the country, not less than 76.9 kilogrammes of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis were recovered from four used vehicles in a container marked MSDU6686346 from Canada at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers State between last Thursday and Friday during a joint inspection of the shipment with men of the Nigeria Customs Service,” it added.

Babafemi stated that the request for 100 percent examination of the shipment followed earlier intelligence received by the agency on the container.

“In Kano state, two suspects:

Ma'aruf Rabiu and Abubakar

Mustapha were arrested last Tuesday along Zaria-Kano road with 260 blocks of cannabis weighing 139.4 kilogrammes, while Auwal Ibrahim was nabbed with 38 kilogrammes of the same substance the following day Wednesday along Kaduna-Abuja road, also same day 35-year-old female suspect, Bilkisu Isiya, was arrested at Birnin Yero, Kaduna in possession of 5.6 kilogrammes cannabis.

“In Borno state, two suspects: Abubakar Usman (aka Alhaji Mai Kero) and Adamu Yusuf were arrested at Bargu village, Shani local government area last Saturday with 165 blocks of skunk weighing 140.7 kilogrammes. Their arrest was effected deep inside a fluid insurgents’ environment with military support.

“A female suspect, Hauwa

Ibrahim, 25, was also nabbed in the same village with 6.4 kilogrammes of the psychoactive substance, while another suspect Alhaji Abubakar, 27, was arrested at Njimtilo checkpoint with 4,200 ampoules of pentazocine injection and different quantities of D5 and exol-5 tablets.

“A 30-year-old suspect, Iroko Wasiu was arrested at a drug joint at Sabo AbaOwolowo along Oyo-Ogbomoso expressway last Tuesday and 31.2 kilogrammes of cannabis recovered from him, while two suspects: Deji Adelabu, 35, and Mutiu Salau, 37, were nabbed the following day on Wednesday in Sabo area along Oyo- Ogbomoso road and Awuro Dada area in Orire local government area of Oyo state with a total of 8 kilogrammes cannabis recovered from them,” the statement revealed.

The immediate Past Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo SAN in a group photograph with the family of Otunba Subomi Balogun and the Old Igbobi Boys Students during a condolence visit to the family of Late Subomi Balogun at the Balogun Residence in Lagos State... Yesterday TOLANI ALLI

NCC’S TALK-TO-THE-REGULATOR STAKEHOLDERS CONSULTATIVE FORUM…

L-R: Executive Director, Obasi and Sceptre International Ltd,

End to Sit-at-Home: Bishops, Enugu Town Unions Back Mbah

Reiterate call for Kanu’s release

Gideon Arinze in Enugu

The Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Most Rev. Godfrey Onah, the Anglican Archbishop of Enugu Ecclesiastical Province, Most Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma, and the Enugu State Association of PresidentsGeneral of Town Unions, have thrown their weights behind efforts of the Government of Enugu State to end the

sit-at-home in the state starting from today, saying it was long overdue.

They equally expressed support for the call for the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, from detention, saying it was the right path to national healing and stability in the south-east region.

A statement quoted them to have said this after leading a prayer session for a smooth end to sit-at-home in Enugu State and the entire south-east at

the Chapel of Redemption, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus (UNEC), yesterday.

Most Rev. Chukwuma, who also doubles as the Anglican Bishop of Enugu Diocese, appealed to the people to support the government’s move through compliance.

“Government has given directive. My advice and appeal is that they should comply so we can save the

economy of Southeast.

“Now the Governor has said it is safe to come out; therefore, people should come out to do their business, and be free and set ourselves free from this bondage. It is a bondage, and we must be set free from it”, he concluded.

Also, in his homily at the St. Theresa’s Cathedral Nsukka, Bishop Onah, while commending Mbah’s

More Senators Deserting Akpabio’s Camp for Yari’s, Says Group

EFCC presents overwhelming evidence to Tinubu

Wale Igbintade

The National Coordinator of Think Nigeria Initiative, Mr. Omogbolahan L. Babawale, has disclosed that a majority of the senators-elect had begun to desert Senator Godswill Akpabio and shifting their support to the former governor of Zamfara State, Senator Abdul-Aziz Yari. Reacting to a statement credited to the Director General of Akpabio campaign group, Senator Ali Ndume, that Yari’s only claim to the Senate presidency was money, Babawale said there was palpable panic mood in Akpabio's camp.

The group also noted that, a senator in Akpabio's camp had stated that no one in Nigeria had more money to spend in politics than the former governor of Akwa Ibom State.

But, speaking in Abuja yesterday, Babawale explained that the "careless outburst has further brightened the chances of Yari to clinch the presidency of the Senate.”

According to him, “Ndume might have read the handwriting on the wall, that majority of the senators are deserting Akpabio and shifting their support to our good-natured candidate, Yari, and is therefore in a panic mood, which brought about that preposterous statement.”

There were strong indications that the Presidency had been influenced by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to withdraw its approval from Akpabio’s aspiration.

“So far, the camp of a former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio is in

a panic mood as the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is withdrawing his support for him following overwhelming evidence from the EFCC.

“He is said to have multiple questions to answer before the EFCC agency and fears that such a personality would be more of a liability than an asset to the Tinubu presidency.

"Chairman of EFCC, Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, had reportedly compounded the woes of Akpabio," Babawale added, adding that the EFCC chair had opened a can of worms on the series of financial crimes allegations being investigated and which necessitated the commission to invite Akpabio twice, but on both occasions, he failed to honour the invitations.

Competent security sources that

the EFCC Chairman was upbeat on Akpabio’s criminal cases, when he discussed them with his crack team in their office.

The source, who declined to give details of the directives given to the crack team on the matter, hinted that Akpabio might again be invited to the EFCC again.

“The EFCC boss was in the villa, ostensibly to brief the president on the rumpus between the commission and the DSS, which led to the storming of the Ikoyi EFCC office, where he also briefed the president on Akpabio and his inordinate ambition to lead the Senate. But Akpabio is no respecter of institutions. He showed the same disdain to the Senate many times, when it invited him to discuss certain urgent issues rearing their ugly heads at the NDDC where

Senate Presidency: Tension as Senators-elect Double-deal

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The stakes appear high for the office of the Senate President as the same set of senators-elect had been the ones holding meetings with major aspirants in different camps for the position of the Senate President and the development had begun to cause tension in the nation's apex legislative institution.

Investigations by THISDAY revealed that as some senatorselect were hobnobbing with the Senator Godswill Akpabio/Barau Jibrin Stability Group, the same set of prospective lawmakers were

also doing same with the Senators Abdul-Aziz Yari, Osita Izunaso, Orji Uzor Kalu 's Senate Democratic Caucus (SDC)

A member of the Osita Izunaso's Campaign Office told THISDAY under the condition of anonymity that no fewer than 77 senators out of the 109 elected on various political parties’ platforms had already signed on for the SDC. He claimed that "as of Sunday afternoon, the Yari/Izunaso-led camp swelled from 73 to 77 senators-elect between Thursday and Sunday morning."

The source said, "This is based on

the statistics taken at the last outings of the two camps held simultaneously at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel and The Destination Hotel respectively.

"Barely 21 Senators-elect attended the Stability group of Akpabio while 57 physically attended the Yari-led group meeting with concrete apologies from 16 other senators-elect, who could not attend in person.

"However, as of Sunday morning, at least four of the senators-elect that attended the Akpabio meeting had shifted camp and alliance to the SDC. The four senators are from South-south and South-West.

"With this, the Yari/Izunaso-led

group made up of senators-elect from the six geopolitical zones of the country now has 77 senators-elect in their camp, a clear majority in the 109-member Senate.

"Even with the 57 senatorselect that physically attended the meeting at Senator Izunaso-owned Destination Hotel, the group has already secured more than the 55 votes required to produce the senate president."

The source maintained that the simultaneous meetings of the two camps had confirmed the actual strength of the competing tendencies.

initiative to end the sit-at-home syndrome, noted that the suffering in the land was too much.

He, however, begged the people to give the new governors of the South East the benefit of doubt.

Bishop Onah traced the insecurity and restiveness in the region to the continuous detention of Kanu, and appealed to Tinubu to heed Mbah’s call for Kanu’s release.

"The suffering is too much. But, please, everybody should have mercy. Those that are angry should calm down. Many of us are angry, but we have to be careful how we express our anger or we may cause more problems.

"It's in this spirit that I understand the initiative by some state governments in the South East, especially the newly inaugurated government in Enugu state, to try to restore normalcy in the South East.

"But I want to believe and I want to affirm that this initiative must of necessity include an increase in the effort to secure the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from detention".

On their part, the Presidents-General (PGs) of Enugu State Town Unions wondered why Enugu State should continue to be on lockdown every Monday whereas “both private and pubic offices in the capitals of other states of the South East region had since resumed businesses, wondering why Enugu’s case should be different”.

In a statement by the Coordinating PG, Paully Ezeh, the association said the loss of Mondays since September 2021 had resulted in untold hardships and caused incalculable economic losses in the state and South East.

“The governor’s promise to transform Enugu from a public sector economy to a private-sector driven economy; raise the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from the present $4.4 billion to $30 billion in eight years, make Enugu one of the top three economies, restore public water supply in Enugu metropolis in 180 days, and eradicate poverty can’t happen if we continue to sit at home on Mondays. It presents our state to investors as restive, insecure, and unproductive place.”

NAHCON Reiterates Commitment to Give Nigerian Pilgrims Value for Their Money

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin.

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, (NAHCON) has reiterated its resolve to give Nigerian pilgrims value for their money all through the duration of this year's Hajj exercise.

Already, over 28,000 Nigerian pilgrims had been airlifted for this year’s Hajj exercise as at the time of filling this report with total flights of 55 outings without any hindrance.

The affected pilgrims airlifted included 13, 584 males and 9, 413 females.

The Deputy Coordinator of the Commission in Makkah in Saudi Arabia for this year hajji operations, Alhaji Alidu Shutti, disclosed this while speaking with THISDAY, in Ilorin, yesterday, in a telephone chat on the situation with Nigerian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia.

He said that, "the commission is working round the clock to ensure that the Nigerian pilgrims are offered best services like accommodation, feeding and other necessary services that would

make their hajji operations witness a befitting one."

The Deputy Coordinator of NAHCON was speaking on the sideline of receiving the first batch of Nasarawa State pilgrims, who moved to Makkah over the weekend after spending eight days in Madinah.

He said, "NAHCON is committed, barring unforeseen circumstances, to making this year's Hajj pleasantly memorable to pilgrims.

"Hence, the NAHCON has assembled committed, dedicated officials and competent Hajj managers to ensure smooth, comfort and ease to the pilgrims as they perform the rites of the fifth pillar of Islam."

Shutti, commended Nasarawa State pilgrims’ officials for their high level of understanding and cooperation, hoping they maintained the disposition throughout the exercise.

He, however, called on other state officials to learn from their Nasarawa State counterpart.

Uchechukwu Obasi; Head, Consumer Policy Development & Monitoring, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Banji Ojo; Head, Procurement, Adejoke Atte; Head, Pre-Licensing, Usman Mamman; Port Harcourt Zonal Controller, Venny Eze, and Centre Manager, 9Mobile Regional Office, Port Harcourt, Obehi Okodugha, at the NCC’s Talk-to-the-Regulator Stakeholders Consultative Forum held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State… weekend

As Odds Favour Abbas, Kalu as 10th House Presiding Officers...

current permutations favour the emergence of the a ll Progressive Congress consensus candidates of Hon Tajudeen a bass and Hon Benjamin Kalu, as House Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively come June 13.

Barely eight days to the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly, there are inescapable signals of victory that points in the direction of Hon. Tajudeen Abbas and Benjamin Kalu as lawmakers who will emerge as the presiding officers of the House of Representatives when the legislators elect their leadership upon inauguration on 13th June, 2023.

While Abbas who hails from Kaduna State, North West is seeking to be elected as the Next Speaker, Kalu who represents Abia State, SouthEast is contesting for the position of Deputy Speaker in the Green Chamber.

At the center of the race for the next leadership of the National Assembly are issues of competence, ranking, and zoning, already agreed by the lawmakers as set criteria for the election of the principal officers to guarantee justice in terms of balancing the political equation of the country and ensure a peaceful tenure for the current administration.

With Bola Tinubu as Nigeria’s President from the South-west and his running mate, Kashim Shettima from North-east, the thinking of political stakeholders is that the presiding offices in the parliament should be shared among the remaining four geopolitical zones - a reason why Abbas and Kalu also threw their hats in the ring.

Before President Tinubu was sworn-in on 29th May, he and the APC leadership at a meeting, precisely on Monday, May 8th this year, endorsed Abbas and Kalu as speaker and deputy speaker respectively.

For the Senate, the party was said to have announced Senator-elect, Godswill Akpabio and Senator Barau Jibrin as preferred choices for Senate President and Deputy Senate President respectively.

This development obviously ignited stiff opposition from a few ranking APC lawmakers who vowed to challenge the party’s decision.

As things stand, especially with the current Speaker of the House of Representatives Hon.

Femi Gbajabiamila, now appointed as Tinubu’s Chief of Staff (CoS), both Abbas and Kalu could be smiling home in strong hope for victory when the Green Chamber convenes on June 13th. The reason is not far-fetched. They now have a dependable ally in the corridors of power to lobby and influence issues in their favour.

At the vantage point and with presidential backing, the current speaker could seamlessly reach out to several colleagues, mobilize them, even across party lines to get their buy-in on the Abbas, Kalu project.

Reliable sources also confirm that President Tinubu’s handlers are not taking anything for granted in galvanizing support for these two lawmakers who remain the APC preferred choice. This is in realization that President Tinubu is already comfortable with the candidature of the duo whom he believes have noteworthy track records to lead the House in such a manner that will help achieve the objectives of his government’s “Renew Hope Agenda”.

When the two frontline candidates for the House of Representatives top positions met with President Tinubu at the State House last Thursday, no one was left in doubt of their mission. After two hours of a closed-door session, the legislators told reporters that they were in the Villa to congratulate Tinubu on his inauguration as the 16th President of Nigeria.

Responding to specific questions on their ambition to lead the Green Chamber, Abbas explained that himself, Kalu, relevant stakeholders of caucuses in the House and the APC were working hard for unity of purpose.

According to him, having served Nigerians in the ninth National Assembly which is the best that has had harmonious relationship with the executive arm of government, himself and Kalu intend to lead the 10th House in the interest of Nigerians to help address some national issues challenges such as insecurity facing the country.

“We have always had autonomy in the National Assembly and that will continue under our leadership,” Abbas noted.

Amember of the House of Representatives who does not want to be quoted in print explains that aside presidential support, this is first time that opposition lawmakers are openly supporting a

ruling party’s candidate in selection of leadership in the National Assembly.

“It’s what has never happened in the history of the National Assembly. There is the joint task made up of members elect from all the eight political parties that will be in the 10th Assembly. Majority of these group is working to support Abbas and Kalu”, he added.

There is a group called the Minority Parties Forum led by a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Ebonyi State that is also drawing support for the APC’s preferred choice.

This is another plus for the Abbas, Kalu team. Many lawmakers on the opposition side have also openly shown support for the Abbas, Kalu project.

In the middle of the race, some candidates for the House contest withdrew from the race to support these two lawmakers, a further indication that they may have a smooth sail during the election on 13th June.

Fielding questions from reporters, Kalu said, his emergence and that of Abbas as leaders of the House of Representatives on 13th June will bring about balancing of the inequality that exists with the country. “Nigerians should rest assured that innovation, transformation, and reforms are going to be introduced by us. We believe that nation building should a joint task involving the input of the executive and the contribution of the legislature,” he said.

Unlike former President Muhammadu Buhari who did not show interest in the composition of the 9th National Assembly leadership, President Tinubu, as a core politician and a parliamentarian himself, obviously seems to have taken the Abbas, Kalu ambition as his personal project and may only be working for their emergence behind the scenes.

Whether the election of Abbas and Kalu will further enhance the democratic principles of the separation of powers or not, is a question on the lips of many Nigerians as they await Tuesday, June 13, when the lawmakers will cast their ballot on the floor of the Green Chamber.

Akume: Tinubu’s Painkiller for North Central Zone

Ibrahim Tajo writes that President Bola Tinubu has taken a deft political move by appointing the immediate past Minister of Special Duties, Senator George akume, as Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

With the appointment of the former Governor of Benue State, Senator George Akume, as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, our tears in the North Central have been wiped away.

To the glory of God, our zone now has two key figures in the government. Aside from the SGF, another prominent leader of our zone in the person of Senator Abdullahi Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa State has been the National Chairman of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last 15 months.

While Senator Adamu, controls the affairs of our party through the instrumentality of the National Working Committee (NWC), our brand-new SGF is the engine room of Tinubu’s administration.

Thus, President Tinubu has wiped away the tears of the APC members who worked for his victory in the North Central geopolitical zone.

Weeks ago, when the positions of the Deputy Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives were zoned by the president and the leadership of our great party to the North West geopolitical zone, we protested against the sidelining of the North Central and appealed for the review of the zoning arrangement given our contributions to the Tinubu’s presidency during the presidential election.

The announcement of the appointment of the two kitchen cabinet positions on Friday, the

Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Chief of Staff to the President has addressed our demand.

Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker of the House of Representatives was named as Chief of Staff while our own Akume was named the SGF.

The SGF’s office serves as the frontline advisory institution to the office of the president, monitors and coordinates the implementation of government policies and programmes in line with the programmes of the ruling government, ensures harmo-

nization in the policies of the government and evaluates the performance of the ministers and Permanent Secretary on behalf of the president.

The SGF represents the president when he’s delegated to do so.

Under the office of the SGF, there are 21 federal agencies and six offices. Each of the six offices is run and managed like a ministry and they are headed by a permanent secretary.

The agencies being supervised by the SGF are; the Federal Road Safety Corps, Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission, National Energy Council, National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, National Lottery Trust Fund, National Agency for the Control of Aids, Nigeria National Merit Award, National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Bureau of Public Enterprises and Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission.

Others are; the National Agency for the Control of Aids, New Partnership for African Development, National Commission for Refugees, ServiCom, Federal Character Commission, Revenue, Mobilization, Allocation & Fiscal Commission, Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, National Pension Commission and Border Communities Development Agency.

The six offices under SGF are; Special Duties Office; Cabinet Affairs Office, Special Services Office, Ecological Fund Office, General Services Office, and Political and Economic Affairs Office.

Thanking the president for this recognition and reward for our contribution during the presidential election, I’m optimistic that the six states in our zone, Kwara, Nasarawa, Benue, Plateau, Niger and Kogi; will be better for it. As a former governor of Benue, a senator and a minister, Senator Akume will ensure all the six states and Nigerians benefit from this administration.

To whom much is given, much is expected, with this, we need to double our support to the president to enable him to deliver his pact with Nigerians as captured in the Renewed Hope Agenda.

Since 1999 when the country returned to civil rule, six persons have been appointed as the SGF, none of them came from the North Central while the North East has produced four occupants of the office namely; Babagana Kingibe, Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, Babachir David Lawal, and the immediate past occupant of the office, Boss Mustapha. The South East and South South had produced one occupant of the office in the persons of Anyim Pius Anyim and Ufot Ekaette, respectively.

For our three brothers, who are in the race for the National Assembly leadership; Senator Sani Musa ( Senate President), the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Idris Wase (Speaker) and Yusuf Gagdi (Speaker), it is time for them to withdraw from the race in line with the decision of the president and our party. Don’t rock the boat, we have been rewarded.

-Tajo writes from Makurdi.

Udora Orizu writes that

Abass

Akume

Kalu

World Environmental Day: Championing Solutions to Plastic Pollution in Nigeria

In commemoration of the 2023 ‘World Environmental Day’ themed, ‘Solutions to Plastic Pollution’ usually celebrated annually on June 5, Sunday Ehigiator writes that the new administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the private sector stakeholders must come together to champion solutions to plastic pollution in Nigeria

Take a walk or drive through the streets of most parts of Nigerian cities, and you will be welcomed by the sore sight of plastic waste littering everywhere.

This is not only peculiar to Nigeria. The world is being inundated by plastic. According to a report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), more than 400 million tonnes of plastic is produced every year, half of which is designed to be used only once.

Of that, less than 10 per cent is recycled. An estimated 19-23 million tonnes end up in lakes, rivers and seas. Today, plastic clogs our landfills leaches into the ocean and is combusted into toxic smoke, making it one of the gravest threats to the planet.

Not only that but what is less known is that microplastics find their way into the food we eat, the water we drink and even the air we breathe. Many plastic products contain hazardous additives, which may pose a threat to our health.

The good news is that the world is today awakened to this sad reality and its consequence on human health. Hence there is a surge of public and political pressure to scale up and speed actions from governments, companies and other stakeholders to solve this crisis.

This underscores the importance of this World Environment Day mobilizing action from every corner of the world.

About 2023 World Environmental Day

The 2023 World Environment Day will showcase how countries, businesses and individuals are learning to use the material more sustainably; offering hope that one day, plastic pollution will be history.

The World Environment Day is the biggest international day for the environment. It is led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and held annually since 1973.

Over the years, it has grown to be the largest global platform for environmental outreach, and it is celebrated by millions of people across the world.

This year’s World Environment Day is hosted by Côte d'Ivoire and supported by the Netherlands.

The theme, ‘Solutions to Plastic Pollution’ is focused on solutions to plastic pollution under the campaign #BeatPlasticPollution. It is a reminder that people’s actions on plastic pollution matter.

It’s also a clamour for the government of every country to take every necessary step at their disposal to tackle plastic pollution, understand the need to make it their top business and also understands the consequences of not taking adequate action to tackle the menace.

The SDGs Connection

Solving plastic pollution is connected to achieving at least seven of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

SDG 3 for instance speaks about ‘Good Health And Well-Being’. Plastics are a combination of polymers and additives. Additives are chemical substances that are added to plastic to give it the properties desired for commercial or industrial use and include materials such as plasticizers and flame retardants.

Some of these substances disturb the hormone balance in animals and humans. Another area of concern is the effect of nanoplastics. These particles are so small that they can easily penetrate the body: for example, depending on the size they may penetrate organ tissue (whether in the brain or the gut) and cells.

The poisonous particles can

cause local inflammation and all kinds of physiological effects, some of which are yet to be researched thoroughly.

SDG 6 speaks about ‘Clean Water and Sanitation’. The sixth sustainability goal determines that the quality of freshwater must be improved. The pollution of inland bodies of water must be reduced and much more water needs to be purified to increase the amount available for safe consumption.

SDG 11 speaks on ‘Sustainable Cities and Communities’. The effective collection and processing of waste, although seen as a basic and indispensable service, is missing in many cities and other residential communities. This causes many problems, especially in areas with dense populations.

SDG 12 speaks about ‘Responsible Consumption and Production’. The Mass production and consumption of plastic, especially single-use packaging plastic are major contributors to plastic pollution in the sea and on land.

Pollution has a negative influence on the functioning of ecosystems and endangers animal lives as well as the food supply of large groups of people.

Burning all the plastic as a form of waste management contributes to toxic air pollution.

The best way to promote SDG 12 is through an absolute reduction in plastics. The stimulation and improved effectiveness of recycling are not sufficient and do not present a realistic solution to the plastic soup at this point.

SDG 13 speaks about ‘Climate Action’. Almost all plastic is made from fossil fuels, especially oil and shale gas. The production of plastic uses a lot of energy, and altogether, this accounts for approximately 10 per cent

of the global annual usage of fossil fuels: half for the production of plastic, the other half for fuel.

That figure is projected to rise to 20 per cent by 2050 if we continue with the unlimited use of plastic. The reduction of CO2 emissions which would prevent an average temperature increase of two degrees is an extremely urgent environmental goal.

The production and use of plastic have a smaller carbon footprint than alternatives such as paper and metal. But a choice for plastic driven by that consideration does not take the end-of-life damage that plastic causes to the environment into account.

SDG 14 addresses the ‘Protection of Seas and Oceans’. The 14th SDG is aimed at avoiding and strongly reducing the pollution in the sea, especially from waste that originates on land.

Given the rough estimate that 80 per cent of marine waste comes directly from the land and the fact that we are dealing with billions of kilos of waste per year, it is obviously of great importance to achieve a reduction in the amount of plastic that ends up in the sea.

Huge benefits can be reaped if effective waste collection systems are put in place everywhere while, at the same time, the use of plastics is reduced. Cleaning up plastic from beaches and capturing the plastic at sea is important, but overall these efforts are of little help if the flow of plastic is not reduced at the same time.

SDG 15 addresses the ‘Repair Ecosystems and Retain Biodiversity’. Ecosystems in the sea and on land are threatened by (micro) plastics and chemical additives used. Plastic can suffocate, lead to animals not being able to consume enough food, make animals easier prey for other animals, make coral reefs sick, and much more.

Significant reduction in plastics and microplastics will quickly lead to the recovery of ecosystems and biodiversity.

Grades of Plastic Waste

Plastic waste comes in sizes ranging from macroplastic (pieces larger than 25 millimetres in diameter) to nanoplastic (less than 1,000

Gory sight of plastic waste pollution in Nigeria

Like many countries, Nigeria isn’t left out on the plague of plastic pollution. The country’s rivers, lakes and oceans are filled with discarded plastic. Nigeria is estimated to generate about 2.5 million tonnes of plastic waste annually. Plastic accounts for 15 per cent of the total waste generated in Lagos State

World Environmental Day: Championing Solutions to Plastic Pollution in Nigeria

nanometers).

It takes various forms, such as polyethylene terephthalate (used for food packaging, beverages, and personal care products), polyvinyl chloride (used in plumbing pipes, flooring, and clothing) and polystyrene (used for food packaging, laboratory materials, toys and computer housing).

According to UNEP categorization, they include Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), i.e. Water bottles, dispensing containers, and biscuit trays. High-density polyethylene (HDPE), i.e. Shampoo bottles, milk bottles, freezer bags, and ice cream containers.

Low-density Polyethylene (LDPE), i.e. bags, trays, containers, and food packaging film. Polypropylene (PP), i.e. potato chip bags, microwave dishes, ice cream tubs, bottle caps, and single-use face masks. Polystyrene (PS), i.e. cutlery, plates, cups, and Expanded polystyrene (EPS), i.e. protective packaging, and hot drink cups.

Plastic Pollution in Nigeria

Like many countries, Nigeria isn’t left out on the plague of plastic pollution. The country’s rivers, lakes and oceans are filled with discarded plastic. Nigeria is estimated to generate about 2.5 million tonnes of plastic waste annually. Plastic accounts for 15 per cent of the total waste generated in Lagos State. Lagos alone generates 9000 metric tons of waste daily; 86 per cent of the waste generated consists of plastic bottles and bags according to The Lagos State Waste Management Authority.

The situation is likely to worsen as Nigeria’s population grows, from more than 220 million people now to an expected 401 million by the end of 2050.

The production of plastic is growing too. Dangote Refinery, the largest petrochemical refinery in Africa, is starting operations in Nigeria in the first quarter of 2023. Aside from refining fuel, the plant will also produce plastic products.

With about 2.5 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, Nigeria ranks ninth globally among countries with the highest contributions to plastic pollution. Unfortunately, over 88 per cent of the plastic waste generated in Nigeria is not recycled. Instead, much of it ends up in water bodies, i.e. rivers, lakes, drains, lagoons and the ocean.

The real problem with plastic is that it does not break down naturally. The very properties that led to the rise in the adoption of plastics (durability, low density and non-

degradability) are precisely why they are today an environmental nightmare.

Who Should Clean Up?

The question arises as to who is responsible for cleaning up the plastic waste in the Nigerian environment.

Some argue that the onus is on the government to make and enforce policies and regulations. Others argue that residents ought to take responsibility in the spirit of environmental citizenship.

But what about the manufacturers, who, too often, take no responsibility when the plastic they produce ends up as waste in the environment?

Companies can reduce plastic waste in Nigeria if they accept all the elements of corporate social responsibility. Doing so also promotes sustainable development.

The UN defines this as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” So corporate social responsibility benefits the companies too.

Dimensions of Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility is the idea that a company should play a positive role in the community and consider the environmental and social impacts of business decisions.

Since the mid-1950s, most of the world’s leading business organisations have come to agree that companies have economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic or discretionary responsibilities.

Economic responsibility is a commitment to making profits, operating

efficiently and being competitive. Focusing on this alone can lead to environmental problems unless it considers the long term. One way for economic responsibility and environmental sustainability to meet is by assigning an economic value to waste.

Legal responsibility means that a company must comply with government laws and regulations. These should include rules that protect the environment.

Ethical responsibility means being fair, by societal expectations. For example, it means a company doing its fair share to prevent and clean up waste.

Philanthropic responsibility is something extra a company can do to make the world a better place. Many companies get involved in volunteering, empowerment and support of innovative programmes to help people. An example would be coordinating voluntary community action to clean up waste.

Long Term Solutions

In Nigeria, most companies focus on the philanthropic dimension of corporate social responsibility. For example, they organise voluntary cleanup campaigns in communities and advocate for the proper disposal of waste. But this is a temporary solution, as huge amounts of plastic waste continue to be deposited in the environment.

Companies also tend to practice ‘Greenwashing’, claiming that their products are environmentally friendly or have environmental benefits.

These responses ignore the economic, ethical and legal dimensions of corporate social responsibility for the environment.

I suggest that if all dimensions are practised properly, the activities of the Nigerian plastics industry won’t be a threat. Instead, they will conform to some of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals: “combating climate change; protecting marine animals; sustainable environment; and partnerships.”

Plastic Value Chain

Policymakers, producers, manufacturers, multinational companies and other stakeholders must also work together to combat plastic pollution in Nigeria.

This begins with assigning a monetary value to plastic at each stage of its life cycle, including sorting, collection, and recycling. Disposal practices, monitoring and enforcement, as well as cost management, should not be left out.

Producers, manufacturers and multinational companies should also reduce plastic waste as part of their production processes. The regulators should hold them accountable to eliminate plastic waste in the environment. This policy is known as “Extended Producer Responsibility”.

The concept has already been implemented in some developed countries, including Germany. It has brought improvements in the reuse and recycling economy.

Nigeria adopted the extended producer responsibility policy through its National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency in 2014. But it has not yet been fully implemented in all Nigerian states. Hence, reflecting the current state of plastic waste pollution.

If companies in Nigeria’s plastic and packaging industry can work together to achieve a high standard of environmental sustainability, we can rightly say they are practising corporate social responsibility.

Government’s Responsibility

The Minister of Environment, Barr. Mohammed Abdullahi while speaking in Abuja at the inaugural meeting of the project steering committee for the plastic circular economy project, lamented that “only 45 per cent of waste in Nigeria are collected, 80 per cent of plastic waste goes to dump site while only 10 per cent is recycled.”

The statistics are worrying. Suffice it to say that Nigeria has no efficient waste management system in place. Plastics are a menace. Hence, beyond the regulatory function of the government, with the antecedents of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Lagos state, as Governor, this present administration must strengthen the efficiency of the waste management system in Nigeria.

Secondly, the government can work with bottlers and NGOs to establish policies and regulations that promote sustainable packaging practices and support research and innovation in alternative packaging materials and recycling technologies.

The real problem with plastic is that it does not break down naturally. The very properties that led to the rise in the adoption of plastics (durability, low density and non-degradability) are precisely why they are today an environmental nightmare

Pastic waste polluting a street in Lagos State

This Week In Tech

Fostering Financial Innovation: Flourishing Collaboration Between Nigerian Banks and Fintechs

Nigeria has witnessed a remarkable synergy between traditional banks and fintech companies in recent years, leading to a transformative era of financial innovation. This collaboration has not only revolutionised the way Nigerians access financial services but has also stimulated economic growth and inclusion. Technology-driven startups have introduced innovative solutions and services, challenging traditional banking models. However, rather than being competitors, there is an increasing trend towards collaboration between banks and fintechs

THE RISE OF FINTECHS IN NIGERIA

The advent of fintech companies in Nigeria has been fuelled by a combination of factors, including the increasing penetration of smartphones, expanding internet connectivity, and a tech-savvy youth population. Fintechs have emerged as agile and innovative players, disrupting traditional banking models with their digital-first approach, customer-centric solutions, and emphasis on financial inclusion. From mobile payment platforms to lending apps and investment platforms to insurance aggregators, fintechs have rapidly gained popularity and transformed the financial landscape.

RECOGNISING NEED FOR COLLABORATION

Rather than viewing fintechs as direct competitors, Nigerian banks have recognised the immense potential of partnering with these innovative startups. The traditional banking sector brings deep domain knowledge, regulatory expertise, robust infrastructure, and an extensive customer base, while fintech contributes agility, technological prowess, and novel solutions. This complementary collaboration allows banks to embrace digitisation, enhance customer experiences, and tap into new market segments while fintechs gain credibility, access to capital, regulatory guidance, and customer trust.

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS UNLEASHING INNOVATION

Several notable partnerships between banks and fintechs in Nigeria have led to groundbreaking innovations. These alliances have leveraged technology to bridge gaps, improve operational efficiency, and create new revenue streams for both parties. For example, Union Bank’s partnership with Carbon has revolutionised the lending landscape by providing digital loans to individuals and small businesses. Access Bank’s collaboration with Paystack has facilitated seamless payment solutions, empowering businesses across various sectors. Guaranty Trust Bank’s partnership with Flutterwave for international transactions has paved the way for enhanced financial services and opened avenues for cross-border trade, empowering businesses and individuals alike.

DRIVING FINANCIAL INCLUSION

One of the most significant achievements of the collaboration between banks and fintechs in Nigeria is the advancement of financial inclusion. By combining traditional banking infrastructure with fintech’s innovation, previously underserved segments, such as the unbanked and underbanked, particularly in rural and underserved areas, now have access to basic financial services such as mobile money platforms, simplified account opening processes, and digital loan offerings have played a crucial role in extending financial services to remote areas, empowering small businesses, enabling economic growth and reducing income equality.

OVERCOMING CHALLENGES

While the collaboration between banks and fintechs in Nigeria has yielded impressive results, it has not been without challenges.

The collaboration between fintechs and banks in Nigeria can potentially overcome several challenges within the financial sector. There are a few ways this collaboration can address some key challenges.

Outdated banking infrastructure: Traditional banking systems in Nigeria often suffer from outdated infrastructure, cumbersome processes, and limited access to banking services. Fintechs, on the other hand, are agile and utilise modern technologies to offer innovative solutions. By collaborating, banks can adopt fintech-driven technologies to modernise their infrastructure, digitise processes, and improve operational efficiency. This collaboration allows banks to provide better services and reach a broader customer base.

Limited access to credit: Access to credit is a significant challenge for individuals and small businesses in Nigeria. Fintechs have pioneered alternative lending platforms that use advanced

data analytics to assess creditworthiness.

By collaborating with banks, fintechs can tap into banks’ capital reserves, regulatory compliance, and established customer relationships. This collaboration enables the extension of credit to underserved individuals and small businesses, stimulating economic growth and entrepreneurial activity.

Technological innovation: Rapid technological advancements in the financial sector challenge traditional banks to keep pace. Fintechs, being technology-driven entities, excel in innovation and offer disruptive solutions. By collaborating with fintechs, banks can harness their expertise and leverage their technological advancements. This collaboration enables banks to stay competitive, adopt emerging technologies, and provide customers with modern and efficient financial services.

Cybersecurity and fraud: As digital financial services expand, cybersecurity threats and fraud risks are rising. Fintechs are often at the forefront of cybersecurity measures, employing advanced technologies to protect against cyber threats. By collaborating, banks can leverage the expertise of fintechs in cybersecurity and fraud prevention. This collaboration strengthens the overall security measures in the financial ecosystem, protecting customer data and reducing the risk of fraud.

Customer experience and engagement: Traditional banking services often lack personalised experiences and convenient digital interfaces. Fintechs prioritise customer-centricity and offer seamless user experiences. By collaborating with fintechs, banks can leverage their expertise in user interface design, customer engagement strategies, and data analytics. This collaboration enhances the customer experience, improves engagement, and builds stronger customer relationships.

The collaboration between fintechs and banks in Nigeria can help overcome challenges by combining the strengths of both parties. Fintechs bring innovation, agility, and technological expertise, while banks provide regulatory compliance, infrastructure, and customer reach. By collaborating, they can create a symbiotic ecosystem that addresses these challenges. Together, they can drive positive transformation in the Nigerian financial sector and contribute to economic growth.

FUTURE OUTLOOK

Collaboration between banks and fintechs in Nigeria is poised for even greater achievements in the future. Implementing open banking frameworks, increased adoption of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology, and the potential integration of digital currencies are expected to reshape the financial landscape further. Open banking will enable secure data sharing, fostering innovation and personalised financial services. Artificial intelligence will enhance risk assessment, fraud prevention, and customer service. Blockchain technology will facilitate secure and transparent transactions.

With a commitment to collaboration, innovation, and customer-centricity, banks and fintechs have the potential to drive Nigeria towards becoming a leading force in financial technology on the global stage and play a crucial role in shaping the future of financial services. Key aspects that highlight the prospects of this collaboration are worth mentioning.

Increased collaboration and partnerships: The collaboration between fintechs and banks is expected to intensify in the future. Both parties recognise the benefits of leveraging each other’s strengths and expertise. We can anticipate more collaborative efforts, strategic partnerships, and joint ventures between banks and fintechs to capitalise on the opportunities presented by digital transformation and innovation.

Innovation and technological advancements: Fintechs are at the forefront of technological innovation, and their collaboration with banks will continue to drive advancements in the financial industry. Integrating fintech solutions and technologies with traditional banking infrastructure will develop more sophisticated and customercentric financial products and services. Areas such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, machine learning, and data analytics will be at the forefront of this innovation.

Expansion of financial inclusion: One of the primary goals of the collaboration between fintechs and banks is to enhance financial inclusion. This trend is expected to continue in the future, with greater efforts focused on reaching underserved populations and remote areas. Mobile banking, digital payments, and alternative lending solutions will expand, enabling more individuals and businesses to access formal financial services

and participate in the digital economy.

Data-driven insights and risk management: Collaboration between fintechs and banks will enable the utilisation of vast amounts of data to derive valuable insights. Advanced analytics and machine learning algorithms will be used to analyse customer behaviour, assess creditworthiness, and improve risk management practices. Combining fintechs’ data-driven approach and banks’ expertise in risk management will result in more robust and efficient risk assessment processes. International expansion and global integration: The collaboration between fintechs and banks in Nigeria will extend beyond national boundaries. Fintechs with successful models in Nigeria have started expanding their operations to other countries, offering innovative solutions globally. Furthermore, Nigerian banks can partner with international fintech companies to leverage their expertise and expand their services globally. This international integration will foster knowledge-sharing, cross-border transactions, and global financial connectivity, which we have started seeing.

CONCLUSION

The collaboration between banks and fintechs in Nigeria has ushered in a new era of financial services, redefining how Nigerians transact, save, invest, and access credit. By combining the strengths of traditional banks and the agility of fintechs, this partnership has accelerated financial inclusion and fostered economic growth. It has also brought substantial benefits to the financial industry and the overall economy. By combining the strengths of both parties, this collaboration enhances financial inclusion, expands product offerings, improves operational efficiency, increases customer engagement, enhances risk management, and ensures regulatory compliance. Banks and fintechs need to establish strong partnerships and leverage each other’s expertise to navigate the evolving financial landscape successfully. Through constructive collaboration, Nigeria can unlock its potential as a leading force in the digital financial revolution.

Overall, the collaboration between fintechs and banks in Nigeria can drive innovation, expand financial access, improve operational efficiency, enhance customer experiences, and promote economic growth. By leveraging their respective strengths and resources, fintechs and banks can create a mutually beneficial ecosystem that caters to the evolving needs of consumers and businesses.

MANAGING PLASTIC WASTE POLLUTION VIA E-TRASH

Edo State World Bankassisted project has developed a novel wasteto- wealth initiative aimed at remediating degraded land from flood and erosion, writes

TOM OBASEKI

FELIX OLADEJI

POLITICO-ECONOMY OF FUEL SUBSIDY IN NIGERIA

The issue of fuel crisis has become a common phenomenon in Nigeria that is richly endowed with large crude oil deposit and a greater exporter of the God-given commodity. It is pathetic to observe that no other OPEC member or even country that does not produce oil, share similar ugly experience with Nigeria. Subsidy in economic sense exists when consumers of a given commodity are assisted by the government to pay less than the pump price per litre of petroleum product. On the other hand, fuel subsidy could be described as the difference between the actual market price of petroleum products per litre and what the final consumers are paying for the same products.

See page 25

AN UNCONVENTIONAL CANDIDATE

Braimoh, son of a teacher, wants to be governor of Kogi State, writes RICHARD ELESHO

Today, the difference, which is borne by the government, is caused by eight imports –induced costs. These costs, have been discovered to be responsible for the high prices of petroleum products in present day Nigeria. Fuel subsidy was before the coming of the Jonathan administration, a policy of federal government meant to assist the people of Nigeria to cushion the effects of their economic hardship. Fuel subsidy seeks to enhance financial capacity but also to accept the implied financial losses by it in the spirit of its national responsibility to ensure the wellbeing of the populace.

Nigerian oil and gas downstream sector is dominated by cartels who manipulate prices, through artificial supply restriction. These cartels determine volume of importation and the proportion that should be released to the market. At times, they only allow a few products holders to supply the market, while others hoard. Peter Akpatasan former president of NUPENG has stated thus: Deregulation cannot work in a market dominated by cartels. This cartel is so strong that it can continue to manipulate prices out of the reach of common man. You cannot deregulate when you have no refineries. There will be serious economic crisis.

See page 25

EDITORIAL BETWEEN FOOD AND TOBACCO

Nigeria’s first refineries have a maximum nominal or installed capacity to process 445,000 barrels of crude oil per day. This is less than 40% of the daily national consumption requirement; such relatively low production capacity is further hampered by maintenance and operational shortcomings. This has resulted in inevitable severe product shortages. The situation is further compounded by the price disparity between the Nigeria markets and her sub-regional neighbours, which encourage product smuggling and further widen the gap between supply and local demand.

Today, more than 90% of petroleum products consumed in the domestic market are imported usually at costs, which naturally reflect international crude oil prices. This is clearly a dysfunctional state of affairs for a policy which is one of the top ten oil producers in the world. The history of fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria is rather a long one particularly with the negative effects it has on the polity.

Indeed, oil has significantly shaped the nature of the Nigerian state. The various ways in which it has shaped the political economy of the state as one involving the compradors

and state elites. Nigeria’s political economy is underpinned by oil, which is the basis of its insertion into the global capitalist system. It is noteworthy that Nigeria has been described as a rentier state in the literature on politics and development. The state collects rents from the sales of oil and these are merely distributed through the bureaucratic mill where they are appropriated, misappropriated and siphoned. Local participation in the oil production process is negligible, which explains the dependency on expatriates in the sector and the country’s continuing reliance on imports of refined oil into the country, to the detriment of her current account balance.

However, it can be opined that developing countries, by and large, tend to be less energy efficient than they could be, because of subsidies. Even when rationalized principally on grounds of income distribution, it is noted that subsidies for fuel usually tend to favour the rich more than the poor because the former own more cars and use more fuel. In this wise, the NNPC (1993:3) averts that “the subsidy that would be beneficial would be in health care, mass transit and education”.

There is the need to price fuel in a way that recognizes its temporariness since a barrel of oil once lifted is gone forever and is no longer available for lifting at a future date. In this context, there should be a “user” cost to compensate for the fact that future generations are permanently denied access to the same barrel. A consumption tax or subsidy phase out could prove useful in making up for this by releasing resources with which to transform the economy. Because oil and fossil fuels have a limited lifespan, they fall into a category known as exhaustible resources.

As for Nigeria, its proven reserves are estimated at 40 billion barrels. This figure could be augmented by new offshore findings. At the rate of 2.5 million barrels per day, the life index of the oil can be put about 43 years. This merely brings home the fact that oil is finite and that the well will soon dry up. The common argument advanced for having subsidy for fuel in Nigeria is that it is endowed with huge oil reserves and thus making energy cheap could enhance economic growth and protect the populace from needless hardships arising from exorbitant prices.

This is nevertheless untenable, as nothing is passed on to future generations. Accordingly, the best way to ensure continuity and intergenerational equity is to exploit the resources optimally and use proceeds from it to transform the economy so that long after the point of reserve exhaustion, the society can continue to be self sustaining. It is ridiculous to expect the nation to invest heavily in oil production only for just recovering the cost of production at the end of the day.

The cost of producing crude is irrelevant in the calculation of fuel subsidy. Fuel subsidy is the loss of revenue that should have accrued to the federation account were the crude allocated for domestic consumption sold at international market prices, rather than at the price for which it sold to the NNPC. The importance of appropriately pricing fuel is underlined by the fact that firstly, it provides arbitrage opportunity for marketers who buy cheaply at home and sell exorbitantly at the border. Thus, it is generally accepted that rational energy pricing (avoidance of subsidies) constitutes the most viable longterm options for bringing about efficiency because low domestic prices work against efficiency improvements. It is also averred that there is a sense in which the existence of subsidy accentuates the activities of smugglers. The neighbouring countries of Chad and Cameroon have much higher prices than Nigeria, a scenario which has increased smuggling activities across the borders with these countries. Moreover, the National Treasury is allegedly denied funds amounting to the level of the implied subsidy, part of which appears in the form of huge profits for smugglers.

The classical argument for having a subsidy, relates to the need for accelerated development and to improve income distribution. However, the income distribution argument is faulted on grounds that petroleum subsidies are blazed in favour of the urban sector. It is not surprising therefore that it has been concluded that fuel subsidy policy benefits the rich more than the poor. Accordingly, the diversion of scarce resources from other deserving sector such as education and health in the name of fuel subsidy is believed to exacerbate inequality and poverty.

Hence, the politics of fuel subsidy removal has showed that Nigeria is a country of paradox. How can citizens of an oil producing country pay more for fuel which is found in abundance in the country? Successive government appears adamant in the quest to remove fuel subsidy. The removal of subsidy, ostensibly to halt the activities of corrupt oil marketers/smugglers and make money available for infrastructural development appears to have worsened the economic conditions of Nigerians, particularly the poor.

Oladeji writes from Lagos

Government should build more refineries and upgrade our infrastructure from proceeds of subsidy withdrawal, argues

TOM OBASEKI

Edo State World Bank- assisted project has developed a novel waste-to- wealth initiative aimed at remediating degraded land from flood and erosion, writes

MANAGING PLASTIC WASTE POLLUTION VIA E-TRASH

Amidst the remarkable advancements and industrialization that have propelled human civilization, a silent, yet alarming crisis burgeons, threatening the delicate balance of our planet and the very fabric of our existence. Plastic pollution, the unintended consequence of our modern lifestyle, has become a menace that transcends borders, continents, and generations.

With each passing year, the planet grapples with an overwhelming deluge of discarded plastics that poison our environment, imperil wildlife, aquatic life and cast a dark shadow over our future. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, more than

The eTRASH scheme, an end-to-end digital system, has an automatic management of associated reward system, offering instant reward via direct bank transfer, Telephone Airtime crediting and gifting of accumulated points to a third party via a mass participatory Redemption scheme.

The reward system by eTRASH is helping to promote a culture of proper waste segregation by individuals as well as proper disposal and management of plastic waste in Nigeria and Sub-Sahara Africa while providing livelihood opportunities for several families, particularly women and girls who comprise 80% of the plastic waste aggregators for the programme.

The primary objective of e-TRASH is to reduce littering and the indiscriminate disposal of plastic waste by individuals and communities in Edo State, which was becoming a threat to the functionality of the Stormwater infrastructure built under NEWMAP.

The small things that shape lives, often flow from tragedies. An indigent teenager was at the end of his wits on how to raise N3,000 to balance up his N6,000 school fee, at the University of Ilorin. A day before the commencement of exams, he attempted seeing the Dean of his faculty to seek his understanding. Unfortunately, the Dean’s Secretary not only blocked the stranded student, but washed him in open derogatory remarks. That was in 1996.

The disgraced teenager burst into tears. Feeling concerned, another student who watched the scene, consoled him and led him away. Of course, he abandoned the course, recalibrated and eventually with much self -denial attended Kwara State Polytechnic. It is now more than two decades ago. Today, he is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who pays the school fees of over 200 students in higher institutions across Kogi State.

That is the story of Olayinka Adenehon Braimoh, the brain behind Hall 7, an Abuja based firm, with vast interests in real estate. For

Young Olayinka attended Kajola Nursery and Primary School, Kabba. From there he proceeded to Titcombe College, Egbe, a missionary institution established by Rev. Tommy Titcombe.

Olayinka completed his secondary education in 1994, the same year he lost his mum. His mother’s death dislocated his match, bringing a hiatus to his educational pursuit. The Unilorin experience was part of the fallout of that travail. “I resolved to always do my best to prevent regrets. If things don’t turn out the way I envisaged, after doing my best, I hand them over to God and move on. I don’t also like to see people suffer or unable to meet basic needs.”

That may be the genesis of his philanthropy. His foundation gives generously to the less privileged, especially students and women. He has also donated boreholes for water, classrooms and offices to schools, aside other interventions in public facilities.

400 million tonnes of plastic is produced every year worldwide, half of which is designed for single-use purposes. Of that, less than 10 percent is recycled.

The repercussions are dire, with a staggering 19-23 million tonnes of plastic suffocating our pristine lakes, rivers, and seas annually, mercilessly wreaking havoc on fragile ecosystems and imperiling biodiversity. It is estimated that each person on the planet consumes more than 50,000 plastic particles per year–and many more if inhalation is considered. The consequences for human health and environmental equilibrium are nothing short of alarming.

However, in the face of this dire situation, a ray of hope shines from Edo State in Nigeria, where an innovative plastic waste redemption and management system, e-TRASH is transforming the way communities tackle plastic waste and pollution. The scheme is the first of its kind in Nigeria. The eTRASH which stands for Electronic Transaction in Waste Resources for All uSers and Households utilizes innovative technology in protecting the Environment. The scheme seeks to reduce littering and indiscriminate disposal of plastic waste by individuals and communities in the State. It involves working with all Stakeholders in the entire waste-towealth value chain to eliminate plastic and aluminum can waste from the environment in order to protect the State’s critical stormwater infrastructure, the environment, and natural resources as well as guarantee the health and well-being of the people. eTRASH is anchored on an App called PikAmSel.

The novel waste-to-wealth initiative is developed by the Edo State Project Management Unit of Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), a World Bank-Assisted project aimed at remediating degraded land from flood and gully erosion.

It is however currently being deployed across various communities of intervention by the Edo State Flood, Erosion, and Watershed Management Agency (EdoFEWMA), which was created by the State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki in July 2021, following the successes recorded through the World Bankassisted NEWMAP, which came to a close in June-2022 after a ten-year impactful period in the State.

The scheme is designed to be flexible and adaptable and is helping, in no small measures, at managing plastic pollution across Edo State. It is flexible and adaptable and expandable to other subnationals in Nigeria, across Africa and internationally.

The intuitive app, PikAmSelis available on Apple and Google Play Store and can be downloaded via https://pikamsel.com/

Since its launch in January 2023 and deployment only within the pilot five catchments/sites of intervention of NEWMAP, a total of 23.2 square kilometers, the PikAmSel App has 30 registered redemption agents and 42 users. It has demonstrated remarkable effectiveness in significantly reducing plastic and aluminum waste in Edo State by over 3,298kg. The projection is to register 1000 users redeeming a minimum of 100,000kg monthly translating to a total livelihood enhancement/value of not less than US$50,000.00 The process follows a seamless pattern whereby waste collected by users or scavengers is taken to redemption centres which are usually within walking distance within the neighborhood where it is weighed, and points are allocated to the user/sellers, which can be converted into cash or other gift items. The waste is then either recycled by a crusher or sold to thirdparty recyclers. Several redemption centres for the collection of plastic and aluminum waste have been established in communities such as Urora, Ogiso, Iguosa, Gapiona, and Queen Ede in Benin City. These centres have had a positive impact on the environment and the livelihoods of the state’s residents.

Apart from the opportunity of exchanging plastic waste for cash or other valuable items, the waste is transformed into new products that can be reused, thereby reducing littering, conserving energy, and effectively managing waste in the environment. Not only has this positively impacted the environment, but it has also created jobs for young people who have found a niche in the recycling business, leading to economic benefits for the state’s population. This has also enhanced the quality of food, air, and water, as well as helped in conserving landfill space for other useful purposes.

Dr. Obaseki is the immediate past Project Coordinator, Edo State Project Management Unit, Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project, NEWMAP and Pioneer Chief Executive Officer of Edo State Flood Erosion and Watershed Management Agency, Edo FEWMA.

the better part of a decade, he has anonymously been involved in helping people to overcome difficult situations. But much as he prefers to operate under cover, his foray into partisan politics has exposed him to public gaze.

Braimoh is a front runner in the forthcoming Kogi State gubernatorial race. He is the standard bearer of the Action Alliance (AA), one of the 18 political parties fielding candidates in the poll. According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the off season election will hold on Saturday, 11 November. The electorate in Bayelsa and Imo States will also choose their Governor the same day.

Braimoh defeated two other aspirants, Ada Haruna and Simon Ogu to clinch his party’s ticket in an orderly primary election on Monday, 17 April at Reverton Hotel, Lokoja. While conceding, Haruna described Braimoh as a young man with superior ideas on how to unite and get the people of Kogi State out of the woods. “He is just the ideal leader our state needs, at a time like this”, he enthused.

For Braimoh, it has been a long-distance run to prominence. Born in April 1977, to a humble parentage in Akutupa, Kabba-Bunu Local Government Area, Kogi State, he imbibed the values of discipline, education and hard work early in life. His father, the late Sam Oke Braimoh was a teacher, politician and community leader well known in the Okun countryside, while his mother, Margaret Braimoh, also of blessed memory was the first female graduate in the entire Bunu district.

He was born in a polygamous home where selflessness and communal service were inculcated as a way of life. In fact, Braimoh has more than 20 siblings raised under the same roof. “A visitor would hardly know we had different mothers. We related and played together as one.” Olayinka recalled with nostalgia.

At the polytechnic, Olayinka studied Electrical and Electronics Engineering. He took menial jobs and participated in businesses such as printing stationary for the Students Union Government (SUG), to survive in school. His search for fulfilment led him to reading all sorts of books and motivational literature, including one on Multiple Streams of Income by Robert G. Allen.

After completing his Diploma, Olayinka was back on the street. But his determination to succeed was unrivaled. The search for greener pastures led him to Port Harcourt. There he honed his entrepreneurial skills, rented a shop on credit (of course, he later paid up) and worked as a volunteer in a church, House on the Rock.

One day in 2004, a friend whose father worked in Abuja invited him to the capital city for a business prospect. He honoured the invitation. Sadly, the business did not happen, but the young man did not return to Port Harcourt. Instead, he continued to hustle in the FCT construction industry’s value chain.

He had a mental picture of how to grow a real estate business, but lacked the funds to prosecute his dream. After about five years in the wilderness, luck smiled at him. In 2009, he was able to negotiate for the management of a large expanse of land at Lugbe, on credit. By divine providence, he got buyers, paid off the owners and made good profit. From that humble beginning, Braimoh would fall and rise at intervals. In fact, his first company failed. After learning the ropes and some hard lessons, he successfully launched Hall 7.

The firm has been more than a dormant player in the FCT’s real estate sector for over ten years. It has developed more than 1.5 million square foot of projects, evolving into a company of choice in the nation’s capital. Stemming from his success in private business, Olayinka says he wants to replicate same in the public sector of Kogi State.

“My main motivation is service delivery and eradication of poverty or suffering. There is a limit to what an individual can do to change the lives of millions of people. I think wealth creation at all times. Truth is we are too loaded with natural blessings to be poor. What we need is visionary leadership.

Elesho

writes from Lokoja, Kogi State

AN UNCONVENTIONAL CANDIDATE

Braimoh, son of a teacher, wants to be governor of Kogi State, writes RICHARD ELESHO

Editor, Editorial Page PETER ISHAKA

Email peter.ishaka@thisdaylive.com

EDITORIAL

BETWEEN FOOD AND TOBACCO

Tobacco is dangerous to health. Critical stakeholders should do more to stem its production and use

All over the world, health experts continue to strategise and formulate rigorous and effective policies, alerting citizens of the harmful effects of tobacco use. Amongst the risks associated with tobacco use are several types of cancer, coronary heart disease, asthma, infertility for women, and the economic burden of a heavily subsidised health system for tobacco-induced illnesses, reduction in productivity and death. But as the world marked this year’s World No Tobacco Day last Thursday, Nigeria was missing in action even though the theme for 2023, ‘Grow Food, Not Tobacco’ should ordinarily resonate.

With 57.9 per cent of people on the continent (with majority of them in Nigeria) suffering from moderate to severe food insecurity, there has been a campaign to assist farmers in shifting from tobacco growing to food crops. “While the number of people using tobacco products is decreasing in other parts of the world, it is rising in the Africa Region,” according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti. “For example, the number of tobacco users in the WHO African Region increased from an estimated 64 million adult users in 2000 to 73 million in 2018. This is partly due to the increased production of tobacco products as well as aggressive marketing by the tobacco industry.”

As we have highlighted several times on this page, available statistics amply demonstrate that comprehensive health education programmes on smoking cessation and control, as well as legislation are major components in the battle for the health of our young people. However, as many countries initiate and enact laws and effective policies to safeguard their young from tobacco use, the tobacco industry continues to research and explore avenues to increase their sales, especially by targeting young people. Consequently, developing countries, with their teeming youth populations and lack of regulation, have become hugely attractive targets of Big Tobacco. It is evident that the

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Letters to the Editor

industry has closed tobacco manufacturing factories in strictly regulated environments, whose ‘hostile’ policies and laws have succeeded in curbing advertisements and unrestricted tobacco use, and proceeded to open them in developing countries, whose governments have failed to understand, design and adopt appropriate measures to protect their citizens.

In our country, tobacco companies persist in deceptively branding their activities with ‘grants’ and ‘donations’ from established foundations that do not nearly cover the public health costs in the gullible communities where they operate. They claim they provide employment while the precise numbers on their payrolls are blatantly negligible compared to the families that suffer from the (potential) loss of their breadwinners and their future, as a consequence of their business.

The fact that Nigeria has finally fulfilled its international obligations by domesticating the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) through the enactment of the National Tobacco Control Act 2015 is a step in the right direction. But the country still needs to act urgently and decisively to save itself the current ‘invisible’ public health expenditure on tobacco-related diseases. A survey conducted in the country about a decade ago revealed that children between the ages of 13 and 15 years were already smokers with 55 per cent of children within the same age bracket exposed as passive smokers. Even among adults, one out of every 10 Nigerians male adult smoke.

Articles 17 and 18 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) recommends that African countries should come up with policies that will enable “tobacco farmers to shift to growing food crops that would provide them and their families with a better life while enhancing the protection of the environment and the health of people.” By doing this, according to Moeti, “we will be growing food, which our populations need, not tobacco.”

That’s the way to go!

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LETTERS

LET TINUBU AND SHETTIMA BUY THEIR FUEL

One of the very first things Obama did when he became president of the United States was walk into the White House Kitchen. He requested for food, and before the food came, he had already reached in his pockets to pay for the food. We are not that sure if the Secret Service allowed him to do that but it is also on record that on many occasions, he would take a stroll to an eatery nearby to buy a burger or hotdog. Whilst at it, he would be seen picking up the bill for the snacks of anyone close by. There were several videos of Obama doing this, and for most of my friends who gushed to no end at such magnanimity, I was often to remind them that seeing him at that eatery was no happenstance, and that the Secret Service may have vetted that joint the night before Obama would have gone there for a burger.

But that is not the point though. The point is that there are several lessons one can pick up from the Obama demeanour. One of them is that he would often walk to the eatery often a stone throw from the White House. You would not see him with an army. He would walk. In contradistinction, I remember many years ago that I worked very close to the Central Mosque in Abuja. Every Friday for the length of time he was Vice President, Namadi Sambo would come to the Central Mosque in very long convoys. At a time, I decided to count the vehicles, and my God, I counted as much as 25 of them. My calculation was that every one of those

vehicles would run on a full tank of fuel at the expense of Nigerians. There would be members of the armed forces in full battle gear in tow. I know the security implications of a vice president leaving the sanctum of the Aso Villa to the Central mosque to pray, but must he have to come to the Central Mosque with those outrageously long convoys to pray every Friday for four years?

The second lesson that Obama’s attempt to pay for his food at the White House, and taking a simple walk to the eatery to buy a snack is a lesson in leadership. You don’t go there to get rich or to be served. You go there to serve your people, and sometimes at personal expense. There are the perennial issues in our Nigeria where our people go there to serve but end up richer than they were. As a matter of fact, while the incentive for service in most civilized countries of the world is the betterment of society, our people ‘serve’ for what they would get, and more. When we mean ‘more’, we mean that whilst in office, the state takes care of their needs and that of their family members. They do not pay for food, water, fuel, house rent and they fly abroad for medical attention. In most cases, 90% of the governors who may have ‘served’ a twoterm usually arrange to have pensions for life with outrageous perks and benefits.

What is even more worrying is that under the current political calculus of Nigeria, it is the people who serve those who ought to

serve Nigerians. We build our own boreholes, send our children to private schools, activate our own power supply and I have participated in a self-help programme in Benin City where we fixed our own road. During the Covid era, politicians hid palliatives in warehouses. During the cash swap nightmare, Nigerians cursed the day they were born Nigerians. Most slept at banks and ATMs. They bore the brunt of ill-conceived and irrational policies, often made for the benefit of the political class, and more to the detriment of the mass of Nigerians.

After eight very painful years where Nigerians went to sleep hungry; where most committed suicide because of their inability to further endure the hardship inflicted by the Buhari regime, a harder future beckons. In less than 24 hours after Bola Tinubu took office as president, he has suspended fuel subsidy payments, and the suffering in the land has quadrupled. The rationale is that the subsidy on fuel takes a toll on our finances and therefore it must be removed. The arithmetic makes sense but the application thereof is the shoddiest I have ever seen – there is no plan whatsoever to cushion the effect of the incapacitating effects of this hurried decision.

Bob MajiriOghene Etemiku, editor- in- chief of WADONOR, cultural voice of Nigeria

A survey conducted in the country about a decade ago revealed that children between the ages of 13 and 15 years were already smokers with 55 per cent of children within the same age bracket exposed as passive smokers

RATES AS AT J UNE 2,2023

Banks’ Borrowing from CBN Up 275% to N7.5tn on Liquidity Crunch

Kayode tokede

Amid liquidity crunch in the banking sector, Deposit Money Bank (DBMs) and merchant banks borrowing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) increased to N7.5trillion in the first 5 months of 2023, an increase of 276 per cent from N1.99 trillion reported in the first five months of 2022.

Data from the CBN showed that DMBs and merchant banks borrowing through the Standing Lending Facility (SLF) witnessed significant increase as banks grappled with the fallout from

the new naira notes policy in 2022, among other factors.

Analysis of CBN numbers showed that DMBs and merchant banks’ borrowings from the CBN surged by 276 per cent Year on Year (YoY), signalling that they faced a liquidity squeeze during the period as the country’s demonetisation drive triggered chronic cash shortages.

A senior manager in a top tier-2 bank disclosed to THISDAY of CBN’s aggressive liquidity mop-up through Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR).

The CBN lends money to DMBs and merchant banks through the

SLF at interest rate of 100 basis points above the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR).

Standing facilities (lending and deposit) are instruments of liquidity management, according to the CBN. They serve as avenues to invest surplus funds overnight and to square up whenever the system is short at the end of each business day.

The apex banking regulating body has SLF, a short-term lending window for DMBs and merchant banks to access liquidity to run their day-to-day business operations.

The CBN had on October 26, 2022 announced that the N200, N500 and N1,000 notes would be redesigned and introduced into the economy from December 15, 2022 while DMBs were directed to return existing denominations to the CBN.

The Governor, CBN, Godwin Emefiele at the first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in 2023 had said money market rates oscillated below and within the asymmetric corridor of the standing facilities window, reflecting changing liquidity conditions in the banking system.

According to him, “The CBN has been aggressive in its intervention in the first two months of 2023. The CBN’s CRR debits has increased significantly this year when compared to last year. DMBs always visit the SLF window when CBN debit them CRR every two weeks.”

Analysts attributes the increase in SLF to cash scarcity, stressing that DMBs and merchant banks were no longer enjoying the usual cash deposits that normally come from businesses and individuals that generate significant amount of cash from relationship with various

third parties. “Economy has suffered so much from the problem created by CBN’s mismanagement of currency redesign program and deliberate cash scarcity. A program that was expected to be positive suddenly turned negative because CBN did not understand the dynamics of deliberate cash scarcity as an unusual monetary management tool, ”the Chief Executive officer, Wyoming Capital and Partners, Mr. Tajudeen Olayinka stated.

The story continues online on www.thisdaylive.com

Stock Market Posts Best Return in Africa as Investors Gained N1.83tn in May

Kayode tokede

Despite the soaring inflation and weak indices in the economy, the Nigerian equities market posted impressive performance as the market capitalization increased by N1.833 trillion to close at N30.366 trillion – the first time since March 2023.

Also, the All Share Index oe

BONDS

ASI which shoaws the direction of equity prices recorded a monthto-date gain of 6.4 per cent at the end of May 2023, out-shining its peers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Analysis of market data obtained from the NGX’s website showed that the NGX All Share Index which opened May at 52,403.51 basis points, close the month at 55,769.28 basis points, rising by 6.42 per cent.

The market had declined by 1.9 per cent and 0.8 per cent in March and April respectively amid profit-taking by investors, uncertainties during the build-up of the February elections as well as rising inflation.

The gain according to market operators was due to President Bola Tinubu’s inauguration speech. Tinubu had stated that his administration

will move to remove the fuel subsidy as well as work on unifying exchange rates. He also stated that his administration will be targeting a higher GDP growth, create jobs, work towards a unified exchange rate and ensure that investors and foreign businesses repatriate their hard-earned dividends and profits home.

In comparison with other markets

in Sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria outperformed South Africa, Ghana, and Egypt in year to date May 2023.

For example, South Africa’s FTSE/ JSE All Share Index gained 3.2 per cent, Ghana’s GSE Composite Index gained 2.76 per cent while Kenya’s lost 18.66 per cent in the same period.

Further analysis of the market performance revealed that the market turnover increased by 10

Market data a s at Friday, June 2, 2023

per cent as investors staked N130 billion in 12.8 billion shares which exchanged hands in 217,72 deals in the month under review as against N118 billion which was staked in 11.6 billion in 189,007 deals in the previous trading month (April 2023).

The story continues online on www.thisdaylive.com

Kale Urges FG to Harmonise Existing Taxes, Improve Public-sector Efficiency

Nume Ekeghe

Chief Economist at KPMG Nigeria, Dr. Yemi Kale has called on the Bola Tinubu administration not to increase taxes but rather improve efficiency in existing taxes.

He said this over the weekend at the Nairametrics Q2 2023 Economic Outlook Webinar titled, “Fosterig Economic Resilience, Harnessing Opportunities for Development.”

He expressed worries regarding the potential adverse effects of increased taxation on household spending and the growth of private businesses.

He said, “I’m not a fan of increasing taxes. I prefer harmonizing the multiple taxes that are out there; I’m a bigger fan of more efficient, public-sector

expenditure. For example, getting rid of wasteful expenditures like fuel subsidies. When you look at the revenue agencies, you find out that as the revenue goes up, they will find more things to spend and increase the expenditure.

“I think the target should be to harmonise the taxes and expand the tax net using technology and a more efficient expenditure structure. If we are able to do this in terms of public finance, if we can reform the public sector, I think that’s when every other thing ties in properly. And will see some significant growth, ”he said.

He added, “When you increase taxes, you are squeezing the household consumption expenditure, and you are also squeezing the earnings of business

thereby squeezing business expansion and so on.”

He added that over the past eight years, the government followed a public sector-driven model. They focused on expanding government expenditure and investment, leading to significant infrastructure development.

“What happened in the last eight years is that the government model was public sector driven. They expanded government expenditure; they expanded government investment. That’s why you have so much infrastructure development. But they did not expand government investment and consumption because the economy was expanding, and they were getting more revenue, ”he said.

Olusoga: Attempt to Unify Exchange Rate Would Imply Devaluation

Nume Ekeghe

The Group Managing Director, Parthian Partners, Mr. Oluseye Olusoga, has stated that plans by President, Bola Tinubu to unify exchange rates as a key priority for the country would in the immediate term imply some level of devaluation of the naira.

Olusoga emphasised that unifying exchange rates in Nigeria would demand considerable courage and require an official devaluation.

However, he said the benefits of rate convergence include improved flow of money and reduced arbitrage concerns.

While acknowledging the difficulty of the task, Olusoga believe it is essential for Nigeria to fulfill its potential, suggesting that a market-driven approach,

rather than a gradual one, should be adopted.

Olusoga in an interview on CNBC recently, said: “Unifying exchange rates is a difficult task that must be done and would require a lot of courage to achieve. An attempt to unify the exchange rates in Nigeria would imply some level of official devaluation, however, would also bring additional benefits. Once the rates are converged, there will be a better free flow of money and reduced arbitrage concerns. However, accomplishing this task is challenging due to the rising cost of living and the need for people to adjust to the new normal. Nonetheless, I believe it is necessary for Nigeria to reach its full potential. Rather than a gradual approach, the process should be market driven.”

He added: “As the former president of the World Bank Group

Necessity of Data Recapture by RSA Holders

once said, a slow unification process often results in no unification at all due to pushback and vested interests. Therefore, the unification process should be swift rather than gradual. Although it may be painful, the impact might not be as severe as anticipated. For example, if the country were to announce a free float exchange rate of 780 or 760 Naira per dollar, the rate would quickly drop to around 700 Naira because people would stop hoarding.

“The limited number of people who have access to dollars at the current rate is worth considering. Furthermore, when prices are accurately determined, the law of supply and demand can help stabilize the market. This would allow us to shift our focus towards real production and functioning markets, presenting opportunities for everyone.”

NCS Tasks Tinubu’s Government on Appointment of Core IT Professionals

Emma Okonji

The Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), the umbrella body for all Information Technology (IT) professionals in Nigeria, has called on President Bola Ahmed Timubu, to liaise with NCS in the appointment of ministers and heads of boards of government parastatals, in order to get persons that are digitally savvy with core technology background, to drive Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda and national development.

The body specifically called on President Tinubu to work with NCS in the appointment of the next Minister of Communications and Digital Economy.

President of NCS, Prof. Adesina Sodiya, made the call, while

addressing journalists at the weekend during a webinar, organised by NCS.

Sodiya who eulogised President Tinubu for effectively using technology to drive governance when he was governor of Lagos State, advised him to also deploy technology in running the affairs of the country as President of Nigeria, adding that NCS will always support tTinubu’s administration in the area of IT adoption and IT deployment in governance.

He recommended the full implementation of IT adoption in governance in order to further drive Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda, championed by previous governments.

Sodiya also called for the implementation of e-Governance

strategy for Nigeria, which he said, was not fully implemented by previous governments.

“NCS is appealing to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to consider the appointment of core IT professional as Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, when he will be appointing ministers into his cabinet. We need a core IT professional that is known to the Nigeria Computer Society, who is registered with the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN) and who understands the Nigerian IT space in order to deliver on promise. As an advocacy body, NCS has been championing IT development of Nigeria in the past years, and we will continue to do so in the interest of Nigeria.

Fiducia to Drive Growth in Nigeria’s Supply Chain Financing to N12trn

Emma Okonji

In order to improve trade relationships between buyers, suppliers and financiers in the supply chain finance ecosystem, Fiducia, a technology-leveraged supply chain financing platform, has rolled out the first-of-its-kind solution that will further drive growth of Nigeria’s supply chain financing market from its current value of N3 trillion to about N12 trillion in the next few years.

Speaking at the launch of the solution in Lagos last week, the Chief Executive Officer of Fiducia, Imohimi Aig-Imoukhuede, said Fiducia was founded with the purpose of levelling

the playing field for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and other business owners in Africa by unlocking the value of their supply chains.

According to him, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) currently estimates the value of Nigeria’s existing supply chain financing sector at around N3 trillion. If the country’s currently excluded SME supply chains could be brought into play, an additional N9 trillion could be unlocked for Nigeria’s economy.

Supply Chain Finance is emerging as an effective instrument to reduce financing gaps in developing markets. The current supply chain finance meets only about 24 per cent

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) mandated Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders who joined the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) on or before July 1, 2019, to undergo the Data Recapture Exercise (DRE). The National Pension Commission (PenCom) mandated Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders who joined the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) on or before July 1, 2019, to undergo the Data Recapture Exercise (DRE). The exercise, which covers active and retired RSA holders, commenced in August 2019.

The DRE became expedient because of the need to obtain RSA holders’ current, complete, and accurate data. Also, the DRE complies with the Federal Government’s directive that all data-generating organisations should harmonise their databases with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

To facilitate the DRE, PenCom designed, developed, and deployed the Enhanced Contributor Registration System (ECRS). It is used to authenticate the uniqueness of individuals seeking to register under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and to update the records of existing RSA holders. The application has been integrated with the NIMC.

RSA holders in the public and private sectors and retirees must participate in the data recapture exercise to update their biodata and biometric (picture and signature) information.

The implications of not participating in the DRE are numerous and capable of stalling access to the RSA. For instance, only RSA holders who have completed their data recapture can transfer their RSAs from their current PFA to another PFA. Contributors who are yet to be recaptured cannot access retirement benefits when they retire. Furthermore, temporary access to RSA for 25 percent of the RSA balance in the case of job loss is only available for RSA holders that have successfully recaptured their data.

documents for their data recapture. The RSA holders are notified via text messages of the status of their data recapture (successful or not) within five working days of the submission of documents.

Active contributors should visit their PFAs and provide their Staff Identity Card or any valid means of identification (National Driver’s Licence, Permanent Voter’s Card, or International Passport). In addition, they are to present their Enrollment Slip issued by NIMC and Birth Certificate or Sworn Affidavit of Age Declaration for the DRE. Retirees on programmed withdrawal or annuity should present any valid means of identification (National Driver’s Licence, Permanent Voter’s Card or International Passport), Enrollment Slip issued by NIMC and Letter of Retirement issued by the employer to the retiree for the DRE.

Finally, RSA holders who have changed either their surnames or first names or both after registration should present the following to their PFA to be recaptured: Marriage Certificate (only applicable in the case of marriage); Newspaper publication for the change of name; and Sworn Affidavit and Confirmation Letter for change of name from employer (if still in employment).

of the potential market. MSMEs are estimated to generate more than half of the supply chain finance opportunity according to the IFC.

“Today, Fiducia is successfully driving inclusive GDP growth by broadening financial inclusion - as a wider pool of small and mid-sized businesses enter Africa’s financial markets on the same terms and rates previously only available to large corporates. Fiducia’s financial services and funding partner ecosystem includes many of Africa’s top developmental finance institutions, equally committed to solving Africa’s supply-chain finance challenges,” Aig-Imoukhuede said.

RSA holders with multiple PINs who failed to recapture their data would face delays in resolving their situations. In addition, having numerous PINs would lead to incorrect remittances by employers and delay the payment of retirement benefits. Therefore, contributors with multiple RSA PINs must present all their RSA PINs to their PFA at the point of data recapture.

It is also important to point out that not participating in the DRE affects the ability of RSA holders to update registration records in the future. For instance, an RSA holder cannot make updates relating to a change of name (due to marriage), a change of employer, or a change of his Next of Kin (NOK). Thus, it is in the interest of the RSA holder to participate in the DRE to avoid undue delays in accessing services from PFAs.

It is imperative to state that PenCom has directed all PFAs to issue acknowledgement slips to RSA holders who submit complete

To expedite the DRE, PenCom approved an industry Shared Services Initiative (SSI) proposed by the Pension Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp). Under the initiative, PenOp engaged two agents, Payone Solution Systems Limited and Afritech Multi Concept Limited, to conduct the data recapture exercise on behalf of all PFAs. However, the contract between PenOp and the agents expires on May 30, 2023. Consequently, effective May 31, 2023, Payone Solution Systems Limited and Afritech Multi Concept Limited will no longer be authorised to conduct the DRE for RSA holders.

Therefore, PenCom urges RSA holders who are yet to be recaptured to visit the nearest branch of their PFAs to undergo the exercise.

PenCom remains committed to providing the necessary support to ensure the success of the DRE. For enquiries or complaints on the Data Recapture Exercise, please get in touch with PenCom on the following telephone numbers: 094603930, 094603939, and 07066924512, or by e-mail: dre.complaints@pencom.gov.ng.

PENCOM DG, Aisha Dahir-Umar

Conoil: Decline in Operating Expenses Drives Profit

Kayode Tokede

Conoil Plc reported a marginal increase in revenue and a decline in total operating expenses that impacted positively its profits in audited financial year that ended December 31, 2022.

The 2022 financial year results showed a sustained performance in profit & loss figures and balance sheet from what the petroleum marketing company reported in 2021 full year results.

Conoil in 2022 reported N131.4billion revenue, a growth of about four per cent from N126.73billion in 2021.

The generated revenue is from sale of petroleum products in Nigeria at which white products contributed 92 per cent, while Lubricants contributed the remaining eight per cent.

The white products segment is involved in the sale of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK), Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK), Low-pour Fuel Oil (LPFO) and Automotive Gasoline/grease Oil (AGO).

The products under the lubricants segment are Lubricants transport, Lubricants industrial, Greases, Process Oil and Bitumen. Products traded under LPG segment are Liquefied Petroleum Gas – Bulk, Liquefied Petroleum Gas – Packed, cylinders and valves.

The average retail price paid by consumers for Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) for December 2022 was N206. 19 per litre, indicating a 24.38per cent increase when compared to the value recorded in December 2021 (N165. 77), while the average retail price of Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel) paid by consumers in December 2022 was N817.86 per litre, an increase of 182.64per cent from N289.37 per litre recorded in the corresponding month of the previous year.

In 2022, Conoil generated N120.37billion from white products as against N117billion in 2021, as revenue

from lubricants closed 2022 at N11.06billion from N9.72billion reported in 2021.

Cost of Sales (CoS) stood at N117.42billion in 2022, an increase of 1.6 per cent from N115.56billion in 2021. Consequently, the proportion of CoS/ Revenue dropped to 89.34 per cent in 2022 from 91.2per cent in 2021. This positioned gross profit to N14billion in 2022, an increase of 25.5 per cent from N11.16billion reported in 2021.

PrODuCts COntributiOn

In the year under review, white products contributed N12.48billion to gross profit as against N8.24billion in corresponding period of 2021, as gross profit from lubricants dropped to N1.53billion in 2022 from N2.92billion in 2021.

The petroleum marketing company, however, reported N6.55billion total operating expenses in 2022, a decline of 4.5 per cent from N6.86billion reported in 2021 despite inflationary pressure.

The company reported 4.17per cent decline in distribution expenses to N2.29billion in 2022 from N2.39billion in 2021, driven 3.07per cent drop in Freight costs to N2.19billion. The petroleum marketing company also reported 4.71 per cent drop in administrative expenses to N4.26billion in 2022 from N4.47billion in 2021.

For the 2022 financial year, finance cost closed at N1.47billion from N757.54million in 2021, attributable to hike in interest rate in the period under review. Profit before tax hits N6.13billion in 2022, an increase of 60.1 per cent from N3.83billion in 2021. Conoil paid a tax of N1.18billion in 2022 from N749.07million in 2021 to close the year with N4.96billion profit as against N3.08billion profit generated in 2021.

With the significant increase in profit, the management proposed a dividend of N2.50 per

fbn holdings remains resilient as total assets hits n10.58trn

Kayode Tokede

Amid growing customer loans & advances and customer deposits, FBN Holdings Plc crossed the N10trillion mark in total assets to N10.58trillion in audited 2022 financial year, an increase of 18.4 per cent from N8.93 trillion reported in 2021 financial year.

The growth in total assets demonstrated improving earning asset position, cash and balances with central Banks, loans to banks & customers and investment securities constitute now 88.9per cent of total assets versus 87.2per cent in the prior year.

Both Customer loans & advances and customer deposits grew by 32per cent and 22per cent to N3.79 trillion and N7.21 trillion in 2022 on the heels of severe competition in the banking sector.

The group reported N805.1billion gross earnings in 2022, a growth of 6.3 per cent from N757.3billion reported in 2021.

The growth in gross earnings was driven by strong growth in interest income (49.6per cent y-o-y) to N551.9 billion from N369.0 billion in 2021.

The increase in interest income benefited primarily from 31.5 per cent y-o-y growth in loans to customers. This was further supported by the higher interest rate environment, which positively

impacted yields.

On the other hand, interest expense growth of 34per cent y-o-y to N188.7 billion from N140.8 billion in 2021, was contained following strategic growth in deposit mobilisation and funding at optimised rates.

As a result, net interest income improved impressively by 59.2 per cent y-o-y to N363.2 billion from N228.2billion in 2021.

With about nine per cent growth in total operating expenses to N364.1billion in 2022 from N334.2billion in 2021, Profit before tax dropped by 5.4 per cent to N157.7billion in 2022 from N166.7billion in 2021.

Profit for the year also dipped by 10 per cent to N136.1billion in 2022 from N151.1billion reported in 2021.

The group, thus, proposed dividend of N0.50 per share in 2022 from N0.35 kobo paid to shareholders in 2021 financial year.

The Group Managing Director, FBN Holdings, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo while commenting on the results stated that, “FBNHoldings continues to make good progress in transforming the enterprise despite the uncertain and complex operating environment, leveraging the execution capabilities of top talents across the Group to generate sustainable value for all our stakeholders.

“In 2022, we grew net interest income by 59.2per cent y-o-y to N363.2 billion which ultimately delivered a robust profit before tax of to N157.7 billion from the ordinary business of the Group.

“As a reaffirmation of our commitment to drive revenue and profitability leveraging on the strengthened balance sheet, loans and advances grew 31.5 per cent y-o-y to N3.8 trillion and total asset 18.4 per cent y-o-y to N10.6 trillion, while our investments in technology and strong transactional and digital banking capabilities continue to support non-interest income generation.

In line with our strategic priorities, we are driving further revenue and profitability growth through a carefully evaluated delivery model of service offerings, with a focus on owning the customer journey while deepening our unique value proposition across markets.

“We are re-imagining our digital client acquisition and product offerings and accelerating next generation capabilities to exceed current requirements of existing and potential customers. In addition, we remain committed to enhancing our operational efficiency with a focus on optimising processes through technology and digital platform delivery while ensuring its availability and stability.

ordinary 50kobo share to investors.

However, in financial year ended December 31, 2021, shareholders of Conoil received a dividend of N1.04 billion. The dividend, which translates to N1.50 kobo per share was recommended following the release of the audited results of the petroleum products marketing firm.

Oil marketing giant had announced a final dividend payment of N2.00 per ordinary share of 50 kobo each for the period ended December 31, 2019. The underlined increase in profits positioned Basic earnings per share (kobo) to N7.14 in 2022 from N4.44 per share in 2021.

traDE, OthEr rECEivablEs

PErfOrmanCE

Conoil in its audited result and accounts for 2022 increased to N65.91billion=, an increase of 22.1 per cent from N53.98billion in 2021, driven by N50.98billion trade and other receivables as against N34.21billion reported in 2021.

Total non-current assets dropped by 14.2 per cent to N3.69billion in 2022 from N4.3billion in 2021, while Total current assets that comprises of Trade and other receivables increased to N62.2billion in 2022 from N49.7billion in 2021.

Total equity rose by nearly 15 per cent to N25.01billion

in 2022 from N21.8billion in 2021, driven primarily by Retained earnings that crossed the N20billion mark to N20.84billion in 2022 from N17.62billion in 2021.

Also from the balance sheet position, Conoil reported N40.9billion in 2022, an increase of 27.04 per cent from N322.19billion in 2021.

Total non-current liabilities moved from N791.4million in 2021 to N751.87 million reported in 2022, while Total current liabilities about 277.85 per cent increase from N31.4billion in 2021 to N40.15billion reported in 2022.

2022 GrOwth imitatEs Q1 2023

The unaudited result and accounts of Conoil for period ended March 31, 2023 showed impressive growth in revenue, impacted by price adjustment in white products and significant increase in profits. Conoil’s revenue from sale of white products and lubricant in Q1 2023 unaudited results grew by nearly 34 per cent to N34.97billion from N26.15billion reported in Q1 2022. The Cost of sales (CoS) rose by 24 per cent to N28.96billion in Q1 2023 from N23.3billion reported in Q1 2022.

NOtE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

Tinubu Strikes the Rock for Economic Recovery with Petrol Subsidy Removal

Without prejudice to those holding contrary views, the removal of petrol subsidy by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, after past presidents failed to do so, has signalled the beginning of the recovery of the Nigerian economy.

With this bold move which took most Nigerians by surprise, considering the usual way of the country’s presidents waiting to settle down first and appoint and inaugurate cabinet members, Nigeria has now been positioned to work towards boosting its productivity and achieving prosperity that long eluded it.

Last Monday, at the Eagle Square, Abuja, President Tinubu, who is now the 16th president of Nigeria having emerged winner of the 2023 presidential election from the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), had announced the end of petrol subsidy, declaring that “Subsidy is Gone”.

Tinubu told Nigerians that the President Muhammadu Buhari government did not make any provision for subsidy in the budget he inherited.

He had said that there was no justification for spending Nigeria’s scarce resources on subsidy that only benefits the rich, adding that his goverment would rather channel the resources to fix critical sectors that would benefit the masses.

“The fuel subsidy is gone. Subsidy can no longer justify its ever-increasing costs in the wake of drying resources. We shall, instead, re-channel the funds into better investment in public infrastructure, education, health care and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions”, Tinubu had said.

Although, the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) passed in August 2021 had provided for the deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector and the removal of fuel subsidy, the Buhari government had in January 2022 postponed its implementation by 18 months.

The same government had made moves to remove subsidy before the expiration of its tenure but backed out at the last minute, shifting it to the current Tinubu government.

The pronouncement by Tinubu immediately changed the petroleum marketing dynamics in the country, with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and the private marketers adjusting to the current market realities, leading to the upward rise in the prices of petrol in the country.

INVESTORS’ POSITIVE REACTIONS

Following the news of the subsidy removal announcement by Tinubu, investors in both the equities and money market responded positively with the stock market appreciating, as investors reportedly gained N1.51 trillion in response to the signalling of the president’s plans to unify foreign exchange rates.

Also, the naira was said to have appreciated on the parallel market as it gained N5 to close at N765/$1, a day after the president’s inaugural speech, up from the N770/ $1 it traded the previous day.

The sovereign dollar-denominated bonds also rallied on the news of the president’s stance on the two critical economic policies -subsidy removal and exchange rate unification.

THISDAY had reported that the market capitalisation had opened for trading the next day after the historic inaugural speech, at N28.845 trillion gaining N1.51trillion or 5.23 per cent to close at N30.350 trillion, while the NGX All-Share Index gained 5.23 per cent or 2,764.47 basis points to 55,738.35 basis points from 52,973.88 basis points it opened for trading.

According to the THISDAY’s report, the 5.23 per cent recorded was the biggest single-day gain since November 12, 2020.

Many industry experts and multilateral lenders like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank had advised severally that the harmonisation of the rates and removal of subsidy would improve the attraction of foreign capital and also help the government channel useful funds into more productive ventures like infrastructural investment, education and healthcare.

NNPC BACKS MOVE, ASSURES OF PRODUCT SUFFICIENCY

In a swift reaction to the public backlash against the subsidy removal, the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari had assured Nigerians that the policy action was in the best interest of the nation, saying the company welcomed the declaration by the new president.

According to Kyari, while the apprehension by

petrol consumers was understandable, the potential changes to petrol prices were not enough reason for Nigerians to buy more than they require at a time.

Kyari stated that the NNPC would ensure continuous and sufficient supply of petroleum products, particularly Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), noting that the company was monitoring all its distribution networks to ensure compliance.

“We would like to assure Nigerians that we have sufficient supply of petroleum products, particularly PMS in our country and there is no reason to panic. We understand that people will be scared of potential changes to the price of petrol.

“But that is not enough for people to rush to fuel stations to buy more than what they need. We are watching all the distribution networks, and support facilities and we believe that normalcy will be restored very soon,” he noted.

The NNPC chief executive reiterated that the company had been using some of its cash flow to make subsidy payments which had constituted a huge burden on the company’s finances.

“We welcome the decision of Mr. President to announce that the subsidy on PMS is over and this has really been a major challenge for the NNPC’s continued operation. We have been funding the subsidy from the cash flow of the NNPC.

“We believe that this decision will free resources for the NNPC to continue to do the great works that this company will do for our country. It allows us to continue to function as a very commercial entity. We welcome this development,” he added.

Also speaking after his first meeting with President Tinubu, Kyari disclosed that NNPC lost about N2.8 trillion to fuel subsidy from February 2022 to date due to the inability of the federal government to pay for the subsidy bills.

According to him, it has become very clear that government cannot sustain the subsidy regime, adding that as a business entity, the company has no choice but to back out of the arrangement.

He had said: “There’s incremental value that will come from it. But it is not an issue of whether you can do it or not because today we can afford it and they are not able to pay our bill. That comes to how much is the federation owing NNPC now? Today, we are waiting for them to settle up to N2.8 trillion of NNPC cash flow from the subsidy regime. And we can’t continue to do this.”

INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS EXCITED

Sharing his feedbacks from their international investor-friends and associates, Executive

Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Mr. Clement Isong, told THISDAY that the subsidy removal has excited the foreign investors, who are keenly watching the development in Nigeria.

“You’ve seen that the Nigeria Euro-bond has strengthened. The investors’ sentiment is that finally, we now have a responsible and accountable government making the right decisions. They are saying that Nigeria has suddenly become a country that it makes sense to take risks.So they are watching”, he said.

He, however, warned that “If we make any step backward, then it just shows that things have not changed because that’s what we have been doing in the past -which shows the flip-flops in the country’s policies. It takes away trust and confidence. We wrote it in a law and then we chose not to apply it. So, it makes it possible for the international community to believe that Nigeria is not governed by the rule of law, that law does not guarantee that we will do the right thing.

“So, everybody internationally is watching this goverment. It’s a good step that they are obeying the law. It’s a good step that they are making the hard decisions. This is the only way to prosperity. There will be some pain, but we are heading in the right direction. We will have an increase in productivity.”

He noted that Nigeria was doing very badly and wallowing in abject poverty, partly attributed to the huge resources wasted in subsidising imported petrol.

Isong pointed out that for the first time, “it looks as if we were going to make the tough decisions but we are going to claw away back to prosperity, to productivity. Our consumption of fuel will come down. We will stop using the cheap fuel for unnecessary journeys and trips.

“So, international investors are so excited that the new goverment appears to have been bold enough to take the first step. Everybody is watching, everybody is paying attention to see whether he will take the next one week to unify the exchange rate. Once we do that, then Nigeria is opened for business.”

Isong had earlier urged Nigerians to embrace the new petrol marketing regime and reduce their fuel consumption, saying the government should put in place appropriate palliatives to cushion the effect on the most vulnerable citizens.

The executive secretary also called on Nigerians to be empathetic at this time and try to help one another. He acknowledged that the situation might not be easy, but that government’s action was necessary for the growth of the economy.

He further explained that other countries

around Nigeria did not have petrol subsidy, despite the fact that they have crude oil like Nigeria, adding that those countries were not being “pampered” with subsidy.

Executive Secretary, Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), Mr. Olufemi Adewole, told THISDAY that Nigerians were in for better things with the subsidy now scrapped. “Removing subsidy is for the good of the country. The essential thing is that we are not to profiteer, we are not out to exploit but we will ensure that people get the product at the best price possible.

“So Nigerians are in for a better time. Mark my word, as the day goes by, provided prices at the international market do not increase, that is, the price of crude oil or Platts, if those two do not increase, there will be competition and you will see drops in all these prices”, Adewole said.

OPERATORS’ JOINT SUPPORT

Earlier in a joint statement, MOMAN and DAPPMAN had endorsed the pronouncement by Tinubu, on the phase-out of the petrol subsidy regime. They appreciated the clarity of policy from the Tinubu administration, describing it as a direction that signals a courageous and pragmatic shift in the nation’s economic trajectory.

In light of the assurances given by the NNPC and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the marketers reiterated that there was no cause for alarm.

“We strongly urge Nigerians to avoid panic buying or stockpiling of petrol. This behaviour not only creates artificial scarcity but also poses a significant safety hazard.

“The NNPC has assured Nigerians of adequate fuel supply and the NMDPRA is working closely with stakeholders to ensure a seamless transition. They are ensuring distribution channels remain uninterrupted, thereby making fuel readily available at all filling stations across the country,” the organisations stressed.

They argued that the decision to phase out the fuel subsidy regime was not merely a fiscal reform, but a significant stride toward social justice.

The marketers further said, “We are heartened that the administration plans to redirect these substantial funds towards essential public goods such as infrastructure, education, and healthcare. These investments symbolize our shared future, promising considerable, long-term benefits for all Nigerians.

“We understand the concerns regarding potential price increases. However, we expect marketers to

Tinubu Kyari

The removal of the wasteful petrol subsidy by president Bola ahmed Tinubu during his inaugural address last Monday as the 16th president of nigeria has positioned the country to recover from its ugly economic status and launch back to prosperity, writes Peter uzoho

Nine Years in the Saddle, Emefiele Trudges on

bank.

Sunday, June 4, 2023, made it exactly nine years Godwin Emefiele assumed the position of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Despite the mounting challenges, he has continued to trudge forward and has remained focused on delivering the mandate of the central bank.

Today, he is the only central bank governor that is known to have served under three presidents. Appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014, he served out his first five-year term under the immediate past-President, Muhammadu Buhari, who thereafter reappointed him in 2019, for another term of five years. He is presently serving as governor under President Bola Tinubu.

Emefiele has weathered several storms in the past nine years and continues to face more as persons eyeing his position in the new administration are doing everything possible to put him down with all manner of propaganda.

Despite the challenges the economy has faced in the past nine years, largely due to its weak fiscal space, the Emefiele-led central bank has continued to support the federal government.

Through its interventions, the CBN has massively supported the private sector which is the engine of growth for any economy.

Since Emefiele came on board, the CBN has supported non-oil sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, education, power and aviation and other allied economic value chains

The building of a more sophisticated economy anchored on agriculture, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), industrial and manufacturing concerns has become the major component of the bank’s monetary policy, in view of the recent challenges posed by the impact of Covid-19 and the Russia invasion of Ukraine.

As stated earlier, the Emefiele-led CBN saw weakness on the part of the fiscal authorities because the fiscal space was narrow and the space to release money to catalyse the economy on the fiscal side was slim, prompting the apex bank to increase its intervention in the economy.

For instance, the recent inauguration of the Dangote Refinery which has immense ramifications for the economy particularly in resetting the country’s wobbling macroeconomic indices including unemployment, inflation, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and exchange rate among others, was one of the companies that have benefitted immensely from the CBN’s interventions.

The completion and inauguration 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 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 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.

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.

The CBN has also supported the real sector

maintain reasonable pricing, as NNPC remains the sole supplier of the product currently.

“We anticipate minimal changes regarding distribution costs, considering the cost of the product constitutes 80 per cent of the pump price. We pledge, in collaboration with the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and other crucial stakeholders, to manage these distribution costs diligently to minimise their impact on the pump price.”

They also urged suppliers to continue supplying products to all legitimate marketers

Emefiele

to boost local production and export. This was the reason behind the Race to $200 billion in foreign exchange (FX) repatriation programme (RT200) of the bank that has boosted repatriation of funds into the country by 40 per cent in 2022. In the first quarter of 2023, the country recorded $1.7 billion inflows due to the non-oil export initiative.

Also, in May this year, the CBN has disbursed the sum of N25.6 billion under the N1 trillion Real Sector Facility to eight new real sector projects in manufacturing packaging, pharmaceuticals, plastic and cosmetic products. Cumulative disbursements under the Real Sector Facility currently stands at N2.56 trillion disbursed to 462 projects across the country, comprising 257 manufacturing, 95 agriculture, 97 services and 13 mining sector projects as of last month.

Under the 100 for 100 Policy on Production and Productivity (PPP), the Bank disbursed the sum of N13.81 billion to three projects in the manufacturing sector. This brings the cumulative disbursement under the facility to N173.31 billion, disbursed to 81 projects comprising 45 manufacturing, 23 agriculture, five healthcare, and eight services sector projects with an estimated 23,343 direct jobs created.

Under the Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility (NEMSF-2) for capital, and operational expenditure of distribution companies (Discos), the central bank disbursed N11.82 billion to ease liquidity constraints and support the recovery of legacy debt. Under the scheme so far, the CBN has disbursed a cumulative sum of N254.39 billion.

In 2020, Nigeria was well commended in the manner in which it handled the COVID-19 pandemic, which came into the country.

The pandemic once more exposed the economy’s weak underbelly, necessitating response from the government.

The Emefiele-led central bank then acted swiftly, almost when the first case broke out in the country by unveiling a rash of measures to

and called on all stations to remain open and avoid hoarding products.

IPMAN: SUBSIDY REMOVAL A WELCOME DEVT

On his part, the National Operations Controller of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mr. Mike Osatuyi, said the removal of fuel subsidy by Tinubu was a welcome development geared towards revamping the downstream sector of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

moderate the impact of the virus on households, businesses as well as the economy. Measures such as the extension of the moratorium on the apex bank’s interventions programmes, interest rate reduction, creation of a N100 billion targeted credit facility; N100 billion health sector intervention facility and N1 trillion for the manufacturing sector, among others.

In addition, Emefiele was also instrumental to the formation of the private-sector-led Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID), which was able to mobilise billions of naira and had immensely supported the country’s COVID-19 fight by setting up healthcare facilities across the country as well as in distributing palliatives to states.

Also, as part of efforts to stimulate infrastructural development across the country, the CBN, working with the fiscal authorities also established a N15 trillion Infrastructure Development Company (Infraco).

The Anchor Borrowers’ Programme was also introduced in 2015, to support small holder farmers. Some of the commodities that have received support under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme include rice, wheat, cowpea, millet, maize, cotton, fish, soya bean, poultry, cassava, groundnut, ginger, sorghum, oil palm, cocoa, sesame, tomato, castor seed, yellow pepper, onions, and cattle/dairy.

The programme which was introduced by the Emefiele-led CBN has contributed significantly to increased national output of focal commodities, with maize and rice peaking at 12.2 million metric tonnes and 9.0 million metric tonnes in 2021 and 2022, respectively, as the Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Dr. Isa Abdulmumin, told us recently.

According to the CBN spokesman, the programme had also helped to improve the national average yield per hectare of these commodities, with productivity per hectare almost doubling within the eight years of the programme’s implementation.

“Nigeria has largely depended on the oil

Osatuyi said Tinubu had promised to remove fuel subsidy right from the first day of his administration, noting that the pronouncement was part of his campaign promises. He said the money used on subsidy would be diverted to develop other sectors, saying, “That means Tinubu has begun to fulfil his campaign promises.”

The IPMAN official said the petrol subsidy removal would bring about competition among players and address the issue of monopoly in the petroleum marketing business in Nigeria.

sector for revenue generation over the past four decades and the sustained decline in crude oil production continues to negatively undermine the performance of the economy.

“Thus, there is the urgent need for a conscientious effort to diversify to other non-oil sectors. “As I have often said, it is important that we work to create an economy that will enable us feed ourselves, create jobs for our teeming youths and improve the standard of living of our people.

“With our population growing by over three percent per annum over the past seven years, against a less than steady growth in output since 2019, expanding the production and industrial capacity of the economy must be given special attention to ensure overall macroeconomic stability,” Emefiele stressed recently.

He explained: “In the agriculture sector, we found that the big problem we have is the movement of goods from farm to market. It is a logistics and transportation problem. We got approval from the Presidency to reposition the Nigeria Commodity Exchange which plays a pivotal role in the movement of goods from farm to market. Another important move is the creation of the Infraco. You all know that infrastructure has been a problem in Nigeria.”

The CBN also invested over N120 billion across the Cotton, Textile and Garment (CTG) value chain since the inception of its intervention programme in the industry. Through its development finance initiatives, over 320,000 farmers have been financed between 2018 to date. This was expected to enhance the production capacity of the ginneries in producing over 102,000 metric tonnes of cotton lint, which should meet and surpass the cotton lint requirement of the textile industry in the country.

In the area of financial system stability, while it is on record that some developed countries have recorded bank failures in recent times, the Nigerian banking sector has remained safe and sound. The global economy is now characteried by rapid digitalisation across all sectors, particularly the financial system where Nigeria remains the leader of innovation and out-of-the-box thinking. As part of the apex bank’s efforts in entrenching a resilient payments system, it has over the years established strategic initiatives and policies in the financial sector such as the Payments System Vision 2020 (2007), National Financial Inclusion Strategy (2012, 2018), Cash-less Policy (2012), Framework for Regulatory Sandbox Operations (2018, 2021), Open Banking Initiative (2021), among others. Under the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (2020 – 2030), the industry is poised to accelerate the private sector-led efforts towards building a nation where digital innovation and entrepreneurship are used to create value and prosperity for all.

Consequently, the Nigerian payment ecosystem has witnessed tremendous improvement over the years. To consolidate its efforts towards engendering a digital economy, the Bank deployed the eNaira, Africa’s first Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in preparation for the payment landscape of the future, given the potential benefits that will accrue to a digital economy.

The eNaira provides Nigerians with a cheap, generally accepted, safe and trusted means of payment and seeks to enhance financial inclusion, support poverty reduction, enable direct welfare disbursement to citizens, support a resilient payments ecosystem, improve availability and usability of central bank money, facilitate diaspora remittances, reduce the cost of processing cash, and reduce cost and improve efficiency of cross-border payment among others.

Nevertheless, the Emefiele-led CBN would have to redouble its efforts in the area of price stability as well as do more to boost forex flows in order to guarantee exchange rate stability and boost the external reserves. This is because with inflation at 22 per cent as of April 2023, it leads to income redistribution and brings about weak purchasing power. That is why CBN needs to continue to take steps to cage inflation.

Osatuyi maintained that the subsidy removal policy would lead to market liberalisation, availability of products, and check excesses of middlemen, warning, however, that there would be an increase in the price of petrol. He noted that the money saved from subsidy removal would be used to boost the economy and the well-being of Nigerians.

A member of MOMAN and Managing Director of 11 Plc, Mr. Tunji Oyebanji, said that the pronouncement was a timely decision for the country.

Obinna Chima highlights some of the remarkable interventions of the central bank of nigeria under the leadership of Godwin emefiele after nine years superintending the nation’s apex

Subsidy Removal: Analysts Predict 30-40% Inflation Figures for June

Nume Ekeghe

Analysts have predicted that the impact of the petrol subsidy removal would see inflation figures in the month of June hover between 30 to 40 per cent. The view of the former Statistician-General of Nigeria Dr. Yemi Kale is that June’s figures when released would see inflation soar to 30 per cent because of the ripple effect petrol would have on other food and services pricing.

However, the Head of Financial Institutions Ratings at Agusto&Co, Ayokunle Olubunmi, was more aggressive in his prediction stressing that it could reach 40 per cent for the month of June due to the removal of petroleum subsidy.

Kale in a tweet over the

weekend noted that the new petrol price could add about 6 per cent to the Consumer price index (CPI) for June compared to his expectations for May CPI.

Kale stated: “Using the NBS CPI model plus my macro model, the new PMS prices may add about 6 per cent to CPI in June over whatever is reported in May, holding other things constant. April was 22.22 per cent and May is unknown and won’t be affected. So June will be somewhere about 30 per cent. Not as bad as I expected.” he said.

Olubunmi stated that this removal is needed and is a policy that is pivotal, he also noted that inflation would initially hike but would eventually come down.

Olubunmi added that the removal of petrol subsidies

marks a significant milestone for Nigeria’s energy landscape and economic growth and that while the short-term challenges are evident, the long-term benefits of this decision outweigh the initial difficulties.

He noted that by redirecting funds toward crucial sectors, encouraging investment in renewable energy, and curbing corruption, Nigeria has positioned itself on a path towards a sustainable and prosperous future.

He said: “In a country where you are already having an inflation of 22 per cent, and you want to move fuel price from roughly N200 per litre to something between N600 to N700 per litre, inflation will jump as high as even 40 something percent although it will come down eventually.”

Zacharopoulou Inaugurates Access Bank’s French Desk

The French Minister of State for Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships, Mrs Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, last Thursday joined Group Managing Director and CEO of Access Corporation, Dr Herbert Wigwe and Managing Director and CEO of Access Bank Plc, Mr Roosevelt Ogbonna, for the launching of the Access Bank French Desk.

Following the opening in Paris earlier this month of the first subsidiary of Access Bank in the European Union, the French Desk is based at the headquarters of Access Bank in Lagos. He congratulated Wigwe

who is also Chairman of the France Nigeria Business Council, and welcomed the signing of an agreement with Business France Nigeria to partner on the French Desk.

Zacharopoulou said, “this initiative illustrates the huge dynamism and potential of the economic ties between Nigeria and France, which have been continuously strengthened since President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Nigeria in 2018. This desk will further strenghten an already substantial economic partnership and benefit companies from both countries, including

MARKET INDICATORS

SMEs.

Nigeria is France’s first trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa, as it alone accounts for 22% of France’s trade with that region. Nigeria also accounts for nearly 60% of the stock of French investment in West Africa and 17% of the French FDI stock in Africa. Around 100 French companies are established in Nigeria, generating around 10,000 direct jobs as well as training. France’s presence is particularly diverse in Energy, Agrifood, Pharmaceuticals, Logistics, Tech, Microfinance amongst others.

High Expectations as Inaugural International Shopping Fair Holds in Lagos

Economic activities in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, are projected to gain fresh momentum as it hosts an extraordinary International Shopping Fair, with exhibitors drawn from around the world and different sectors of the economy expected to showcase a diverse selection of products and services.

At a media briefing in Lagos, the organizers said the event, which will take place at Federal Palace Hotel and Casino, Victoria Island, from 2nd – 12th June 2023,

will avail attendees the opportunity to explore an extensive range of exquisite products, including jewelry, linens, embroideries, and much more.

According to the Owner and GM of Nizam Exhibitions Company, Ali Nizam, the highly anticipated event promises to be a haven for discerning shoppers with an immersiveatmosphere where attendees can indulge their senses, discover hidden gems, and embrace the cultural diversity and artistry

of international exhibitors.

His words: “This year, the fair shines a spotlight on the sale of captivating silver ornaments. The discerning shopper will discover a captivating collection of handcrafted jewelry, ranging from delicate necklaces and bracelets to intricately designed rings and earrings. Each piece tells a unique story, blending traditional techniques with contemporary aesthetics, and reflecting the cultural heritage of diverse regions.”

Tg I Joins African Business Coalition for Health

The Tropical General Investment Group (TGI) has become a member of the African Business Coalition for Health. This was announced in a joint press release by both organisations on Monday May 15,2023, 2023 in Lagos, Nigeria.

Speaking on TGI Group’s membership into the Coalition, Chairman and President, Dangote Industries Limited and Co-Founder of ABCHealth, Aliko Dangote, said the task to make Africa and Africans healthier rests on everyone.

“We all have a role to play and for those with resources, mobilizing such resources and

making sustainable impact should be a priority in health; ‘There is a vital relationship between health, economic growth and development in Africa - healthy populations live longer and are more productive - therefore, improving access to quality health services is an important aspect of development. “he said.

Co-Founder and Chairman of ABCHealth, Aigboje AigImoukhuede stated that TGI Group’s entry into the Coalition is a clear indication that the coalition that ABCHealth is building across the continent

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage)

enables responsible business leaders and philanthropists to have a platform that helps them make sustainable, large scale investments in health that transform African economies and people.

He said; “We are confident of the impact this Coalition will bring to bear on the continent. It is our firm belief that with governments and businesses working together, combining political will with business knowledge, Africa’s health sector can be built to the point where it will deliver affordable health to Africans in an equitable manner.”

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE As At 8 MARCH, 2023

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).

L-R: Group Head, Acceler8ed Marketing, Olatunji Jegede; Founder and GM, Nizam Exhibitions Company, Ali Nizam; and Managing Director, Acceler8ed Marketing, Jumoke Aremu; at a media briefing in Lagos to herald the International Shopping Fair taking place in Lagos God bless you

Unity Bank Grows Gross Earnings to N57bn, Profit Up 21%

Kayode Tokede

Unity Bank Plc has posted a Profit Before Tax of N1.1 billion for its full-year results that ended December 31, 2022, even as its gross earnings rose by 13.1per cent to N57 billion from N50.2 billion in the corresponding period of 2021.

The Bank in its audited full-year financial statement submitted to the Nigeria Exchange Limited

(NGX) recorded growth in key performance indicators as reflected in the interest income, loans and advances to customers, customer deposits, and profits.

A major highlight of the financial year is the growth in total comprehensive income, which rose by 262.1per cent to N1.2 billion from N744 million in the corresponding period of 2021. The Bank grew Profit Before Tax (PBT) by N1.1 billion, while

Profit After Tax stood at N941.4 million.

With the loan book sustaining an expansion by 7.5% to N289.4 billion from N269.3 billion within the period under review, the interest and similar income consequently witnessed significant growth rising 7.5 per cent to close at N48.9 billion compared to N43.2 billion in the corresponding period of 2021.

Similarly, income from fees and

commissions recorded significant growth, rising by 25.7 per cent to N7.68 billion from N6.1 billion within the period under review.

More so, deposits from customers saw marginal growth, increasing by 1.6per cent to N327.4 billion from N322.2 billion in the corresponding period of 2021 as the Bank pushes for deeper penetration of its retail footprint with the rollout of products targeting

different segments of the market.

Meanwhile, the Bank also released its unaudited financials for Q1, 2023, in which it sustained improved performance, posting a 21 per cent growth in Profit After Tax, PAT to N1.04 billion from N869.2 million in the corresponding period of 2022. Its gross earnings for the quarter also rose by 17 per cent to N15.9 billion compared to N13.6

billion in the corresponding period of 2022.

Commenting on the financial statements, the Managing Director/CEO of Unity Bank Plc, Mrs. Tomi Somefun noted that the Bank’s focus on building back momentum continues to reflect in the key performance indicators despite economic headwinds and volatilities that characterized the operating environment in the 2022 financial year.

PRICES FOR SECURITIES TRADED ASOF JUNE/02/23

PERSPECTIVE

Raising the Bar of Performance in NDDC: Ogbuku’s PPP Template

Sonnie Ekwowusi

The concept of “Rewind to Rebirth is sweet to the ears. This is the first time in 15 years that I am attending an NDDC function and this is because the current leadership of the Commission is charting a new course that is impressive.”

Those were the words of a former Chief Executive Officer of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Chief Timi Alaibe, as he reviewed the prospects and the initial strides of the new team.

Alaibe, who had worn the shoes of the interventionist agency, surely knows where it pinches. He spoke at the NDDC Public Private Partnership, PPP, Summit, held at the prestigious Eko Hotel & Suites, Lagos on April 25, 2023.The man, affectionately known as the principal by the NDDC family, stated: “the PPP initiative is the right way to go because we need the private sector to help with funding and expertise.”

Bringing the likes of Alaibe and other stakeholders of the Niger Delta region, including captains of industry in the private sector under one roof to explore ways of driving sustainable development in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region, points the way to a new dispensation.

Leading the charge in this new era, the NDDC Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, explained that the commission decided to adopt the PPP model to provide alternative sources of funding for its key development projects and programmes.

He declared: “Our ‘Rewind to Rebirth’ initiative is a strategic vision designed to recalibrate our engagement with the Niger Delta and the Commission’s overall intervention implementation plan. Embedded in this initiative include exploring more avenues for funding, for better technical expertise, for higher yielding varieties of crops, as well as opportunities for collaboration and investment in the Niger Delta region.”

Ogbuku, a development strategist and administrator, gives more background to what could be described as a paradigm shift in the efforts to develop the Niger Delta region. He said: “The current Board and Management, in its bid to do things differently so as to effectively drive sustainable development in the region, decided to adopt the PPP model to provide alternative sources of funding for key development projects and programmes. “We have started engagement with the key stakeholders, such as the oil companies who contribute three per cent of their operational budget to the Commission; the state governments; traditional rulers; Civil Society Groups; youth organisations and Contractors.“

We are showing in our operations, through our example and conduct, how diligence, due process and transparency are key ingredients to building confidence and trust among all partners and stakeholders. We are committed to not just being transparent, but we want to be seen to be transparent.”

Listing the commission’s achievements, he said: “In the coming weeks, some of our major projects will be inaugurated. Among this is the 132/33kv sub-station constructed by the Commission in Okitipupa, which will provide electricity for over 2,000 communities spread across five local government areas of Ondo State.”

According to Ogbuku, “another key project that is ready for inauguration is the Ogbia-Nembe Road, which was jointly funded by Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, and the NDDC.”

The collaboration with Shell on the

29-kilometre road, remains a model that needs to be replicated and the NDDC appears to be heading in that direction. In this wise, the NDDC boss said that as part of efforts to renew and reposition the Commission, the Governing Board stepped up collaboration with various stakeholders.

Ogbuku explained: “We have started engagement with the key stakeholders, such as the oil companies who contribute three per cent of their operational budget to the Commission; the state governments, traditional rulers, Civil Society Groups, youth organisations and contractors.” Part of these engagements was the meeting between the NDDC and members of the Oil Producers Trade Section, OPTS, of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

According to Ogbuku, the “group, which embodies the International Oil Companies, IOCs, stand out for us because we need their cooperation to get full and prompt remittances of their contributions as prescribed by law.” Other stakeholders that he mentioned, include, local, state and federal governments. He rationalized that “by partnering with government agencies and departments, participating in government-led initiatives, and advocating for policies that promote sustainable development”, the NDDC can access government resources, policies, and programmes that support its development objectives.

Premising on their expertise in promoting sustainable development in developing countries as well as offering technical assistance, Ogbuku said that multilateral agencies such as the World

Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and International Monetary Fund (IMF) can provide technical support, funding, and policy advice for the NDDC.

Again, Ogbuku said that the NDDC would be banking on multinational corporations such as Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Total to collaborate with the NDDC in executing legacy projects. He said that the oil giants “have what it takes to provide funding, technical assistance, and expertise in environmental management, community development and corporate social responsibility.”

Along this line, the NDDC took what was explained as preliminary steps by signing a memorandum of understanding with a United States-based firm, Atlanta Global Resources Inc., AGRI, to build a railway network that will connect the nine states of the Niger Delta region. The ceremony, which was one of the highlights of the PPP Summit, gave a positive indication that better days were ahead. In fact, the NDDC stated that work on the preliminary stages of the project, perhaps the biggest in the history of the Commission, is expected to start immediately.

Obviously, elated by this development, the NDDC boss described the event as representing a big harvest for the Commission from the PPP Summit.. The Chief Executive Officer of Atlanta Global Resources Inc, Mr. Tony Ekpele, said the company was partnering with NDDC to as much as possible provide funds for the Commission to

construct, operate and also manage the rail line.In his keynote presentation, the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Engr. Simbi Wabote, stressed that for partnerships to be successful, they must be based on proper analysis and studies. While commending the initiative of the NDDC to attract additional funding through PPP, he warned that capital attraction was a big challenge when there were real or perceived infractions, corruption, lack of accountability, and other vices within the organisation seeking funding. Speaking further, he lauded the management of the NDDC for embarking on the Summit, describing it as “the start of a new dawn in making the Commission to retrace its steps back to the original objectives of its formation as an intervention agency for the development of the Niger Delta region.”

Wabote admitted that it was imperative for NDDC to explore innovative funding via PPPs as a credible option to meet the expanding developmental demands of the Niger Delta region, noting that the PPP arrangement brings corporate governance, technical expertise, and commercial acumen to enhance project delivery and successful operations.

Wabote added, “From what I can see with the current management, a new dawn is in the horizon and I look forward to very exciting times at the Commission.”

Several big wigs at the summit were open and candid in their goodwill messages. The former Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomole, commended the NDDC for admitting that it had suffered from goal displacement. He said: “The NDDC Management and the Board have shown courage by putting the Summit together. The NDDC has our prayers and support. What is missing is not the ideas, but the courage.”

Oshiomhole advocated that the budget cycle of NDDC should be in line with the national budget. He advised the NDDC management to promote inclusive and sustainable development in the region.

In another goodwill message, the former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, acknowledged that things have changed for the better at the Commission and applauded the NDDC Board and Management for striving to leave legacies in the region.

According to him, “the founding fathers of the NDDC intended that the NDDC should be a catalyst for development. The PPP arrangement is a new way of getting good results. There must be a fusion between the private sector and the public sector. It is important to bring in the resources and expertise of the private sector.” One of the participants from the international community, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Miundo Misingi Hub, based in Nairobi, Kenya, Johnson Mwawasi Kilangi, applauded the NDDC management for putting together a summit to discuss how to deploy infrastructure assets and services with the private sector.

According to Johnson, the summit came at a time when many countries are struggling to meet the ever-expanding infrastructure financing requirements, exacerbated by the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Johnson said that time was ripe for the region to leverage on private sector resources and innovation to develop qualify, affordable and sustainable infrastructure for the citizens.

Chief Samuel Ogbuku (PhD)

A Mutual fund (Unit Trust) is an investment vehicle managed by a SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) registered Fund Manager. Investors with similar objectives buy units of the Fund so that the Fund Manager can buy securities that willl generate their desired return.

An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is a type of fund which owns the assets (shares of stock, bonds, oil futures, gold bars, foreign currency, etc.) and divides ownership of those assets into shares. Investors can buy these ‘shares’ on the

floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. A REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) is an investment vehicle that allows both small and large investors to part-own real estate ventures (eg. Offices, Houses, Hospitals) in proportion to their investments. The assets are divided into shares that are traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

GUIDE TO DATA:

Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 01June-2023, unless otherwise stated.

Offer price: The price at which units of a trust or ETF are bought by investors.

Bid Price: The price at which Investors redeem (sell) units of a trust or ETF.

Yield/Total Return: Denotes the total return an investor would have earned on his investment. Money Market Funds report Yield while others report Year- to-date Total Return.

NAV: Is value per share of the real estate assets held by a REIT on a specific date.

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS

Zenith Bank: Maintaining Good Corporate Governance Practice

Oluchi

Ensuring good corporate governance in the banking industry is becoming increasingly important today given the risks and challenges faced in the sector.

In order to improve the performance of the bank, protect the interests of stakeholders and improve compliance with laws and regulations as well as the code of conduct which applies in general to the banking industry, banks are required to conduct their operations based on the principles of good corporate governance.

Additionally, as part of efforts to improve the quality of implementation of good corporate governance, banks are required to periodically perform a self-assessment of the adequacy of their corporate governance implementation.

The application of principles of good corporate governance in addition to enhancing the competitiveness of banks go a long way in protecting customers, according to Dr. Thobby Wakarmamu, of the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Cendrawasih, Papua Indonesia.

For Nigeria’s Zenith Bank, which for the fourth consecutive year, was last week named the Best Corporate Governance ‘Financial Services’ Africa 2023 by the Ethical Boardroom, ensuring good corporate governance has been enshrined in its operations.

The award won by the bank, which was published in the Spring 2023 edition of The Ethical Boardroom magazine, was in recognition of Zenith Bank’s adherence to global best practices and institutionalisation of corporate governance, setting an industrywide example of best practices in that field.

Speaking on the recognition, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive of Zenith Bank Plc, Dr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu, who has been the driving force behind the bank’s success said: “I am extremely pleased that Zenith Bank has been awarded the Ethical Boardroom Corporate Governance Award as a regional governance champion for the fourth year running. No doubt, the bank’s board has pioneered the exemplary governance culture for which we are now renowned.

“Indeed, this recognition reflects our steadfast commitment, discipline and high ethos in the conduct of our business and dedication to the principles of good corporate governance. This award will motivate us to strengthen this culture internally and advocate for good governance at every forum.”

He dedicated the award to the Founder and Group Chairman, Jim Ovia, CFR, for providing the template for an enduring and very successful institution; the Board for their vision and outstanding leadership; the staff for their dedication and commitment; and the bank’s customers for their unwavering loyalty to the brand.

Zenith Bank has been generally adjudged a corporate governance compliant bank by the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), hence its listing on the Premium Board of the Exchange. The bank continues to sustain this reputation and reappraise its processes to ensure that its business conforms to the highest global standards at all times.

As a testament to his quality leadership, Onyeagwu, was today announced as the ‘Best Banking CEO of the Year in Africa’ in the International Banker 2023 Banking Awards. The award, published in the Spring 2023 Issue of the International Banker Magazine, saw Onyeagwu honoured alongside other individuals and banks from the Middle East and Africa.

Expressing gratitude for the recognition, Onyeagwu commended the Publishers of the International Banker for considering him a fitting recipient of the ‘Best Banking CEO of the Year in Africa’ award.

He stated, “This award reflects the bank’s position as a leading financial institution in Nigeria and the African continent. It also attests to our commitment to principles of sustainability and high ethical standards, which have become integral to our overall strategy as an institution”.

He dedicated the award to Ovia, for his guidance and mentorship; the bank’s management team and staff, for being the shoulder upon which his achievements and success as CEO rests; and the bank’s customers for making Zenith Bank their bank of choice.

Onyeagwu’s outstanding career has led to him receiving multiple awards, including Bank CEO of the Year (2019) by Champion Newspaper, Bank CEO of the Year (2020, 2021 & 2022) by BusinessDay Newspaper, CEO of the Year (2020 and 2021) – SERAS Awards, and CEO of the Year (2022) – Leadership Newspaper.

As Group Managing Director/ CEO, Onyeagwu has led Zenith Bank to achieve tremendous feats and milestones in financial performance (including 47 per cent growth in the bank’s market capitalisation in four years), financial inclusion, corporate governance and sustainability. These efforts have culminated in several local and international awards and recognitions including being recognised as Number One Bank in Nigeria by Tier-1 Capital, for the 13th consecutive year, in the 2022 Top 1000 World Banks Ranking published by The Banker Magazine; Bank of the Year (Nigeria) in The Banker’s Bank of the Year Awards 2020 and 2022; Best Bank in Nigeria, for three consecutive years from 2020 to 2022, in the Global Finance World’s Best Banks Awards; Best Commercial Bank, Nigeria 2021 and 2022 in the World Finance Banking Awards; Best Corporate Governance Bank, Nigeria in the World Finance

the topline also boosted the bottom line, with the Group experiencing an impressive 27 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in Profit Before Tax (PBT), which rose from N68 billion in Q1 2022, to N86.6 billion in Q1 2023.

It also showed that Zenith Bank’s Profit After Tax (PAT) also grew by 13 per cent, from N58.2 billion to N66 billion during the same period.

“In 2023, the Group will maintain its focus on sustainable growth across all business segments as it restructures into a holding company, introduces new verticals to its businesses, and expands into new frontiers,” the bank explained.

Zenith Bank blazes the trail in digital banking in Nigeria; scoring several firsts in the deployment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure to create innovative products that meet the needs of its teeming customers.

Driven by a culture of excellence and strict adherence to global best practices, the Bank has combined vision, skillful banking expertise, and cutting-edge technology to create products and services that anticipate and meet customers’ expectations; enable businesses to thrive and grow wealth for customers.

With a team of dedicated professionals, the bank leverages its robust Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure to provide cutting-edge solutions and products through its network of branches and electronic/digital channels. Inspiring in silence and action, Onyeagwu is a sure-footed leader of men with a sense of corporate clairvoyance.

Corporate Governance Awards 2022; ‘Best in Corporate Governance’ Financial Services’ Africa, for four consecutive years from 2020 to 2023, by the Ethical Boardroom; and the Most Responsible Organisation in Africa 2021 by SERAS Awards.

On March 25, 2023, he was conferred with a Doctorate Degree in Business Administration by the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria’s first indigenous University, in recognition of his immense achievements as Group Managing Director/CEO of Zenith Bank as well as his contributions to the growth of the financial services sector in Nigeria and across the African continent. The award was given during the 50th convocation ceremony of the University.

The award, which was in recognition of his immense achievements as the GMD and CEO of Zenith Bank and his contributions to the growth of the financial services sector in Nigeria and the African continent, was conferred on him during the 50th convocation ceremony of the university.

Speaking during the ceremony, the UNN Vice-Chancellor, Prof Charles Igwe, had congratulated Onyeagwu for distinguishing himself in his career and for his service to humanity, which made him worthy to receive the prestigious Doctorate Degree from Nigeria’s first indigenous university.

Just as has been the trend since Onyeagwu assumed the position of GMD/ CEO, the financial institution recently announced an impressive unaudited results for the first quarter (Q1) ending 31st March 2023.

The results came in with an exceptional double-digit growth of 41 per cent in gross earnings, increasing from N191.5 billion in Q1 2022, to N270 billion in Q1 2023.

Also, the unaudited statement of account submitted to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) had indicated that the significant double-digit growth in

He makes today’s Zenith Bank thick, illustrated by the bank’s agile organisation, enduring conducive corporate culture and cordial stakeholders’ relations.

Futuristic in thought and approach, Onyeagwu, as a transformational leader, is committed to Zenith Bank’s vision that promotes re-engineering and innovation.

Onyeagwu is a Fellow (FCA) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), the Institute of Credit Administrators (ICA) and Senior Associate Member, Risk Management Institute of Nigeria (RIMAN).

Onyeagwu is the Chairman of the Body of Banks’ Chief Executive Officers, Nigeria and Chairman of Zenith Pensions Custodian Limited and Zenith Nominees Limited. He is also on the Board of Zenith Bank (UK) Limited, FMDQ Holdings Plc and Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF). Onyeagwu is a member of the International Monetary Conference (IMC), the Wall Street Journal CEO Council, member of the African Trade Gateway Advisory Council of the Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), and member of the Governing Council of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN). He also served on the board of Zenith Bank Ghana Limited, Zenith General Insurance, Zenith Securities Limited, Zenith Assets Management Company, Zenith Medicare Limited, and Africa Finance Corporation (AFC).

Since assuming the Zenith Bank’s mantle of leader on June 1, 2019, Onyeagwu’s myriad exploits have solidified his sterling leadership qualities.

The Zenith Bank Group recently received approval-in-principle from the Central Bank of Nigeria to convert its present operational structure to a holding company. Once substantive authorisation is received, the bank would get a licence to transit into other businesses within financial services including pensions, insurance, asset management and fintech. These are reflections of better things to come for stakeholders and customers of the bank.

Chibuzor writes on the recent recognition of Zenith Bank Plc, for the fourth consecutive year as best financial institution in Africa in terms of corporate governance

Onyeagwu

to conceive the second time and the inability to achieve conception as Secondary Infertility

PDP South-south Group Condemns Tinubu’s Planned Meeting with Minority NASS Members

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) South South Youth Vanguard, has condemned moves by President Bola Tinubu to meet with minority National Assembly members during the week.

In a statement, yesterday, by its spokesperson. Mr James Akpofure, the group said, “it has noted with utter dismay, the attempt by the President, to turn the country into a one-party state

just a few days after he took office,” and accused Tinubu of trying to “corruptly compromise the NASS members with a view to erasing opposition in the country.”

The group argued that even though the president could invite anyone across party lines to a meeting, it can only be justified after the NASS members had taken oath of office.

“The president is trying to lead the executive and the legislature at the same time,

NGF Chair Lauds Tinubu for Appointing Gbajabiamila, Akume

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin.

Kwara State Governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has lauded President Ahmed Bola Tinubu over the appointments of the House of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila and former governor of Benue State, George Akume on their appointments as Chief of Staff (CoS) and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) respectively.

In a statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Rafiu Ajakaye, he said both men came

well-recommended for their new jobs, given their experiences as excellent legislators, administrators, and patriots, who had proven records of being outstanding in their previous outings.

AbdulRazaq said he looked forward to working harmoniously with the two leaders in his role as Governor of Kwara State and NGF chairman.

“We are confident that these appointments offer another window for you to serve our fatherland in unique ways, and we pray to God Almighty to give you good health and guide you and Mr. President always,” the statement added.

which is outside his powers,” it said, noting that it was particularly wrong for the president to invite opposition

legislators especially PDP members to meetings, when the party was already in court challenging his emergence as

president.”

The group went further to ask PDP NASS members-elect to boycott such meetings, which

they claimed was against the position of their party and against the spirit of democratic governance.

Tinubu's Plan to Include Opposition Parties in Government Splits LP

Emameh Gabriel in Abuja

As President Bola Tinubu prepares to announce members of his cabinet in a few weeks from now, the leadership of the Labour Party has been divided over the president's plan to appoint some members of the opposition camp into his government.

THISDAY gathered that the president has reserved key positions for the three main opposition parties: the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party (LP) and the Rabiu Kwankwaso-led New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) for appointments to give them and their supporters sense of belonging and to fulfill his promises of inclusiveness.

But in what seemed to be a fresh battle for the soul of the Labour Party, both factions had taken their positions on the

Buni: Tinubu’s Govt is Meeting Point of Executive, Legislature

Michael Olugbode in Damaturu

The Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, has described the Tinubu administration as a meeting point of the executive and legislative arms of government that could fast track development.

Buni said the executive and legislative backgrounds of the President and his deputy, the Chief of Staff and, Secretary to the Federal Government, gave room for a smooth relationship between the executive and legislative arms of government.

In statement by his spokesman, Mamman Mohammed, he said,

“The President, Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima and the SGF, George Akume were former Governors and Senators, while the newly appointed Chief of Staff, Hon. Femi Gbajbiamila is the outgoing Speaker of the House of Representatives, making it a unique team.

"Their excellent backgrounds in the executive and legislative arms give them advantage to partner the National Assembly to execute government policies and programmes without or with less confrontation.

"Their backgrounds in public offices has no doubt prepared them for the task of delivering

dividends of democracy to Nigerians with ease. I congratulate the President for making the right choice, and the new appointees, the COS and SGF, for the opportunity given to them to serve the country," he said.

Buni assured the new federal government of the support and cooperation of the government and people of Yobe State, adding that, there was no time to waste, even as he solicited the cooperation of stakeholders and all Nigerians to support the new administration for a successful take-off to meet the needs and expectations of Nigerians.

possibility to accept Tinubu's hands of fellowship.

Speaking with THISDAY at the weekend, the National Publicity Secretary of the Julius Abure ledNWC of Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, said accepting Tinubu's hand of fellowship would only amount to ceding the party's mandate, which is currently being currently challenged in the court.

Obiora, while declaring that no member of the OBIdient family would accept an offer he described as Greek Gift, said Tinubu's ideals were opposite of what Peter Obi and the Labour Party stood for.

"No! No member of the OBIdient family or by extension, the Labour Party would want to work with the present government led by Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Why?

Because, we believe that we won the election and we are in the court presently to get our mandate back.

"It's not possible for anybody from this side to think of accepting such an offer. Again, the man called Tinubu does not have any agenda for the nation. In his 24 hours into the government, he has literally pushed the people into a tumorous situation. There is crisis everywhere," he said.

But Dr. Abayomi Arabambi, the embattled National Publicity Secretary of the party, said nothing was wrong with the offer made by Tinubu if the intentions were genuine.

Arabambi said even though Labour Party was challenging the outcome of the February 25 presidential election in the

court, the peace and unity of the country was sacrosanct and must be guarded by every means possible.

"The winner-takes-all mentality among the political class has contributed largely to ethnic and political division witnessed in the country today.

"I will say this time around, no voice should be left unheard. No one should be left behind. No one should be subject to any form of exclusion. For democracy to be sustainable, I believe that it should be all inclusive.

"Democracy is dependent on the participation and representation of all citizens no matter the group they belong to. I am sure this what Tinubu is out to achieve,” he said.

Audit Report: Senate Asks Accountant General to Recover N910bn Short-term Loans from MDAs

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The Senate has asked the Office of Accountant General of the Federation to recover short-term loans it advanced federal ministries, departments and agencies from the Special Funds Accounts totaling N910 billion.

The Senate Public Accounts Committee chaired by Senator Mathew Urhoghide, which scrutinised the 2017 report of the Auditor General for the Federation discovered the anomaly.

The panel after concluding its investigation, submitted its report to the Senate in plenary.

The Committee observed that there was a continuous abuse of the Special Funds by the Executive arm of government as the withdrawals were continually

made for political expediency outside the purpose which the funds were meant for.

Part of the panel’s report read, "There is continuous abuse of the Special Funds by Executive as the withdrawals are continually made for political expediency outside the purpose which the funds were meant."

The Senate therefore ordered that all outstanding loans should be recovered by the Accountant General of the Federation and evidence of recovery presented to the Auditor General and Senate Public Accounts Committee within 60 days.

According to the AuGF query, loans and debts arising from Special Funds Accounts totaling N910,039,557,742 showed that the balances remained unpaid throughout the year even they were meant to be short term.

However, the Office of the Accountant General in its response claimed that several letters have been written to the Honorable Minister of Finance to authorise the settlement of the loans granted against allocations of various MDAs affected.

The AGF office added that it had requested the Honorable to include the loans repayment in 2017 budget.

Meanwhile, the Senate has directed the Executive Chairman of Imo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) to account paid to companies that were not financially capable contrary to requirement of extant rules

The Chairman of the board failed to appear before the Committee to defend the allegation of payment without due process.

BRIDGE CLINIC WELCOME FORUM...

L-R; Fertility Nurse, Bridge Clinic, Emmanuella Ordiah; Business Development Specialist, Augustina Akintolu; Senior Fertility Doctor, Dr. Ayo Olayinka; Client Experience Officer, Ngozi Igboalisi and Brand and Marketing Specialist, Suzanne Ojeifo-Idris at the concluded Bridge Clinic Welcome Forum, Themed: Unable

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Fashola: Apogbon, Ijora Bridge Ready First Week in July

Former Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, yesterday, hinted that the Apogbon and Ijora Bridge rehabilitation would be open to the public for use by the first week of July, while the Ijora causeway rehabilitation would be ready too by

July ending.

The federal government had recently undertaken repair works on the Ijora bridge, which stretched to Apogbon after a fire incident, which emanated from the market underneath compromised the health of the bridge,

and forced a closure in public’s interest. In another breath, the government had also shut down movement in and out of the Ijora causeway, owing to a failed deck-on-pile bridge, that was traced to vandalism. However, hinting THISDAY on the

work progress so far, Fashola said work had advanced significantly on the Apogbon and Ijora bridge, and would be open for public use by the first week of next month, quoting contractors working on the project. According to the minister, the

Apogbon end of the bridge was ready at the time of filing this report, but was being delayed by the Ijora axis of it, which is why the completion would not exceed the first week in July as guaranteed by the contractors. In the same vein, the former Lagos

NLC ABSENT AS FG, TUC AGREE ON WAGE INCREASE TO CUSHION EFFECTS OF SUBSIDY REMOVAL

"Now, most important and top priority on the list, which the government is also looking at very seriously and the president has announced before, is the issue of the minimum wage, which the labour movement has demanded is the consequential impact of this removal of subsidy.

"So, government is to look at that and Mr. President is most likely going to constitute a tripartite committee that is a committee of federal government, including the states, and then the organised labour and the private sector.

"Now, this is a tripartite arrangement, it will be a committee that will study all the dynamics of a wage increase in percentages, the numbers and the categories that will be affected. So by Tuesday, when we come back to reconvene to meet with the TUC again, we should have very concrete items to present to the world. But the most important thing for today is that we are making appreciable progress with labour.”

Asked what the TUC demands were, Alake said, "It is a list, but we are not going to be listing all of them now.

The most important is the minimum wage, that is increase of minimum wage. Because, when this thing is removed, the argument of labour is that there is an immediate impact on the workers, on the purchasing power because price of fuel has gone up.

"So, that will necessarily reduce the purchasing power of the average worker. The next thing of immediate consequence is to increase the purchasing power of the worker. That, to me and to all of us on this side, is the top most priority on the list. There are other things, like the tax holidays, which some categories of workers will be beneficiaries. But the most important is the minimum wage.”

On whether the team was also negotiating with NLC, Alake said, "No, we are not, but we are making efforts to reach the NLC. We all agreed that we are going to meet here, but again, in this game there are dynamics. Sometimes, they could be meeting with their own executives and not able to meet with us, or they could want to postpone or they have not actually

articulated their list of demands as the TUC.

“But we cannot second guess why they are not here. But efforts are being made to reach them, we are not isolating them at all.”

Asked if the meeting discussed the claim that NLC was working for the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) in the just concluded elections, Peter Obi, Alake declared, "No, not at all. It has no relevance to the discussion on the concrete terms of the welfare of the workers. Our discussion was majorly on the welfare of workers, how to cushion the impact of this subsidy removal on workers that’s all. Not on any political partisanship."

Speaking to reporters, also, President of TUC, Festus Osifo, said his team attended the meeting as directed by the union's National Executive Council (NEC). Osifo said his team had submitted their list of demands to the government and would be expecting a feedback by next Tuesday.

Asked if his union was satisfied with the discussion so far, Osifo said, "Yes, we have presented the list of our demands to them and they received it in good faith, that they will go back to their principal and come back to us on Tuesday.

"So we’re hopeful that the demands that we have presented will be reviewed in the best interest of Nigerian workers and the entire Nigerian masses."

On what the specific demands of TUC were, he said, "The demands are so long, they are so many, part of it is the demand for a (review) of the minimum wage and we stated that for us, quite apt that the minimum wage today is not a living wage, as we all know. The value of the minimum wage since it was negotiated has plummeted to a very abysmal level, as it is today.

"Because they are going back to Mr. President, we also think that we should also give them that benefit of doubt because the things we presented to them the last time, they did not also reveal it before the press so it is also quite apt for them to go back, maybe when we meet on Tuesday, we can dissect them one after the other and be much more specific."

The federal government's delegation to yesterday's meeting was led by

Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume. Other members of the team were Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele; former Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole; and Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari.

At the meeting, also, were Executive Secretary of the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Zacch Adedeji; Executive Vice President, Downstream, of NNPC, Yemi Adetunji; and Hon James Faleke, among others.

The seven-man TUC team was led by Osifo.

NNPC Lacks Power to Fix Price of Petroleum Products, Says NLC

Ajaero said federal government lied in its declaration that there was no appropriation for subsidy beyond May. He insisted that records showed that there was provision for subsidy till end of June.

Contrary to the federal government’s position that there was no provision in the budget 2023 beyond May 29 for subsidy, the labour leader argued that there was a backlog of about 2 .3 trillion, according to NNPC.

The NLC president also argued that NNPC lacked the constitutional power to fix price in a competitive market, like Nigeria.

Ajaero stated, "Now if he is saying that there is no appropriation for subsidy, then fine and good. We can take it from there and we have to discuss it. No appropriation for subsidy doesn’t mean that the NNPC, a private limited company, will now determine for us the price.

“If they say they have removed subsidy and it should be subject to market forces, then it shouldn’t be for NNPC to determine prices. They don’t have such powers and there is no provision that their board, as a limited liability company, ever met and took such resolution. Such details are not acceptable to the labour movement."

Ajaero added, "By Tuesday night, I held a meeting with Mr. President

and his team. There and then, the NNPC said they were going to bring out figures and prices. And on the spot, I told them, if you do that, we’ll fight back. There’s no basis for you to take that decision before discussion. And they went ahead and did that.

“We decided to boycott the meeting, but people still prevailed. We attended the meeting and asked them to return to status quo to enable us discuss freely. And up till now, they have not done that. So what are we going there to do?"

Ajaero challenged the government to give Nigerians details of the subsidy they had been paying and who and who were paid.

"We had agreed on some alternatives before now. Why are those alternatives not working?" he asked.

Reacting to a question on why labour was not persuaded by various factual arguments put forward by the federal government and the likely impact the newly constructed Dangote refinery would have on the industry, Ajaero said market forces did mean monopoly in a sector.

He said, "How can there be market forces if Dangote is the only person producing? Are we not repeating a private sector monopoly?

“Why is the Port Harcourt refinery not working? Why is Warri refinery not working? Why is Kaduna refinery not working? Unless there are other players in the sector, we can’t be talking of market forces. We can’t be talking of competition in the sector. We can’t have a single market participant in the sector and we are talking of market forces. It doesn’t go that way. Between now and December, if care is not taken, if it is only Dangote that is producing, a litre of oil will be selling for over N1,000. So the argument doesn’t make sense before us."

No Division Within Our Ranks, Says NLC

NLC said all its branches and affiliates across the country were united in the struggle to reverse the unilateral increase in pump price of petrol.

A statement by NLC’s Head of Information and Public Affairs, Mr.

Benson Upah, described the insinuation that the congress might have split over the planned nationwide strike on Wednesday "as laughable and desperate attempt by enemies of the people to polarise Nigeria Labour Congress along ethnic or regional lines on an issue with a national spread”.

Upah added, "Happily, this scenario only plays in their imagination, as Nigeria Labour Congress continues to be the biggest pan-Nigerian organisation united by a common vision/mission and shared national values."

NLC said regarding the looming strike action, "We want to assure that all the affiliate unions of the congress stand together with an unshakeable resolve to prosecute, come Wednesday, except the NNPC and government do the needful.

"Whereas, primordial sentiments, such as religion, region or ethnicity, may be refuge for some, at the Nigeria Labour Congress, they have no place.

"What counts for us are issues, such as the mindless and criminal increase in the pump price of PMS, whose burden will be borne by the already impoverished communities of the poor across Nigeria.

"The burden of this malevolent policy will not be borne by other segments of the country to the exclusion of the North or South-west. Thus, there is no reason for these regions to back out of the strike."

Electricity Workers Threaten to Join Planned Nationwide Strike

NUEE directed its members to withdraw their services nationwide from Wednesday, over the sudden removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government.

The union, in a strike notice issued yesterday by its acting General Secretary, Dominic Igwebike, urged its members to comply with the directive from NLC to stop work from the early hours of Wednesday.

In the letter, NUEE said its decision was in response to the NLC emergency national executive council (NEC) meeting held last Friday, in Abuja, over the removal of fuel

State governor, disclosed further that the construction on the Ijora causeway, would stretch a little further into July, but would be ready too, all things being equal, by the end of July, adding that work was ongoing and at a commendable speed.

subsidy by government

The letter said, "To this effect, all national, state and chapter executives are requested to start the mobilisation of our members in total compliance with this directive.

“Please, note that withdrawal of services nationwide commences from 0.00 hours of Wednesday, June 7, 2023.

“You are encouraged to work with the leadership of State Executive Councils (SEC) of the congress in your various states with a view to having a successful action.”

PDP Urges Tinubu to Engage Labour

PDP, yesterday, called on the federal government to engage the organised labour in finding solutions to the removal of fuel subsidy.

The party stated that there were no adequate consultations before the decision was taken.

In a communiqué at the end of the party’s retreat in Bauchi, which was signed by its National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Damagum, PDP noted, “The retreat expressed concerns over the quick removal of the petroleum subsidy and the lack of adequate consultation.”

It urged the federal government to engage in genuine dialogue with organised labour and other stakeholders to reach fair and reasonable solution.

On party unity, the PDP communiqué stated, "There was an emphasis on fostering unity both within the party and across the nation. The members agreed on the need for constant engagement and focus on issues concerning the welfare, stability, economy, and security of Nigeria.”

The retreat featured discussions around good governance, democratic accountability, the party's role in opposition, the recent removal of petroleum subsidy, prevalent poverty, the decline in the quality of life of Nigerians, on-going postelection judicial processes, and the necessity of returning Nigeria to proper constitutional governance.

L-R: Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde; his deputy, Barr Bayo Lawal and his wife, Ajibola Lawal, during the thanksgiving service to start the second term in office, held at Cathedral of St. Peter, Aremo, Ibadan.

GLOVO MEDIA LAUNCH…

L-R: Government Relations Manager, Glovo Sub-Saharan Africa, Tokunbo Ibrahim; Chief Executive Officer and Co- Founder, Glovo, Mr. Oscar Pierre; Head of Quick- Commerce, Glovo, Lamide Akinola, and General Manager, Glovo Nigeria, Mr. Lorenzo Mayol, during the official ribbon-cutting press briefing in Lagos… recently ETOP UKUTT

Gunmen Kidnap Catholic Priest in Anambra

David-Chyddy Eleke in awka

Suspected gunmen in Anambra State have kidnapped a priest of Nnewi Catholic Diocese, Rev Fr Stanislaus Mbamara.

The young priest was kidnapped last Friday evening while driving from Awka, the state capital, to Nnewi, where he serves.

The Catholic Diocese of Nnewi, which disclosed this through a statement, called for prayers for the priest, expressing hope that he would come out safe.

In a statement issued by the diocese, which was signed by the Chancellor, Fr. Raphael Ezeogu, the diocese said the priest was also a student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, which may

Oyo Names New Chairman for Parks Management System

Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan

The Oyo State government, yesterday, named Alhaji Tomiwa Omolewa, as chairman of the Management Committee for the Park Management System (PMS), while Alhaji Kasali Ajisafe Lawal will serve as the Secretary.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde, Mr. Sulaimon Olanrewaju, said the government had also ordered the reopening of the parks which had been under lock and key

have been the explanation to his returning to Nnewi after the week’s lecture.

Ezeogu said: “Our priest, Rev. Fr. Stanislaus Mbamara, a student of Nnamdi Azikiwe

University, was kidnapped last Friday evening on his way from Awka to Nnewi.

“Let’s storm heaven with humble and insistent prayers for his quick release in sound

health of mind and body. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the help of Christians pray with and for us.”

The diocese has not stated if the kidnappers contacted it nor

were details of his kidnap made known.

Also, he state Police Command was yet to react to the kidnap of the priest at the time of filing this report.

Bayelsa Community Protests Killing of Youth by Military Engaged by Conoil

following the dissolution of the PMS Disciplinary Committee led by Alhaji Mukaila Lamidi (aka Auxiliary).

He said the new management team led by Omolewa, comprises members from all the major factions in the transport union. The state government, had, in a bid to optimise available opportunities in the PMS, last Thursday, organised a town hall meeting where stakeholders came up with suggestions on how to improve the system.

NGO Tasks Abiodun on Key Expectations

James Sowole in abeokuta

A non-partisan, non-profit organisation, Ijebu Boys Association, has tasked the Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, on key expectations as he began his second term in office.

The call of the association, was contained in a statement signed by the Publicity Secretary of the sicio-cultural group, Adesola Odusote, in which the governor, was congratulated for promising to build on the foundation that he laid during his first term in office.

Describing Abiodun’s victory at the March 18, 2023

gubernatorial election in the state as ‘well-deserving victory’, the association, said the last four years had seen many parts of Ogun State re-engineered under his leadership.

The association said the people’s belief in the leadership of Abiodun made the electorate to have once again reposed their confidence in his ability to govern them for another four years.

The association described Abiodun’s victory at the keenly contested election as “victory for all of us, and with our prayers, and moral support, you shall deliver on your electoral promises, which have become your bond.”

Oborevwori Names Old LagosAsaba Road after Okowa

Omon-Julius Onabu in asaba

Delta State Governor, Hon Sheriff Oborevwori, has described former governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, as a true man of the people who exhibited genuine commitment to the business of governance and left behind worthy legacies for the people to cherish.

Oborevwori also gave approval for naming of the Old Lagos-Asaba Road cutting across Ika North-East and Ika

South local government areas after Okowa.

Oborevwori said that the fact that Dr Okowa could be treated to a heroic reception by his own kit-and-kin bore eloquent testimony to the perception and apprection of his impactful leadership in the last night years he was in the saddle as Delta State Governor, saying some leaders could hardly face their own people on exiting public office.

Olusegun Samuel Aggrieved indigenes of Sangana community in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State weekend staged a protest against the Conoil Company over inability to perform their corporate social responsibility and complicity in the military killing of a youth in the area.

The angry elders, youths, and

women, dressed in black and placards with inscriptions “We are tired of Conoil oppression”, “stop killing us, stop the shooting,” “Why kill an innocent youth,” “Ikiowori Benson is dead”; why now, 25 years of operation in Sangana and nothing to amount for, “demanded the operators of the oil company to come and address the lingering issues with stakeholders of the area or vacate

the area.

The protest, which is coming days after an indigene of the community was reportedly shot dead by the military attached to the oil facility, while several injured with two others declared missing.

Speaking with newsmen, the immediate past IYC Chairman, Sangana clan, Otonbara Sigimo, said they were all out to express their anger over the ill treatment

by Conoil multi-national company, adding that the negligence by the company can’t be overlooked anymore.

He stated that several years after the signing of series of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)s, owner and management of the Conoil have failed to abide by any provisions agreed upon, noting that they have no option than to let them go.

Nasarawa Speakership: Group Alleges Plans to Disrupt Election

Igbawase Ukumba in Lafia

A group, Nasarawa State Coalition, yesterday alleged plans to use security personnel to disrupt the forthcoming speakership election of the state House of Assembly.

The Chairman of the coalition, James Allu, made the allegations at a press briefing in

Lafia yesterday, recalling that the planned use of security personnel to disrupt the election would be another attempt to grossly violate the democratic process. He stated further that the planned disruption was to undermine the will of the people to be expressed through their elected members of the state

Assembly who were planning to conduct their internal affairs elections of who becomes the next Speaker of the state Assembly.

Allu said: “We call on the international community to join us in condemning the undemocratic actions of the Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, and his APC

cohort.

“We urge the Nigerian Government to call the governor, whose actions are capable of breaching the peace of this state to order, and to order an investigation that will ensure that those responsible for any act of electoral malpractice and distortion of the legislative processes are held accountable.”

Olisa Metuh Urges South-east NLC to Ignore Planned Strike

Former spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olisa Metuh, yesterday appealed to the South-east chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) to pull out of the proposed strike following the announcement of the removal of petroleum removal by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

In an open letter made available

to the media, Metuh said the NLC should see beyond the immediate difficulties and consider the larger benefit of ending the corrupt subsidy regime which has benefited the rich against the poor and ordinary Nigerians.

He said: “Without necessarily agreeing with the seeming sudden nature of the subsidy removal,

I urge the South-east chapter of the NLC to see beyond the immediate difficulties and consider the larger benefit of ending the corrupt subsidy regime which has benefited the rich against the poor and ordinary Nigerians.

“It important that the people of the South East, including Comrades in the NLC, realise

what is imperative to us and put it beyond any other considerations.

“You will recall that in 2001, then as the Chairman of the South East Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Committee (SERRAC), I worked with the leadership of the South-east NLC in resisting the attempt to work against the increase of fuel price to N40 then.

Hackathon Africa Unveils Initiative to Train Nigerian Students on Blockchain

Kuni Tyessi in abuja

Hackathon Africa, a leading blockchain platform, has unveiled an initiative to train students in Nigerian universities on the use of the technology.

In a statement, the firm said the initiative titled: ‘Campus blockchain bootcamp and hackathon’, is in collaboration

with Africa BIoT Labs and supported by Internet Computer (ICP).

Hackathon Africa added that the programme aims to foster creativity, innovation, and collaboration among young blockchain developers across four selected Nigerian universities. The firm said the programme involves three

phases which will begin with a tour of the selected universities to build awareness.

The second phase involves a virtual training boot camp for the participants, while the last phase is a hybrid event bringing together participants, mentors, industry experts, and investors.

The company said the third phase would also feature a

startup pitch session that will provide an opportunity for the most promising projects to secure grants and funding to further their development.

Speaking on the initiative, the Chief Executive Officer of Hackathon Africa, Adedayo Adebajo, said the programme would empower the students.

FCTA to Develop Bicycle Lanes to Mitigate Climate Change

Olawale Ajimotokan

inabuja

The FCT Administration would support the provision of cycle lanes in the arterial and district infrastructures across Abuja to mitigate climate change and provide comfort for cyclists.

This assurance was given by FCT

Permanent Secretary, Mr. Olusade Adesola, over the weekend while flagging off the 2023 World Bicycle Day, with the theme: “Cycling - A Better Way To Enjoy the City.”

Adesola said that the FCTA would pay attention to the development of the bicycle lanes already captured in the Abuja

master plan in order to reduce emissions and sustain the campaign for climate change. He noted that cycling is a very enjoyable sport that FCT residents would be encouraged to imbibe and use as a mode of transportation within the federal capital city.

“Cycling can be very intensive

as a competitive sport or even for pleasure that you ride to the right and to the left in a very pleasant manner. The benefit of cycling is enormous because it can improve heartbeat, and strengthen the limbs, because of the workout involved. It is a form of exercise that needs to be promoted,” Adesola said.

COURTESY VISIT TO NGX…

L-R: Chairman, International Chamber of Commerce, Nigeria (ICC Nigeria),

Obi Wants Otti to Remain Focused, Work to Uplift Abia Masses

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in umuahia

The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Mr. Peter Obi, has advised the governor of Abia State, Mr. Alex Otti to remain focused and keep his campaign promises to the people.

He gave the wise counsel at a thanksgiving service yesterday in Umuahia with the theme, “The Lord Has Done Great Things For Us”. It was organised to offer thanks to the Almighty God for the

successful 2023 general election and Otti’s Inauguration as the fifth executive governor of God’s own state.

Obi reminded Otti, who is the only governor on LP’s platform, that his victory was made possible only by the grace of God, hence he should not abuse the privilege to serve Abia.

He therefore, urged the new Abia governor to work for the masses and always endeavour to carry along the Abia poor and the down trodden in his policies and programmes.

The LP leader specifically

Mohammed, Fubara Emerge PDP Govs’ Forum Chair, Deputy

The Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed and his Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, have emerged the chairman and vice-chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum. This was contained in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media to the According to Onyedi, the duo leaders were announced the chairman and vice chairman of the forum alongside other elected officials on Saturday at the end of the party’s retreat in Bauchi.

Adamawa State Governor,

Ahmadu Fintiri, announced the results at the end of the retreat.

In his acceptance speech, Governor Mohammed said he would work in synergy with Governor Fubara to give leadership to the forum with the support of their colleagues.

Fubara led National Assembly members-elect from the state to the one-day retreat that had 10 PDP governors in attendance while three were represented by their deputies.

In his acceptance speech, Mohammed said he would work in synergy with Fubara to give leadership to the forum with the support of their colleagues.

Anambra APC Senatorial Candidate Congratulates Tinubu, Shettima

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Senatorial candidate for Anambra Central in the last election, Dr. Kodilichukwu Okelekwe, has congratulated President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima as they took over the leadership of Nigeria following their inauguration last Monday.

In a statement, Okelekwe said the new pedestal of Tinubu and Shettima represents an enviable achievement and a testament to their hard work, determination, dedication and strong passion for service for Nigeria, adding that this is the reward for their unquestionable commitment to the development, growth and advancement of our nation.

According to him, their victory signals a show of uncommon goodwill from millions of our citizens who

share and support your vision for the future greatness of our dear country.

He also noted that their swearing in lights up hope in the hearts of millions of our countrymen who yearn for a brighter tomorrow and the realisation of the full potentials of this nation.

Okelekwe said: “Your journey to this point has been long and arduous, but you have shown consistency, steadfastness, resilience as well as unflinching commitment to bringing change and greatness to our country. This day represents a reward for your hard work, leadership, dedication, wonderful vision and planning, and above all, the decision of our countrymen to entrust you with the onerous responsibilities of reshaping the destiny of our country.

stated that pensioners, civil servants and others should feel the positive impact of governance having suffered immensely under the outgone administration.

While regretting that Nigeria’s leadership is still in the hands of the wrong people, Obi called for sustained prayer by all for a better Nigeria. In his address, Governor Otti

said that Abians should expect better days ahead, assuring them that he was already working with every determination to make the state better and give it a pride of place in Nigeria.

He assured them that time has come for Ndi Abia to rejoice as his administration will lift the poor Abia masses out of poverty through well tailored and targeted programmes.

Bello Warns against Political Violence in Kogi

Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja

The Kogi State Governor, Mr. Yahaya Bello, has reiterated the commitment of his administration to upholding a united Kogi State. Bello also warned politicians that his administration would not condoned any act of political violence and politics of bitterness because the state is bigger than

Sanwo-Olu:

Segun James

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, yesterday, reassured residents that his second term would focus more on allinclusive governance, adding that his commitment to ensuring that no one is left behind in the governance structure remains.

anyone’s personal interest.

The governor gave this warning shortly after the ruling APC unveiled the former State Chairman of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Mr. Salifu Joel, as his running mate to the standard bearer of the party, Mr. Ododo Ahmed Usman, in Lokoja. He explained that politics of ethnicity and religion would

never be a barrier and has no place in Kogi State.

“I am cautioning those from far and near that Kogi is bigger than any politician and as such should desist from any comments that can put you in trouble tomorrow.

“As a ruling party, our doors are wide opened to whoever wants to come to the APC’s fold and contribute positively to the

development of the state,” he said. He said that the party would follow and abide by all the existing electoral laws to win the election, noting that his administration has performed creditably well in the areas of provision of infrastructure, quality education, health among others to seek votes from the electorates in the state.

We’ll focus on Inclusive Governance

The governor spoke at his second term inauguration thanksgiving service in Lagos.

The thanksgiving service, which was held simultaneously in all the five divisions of Lagos State - Ikorodu, Badagry, Ikeja, Lagos Island, and Epe marked the end of activities to celebrate the Governor and his deputy’s

second term inauguration.

Governor Sanwo-Olu said the thanksgiving service was important to acknowledge God’s help to individuals, Lagos State and Nigeria, as well as committing the second term of his administration into God’s hand.

He said: “We started by

thanking God on Friday at our various divisional mosques and today we are here at church to continue to acknowledge the Almighty God who has helped us as a state and nation. We also want to commit the beginning of our second tenure to ask God for directions and to put everything in front of Almighty God.

Varsity Don Lists Banes of Nigeria’s Federal System

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

A Professor of Comparative Constitutional Law and Governance, Edoba Bright Omoregie, has advocated an urgent correction to the anomalies in the Nigeria’s federal system in order to avoid the looming “violent disintegration.”

He warned that if the country

continues to witness the kind of resistance to federalism reforms as experienced particularly in the last few years, the risk of disintegration may escalate. Omoregie, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said this while delivering the University of Benin Inaugural Lecture titled: ‘Nigeria’s Federal System in a Quandary: The Whys and Hows to fix it,’ at the weekend.

The guest lecturer who identified the principle of power sharing; incoherent system of federal solidarity and non-obligation to provide minimum standard of living for citizens, etc, as major banes of Nigeria’s federal system, said the, “adoption in the quest for federalism reforms in Nigeria would be realises if the current imbalance in the distribution

powers be reversed.”

“We must do everything possible to avoid the looming violent disintegration, because we are heading towards that direction. The sign of possible disintegration is glaring. This is happening in Ethiopia and other countries. So, we need to fix our faulty federal system to avoid violent disintegration,” the don added.

IPOB Blames Soludo’s Commissioner for Insecurity in Anambra, Seeks His Arrest

David-Chyddy Eleke in awka

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has reinforced its accusation against theCommissioner for Homeland Security in Anambra State, Mr Chikodili Anara, as being responsible for the insecurity in the state.

The group, a week ago, made the same allegation, saying the commissioner ran a group of armed men, whom they accused of perpetuating insecurity.

Anara had however denied the allegation, saying the group was being sponsored to tarnish his image.

In the latest press release by

IPOB, signed by its spokesperson, Mr Emma Powerful, the group called for the arrest of the commissioner, and listed some Anambra communities in Awka North Local Government Area as the area where Anara harboured armed men, terrorising the indigenes.

“The atrocities happening in

these communities (Awka North) were masterminded by Anambra Homeland Security Commissioner, Chikodili Anara, aka Igbakigba. Anambra State governor must investigate his Homeland Security Commissioner Chikodili Anara’s relationship with some criminals operating at the above named communities and Ogbaru.

‘Kwara Gov’s Second Term ‘ll Advance Infrastructural Devt’

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Kwara State, Mr. AbdulRauf Baba AbdulRazaq, has said that the inauguration of the incumbent Governor of Kwara State, Mr. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, for second term in office would add

more value to the infrastructural development of the state.

In view of this, AbdulRauf advised the people of the state to join hands with the governor to bring new paradigm shift in the efforts to accelerate the socio economic development of the state. He stated this in Ilorin over the

weekend while speaking with journalists on the governance of the state.

The APC stalwart, who is also a brother to the governor, also described him “as God send with the mandate of continuity to serve all Kwarans with improved living standards in healthcare, education, infrastructure,

agriculture and security in Kwara State.”

He said that the “governor’s hardworking spirit, tenaciousness and dedication to the progress of the state has earned him many accolades and honours that has cumulated into his emergence as the chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

Babatunde Savage; Group Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Exchange Group, Oscar Onyema; Secretary General, ICC, John W.H. Denton; Chief Executive Officer, NGX Regulation Limited, Tinuade Awe; and Divisional Head, Capital Markets, NGX, Jude Chiemeka, during a courtesy visit to NGX Group in Lagos…recently

BACKPAGE CONTINUATION

ALL THE FIRST WEEK’S DRAMA

President Bola Tinubu has not cancelled any of them, in contrast, for example, to President Olusegun Obasanjo, who on his ascension on May 29, 1999 cancelled every appointment and contract made by the former military regime from January 1, 1999. In one fell swoop, Obasanjo wiped away half of General Abdulsalami Abubakar’s eleven-month tenure.

In Kano it was not a case of disappeared vehicles or last-minute appointment cancellations that made the headlines, but the weekend demolition of plazas and houses said to have been built on illegally acquired public land. New Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, better known as Gida Gida, waited until Friday evening when the courts had closed for the weekend and no one could obtain a restraining order. He then personally led demolition teams to demolish property at Daula Hotel and other prominent places that the Ganduje administration earlier sold or leased out, allegedly to family members and cronies.

Abba Gida Gida is already the new Mai Rusau [i.e., the demolisher], the popularly-awarded title of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufa’i, who was demolishing alleged illegal buildings right into the final hours of his rule. Now, if Gida Gida had waited until Monday, he probably would never demolish any building because lawyers will rush in with injunctions. Yet, owners of some of the demolished buildings might ultimately win their cases in court, and KNSG could be saddled with huge judgement debts. Former state governor Malam Ibrahim

Shekarau, no fan of Ganduje, has already advised the new governor to make haste slowly and conduct a thorough check of the land award processes first, but Gida Gida swore that the demolitions will continue. Many traders who rented shops from the property developers are caught in the middle, victims of collateral damage.

In Benue State, new Governor Hyacinth Alia merely froze all the state government’s accounts. This was a prudent move. In the past, there were allegations that a departing government issued many post-dated cheques that were cashed into the new government’s tenure. Alia’s inheritance is one of the least appealing in the country, with many months’ backlog of salaries and pensions and a huge debt, but being a reverend father, he is going about things rather quietly. Alia is Benue State’s second priestly governor in 30 years, after the late Father Moses Adasu. Alia’s predecessor had a bumpy tenure in the hands of the late Godwin Daboh, and this is hoping that Alia will have a much easier time.

But of course, the top defining issue of last week was the end to petrol subsidy, dramatically announced by President Bola Tinubu in his inaugural speech. It set off an immediate chain reaction, with motorists rushing to petrol stations to buy the last cheap fuel while many marketers responded by closing their stations, hoping to sell at a much higher rate. Within two days, the queues disappeared when NNPC Limited issued a new price template that

SUBNATIONALS: THE BUMPY ROAD AHEAD

in December 2014 – a few months before the outgoing state chiefs took the reins. The amount owed to local and foreign institutions and individuals has ballooned by N2.16 trillion to hit N3.1 trillion at the close of last year. This is a bobby trap number one for the incoming governors. Aside from this debt exposure, most of which we cannot account for their applications, are outstanding salaries, pension and gratuity issues running into few trillions at the subnational level. It is a no-brainer that the road ahead for the new state governors in Nigeria is filled with challenges and opportunities. The many difficulties will require a strategic and focused governor to tackle and overcome these challenges. Unfortunately , very few governors seem prepared with knowledge about their states let alone strategies for developing them as revenue generating and social service centers. It is no time to make excuses about these challenges because the governors knew about them before vying for the office of the governor, and most campaigned on these challenges and have fanciful solutions for them in their campaign communications and manifestos. It is time to walk the talk. These challenges are not insurmountable, but they require these governors to think deeply, out of the box, be creative and be innovative to solve them. It requires a total commitment to serve the people and not tolerate much interference from any overbearing former governor or godfathers.

Accountability to the people and developing people-centric policies and programmes must be the guiding principles of the new governors. Time is transient and waits for no man. Four years may seem a long time, but they should ask their predecessors how their time flew past – those eight years of tenure blew past as if it started yesterday. They must learn from that. The time to plan, execute and evaluate is now, not tomorrow. The governors should adopt bespoke approaches to solving the state's problems and bringing about developments that will positively touch citizens' lives. This is not a time to witch hunt or fight ephemeral battles that will only force governors to lose focus on more important things.

I will articulate some key areas that state governors should focus on to drive development and improve governance. Most Nigerians know these must be done to improve the state; however, the problem is in the desire and ability of the governors to implement these ideas.

Economic diversification is crucial for each state. Many Nigerian states heavily rely on money from the federal government based

on oil revenues, making them vulnerable to fluctuations in global oil prices. State governments should prioritize economic diversification by promoting sectors such as agriculture, solid minerals, manufacturing, tourism, and technology. This will help create jobs, boost revenue generation, and reduce dependence on oil.

State governments must explore innovative ways to generate revenue and reduce dependence on federal allocations. This can be achieved through tax reforms, improving revenue collection systems, exploring publicprivate partnerships, and attracting private investments. Additionally, state governments should adopt fiscal discipline by prudently managing resources, reducing wasteful spending, and implementing adequate budgetary controls.

Infrastructure development lays the foundation for a better quality of living for citizens. Improving infrastructure is crucial for economic growth and social

entailed a 250% petrol price increase. The queues were gone, but the katakata was only just beginning, with the comatose Nigeria Labour Congress [NLC] stirring back to life on the issue that most made it relevant during the military and early civilian administrations. NLC and Trade Union Congress [TUC] have already called a general strike to start from Wednesday. The last time the duo called a general strike to protest fuel price hikes in 2016, it failed woefully, partly because the Buhari regime was still popular and also because the increase was relatively small, about 30%. On the previous occasion in January 2012 when Big Labour called a general strike to protest the Jonathan administration’s attempt to end fuel subsidy, it succeeded beyond Labour’s imagination. NGOs seized the initiative and transformed it into an Occupy Nigeria, the government reversed itself, the NGOs tried to widen the scope of the protest to include new demands, but NLC pulled the rug from under their feet and called off the strike.

Now, for the past two or three years, former president Buhari huffed and puffed about ending the costly fuel subsidy regime. He was in a bind because as veteran opposition leader, he had denied the reality of subsidy, famously saying, “Who is subsidising who?” A year to his tenure’s end, Buhari signed into law the Petroleum Industry Act [PIA] that ended subsidy, but postponed its implementation into the tenure of his successor. Rather than kick the ball further downhill, President Tinubu took up the gauntlet and ended

it even earlier than the envisaged end of June.

Trillions of naira in fuel subsidy, euphemistically called “under recovery” during the Buhari years, has nearly bankrupted the federal treasury, with the former cash-cow NNPC now making zero contributions to the Federation Account. Government’s strident campaign over the years has convinced many Nigerians that the subsidy regime probably has to end, but the steep increase last week, with its reverberating effect on transport fares and all other prices, wiped away those psychological gains. The labour leaders organising this week’s proposed strike however have a problem because all three top candidates in the last presidential election, including the Labour Party candidate they supported, all pledged to end fuel subsidy. I have not seen Peter Obi criticising Tinubu’s move and PDP’s Atiku Abubakar could only say in Bauchi that he would have unrolled palliatives first before ending the subsidy.

President Tinubu too has committed himself to palliative measures. Chances therefore are that the marathon meetings expected early this week between government officials and labour leaders in order to avert a strike will centre around the palliatives, despite labour’s maximum demand for restoration of the subsidy regime. A crash program to revive the moribund petrol refineries will help the case, and if the Dangote refinery will have a positive impact on domestic fuel prices, it is time to tell Nigerians how.

vocational and technical skills. Similarly, healthcare systems need to be strengthened by building more hospitals, improving access to quality healthcare services, and investing in healthcare professionals.

Agriculture is a crucial sector in Nigeria, and state governments should prioritize agricultural development to ensure food security and reduce dependence on food imports. They can support farmers by providing access to credit, modern farming techniques, improved seeds, and irrigation facilities. Additionally, state governments should invest in agro-processing industries to add value to agricultural products and create employment opportunities.

Transparency, accountability, and the fight against corruption are critical for effective governance. Unfortunately , states constitutes the weakest link in this respect . State governments should promote good governance practices, establish anti-corruption agencies, implement public financial management reforms, and encourage citizen participation in decision-making. This will help build trust, enhance service delivery, and attract investments.

Ensuring the safety and security of citizens is paramount for socio- economic development. State governments should work closely with federal security agencies to combat criminal activities. They should invest in equipping and training security personnel, strengthening intelligence gathering, and promoting community policing.

development. State governments should invest in constructing and maintaining roads, bridges, airports (seaports and railways in collaboration with FG), power plants, and telecommunications networks. This will enhance connectivity, attract investors, and facilitate trade and commerce. However, there is no need to embark on white-elephant projects that will have little or no benefit for the state. State governments must complete already started projects by the former governments and build on what is on the ground rather than abandoning old projects to start new projects. We should stop the public eyesores abandoned projects have become in many states.

Improving Education and Healthcare lays the foundation needed for development. Investing in education and healthcare is essential for human capital development. State governments should prioritize improving the quality of education by upgrading school facilities, training teachers, and promoting

Collaboration and synergy among neighbouring states can lead to shared development and enhanced regional competitiveness. State governments should explore opportunities for collaboration and cooperation in areas such as transportation, infrastructure development, security, and economic integration. This can be achieved through regional development commissions, joint projects, and policy harmonization.

Embracing technology and promoting innovation can drive development and improve service delivery. State governments should invest in digital infrastructure, promote e-governance, and encourage technology startups and entrepreneurship. This will enhance efficiency, transparency, and citizen engagement.

Overall, the road ahead for state governments in Nigeria requires strong leadership, effective governance, and a commitment to inclusive and sustainable development. By addressing these key areas, state governments can contribute significantly to the overall progress and prosperity of the country. Governors must roll their sleeves and deliver service .

Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum, AbdulRazaq AbdulRahman

S’Korea Halt Gallant Flying Eagles Campaign in Argentina

Duro Ikhazuagbe

An added time 95th minute goal by South Korea’s Choi Seok-Hyun effectively ended Nigeria’s campaign at the ongoing U20 FIFA World Cup in Argentina last night. The Flying Eagles braved the

U20 WORLD CUP

Koreans, controlling the better part of the game played inside Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades in the City of Santiago Del Estero in Argentina. The Ladan Bosso lads

Naija Super 8: Play-off Finalists to Get N2m Each

Naija Super 8 organisers, Flykite Productions, have announced that the 12 clubs that have qualified for the tournament’s zonal play-offs will be given N2 million each to assist them in their travel and logistic plans.

This was disclosed in a statement issued by the organisers on Friday.

The statement quoted Managing Director of Flykite Productions, Jenkins Alumona, as saying that the N2 million is in fulfilment of the organisers’ promise to subsidise the travel of the participating clubs to Eket, where the play-offs are scheduled to be held from 23-25 June.

Flykite Productions, the statement added, will be responsible for feeding and accommodation of players and officials of every team.

“Each of the 12 clubs participating in the Naija Super 8 zonal play-offs will be given the sum of N2 million as travel and logistic subsidy,”

Alumona stated.

Penultimate Friday, teams for the play-offs were unveiled at a ceremony in Lagos. This followed the release of the results of the fan voting exercise, which was authenticated by Deloitte, the globally-renowned firm of auditors. The voting phase delivered 1, 926, 495.

Two teams with the highest vote tallies in each geo-political zone qualified for the play-offs, where they will play knockout games to determine six qualifiers for the finals. They will be joined by two wildcard entries, determined by the organisers, at the finals scheduled for the Mobolaji Johnson Arena in Lagos from 7-16 July.

Also at the ceremony, mentors for the eventual eight finalists were unveiled. They include exinternationals; Augustine Eguavoen, Mutiu Adepoju, Garba Lawal, Ike Shorunmu, Julius Aghahowa, Tijani Babangida and Victor Ezeji.

Ogba Returns as Ebonyi FA Chairman

Benjamin Nworie in Abakaliki

Senator Obinna Ogba has been re-elected as the Chairman of Ebonyi State Football Association. At the election which held last Friday, Ogba, the Senate Committee Chairman on Sports was re-elected unopposed while Mr Chikaodi Ojemba also emerged unopposed as the vice chairman.

The Chairman of the Electoral Committee, Mr Friday Agbom announced that Ogba won the election with 14 votes.

Senator Ogba in his post election address, thanked the delegates and the board members for returning him to office and pledged to build on his achievements of the past four years.

"Football is my hobby and when one is in charge of an area he has passion for, he will perform creditably,” observed Ogba.

He said the association did not receive any financial assistance from the past adminstration in the state but hopes that the new one would

promote football.

"The association under my leadership has acquired land for the construction of a secretariat which will commence soon.

"We have ensured the state's participation in all editions of the Federation Cup despite unimpressive performances due to paucity of funds.”

He therefore urged the new administration to float football clubs to return the state to its past glory and benefit its talented youths.

"I have attracted a stadium to my hometown Nkalagu which is nearing completion and some sports oriented bills have been accented into law,” he noted.

A Board Member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Otunba Sunday Dele-Ajayi, who monitored the election, thanked everyone who contributed in ensuring a hitch-free exercise took place.

Dele Ajayi noted that Ogba would bring his wealth of experience to bear in promoting football in the state.

however lacked that cutting-edge finishing that would have set them up for another encounter against Italy in the semi final. That however is not to be now.

After the great game they played against host Argentina, Nigerians had raised their expectations from the team.

It was a game between two teams with well-knit defences and it explained how tight this

encounter was that it needed a header by Choi Seok-Hyun in extra-time off a corner to end Nigeria’s run in Argentina last night.

Korea will now face Italy on Thursday in La Plata for a place in the final of the tournament.

Nigeria, Africa’s remaining flag bearers in Argentina, carved out several chances, but they could not put them away.

In the 110th minute, substitute Emmanuel Umeh fired over the bar from the top of the box when it was easier to score.

There were also attempts by captain Daniel Bameyi in the 50th minute and the very impressive Tochukwu Nnadi in the 85th minute but none of these efforts hit the back of the net.

It was a cagey start by both teams with the Flying Eagles

the more adventurous forcing a number of corners.

Early pressure was by the Nigerians with Victor Eletu driving at goal in the 29th minute in a brilliant solo run, but the goalkeeper kept out his shot for a corner.

The Flying Eagles enjoyed 69% of the possession even though the Asians exerted some pressure in the closing moments of the first period.

Adios! BenzemaEnds 14-year Career at Real Madrid with Goal

Karim Benzema marked his final Real Madrid appearance with a goal as they drew their last game of the La Liga season 1-1 at home to Athletic Bilbao.

The 35-year-old, second on the club's all-time record goalscoring list, slotted in from the penalty spot after Eder Militao was fouled in the box.

Real confirmed the end of Benzema's 14-year stayat the Bernabeu on Sunday, before a reported move to Saudi Arabia.

Oihan Sancet had earlier lashed the visitors in front from close range.

Sancet fired home after Thibaut Courtois had kept out his initial attempt, while the Belgium goalkeeper also saved a first-half penalty from

NBC Delights Fans at Lagos

chance

Benzema cut a largely peripheral figure throughout his final game, but his spot-kick - rolled into the middle of the goal - provided a fitting conclusion to a glittering career in Spain which included five Champions Leagues and four La Liga titles.

The France striker was replaced by Luka Modric in the 74th minute, leaving the field to a superb ovation from the home crowd.

Marco Asensio, whose own eight-year spell with Real will come to an end this summer, received a similar reception when he was taken off during stoppage time.

But there was no farewell appearance for former Chelsea forward Eden Hazard,who was an unused substitute prior to his departure on 30 June.

Real Madrid end the season second in the table behind champions Barcelona.

Yacht Club Annual Boat Regatta NWFL Announces Super Six Schedule

Leading consumer packaged goods company and member of the Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (CCHBC), Nigerian Bottling Company Ltd (NBC) recently delighted boat lovers and sailing enthusiasts at the 2023 edition of the Lagos Yacht Club Annual Boat Racing Championship.

This year’s edition marks a decade that the beverage giant has been a dedicated partner and staunch supporter of the boat racing championship, fostering its growth and success.

The event has become synonymous with excellence, attracting widespread attention and participation from individuals across various communities. The annual event also underscores

NBC’s dedication to inspiring individuals and communities to embrace physical activities, fostering a culture of well-being across the nation.

Speaking at the event, Matthieu Seguin, Managing Director of NBC, said, “NBC has been an avid supporter of Youth and Sports development both at the community and national level. As a growth-focused company, part of our commitment is to nurture the health and wellness of our people, communities and the environment. We are dedicated to supporting thrilling sporting events like this, which not only promote an active lifestyle but also unite communities and inspire people to pursue their passions."

“Our sponsorship of this event has ignited a passion for sailing and witnessed a surge in Nigerian participation. Seeing the positive impact of our endeavours on the well-being will of local communities fills us with immense pride.” he added.

The Commodore at Lagos Yacht Club, John Shidiak,also commended the management of Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Ltd., for their continuous support over the past decade. He said: ‘’The Nigerian Bottling Company has been a long-standing partner and an advocate for this competition. We firmly believe this collaboration will play a significant role in inspiring Nigerians to embrace boat racing as a vibrant way of life.’

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The Nigeria Women's Football League (NWFL) has revealed the schedule of the Super Six playoff round due to begin tomorrow in Asaba, Delta State.

A statement signed by NWFL Chief Operating Officer, Modupe Shabi said the Super Six round of games will spread over matchdays with one match from each group (Group A & B) expected to be played on each matchday. She said the participating clubs are expected to arrive today for the draw and pre-match meeting to hold the same day from 4:00 p.m. The tournament would begin

tomorrow with matchday One and end with the third-place match and final on Sunday.

The six participating clubs include Delta Queens, Rivers Angels, title holders Bayelsa Queens, Confluence Queens, Robo Queens and Edo Queens. Fourteen clubs participated in this year’s regular season, which kicked off on December 1, 2022 and ended on April 21, 2023.

The teams were split into two groups of seven teams, with the top three from each pool qualifying for the final tournament.

In Group A, Edo Queens finished as group winners with 25 points from 12 matches, followed by Robo Queens in second with 22 points

and Confluence Queens in third with 21 points.

Delta Queens claimed the top spot in Group B, with 26 points, just one ahead of title holders Bayelsa Queens while Rivers Angels finished third with 20 points from 12 games

The 2023 NWFL Premiership Super 6 champions will represent the country at the 2023 WAFU-B Women’s Champions League qualifiers in August when they will be eyeing a spot in the finals. Bayelsa Queens are the defending champions with a perfect feat in 2022, amassing 15 points from wins over Nasarawa Amazons, Rivers Angels, Delta Queens, Edo Queens, and Naija Ratels.

Choi Seok-Hyun (right) scored the lone winning goal as South Korea knocked out Nigeria’s Flying Eagles from reaching the semi final stage of the ongoing FIFA U20 World Cup in Argentina last nightu

Karim Benzema...end of an era at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu

Mikel Vesga following Toni Kroos' handball. Rodrygo wasted Real's best

to win the game late on, diverting Vinicius Jr's low cross over the bar from inside the six-yard box.

MISSILE

Kwamkur to El-Rufai

“Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has exhibited blatant misuse of the trust that Godgavehimandconfirmedthatheisanextremistwhohaslargely contributedtothepainsoftheverypeoplehetookanoathtoprotect intheguiseofworkingforhisreligion.” –APCchieftainin PlateauState,SamuelKwamkur,cautioningformerGovernorEl-Rufai nottosetNigeriaonfirewithhisutterances.

MAHMUD

VIEW FROM THE GALLERY

JEGA

28

All The First Week’s Drama

In a week in which a Federal administration was inaugurated, ten state governors began their second terms in office and eighteen new administrations were inaugurated in the states, six of them involving a hostile take-over by opposition parties, chaos and high drama were always expected in Nigeria. In addition, some of the eight states that have been relatively tranquil during the general election season because they have off-season governorship elections are now beginning to stir, with some of their own elections around the corner.

Probably the most startling allegation last week was made by the new Governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal, that his predecessor Bello Mutawalle went away with seventeen exotic vehicles worth N1.2 billion that his administration bought. Lawal’s government unloaded all the documents pertaining to the purchase, including the vehicles’ make, the contractor, the approval papers and the vouchers. Not only the vehicles, but other government property including TV sets and fridges were also said to have been carted away by the departing officials.

Zamfara State gov, Dauda Lawal

What are we to make of this? I don’t expect a governor to stoop so low as to yank a TV set off the shelf. I recall the occasion in January 1992 when the

new civilian administration in Jigawa State accused the departing military administration of carting away everything including utensils, plates and carpets.

As it turned out, it was the Government House staff, including security guards, that looted such things after the governor had departed. In the olden days of military coups in Nigeria, soldiers had a tradition, that anyone whose name was so much as mentioned as a coup suspect, his entire belongings were available to be looted.

The same thing that happened in Jigawa may have happened in Zamfara, especially when a hostile administration was taking over and the outgoing governor departed post-haste for Egypt. Except for the vehicles. While house maids, drivers and security guards could loot TV sets and mattresses, they could not possibly take away exotic vehicles without the highest-level collusion. Where will a gardener go with a bullet-proof Lexus jeep? Given that bandits are still on the prowl in many parts of Zamfara State, Governor Lawal needs those bullet-proof jeeps in order to tour his state.

In nearby Sokoto State, new Governor Ahmed Aliyu swiftly cancelled the appointments of nearly 40 permanent

DAKUKU PETERSIDE

GUEST COLUMNIST

secretaries and director generals that former governor Aminu Tambuwal made in the closing days of his regime. Also suspended were 15 traditional rulers and senior Sultanate councillors that were appointed and turbaned five days before Tambuwal’s tenure ended. Knowing that a hostile opposition government was about to take over, it was quite a surprise that so many senior civil servants and traditional rulers accepted their appointments from the departing government. It was all but certain that those appointments will be cancelled, and at least one female director general rejected her posting, saying she waited four years without posting and would not accept the last-minute one. Also reversed by Aliyu was the renaming of tertiary institutions in the state; Tambuwal had eight years to change those names but waited until hours to his departure. Things are a little bit easier when a friendly government of the same political party is taking over. I said a little bit, because tenure security of all last-minute appointments is uncertain. At the federal level, the departing President Buhari also made many last-minute appointments.

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Subnationals: The Bumpy Road Ahead

Last week I listened to or read the speech of at least a dozen newly elected governors, and I must confess they were full of hazard warning signs ahead. Citizens have only one option - brace up before going on a roller coaster ride at the sub-national level worse than they experienced in the last eight years. I estimate that about 80% of the inauguration speeches of the dozen newly elected state governors I listened to were uninspiring, and none captured the changing demographics of the states, how to harness new technologies, potential impacts of new federal legislation, prevailing and persistent challenges faced by the people, innovativeness and original thinking that should define the road ahead for sub-national governments at this time.

Apart from a few that dealt with anything meaningful, most new governors spent half of the time praising their predecessors, who at best had disgraceful legacies , with a commitment to continue the same purposeless and rudderless path. Worse still, they did

not bother addressing some of the states' most pressing challenges. I will list a few common to most states - high debt profile, too many unviable and uncompleted projects, low internally generated revenue, poorly equipped and demotivated civil service, humongous outstanding salary commitments, challenging security situation and the dearth of social services.

The commitment of loyalty expressed to their predecessors and not the state is a new development peculiar to our democracy. It may be traced to the absolute power conferred on them by the 1999 constitution, and as far back as 2004, the Financial Times of London identified the overbearing influence of Governors as the root of poor governance at the subnational levels. Governors, who are chief executives at the subnational level, act as emperors. They quickly appropriate the state legislature, and the judiciary is often at their mercy. In practice, they have made the legislative arm an extension of various state government houses. These subnational strongmen rule without checks

and balances, no transparency , and no accountability, as they are above the law and enjoy endless immunity. The democratic checks and balances in our constitution are stronger at the federal than the state level . This lax has allowed governors to operate like lawless brigands.

A typical pattern in 2023 is that of the 18 newly elected Governors, as many as 11 or 12 of them were selected and sponsored by outgoing governors. Selecting, not electing, and sponsoring preferred candidates to become governors may not be the worst offence against the people, but the quality of governors and governance keep depreciating. Institutions of democracy are also weakened or captured, and accountability to the people disappears in favour of "accountability" to the new godfathers – former governors. The phenomenon of state capture by outgone and former governors is present and real and constitutes a danger to the development and aspiration of the people. The new godfathers will definitely become virtual remote-control emperors of the state.

The challenge before us now, with new godfathers in town and new governors who owe them loyalty plus an assembly of handpicked Oh- yes-men, is how do we hold our new governors accountable? How do we ensure budgets are made for the people, not the new godfathers? How do we guarantee that citizens enjoy services rather than state governments serving outgone governors and new godfathers? This is a new phase in our nascent democratic journey, and it is a challenge worth giving attention to if you go by fiscal development in our various states.

A report by the Guardian newspaper of 17 April 2023 shows that of the 18 governors that have completed their constitutionally allowed two tenures plus Bello Matawalle of Zamfara, who could not secure re- election, will pass on a whopping over N3.2 trillion debt to the new state handlers. Overall, the affected 18 sub-national entities' debts rose 232 per cent, from N947.4 billion outstanding

Continued on page 46