Many of the federal housing estates built by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari to bridge the country’s housing deficit are unoccupied and rotting away across states, investigations by Daily Trust on Sunday have revealed.

This is just as many civil servants are lamenting that the cost of the houses are unaffordable.

Successive governments in the country had pledged to provide affordable housing for low-income earners.

The contracts for the construction of different categories of housing units were awarded in 2016 to 542 contractors for a sum of N27.488 million per unit.

Of the 6,022 housing units billed for construction in 46 sites across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), 2,864 are said to have been completed; while others are at various stages of completion.

While performing the groundbreaking ceremony of the civil servants housing estate in Apo Extension, Abuja, under the Federal Integrated Staff Housing (FISH) programme, Buhari had promised to build 5,000 houses yearly in each state for public workers for three years.

These included one, two and three-bedroom bungalows in states in the North- East, North-West and North-Central; blocks of 16 and 24 flats (condominiums) of one, two and three-bedrooms and bungalows in the South-South, South- East and South-West and the FCT.

Earlier this year, the ministry said it had audited the NHP, reviewed the allocation process and retained the prices fixed by the immediate past administration.

The fixed prices are N7.22 million for a one bedroom unit in a condominium block; N9.268 million for a one bedroom unit in a semi-detached bungalow; N9.148 million for a two bedroom unit in a condominium block; N12.398 million for a two bedroom semi-detached bungalow (type A); N10.833 million for a two bedroom semi-detached bungalow (type B); N13.246 million for a three bedroom unit in a condominium block and N16.491 million for a three bedroom unit in a semi-detached bungalow.

However, findings by our correspondents showed that many of the houses that were completed are still unoccupied as civil servants and low income earners, expected to benefit from the project, decried that the costs were beyond their reach.

Kwara

Many of the structures of the NHP’s estate, which was commissioned in 2022 by the then Minister of Iinformation and Culture, Lai Mohammed, are unoccupied. The estate consists of 48 units of two-bedroomd, 20 units of three-bedrooms; four units of one-bedroom and four units of three-bedrooms.

A resident, who simply identified himself as Mr Bunyamin, said: “They are just rotting away in the midst of lack of accommodation for many Nigerians due to the high price. A two-bedrooms flat is being sold for N12.5 million, N25 million for four-bedrooms, N16.5 million for three-bedrooms and N9.5 million for one-bedroom.”

Similarly, another resident in the estate, Mr Asare Max, said the cost of the houses was too exorbitant for low-income workers.

He said since the buildings were completed in 2017, they were painted more than five times before the commissioning, adding that some of the structures had started showing signs of damage.

Niger

In Niger State, our correspondent discovered that only few of the 80 units of the houses in the NHP’s estate were occupied. The estate, located at the Three-Arms Zone, Eastern Bypass, consists of four units of one-bedroom flat, 52 units of two-bedrooms, 20 units of three-bedrooms and four units of four bedrooms.

Some civil servants, who spoke to our correspondent, said they were interested in applying for the houses, but the portal was yet to be opened for prospective applicants.

Plateau

In Jos, the Plateau State capital, the NHP’s projects are unoccupied and deteriorating.

The state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Musa Ashoms, confirmed that the project was completed, but abandoned.

Ashoms said: “Yes, there is a federal government housing project located in Laminga village of Jos East Local Government of Plateau State. The project has since been completed and allocated, but unoccupied. Or, the project has been completed but not allocated. So, it is a completed project, but unoccupied.

“The housing project is a three-bedrooms flat, designed to be occupied by federal civil servants in the state. Now, these completed houses are fast deteriorating since they are not occupied.

“I hereby call on the federal government to, not only ensure these completed houses are allocated, but also occupied immediately, because houses not occupied deteriorate faster than the ones occupied”, he said.

 Kogi

In Kogi State, some of the houses at the federal housing estate along the Lokoja-Okene road at Crusher-Felele-Lokoja area of the state capital are unoccupied; while hoodlums have destroyed the facilities therein. The estate consists of one and three-bedrooms semi-detached bungalows.

One of the few occupants of Phase 1 of the estate, Kareem Aremu, said: “Many of the houses are empty because they have not been allocated to anyone. So, burglars continue to invade the estate and cart away fittings in some of the houses,” he said.

Some of the civil servants spoken to said the amount being charged per unit of the bungalows was far beyond the capacity of an average salary earner in the state. They said one-bedroom semi-detached bungalow costs N9.2 million.

“No civil servant or an average businessman can afford to pay such a huge amount to own a house in the estate. That is why most of the houses are still empty without owners,” a civil servant said.

He said the ministry recently issued a circular to prospective buyers to bid for the unoccupied houses.

Nasarawa

Many workers in Nasarawa State said they could not afford the cost of the federal housing estate located at Akurba in Lafia Local Government Area. The estate comprises 62 units of three-bedrooms detached bungalows (N10.1 million each) and 82 units of two-bedrooms detached bungalows (N9.2 million each).

A civil servant in the state appealed to both the federal and the state governments to “make the cost of the houses affordable to low-income earners”.

Benue

Just like in other states, the federal housing estate in Benue, located at Mobile Barracks-Adeke-Welfare road in Makurdi, was completed but largely unoccupied owing to “the huge costs”.

The Federal Controller of Works in Benue could not be reached as of the time of filing this report.

Kebbi

The NHP in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State capital, was commissioned by the former Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, but five years after, the houses are yet to be allocated.

When our correspondent visited the housing units located along the By-pass in Birnin Kebbi, few of the housing units’ apartments were found occupied by beggars; and some others by miscreants. The roofs of some of the houses had been blown away by windstorm.

Workers told our correspondent that they had been waiting for the Federal Housing Authority to allocate the houses.

“They always tell us they have not been given approval to allocate the houses to the public. Now, you can see the state of the housing units; it’s worsening by the day,” he said.

When our correspondent visited the office of the controller of housing at Aliero Quarters in Birnin Kebbi, he was said to have traveled out of town.

But a senior staff member in the state office of the Ministry of Housing said the delay in allocating the houses “is a national issue.” He, however, said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration had given approval for the allocation of the houses to members of the public.

“We started giving forms to people who are interested in the houses two months ago. We have taken all the applications to our headquarters in Abuja for approval so that we can begin to allocate the houses to lucky applicants,” the official who did not wish to be named said.

Jigawa

The federal government housing estate in Jigaw State, located opposite Jigawa Hotels Limited in Dutse, is unoccupied.

The estate, which is about 4km away from the Jigawa Government House, is being looked after by the officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to prevent hoodlums from vandalising its facilities.

The Public Relations Officer of NSCDC, Badarudden Tijjani, told our correspondent that the corps had an understanding with the FHA to be protecting the estate.

Civil servants asked the federal government to allocate the houses to people in order ensure maintenance of the facility.

Roofs blown off in Yobe, Bauchi

When our correspondent visited the mass housing units on Damaturu-Maiduguri road in the Yobe State capital, some of the houses had their roofs blown off.

The houses are unoccupied, but security personnel have been deployed there to prevent vandalism.

When contacted, the Yobe State Federal Controller of Housing, Attah Peter, said the estate had not been commissioned due to a windstorm that destroyed some houses.

He hinted of a plan for the Yobe State government to take over the estate.

Also, in Bauchi, some of the roofs of the completed houses at the federal estate, along the Bauchi-Kano road, have been blown off by windstorm.

Our correspondent reported that he noticed that Phase one of the housing project, which commenced in 2016, has been completed for over two years, but not yet commissioned.

Some residents of the state alleged that the sale of application forms for the houses had been moved to Abuja.

One of them, who is a teacher, Kamal Ibrahim, wondered why the federal government would allow such a huge investment to rot away.

The Chief Resident Quantity Surveyor of the Federal Ministry of Housing in Bauchi, Taiwo Samuel, told our correspondent that the process of acquiring the houses was ongoing.

He said a letter released by the ministry had asked anyone interested to go and obtain an expression of interest form which, he noted, many people did.

Houses sold to private individuals in Kano

In Kano, many houses in Phase one of the NHP located at Jaba, off Panisau Road, Fagge Local Government Area, which former President Buhari commissioned on April 7, 2022, are also unoccupied. The estate has 77 units of three-bedroom bungalows and 33 units of two-bedroom bungalows.

Some of the unoccupied buildings have shown some signs of dilapidation with roofs either blown off or damaged.

Muhammad Lawal, who serves as a “caretaker” of some of the buildings, said they were being sold to private individuals rather than civil servants.

He said a three-bedroom bungalow costs N16 million, adding that those who bought the property converted them into offices. One of the buildings is housing Docusoft Technologies Limited.

Houses completed, allocated in Borno

In Borno State, our correspondent visited the federal mass housing estate, located behind the Board of Internal Revenue Service, opposite Ramat Polytechnic,  Maiduguri, and found it completed and the houses therein allocated.

Houses allocated to Super Eagles players, others in Edo

In Edo State, houses at the federal estate, located at Idumwen-Ehigie, along the Benin-Auchi road, were allocated in April 2023 to beneficiaries, including members of the Super Eagles’ 1994 Nations Cup winners who are from the state.

Project uncompleted in Ekiti

The 70-housing units estate of the NHP in Ekiti State is still under construction.

The project is sited at Agric Olope, Off Ajilosun, Moferere, Ado Ekiti.

FG promises to subsidise costs

When contacted, Mark Chieshe, Special Assistant on Media/Communications to the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, told Daily Trust on Sunday that the government was working to subsidise the costs, under the National Social Housing Fund.

He admitted that most of the houses were yet to be completed.

He, however, said the minister was working to resolve all obstacles causing the delay.

“The minister is committed to completing all housing projects and ensuring that Nigerians, for whom the houses were built, benefit from them. He is working hard to make sure that whatever issues that have led to projects not being finished are resolved, and the houses completed for Nigerians to benefit from them,” Chieshe said.

He said the ministry recently published an expression of interest that was sent out to the public for houses that were built under the NHP.

“Even though inflation has increased the cost of building materials, the minister still insisted that the houses be sold on the prices they were advertised years ago. The expression of interest was overwhelming and oversubscribed”, he said.

On the high cost of the houses, he said: “The houses that are built have different types of offtake plans. One is that people who have the money can pay outright for the houses. The second is the mortgage (option) which allows you to buy the house and spread the payment over 30 years, if you are to take the National Housing Mortgage Fund at a single digit interest rate.

“To qualify for mortgage, civil servants are not allowed to use more than one-third of their salaries to allow them take care of other living expenses.

“The challenge we are facing is that salaries of civil servants are low. That is why under the Renewed Hope of the present administration, there are plans to create and establish a National Social Housing Fund.

“We will source funding so that houses can be built and delivered for Nigerians. The reality is that most civil servants can’t afford N9 million mortgage. We are working on the Fund to see how these houses can be subsidised,” he added.

[DailyTrust]

Shylock foreign airlines are in trouble; they are gasping for breath for an exhilarating dawn of breath of fresh air for Nigerians flying the London route is here! At last, Nigerians can now fly to London and fly back without a gaping hole left in their pockets as a result of exorbitant airfare.

A Nigerian airline, Air Peace which, since berthing in the aviation industry, has adorned Nigerianess like a garb made this possible. Hate him or love him, you cannot take one thing away from Allen Onyema, the unassuming Anambra-born lawyer behind Air Peace: His fervent love for Nigeria and fellow Nigerians oozes from a heart that flows with milk of human kindness, a pure heart that knows no malice or grudges!

Allen Onyema

A man is a patriot if his heart beats for his country” – Charles. E Jefferson. No characterization best aptly describes Barrister Onyema’s persona as Jefferson’s.
When he sprang up Air Peace a few years back Allen had and still has “Love for Fatherland” as the sacred creed of his enterprise.
Onyema’s trajectory in the Aviation sector leaves no one in doubt that remaining true to selflessness, altruism and patriotism even at the risk of business and profit losses is natural to him.
For the Air Peace boss, the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians comes first; and then business and profit follow. This is no sloganeering. Barrister Onyema has lived up to this billing now and again and makes no noise about it.
We saw him do this when distressed and traumatised Nigerians were left at the mercy of horror and indignities in South Africa, Libya and Ukraine.

Putting profit aside, Onyema deployed his planes to evacuate them safely back to Nigeria without demanding kobo from anyone.
Air Peace’s recent audacious and successful foray into the London route despite vicious, debilitating aeropolitics strewn on its path by local and international nay-sayers in the aviation industry again says much about how the extra-mile Onyema can go to do good to his country and his fellow citizens.

Reminiscence of what an indigenous network provider, Globacom owned by the irrepressible board room czar, Mike Adenuga, did to the GSM industry in 2003 when he made a grand entry into it, Onyema’s Air Peace has demystified foreign airlines, broke their back and rescued Nigerians from mindless exploitation on the London route.
Recall that before Globacom stormed the GSM industry, foreign network operators which dominated the industry in Nigeria at that time sold their SIM cards as high as N30,000 and subjected Nigerians to an excruciating per-minute billing.

However, Globacom’s entry changed all that. At inception, it sold its SIM Pack for N10,000, N5,000 airtime inclusive. In effect, Nigerians bought Glo SIM cards for a mere N5,000 at that time compared to the cut-throat prices of the foreign GSM operators’ SIM packs.

In addition, Globacom also scrapped per-minute call billing and introduced per-second billing at cheap and affordable rates, a feat foreign GSM operators had claimed was impossible.
Globacom’s audacious and revolutionary steps were to put a stop to the hitherto unchecked exploitation of Nigerian subscribers by foreign GSM operators.
Like Globacom, Air Peace has given Nigerians a new lease of life. The indigenous airline has given Nigerians plying the London route a refreshing relief from harsh treatment from foreign airlines.
Before Air Peace entered into the London route, foreign airlines’ Econony class ticket costs were between N3.5m- N4m while Business class soared to N17m. However, with Air Peace pegging its Economy class return ticket on the route for N1.2m and Business Class ticket at N4m, foreign airlines have now been forced to slash their ticket prices drastically. Air peace has indeed freed Nigerians from the fangs of shylocks!

Remarkably, with the commencement of flight on the London route, Air Peace has finally eviscerated national and international conspiracies that have barred it from the route. It is noteworthy that the airline applied to fly the route seven years ago but obfuscations and vicissitudes inspired by high voltage, vicious local and international aeropolitics were deliberately thrown on its path.
Air Peace is not new to international routes. The airline flies to China, India, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, South Africa and other international routes which take longer hours to fly to and fro.
For example, Air Peace flies to China on Wednesdays, 14 hours going and 14 hours coming back, making it 28 hours of flying in one day and a half.
It also flies to India every week- 12 hours going, 13 hours coming back- and has undertaken 160 hours of flying within Nigeria every day for the past seven years without blemish, why then were vested interests in the aviation sector intent at keeping the Airline from the London route, a mere six hours flying time?
The answer is simple: A powerful local and international cabal feeding fat on Nigerians via outrageous London route air ticket was not ready to lose out!
Meanwhile, as far as the London route victory is concerned, Air Peace has become a pathfinder of sorts to other indigenous airlines as some of them like United Nigerian Airline, Ibom Air and Azman Air are now striving assiduously to join the route.

According to Dr Obiora Okonkwo, Chairman of United Airlines, like Air Peace, his airline will conquer and overcome local and international aeropolitics to join the London route.
“We will start very soon. I cannot tell but if it is left for us to start, we would have started yesterday”, an elated Okonkwo assured at an event to celebrate Air Peace’s London route triumph.
In all of these, credit must be given to Nigeria’s dynamic Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister, Festus Keyamo, SAN, for his numerous reforms and innovations in the Ministry which made Air Peace’s breaking of the London route monopoly possible. The Minister has sufficiently stamped his competence and has also justified his appointment by President Tinubu.
Air Peace and the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development have played their patriotic parts in ending the London route monopoly and the attendant negative economic implications, it is now left for Nigerians to play their part by patronising one of their own- Air Peace.

What should occupy the lips of Nigerians at this moment is how Air Peace crashed business class flight ticket to London from N17m to N4m and Economy class from N4m to N1.2m.
Let this unprecedented feat be on the lips of Nigerians, let’s shout and trumpet it even from roof tops and tree tops!
The onus now falls on Nigerians to prove that Air Peace fought for them. The airline is one of our own and is wholly Nigerian in its operation. For example, Zobo and kilisi were served in the airline’s inaugural London flight and I had no doubt that Nigerians can’t joke with an airline that factors in their fauna and flora in its operation.
I can beat my chest and predict that in a matter of time, Nigerians aboard Air Peace flights to London and other routes will savour Ofe Onugbu (bitter leaf soup), Ofe Owerri (Owerri special soup), Efo riro with Amala, Tuwo Masara and Tuwo Shinkafa, Afang and fisherman soup!

Osigwe, a social affairs analyst is the CEO of Fullpage Communications.

Arsenal star, Kai Havertz has singled out the club’s defenders for praise following the Gunners’ Premier League 3-0 win over Brighton on Saturday.

Havertz said what Arsenal defenders are doing at the back is outstanding after they recorded another clean sheet against Brighton to go top of the Premier League table.

He said how they defend the box is ‘incredible.’

Arsenal defenders include the likes of Gabriel, William Saliba, Ben White’s and Oleksandr Zinchenko.

“The attitude and work-rate of the boys is phenomenal and everyone put everything into that game – that is why we are successful right now,” Havertz said at his post-match interview after the game.

“The boys at the back, what they are doing is outstanding and everyone is involved in that. We try to get the ball high up the pitch, but how they defend the box is incredible.”

[DailyPost]

• Blame insecurity, interest rates, middlemen sabotage for prevailing high prices
• Lagos threatens to fine, shut supermarkets without products’ price tags
• Naira appreciation: We’re posting heavy losses, BDCs cry out

Economic experts are hopeful that the current high costs of goods and food will begin to drop by the end of the first half of this year.

But that is on the condition that the current momentum to energise the economy does not suffer any reversal.

A major player in the foreign exchange sector, the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), has appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to lower the dollar selling rate to its members in view of the massive appreciation of the naira against the dollar and other international currencies while the Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency directed supermarkets and grocery stores in the state to display prices on their products or risk being fined or shut down.

A combination of factors including fuel subsidy removal, insecurity in parts of the country that has forced many farmers off the land and shortage of foreign exchange are said to be largely responsible for the high cost of living.

The naira, which exchanged for between N1,150 and  N1,180 to the dollar as of December 31, 2023, crashed  to N1,400 in January and further depreciated at the black market to N1,950 in mid-February with many speculating that it could get worse. But the naira experienced a good fortune by the middle of March following a raft of policy initiatives by the apex bank to improve the transparency and inflows of the FX market.

However, the appreciation of the naira is yet to reflect on the prices of commodities as the market has not fully adjusted to the current realities in the FX crash.

Investigation by our correspondent across major markets, chain stores and retail outlets in parts of Lagos and other parts of the country, revealed that the prices of major commodities are yet to reflect the gains of the dollar crash.

The prices of perishable agricultural produce such as vegetable crops, grains, maize, wheat, bread, beverages, and fizzy drinks have shot up astronomically.

A market survey conducted by our correspondent showed that some brands of soft drinks packaged in pet bottles, which hitherto sold for N300 per unit from January till late February are now being sold at N350, while some of the branded malt drinks sell at N450, up from N400.

Some of the chain stores in Lagos and parts of Ogun State are not helping matters in the pricing of goods.

Some of them were found to change prices indiscriminately. There were instances when they altered prices of goods already displayed on their shelves within 24 hours.

Speaking to The Nation, Kabir Ibrahim, National President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), said it was rather scandalous that the prices of commodities were not yet reflective of the gains recorded with the naira against the greenback.

“Ideally, if the Naira is firming up, the prices of all goods should come down and should show the increase in the strength and purchasing power of the Naira,” he said.

He added: “If prices are not coming down, it’s either that the whole thing is artificial or there is lack of education on the whole matter or there is fraud in it because that’s why we kept saying that some of these items should not be dollarised.”

Ibrahim, who is the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Kebram Agritrade Limited, cited the price trajectory with some of the locally-sourced goods.

His words: “I recall talking about the price of cement the other day during a guest appearance in one of the national televisions, and I said that the price was unreasonably high because 80 per cent of the components are not bought with dollars.

“Today, cement in Abuja is sold everywhere at N7,500. That price is reflecting on the increasing strength of the Naira. Now again, if you go to the price of reinforcement steel, it is also coming down.

“So if the prices of rice and other food items are not coming down, it only means one thing: an act of sabotage. It is not the fault of the farmers that don’t have any of those commodities to sell now; it’s the middlemen and businessmen.”

The AFAN boss is however optimistic that once the farmers are able to farm during this season and reap bountiful harvests, this may have a positive impact on the supply of food for the rest of the year.

“You know the farmers have sold off all they had. In fact, the harvest season is off, we are now getting into the raining season. So, we have really got nothing to sell as such.

“Therefore, the government should now concentrate on the middlemen, the people who buy and hoard these items and bring them out in order to cause artificial scarcity. So, that is what we should concentrate on; not farmers.”

Echoing similar sentiments, Peter Sunday Adebola, the Managing Director Edgefield Capital Management Limited, an investment-driven company, said several factors may be at play and could possibly be fueling the soaring cost of commodities thus far.

Adebola, who also tied the high cost of goods to the nefarious activities of unscrupulous businessmen and middlemen deliberately sabotaging government efforts, said they are escalating the lingering food crisis.

“When we look at the components or the factors that are affecting the prices of commodities in the market, I want to believe that it is not only the exchange rate. Exchange is just one of the factors affecting the prices of commodities in the market,” he said.

The technocrat who heaved a sigh of relief that the planting season is here, said it was rather heartwarming to note that the government is making good efforts to end banditry in food producing areas.

“Hopefully, as we are getting to the middle of the year, we are supposed to see critical changes in the prices of commodities in the markets. By then, the prices would become moderate, even the imported food items would also come down since the exchange rate is going down.”

He was however quick to admit that there should be cautious optimism with the gains of the naira, noting that those managing the economy should not relent in their current efforts.

In the view of Prof. Abel Ogunwale, a professor of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomosho, Oyo State, insecurity is at the heart of the matter of the food crisis in the country today.

“Whether it is  Oyo, Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, Edo, Kogi, Delta, Benue, Kaduna, Taraba, Borno, Nasarawa, Zamfara, Sokoto, Anambra, Enugu, Imo, or any other  part of the federation,  farmers have not only become an  endangered species but have abandoned their farms, no thanks to the lingering problem of insecurity they confront on a daily basis.

“We have major problems hindering our food security from four perspectives. One is the issue of security threats vis-à-vis the situation in the Benue, Zamfara, Jigawa, Borno, Adamawa axis and even the borderline between Nigeria and Cameroon, and the other aspect is the Nigeria and Niger Republic issue,” he said.

The insecurity, he maintained, is as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency in parts of the north. “We have a lot of insurgency activities affecting those areas,” he said.

For Benedict Uwajue, a public affairs analyst, a combination of factors may be responsible for soaring food prices.

He said: “Unlike unscrupulous business elements in the society, if the woman selling vegetables she got at her backyard for N400, with the rate of transportation, if she still sells at N400, how would she take care of herself? Buy food, buy firewood or gas. Kerosene is more expensive than gas now.”

The cost of fuel, Uwajue argued, has major effects on businesses.

“Until energy becomes affordable and readily available, exchange rates won’t significantly affect the cost of goods in the market,” he maintained.

Lagos orders stores to display prices of goods

The Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency yesterday directed supermarkets and grocery stores in the state to display prices on their products or risk being fined or shut down.

The agency, in a public notice posted on the website of the Lagos State Government, warned supermarkets and grocery stores in the state against  non-disclosure of price tags on products.

It said its warning was meant to “ensure transparency and protect consumers from potential price exploitation as non-disclosure of price tags can lead to misunderstandings and inconvenience at the point of sale.”

It said absence of price tags is a violation of consumer rights and the Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency Law, stressing that without clear price tags, shoppers could not compare prices or make informed choices about their groceries.

ABCON to CBN: Reduce expensive dollar rate for BDCs

The Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) in a letter to the apex bank said N1,251/$ rate sold to BDCs has become too expensive for operators following the massive appreciation of the naira against the dollar and other world currencies.

National President of ABCON, Dr. Aminu Gwadabe who signed the letter addressed to the CBN Director, Trade & Exchange Department claimed that naira’s speedy recovery, which was faster than expected, had made CBN’s selling rate to BDCs very expensive and difficult to offload to retail end buyers that are trooping to the undocumented forex operators for cheaper rates and avoiding the BDCs services

It expressed concerns that many BDCs which funded their accounts for dollar allocations were yet to receive their allocation of dollars to meet up the legitimate critical demand of their clients due to scrutinization of the BDCs documents for collections at the various designated centres  which  invariably made the BDCs vulnerable to exchange rate risk and significant loses.

The group insisted that with naira appreciating across markets, many BDCs which bought dollar at N1,251/$ would  lose significant income and capital should they sell at the current open  market rate of N1,235/$ and therefore the  need for the call for a further review downward of the applicable exchange rate for the period and subsequently to continue to enhance naira sovereignty.

“We discovered a worrisome development where many of our members who paid for dollar allocations at N1,251/$ with a margin of 1.5% are yet to receive their disbursement. This is happening in the face of prevailing open market rate of N1,235/$ which is lower than the authorised applicable exchange rate by the CBN to the BDCs,” ABCON  said.

The request is coming in the midst of the epoch history making achieved by the apex bank for the first time in the last 15 years for the unofficial market rates at N1,235/$ to be lower than the official BDCs applicable buying exchange rate of  N1,251/$ (plus 1.5 per cent margin) set for the BDCs by the CBN in its latest tranche of intervention.

Despite this development, ABCON lauded the CBN leadership for the recall of BDCs into the official FX window and steps taken by the apex bank to strengthen the naira against the dollar and other global currencies.

ABCON said the positive fallout of the CBN’s efforts to restore naira’s glory came faster than expected, reiterating its commitment to working with the apex bank to realise the objectives of government towards exchange rate stability and economic growth.

ABCON said its  forecasts in the ongoing market development indicated a willingness of the market to correct itself with a realistic price discovery as naira is forecast to continue to appreciate further across market with the increasing sources of foreign exchange inflows aided by the CBN policies

“It is in view of the above market developments that we write to appeal to your good selves for a readjustments and review downwards  of our funding rate of the last tranche (2nd bidding) from N1,251/$  further down to reflect current market rate discovery. This became imperative as it is only the consideration of the readjustment downward that will enable our members to upload their holding positions,” it said.

ABCON also requested that process of payments at the various disbursements centers be reviewed in the immediate time to a medium time automation to achieve enhanced timely payments while also observing the spot nature of our transactions.

The group further requested that based on the offer and acceptance rule, the approval of refunds to those that are yet to collect disbursement having funded their accounts as it is the market that determines the rate presently be considered going forward.

ABCON also requested that the apex bank introduce cut-off time for payments and collection of bids, adding that the current open ended system for payments and collection of bids does not make for effective administration and control of the process.

“Consequently, many of our members are jittery to bid/collect their bid for fear of losing money as the current market reality has the potential to force us to sell below cost price and antithetical to recent market price discovery,” the group said.

[TheNation]

Following the approval of 240 per cent tariff increment for Band A customers by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, some power consumers in that category are complaining of severe extortion by the various electricity distribution companies in the country amidst worsening power supply.

NERC had on Wednesday announced the tariff increment for Band A power consumers from N68 to N225 per kilowatt-hour with immediate effect.

With the new tariff, the regulator said the subsidy on electricity had been withdrawn completely from the Band A consumers, who constitute about 15 per cent of the total number of power users across the country.

At a press briefing in Abuja on Friday, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, insisted that the Federal Government would continue with the new tariff regime for Band A consumers despite calls for its reversal.

He said this was because the government could no longer continue paying humongous sums as power subsidy, stressing that subsidy on electricity for 2024 would cost the government about N2.9tn.

But in a flurry of reactions to the development via their X handles on Saturday, some customers lamented that despite paying exorbitantly for electricity following the tariff hike, they were experiencing poor supply in their different neighbourhoods across the country.

This is just as some Nigerians in Bands B, C, D, and E alleged that they were now being made to pay N225/KWh by the Discos instead of their old tariffs after the distribution companies upgraded their payment platforms to reflect the Band A tariff increment.

Kaduna-based Tariq Abdulazeez @tariqq2 wrote, “The Kaduna Disco has failed to comply with the new regulations thereby upgrading 80 per cent of its customers to band A. We barely get 8hrs power supply.

@OlaosunSina posted, “IKEDC claims OPIC in Isheri-North belongs to Band A and immediately implemented N225 per KwH. N50,000 energy (VAT inclusive) purchased yesterday (Thursday) gave 207 KwH Units. Light was taken since 9.34am today (Friday) 5th April and as of 3.37pm yet to come. This is a pure SCAM!”

Vivo Val also tweeted, “Though I am on Band B, IKEDC gave me 82 units for N20,000.”

One Michael Ifeanyi posted on the platform, “Please NERC, ask Enugu Electricity Distribution Companies to downgrade Centenary Estate Enugu to band C we hardly enjoy 10 hours light. They are charging us for band A.”

One Bolaji @bolsaid said, “I am on Band A and have not had up to 20hrs supply in the last five days, from Easter Monday till now. NERCNG, FCCPC Nigeria,” while @Otyjonah wrote, “My environment is under Band A even though the Disco has refused to issue us a prepaid meter. I have seen power supply since 11pm on d 4th of April. Today is 6th and there is no single hour of light in almost 48hrs. Will I be made to pay for the darkness at the end of the month @NERCNG?”

Lere Ojedokun @doklere said, “There is so much secrecy and loopholes in the electricity ecosystem which investors and players exploit to milk electricity consumers. This is why we will continue to be at their mercy.”

Oluwakemi @tykeemon said, “Are there really any Band A users in Nigeria? Are we joking? I get less than eight hours of electricity supply daily and I have been fraudulently classified as a Band A user. @NERCNG, you are not a regulator but an accomplice to rip off.”

Isaac Emalunegbe said, “We in Calabar around the Akai Effa axis suffer from your Disco staff here. They will tell us we are in Band A and we get supple less than those in Band C and at the end of every month they will issue exorbitant bill. I was a victim in 2021.”

‘Sack minister now’

In a related development, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti State, Lere Olayinka, has called on President Bola Tinubu to sack the Minister of Power for alleged incompetence reflected in his inability to ensure a steady power supply.

Olayinka, a former House of Representatives aspirant, also accused the minister of insensitivity with the incessant electricity tariff increases despite failure to ensure constant power supply since he assumed office.

Olayinka, in a statement in Ado Ekiti on Saturday titled, ‘Sack power minister, Bayo Adelabu, now; he can’t even give you constant electricity in Aso Villa, PDP chieftain tells Tinubu’, advises the government to save itself from further embarrassment by sacking Adelabu and replacing him with a professional.

Obasanjo Farm, others downgraded

Meanwhile, the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company has downgraded the Olusegun Obasanjo Farm in Ogun State and 27 other feeders from the Band A to the Band E category.

The firm disclosed this in a list it released on Saturday, which contained the names of the erstwhile Band A feeders downgraded to B, C, D, or E by the company across Oyo, Ogun, Kwara, and Osun states.

According to the list, some areas within the states dropped from 20 hours of daily power supply to zero hours.

This, according to NERC, brought about the removal of those feeders from Band A to the bands that fit their daily power allocations.

 Power ministry, NERC inefficient — Afenifere

Similarly, the Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural and political organisation, Afenifere, has described the electricity tariff increase as an attempt to thwart President Bola Tinubu’s economic recovery efforts.

Afenifere stated this in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi and made available to journalists on Saturday.

While noting that the electricity tariff hike will shrink both corporate and small medium businesses in the country, Ajayi said, “It is clear that rather than exploring ways to reduce the cost of producing energy thus reducing the pains of Nigerians, the relevant government agencies are passing the price of their own inefficiency on the people.

In a related development, Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has called on the management of IBEDC to urgently address current irregular power supply in the state.

Adeleke, who made the demand at a meeting held with the management of the company in Ibadan, Oyo State, described Osun as a critical stakeholder in the Nigerian power sector with Osogbo, the state capital, hosting the National Transmission Control Centre.

 The governor said it was “unacceptable that the state will be having epileptic power supply,” which he said has been affecting its local economy and businesses badly.

[Vanguard]

One thing the flamboyant electioneering campaigns leading to the 2023 presidential elections did not expatiate upon was how the first budget of the new administration would be funded to meet the lofty campaign promises. The expectations became heightened when it became obvious that the inauguration of a new Nigerian President on May 29, 2023 did not come along with a magic wand to arrest the country’s deteriorating economy.

Instead, the strategies designed by the new President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu only emphasized some future relief to be preceded by immediate severe pain on citizens. The first signs that the supposed future relief was achievable emerged a few days ago following the news of a huge increase in revenue generation by the Nigeria Customs Service NCS. According to media reports, the Service pulled off a spectacular performance to collect the sum of N1,347,675,608,972.75 in the first quarter of 2024.

The impressive outing by the NCS must have gladdened many hearts but to those who are familiar with the antecedents of the current leadership of the Service, it didn’t come as a surprise. Some analysts are even looking forward to greater achievements during the tenure of Bashir Adewale Adeniyi who was recently picked as Comptroller General of Customs by President Bola Tinubu.  Industry watchers are generally agreed that in every respect, Adeniyi is a square peg in a square hole. For the no less than 3 decades that he has been in service, he has become known for achieving great things. Some 4 years ago for instance, he was singled out for an award in appreciation of his pivotal supervision of the seizure of $8,065,612 million cash at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos in January 2020.

By his posture, CG Adeniyi effortlessly makes a case for our agencies to be headed by intelligent and professional career officers who had over the years been prepared for the Chief Executive position. In which case, they would have acquired many years of cognate experience by passing through several critical segments of the relevant entity. Such officers best know the strengths and weaknesses of their organizations; they know what button to push, who to deploy to where and when and how to make progress by not just increasing activities but also by blocking loopholes through which all gains normally vanish within seconds. Organizations such as the Customs Service should therefore never be where to post loyalists or where to reward friends and relations who know nothing about the peculiar nuances of the institution concerned.

But no matter the institution, modern trends suggest that the best way to successfully run an organization is to realize the inevitability of technology which now serves as the redeeming feature of humanity. In this age of technology, it is no longer reasonable to rely on analogue platforms to achieve sustainable progress. CG Adeniyi being a strategic researcher and communicator must have among other things quickly discarded the physical pursuit of smugglers in favour of aerial surveillance just as he must have followed global realities by installing ICT and other digital facilities for operations especially smart scanning machines in airports. What is certain is that because technology changes daily making it possible for yesterday’s kits to show signs of obsolescence even before they are unparked, identifying the latest facilities that can place operations above criminals is now an imperative.

Remarkably, the new Customs administration did not wait for the media to begin to speculate on its activities when it decided on its own that every societal institution owes accountability to the public for whose sake it was established. It is hoped that all government agencies would emulate the NCS by institutionalizing the practice of occasional media briefings in furtherance of public enlightenment. Those who operate differently have so much to lose because by the time the media speculates on their activities warranting rejoinders from them, the first casualty is institutional reputation especially at a point of collective frustration caused by overbearing inflation. If the NCS has made 122.35 percent progress in its revenue generation compared with same time last year, what have others done?  

They need to let us know because the world is now in the age of open government. The narratives of a deceitful colonial era in which operatives were only to be seen but not heard are no longer fashionable. Nigeria must progress into becoming one of the world’s greatest communicating nations. The reverse bears anarchy like the recent situation in Kaduna state where some party stalwarts were unhappy with Governor Uba Sani for revealing the huge debts and heavy contractual liabilities inherited by his administration. More annoying is the alleged suspension of the woman leader of the state chapter of the APC, Maryam Suleiman for berating Governor Sani who supposedly rubbished the former Governor. Penalizing a citizen for expressing an opinion should only happen in a dictatorship and not a democracy.

Government officials at all levels ought to perform well and at the same time inspire public confidence by taking the people along. At the federal level, the repeated assurances by President Tinubu that the buck stops at his desk cannot be used by agency heads to undermine accountability to the public. In fact, Tinubu’s acceptance of vicarious liability presupposes that he is ready to fire all those not performing. This is because a time for economic depression is the best time for activities here and there – not speeches but actions that have quick wins. At the beginning of this administration, there was a lot of public expectations from the Immigration Service due to the proactive posture of Tunji Ojo, the Interior Minister. So, when can Nigerians apply and seamlessly pick up their international passports? Last week, the story was that efforts were being made to print our passports locally. Is that an objective that falls within the realm of rocket science?

We must however not forget to pay tribute to two private sector leaders, namely Allen Onyema and Aliko Dangote that are bringing messages of hope to the homes of citizens. But for Dangote, life would have been much harder at the rate the price of Automative Gas Oil (diesel) was rising and rising. Happily, Dangote Petroleum Refinery has now forced down the pump price of the product to around N1,225 from about N1, 700 per litre. Similarly, Allen Onyema has used his airline, Air Peace to halt the conspiracy of the west to kill the naira. With his entry into the Lagos-London route, all carriers hitherto exploiting Nigerians are now in disarray. It is hoped that other business owners and executives would emulate Dangote and Onyema so that Nigeria can rise again. It is therefore not too much for government to formally commend the two patriots to strengthen them to keep hope alive.

A time like this when people are striving to survive is certainly not the time for any Nigerian business to maximize profit.  It is therefore unfortunate that our power distribution companies have convinced themselves that this is the best time to raise tariffs. It is worse that they are able to persuade their regulator to accept a rise by as much as 300 percent. If precedent is anything to go by, the arrangement of categorising consumers into bands will as usual, lead to profiteering. It will be recalled that during the Buhari administration, metres paid for by government to be freely distributed to consumers were surreptitiously sold by the DISCOS. With some consumers already claiming to have been short-changed, on band categorization, there is no better time than now for the regulator to operate with a human face.

It would be against the run of play if public sector agencies are waiting to be prompted to up their performances so as to give room for the rest of us to breathe.  May be the Nigeria Custom Service should take the lead again; this time not just in revenue generation but in curbing insider abuses. It is unfair that agencies extort huge sums of money from citizens in addition to approved payments before offering the service for which they were employed. CG Adeniyi would leave his name in gold if he can use technology to sanitize all the processes and procedures for obtaining services from customs operatives. Many citizens would be relieved if other Nigerian service provider executives can similarly act.

•Reporter narrates his story
•REVEALED: Councilor who took slain soldiers on trip reportedly captured, burnt

ONE conspicuous reason concerned citizens heaped scorn on the Army in the March 14 killing of 17 soldiers at the Okuama community in Ughelli South Local Government Area is the participation of its personnel in the settlement of communal disputes.

The Chief of Defense Staff, CDS, General Christopher Musa, made several attempts to validate the “peace mission” of the officers and men that turned catastrophic.

Not many agree with CDS’s robust avowals in defence of his men.

However, they all deplored the brutal killing of the soldiers.

Regardless of their primary mission of forestalling lawlessness, protecting the nation’s oil infrastructure, and maintaining the peace in the oil-rich Niger Delta, the military Joint Task Force, JTF, since its deployment in the region, had dug into settling issues, ranging from misunderstanding between individuals, and family relatives to both intra and inter-communal disputes in the region.

However, the simple reason is that the military outfit in the region appears to be more viable, forthright, and “quick” in resolving issues compared to other security agencies saddled with such responsibilities.

Therefore, people take misunderstandings and hostilities between relatives, including quarrels in matrimonial homes to the military outposts for arbitration.

Military personnel often shoulder the responsibility of resolving the issues without charges which has further endeared them to some.

Reporter’s experience

In 2005, the JTF arrested and detained a Vanguard reporter, Chancel Bomadi Sunday, at Bomadi, over a fight between his younger sister and his brother’s wife over a family misunderstanding. “During the fight, my younger sister bit my brother’s wife on the face and transferred her anger onto me by arresting me with soldiers. Though I was not at the scene of the quarrel that led to the fight, I only saw the soldiers on the arrest mission to my room, as my brother’s wife led them”, Sunday narrated.

“They threw me into their guardroom and detained me for hours with some others whom I met there. It was after the intervention of her husband, who told the commander then that I was innocent that they released me to settle amicably within the family.”

More so, creditors, debtors, property owners, tenants, house owners and thieves often take their issues to the different JTF outposts for settlement.

Military, civilians on joint missions Intermittently, the military carried out operations in the region with civilians, especially when the need arose.

In such missions, the military camouflages the civilians with military uniforms as occurred in the Okuama case, which some people had referred to.

For instance, when a former supervisory councilor, Hon. Pius Aboh, ran to the Bomadi Division of the JTF and complained that the Okuama people took his brother, Anthony Aboh, hostage, the Commander, Major Saffa, immediately mobilized his men to the Gbaregolor community waterfront to hire speedboats for the rescue mission.

In that mission, according to sources, they camouflaged the drivers of the hired speedboats, and the former supervisory councillor, who joined them specifically to identify his brother at Okuama.

The military believed that they would be shields to the civilians in case of any aggression, not envisaging the worst that would happen to them on that day.

That is why journalists participating in the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions wear camouflage, reporting and photographing, even during crossfire.

Supervisory councillor burnt on a stake!

However, community sources disclosed that those who ambushed the soldiers in Okuama captured Aboh,who dived into the river and attempted to swim away, bringing him back to the community.

How JTF settled Okpokunou, Tuomo, Ojobo crises

Nevertheless, the JTF had settled some intra-communal crises, some being the Okpokunou, Tuomo, and Ojobo communities in the Burutu local government area, variously engulfed in intra-communal crises years back, and in recent times, over selection or election of community chairpersons and traditional rulers.

The military outfit went to the communities on invitation, settled issues, and saved the communities the agony of irate youths bent on destroying properties.

They have also ventured into communal issues of several other communities.
Therefore, the issue of Okuama was not different.

The soldiers were reportedly on a “peace and rescue mission” to avoid escalation of the brewing crisis between the two neighboring communities, Okuama in Ughelli South Local Government Area, and Okoloba in Bomadi Local Government Area, both in Delta State.

Extra-curricular activities of soldiers

Responding to what he, apparently, regards as immoderations of the Army in the state, a senior lawyer in a Facebook post, said, “Since 2016, the Army in Effurun is located at a checkpoint in a private residence. The house is painted in the color of the Command. Not less than 10 soldiers are posted there 24 hours.

“And the soldiers, as part of the command duties, or peacekeeping, established a ‘court’ in the premises, where they preside over matrimonial, land, landlord and tenants dispute. They also double as debt and rent collectors, enforcers of contracts/civil agreements, etc.”

Another reputable lawyer, Martins Ahweyevu Mukoro Esq., also in a Facebook titled, “Okuama Social Soldiers and Soldiers of Peace”, said, “Have not Nigerian soldiers always been soldiers of peace? I am at a marriage ceremony in Ughelli South local government area of Delta State. This is not Okuama, it is not near Okoloba, there is no communal land dispute between the neighbouring communities, yet two uniformed soldiers are on duty, possibly, on a peace mission.

“They are either from Effurun or Agbarha Army Barracks; or are they from the barrack in Bomadi? I think not. So, who and how was an application made, to whom, and why were these soldiers posted to a marriage ceremony to perform peaceful guard or security assurance duties for peak lovers getting married?

“In the part of Delta State where I live, soldiers are routinely posted at a price to man purely civilian social ceremonies, including burial and marriage ceremonies, where military functions are absent.

“We condone all of this aberration, we never queried the social soldiers, we never asked for a policeman in place of the corruptly posted social soldiers. It took Okuama for us to question the abuse of our soldiers. So, I ask, were we, honestly, taken back that soldiers went on a peace mission to Okuama?”

In governance, opportunity cost is more complex as an empirical construct. Foregone alternatives may not necessarily be foregone. In certain cases, there may be very little wiggle room for such niceties. Allocating resources to critical sectors without neglecting other sectors for a holistic and organic development of the country becomes the potent ideal, verging on emergency.

The proclivity for an integral fettling of Nigeria’s gaping concerns is patent in the ideation and iteration of the Tinubu administration’s priority areas of reforming the economy to deliver sustained inclusive growth; strengthening national security for peace and prosperity; boosting agriculture to achieve food security; unlocking energy and natural resources for sustainable development; enhancing infrastructure and transportation as enablers of growth; focusing on education, health, and social investment as essential pillars of development; accelerating diversification through industrialisation, digitisation, creative arts, manufacturing & innovation, and improving governance for effective service delivery.

It is one reticular hoop. One niche subsisting on the other; one outcome depending on the other and vice versa, and one thread cascading down on the others. A breathing filament runs through the nexus of security, agriculture, education, infrastructure, job creation, and other sectoral motifs. They are one important whole.

Effective security will naturally enhance food production as citizens can go to farm; open arteries of investments, and effectuate the deepening of investments in other sectors, as well as impact the overall well-being of society. Improved agriculture will, in turn, ensure food security, price stability, and hunger mitigation. Infrastructure provision will stimulate investments and create opportunities along multiple channels of growth. And so will investments in education, healthcare, and other sectors all converge to secure Nigeria’s future.

It takes a dexterous laying of bricks to build an edifice. The administration takes a cultivated and diligent brick-by-brick approach to governance; to building that nation we all deserve. It is a steady, well-thought-out, and carefully executed step-by-step fashion as against the harum-sacrum option.

In March, President Bola Tinubu approved the establishment of the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund (RHIDF) to facilitate effective infrastructure development across the pivotal areas of agriculture, transportation, ports, aviation, energy, healthcare, and education in Nigeria.

The Fund will, among other things, invest in critical national projects that will promote growth; enhance local value-addition, create employment opportunities, and stimulate technological innovation and exports.

It will cover agricultural infrastructure and food security with emphasis on the development of robust agricultural infrastructure networks; ports revitalisation, with premium on the rejuvenation of port facilities and associated infrastructure to streamline operations and enhance the ease of doing business; aviation enhancement, with focus on the revitalisation and modernisation of major airports nationwide; road infrastructure, with some strategic projects like the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, the Sokoto-Badagry Road, among other key road projects across the nation, to receive attention, and rail infrastructure, with Lagos-Kano and Eastern rail lines as some of the projects to be prioritised.

In healthcare, President Tinubu is sparing no effort as investments are being funnelled into the sector. Recently, he directed the immediate upgrade of key health infrastructure and equipment across the six geo-political zones. Ten hospitals bestrewing the six geopolitical zones will be revamped to provide exigent and top-tier healthcare services in the lines of radiology, clinical pathology, medical and radiation oncology, and cardiac catheterisation.

On April 3, the president signed into law the Student Loan (Access to Higher Education) (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2024. And in furtherance of his resolve to secure Nigeria’s socio-economic future by ensuring sustainable higher education and critical skill development for all Nigerian students and the youth, he expeditiously and carefully appointed a management team. This is so that the necessary instruments are put in place for the effective take-off of this all-important fund.

There is also the plan for school feeding and other education-specific initiatives to overhaul the entire pedagogy train.

The president has also approved the establishment of the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP) and appointed a chief executive to efficaciously manage the corporation and ensure the expansion of access to credit to all classes of Nigerian citizens while promoting financial inclusion, and enhancing the quality of life of the Nigerian people as they access the tangibles of prosperity.

The Tinubu administration is executing a full-system upgrade, even with specific attention to some sectors, understanding that Nigerians deserve a full complement of good governance and socio-economic security.

Fredrick Nwabufo is the senior special assistant to the president on public engagement

Ali Ndume, chief whip of the senate, has rejected the recent increment in electricity tariff.

On Wednesday, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved an increase in electricity tariff for customers under the B and A classification.

The commission said customers who receive 20 hours of electricity supply daily, will pay N225 per kilowatt (kW), starting from April 3.

The new rate is about three times the existing figure.

Since the announcement, there has been a public outcry against the new tariff.

In a statement on Saturday, Ndume, senator representing Borno south, said Nigerians are yet to recover from the removal of petrol subsidy by the federal government.

“The news of the increment came to me and many of my colleagues as a shock. It also came at a time when the National Assembly was on a break,” the statement reads.

“Personally, I think the timing of this hike is very wrong. Nigerians are grappling with many challenges.

“To put this fresh responsibility on them is very unfair. Nigerians are yet to recover from the fuel subsidy removal of last year.

“Many Nigerians are still grappling with the ripple effects the removal had on them. To now come up with this is wrong.

“I believe that the timing is wrong. There ought to have been some consultations, especially with the national assembly as representatives of the people. We were not consulted. We saw the news like every other Nigerian.

“The inflation is still very high. The prices of food commodities, drugs, transportation, school fees, and other daily expenditures are still on the high side.

“The minimum wage has not been increased. Many state governments are yet to even pay the current minimum wage of N30,000.

“How do we expect the people to survive? We’ve to be very realistic and feel the pulse of the people we represent as a government.”

The lawmaker said the federal government should first provide stable electricity and slow down inflation before implementing a new tariff for electricity.

[TheCable]

35,000 innocent and defenceless Palestinians, including 15000 children, have been targetted and killed in Gaza by Israel over the last 6 months yet it was only after 7 western aid workers of the World Central Kitchen were tragically and callously targetted and murdered in cold blood by the Israeli Defence Force last week that western Governments and the Western media are beginning to recognise the fact that the Jewish state has turned into a monstrous and uncontrollable beast.

This begs the following questions.

Does blood not flow through the veins of Arabs and Muslims in the same way that it flows through the veins of westerners and Christians?

Is the blood of westerners redder than the blood of Arabs?

Do Palestinian lives not matter?

Are American, British, Australian and French lives more precious than the lives of Palestinian men, women and children?

How can one explain or wish away this glaring display of emotional selectivity, hypocrisy and double standards?

Is it not racism in its most glaring and ugly form?

Is this not a case of psychological apartheid in motion and have the leaders of the West not developed a classic sociopathic and psychopathic disposition when it comes to the suffering of the Palestinians.

Even after 75 years of barbarous servitude and occupation followed by the mass murder and genocide that we are witnessing in Gaza today few notable western leaders give a damn and most of them have not only turned a blind eye to it but are also willing partners and complicit in the most graphic and barbaric expression of man's inhumanity to man and sheer wickedness since the Nazi holocaust of World War 11.

Given this all-embracing endorsement and unconditional support that they enjoy is it any wonder that the Zionists believe that they have the divine right to give life and take it at will and at their pleasure?

Is it any wonder that the Jewish state believes that it can get away with mass murder and ethnic cleansing?

Is it any wonder that the Zionists believe that they are divine beings with a divine purpose, the master race, God's chosen people?

Is it any wonder that they believe that they are totally and completely above the law and untouchable given the unconditional support and tacit approval that they enjoy from NATO and the powers that be in the west?

Over the last six months western leaders have applauded Israel for slaughtering the Palestinians and destroying all their infrastructures yet they only started questioning their devilish collusion with what can only be decribed as unadulterated evil when seven of their own citizens who were doing charity work and helping to feed the starved and beleaguered children of Gaza were also butchered in a hail of precision rockets that brutally cut them down one after the other.

These same people did not shed a tear or say a word when Israeli jets mowed down hundreds of Palestinian civilians as they tried to grab food from aid trucks that came in from Egypt.

To them that did not matter and neither did they view it as an atrocity or describe it as a war crime or a crime against humanity because those that were murdered were "mainly Muslims and only Arabs".

Is this fair? Can it be justified or defended?

Is it not a perfidious display of double speak, double standards and devilry?

Is it not a gratuitous insult to our collective humanity and a monumental shame?

Are Arabs, Africans, Asians and the people of the "global South" not human beings too?

Again for the last few months western leaders stuck to their oars and stubbornly refused to acknowledge the fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a wild and rabid dog that cannot be controlled and that no longer listens to its master.

They refused to accept the fact that he had become the proverbial falcon that was no longer prepared to listen to the falconer.

They refused to recognise the fact that the genocide in Gaza was not about religion but rather about the implementation of an insidious, sinister, religious and racist agenda and an unconciable attempt by a horrendous and deluded horde of callous, bitter and vengeful Zionist barbarians to decimate, displace and exterminate the Palestinian people and steal their land.

So drunk are Netanyahu and those around him on the blood of Palestinian children that not even American President Joe Biden, their biggest and greatest friend and ally, can control them.

Will the Zionists ever accept the fact that killing women, children, refugees, journalists, clerics, doctors, nurses, hospital workers, United Nations staff, the elderly, the disabled, the mentally challenged, the weak and other innocent and defenceless civilians in the name of world Jewry and the Israeli state is not only unacceptable but also an abomination and an affront to our collective humanity.

They say when a dog loses its mind and not only refuses to listen to its master but also turns on him and attempts to bite him one is constrained to put a bullet in its head and put it out of its misery.

Perhaps the same solution should be applied to the Zionist state.

Perhaps it is time for it to be put down like a sick, dangerous and rabid old dog and removed from the face of the earth.

I have said it before and I will say it again: in light of the events of the last six months Israel has lost her right to exist.

And if calling out Israel for the atrocities they are committing in Gaza & insisting on an immediate & unconditional ceasefire makes me anti-semitic then so be it.

As a matter of fact it is a badge and label that I would wear proudly.

I do not believe that it is acceptable for the Jewish state to consistently break international humanitarian law and commit war crimes. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.

I do not believe that aid workers and journalists should be targetted and killed. If that makes me anti-Semitic then so be it.

I do not believe that it is right for Bibi Netanyahu to smirk and grin on national television as he tells the world how the 7 western aid workers were targetted and murdered in Gaza by his army. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.

I do not believe that it is right and proper for the Iranian Embassy in Damascus should be targetted and bombed by the Israeli Defence Force or that senior Iranian military commanders that were staying there should be murdered in cold blood. If that makes me anti-Semitic then so be it.

I do not think it is acceptable for Israel to bomb the city of Allepo in Syria and kill 42 people including defenceless civilians. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.

I do not believe that the Jews have a licence from God to kill innocent & defenceless civilians. If that makes me anti-semitic then so be it.

I do not believe that it is right for the western nations to continue to supply arms to Israel and to be complicit in and an enabler of genocide. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.

I do not believe that the Jews are the master race that have been specially chosen above others by God. If that makes me anti-semitic then so be it.

I do not believe that Christians and Muslims will burn in hell or that the Prophet of Islam & our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ were fake. If that makes me anti-semitic then so be it.

I do not believe that saying "Christ is King" is a crime. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.

I do not believe that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was a liar and charlatan who is now boiling in human excrement in hell. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.

I do not believe that demolishing the Al Aqsa Mosque, sacrificing three red heifers where it presently stands & building the third Jewish Temple on exactly the same spot is just, right & proper. If that makes me anti-semitic then so be it.

I do not believe that the Jews and the State of Israel should exert so much influence over the affairs of the United States of America, the western democracies, International politics, world banking & finance & the Western media. If that makes me anti-semitic then so be it.

I do not believe that an attack on Israel, no matter how horrific, gives the Jewish state the right to wipe out, exterminate or drive into the desert or the sea the entire Palestinian race or kill every single man, woman and child in Gaza. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.

I do not believe that Zionism is of God & I consider the Zionists to be far worse & more insidious, cruel & unrelenting than Hitler's Nazis. If that makes me anti-semitic then so be it.

I do not believe that Candace Owens should have been fired from the Daily Wire for criticising Israel & I do not believe that Ben Shapiro & Rabi Shmuly are human beings. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.

I do not believe that Bibi Netanyahu is sane & I do not believe that he is acting in the best interest of the Jews or the State of Israel. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.

I do not believe that South Africa & Ireland have done anything wrong by taking Israel to the Intermational Court of Justice for crimes against humanity, war crimes, ethnic cleansing & genocide. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.

I do not believe that it is right for Israel to prevent food supplies from going into Gaza and for starving the people to death. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.

I do not believe that ALL MUSLIM countries should unite against Israel but rather I believe that ALL countries, whether Muslim, Christian, Hindu or anything else should unite against Israel. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.

I do not believe in ethnic cleansing and the elimination and extermination of an entire race of people as a formula for the resolution of international disputes and I wholeheartedly condemn the holocaust that is being inflicted on the people of Gaza. If that makes me anti semitic so be it.

Finally I no longer believe that Israel has the right to exist & I believe that they forfeited that right when they chose to bathe in the blood of Palestinian women, drink the blood of Palestinian children & butcher the Palestinian people. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.

75 years ago God in His infinite mercy & wisdom gave the Jews a new beginning, a new country and restored them to their former glory.

This was a great blessing but they squandered it by orchestrating the Nakba, by refusing to share the land and live in peace with the Palestinians that they met there & by refusing to desist from treating them like animals, occupying their land & slaughtering them with impunity.

Sadly with their own hands they destroyed the great opportunity that God gave them & instead chose to visit the same unadulterated evil that the German Nazis once visited on them on the Palestinians.

If the truth be told, contrary to popular opinion, Israel is not a democracy but rather a vicious, heartless, bloodthirsty, parasitic, vampiric & blood-lusting apartheid state that applies one set of laws to the European Jewish colonial settlers that own & run it & another to everyone else.

To be an Arab, a Muslim or a Christian in Israel is hell & to be any of the above living in either Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq or anywhere else in the Middle East means that you could well be subjected to genocide, ethnic cleansing or mass murder by the Jewish state whenever they deem it fit.

It is for this reason that the entire civilised world is enraged with Israel and that every right-thinking person expresses the following words from the inner recesses of their souls and with every fiber of their being.

They proudly proclaim, "FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE!"

And despite the double standards of the leaders of the western democracies, so it shall be to the glory of the Living God!