What many people do not know about me is my relationship with the health sector.

Almost 20 years ago, I was invited to consult for the Nigerian Heart Foundation, NHF, on Sports (Golf specifically). That relationship eventually took me to Jomo Kenyatta University as part of a team of medical scholars researching ‘Active Transport’ in some African countries, including Nigeria. By the way, Active Transport is the quantum of physical activity a person does on a daily basis.

After that, the NHF facilitated my invitation as a resource person to the 13th World Public Health Congress in Ethiopia some years later, where I presented a paper on the effect of intensive sports on young children in my specialist sports ‘laboratory’ in Wasimi, Ogun State, an institution for boys and girls interested in combining their passion for sport with a sound education. The sports academy continues to flourish 17 years after, its products shining like a million stars wherever they perch. Many of them have enjoyed scholarships to several universities in the United States; a few have graduated and are now playing professional football in some European countries; some are in an Indian IT University gaining invaluable education and still playing their football; one played professional tennis in Europe; and another is, probably, the tallest basketball player in the world at the moment, plying his trade in Dubai.

President Bola Tinubu has said the average low-grade worker in the country shall receive an additional N25,000 per month.

The president also said discussions are ongoing with the organised labour and other stakeholders in the private sector on achieving minimum wage without causing inflation.

Tinubu made this known in his address of the Nigeria’s 63rd Independence anniversary delivered in Abuja on Sunday.

“Based on our talks with labour, business and other stakeholders, we are introducing a provisional wage increment to enhance the federal minimum wage without causing undue inflation,” Tinubu said.

“For the next six months, the average low-grade worker shall receive an additional twenty-five thousand naira per month,” he added.

[Vanguard]

It is easy to blame bad children, convenient to curse those who sell drugs to them or lure them into cults and gangs. But didn’t someone give birth to and raise them, all of them, cultists, gangsters and the victims? 

These plenty little demons giving us reason to do candle-light procession for our young ones, did they drop from the sky? 

How did things get this bad with our once pretty babies with fluffy curly hair and fat legs? How did our fine boys who gave us heart-melting wide toothless grins become men we can no longer recognise? When you hear some terrifying stories of what 25-year-olds are up to these days, you can’t help but wonder if these were ever babies wearing I-love-mummy bibs or sucking their mothers’ breasts with let-us-pray seriousness, one fat leg in the air. Or do you not wonder how a baby who once cried relentlessly just for his mother’s nipples metamorphosed into a ritualist who strangled his father for Yahoo Plus money-making rites? How did the bubbly baby girl with pink ribbons in her hair become a hustler who lured her sugar daddy to his untimely death?

Where did today’s parents get it wrong? Where did we lose our children? How did we lose them to ‘I just want to blow’ culture?

Whether it’s a balloon or an electric transformer, don’t we all know that once something ‘blows’, some damage is done, sometimes irreparable damage? Blow in street or entertainment parlance can be safely described as success, recognition, wealth, the kind that arrives with a bang, and who does not want their children to succeed and prosper? However, the ‘blow’ also comes with a negative connotation, an unwritten, underlying drift towards ‘success achieved by all and any means’ possible. And that is where the problem lies. Cutting corners, cutting people down, destroying norms and cultures just to get to where you want to go irrespective of whatever it takes or who gets trampled along the way is the current way of getting ahead that can and will have consequences. The parents of the child who mauls everything breathing and not breathing just to ‘blow’ are usually the hardest hit when the sh*t eventually hits the fan.

This is the ‘I wanna blow’ generation, let’s admit it so we can fix our fears. Our children are in a hurry to get things done because we put them on the fast lane early indeed, before they get out of their diapers; playgroup at 12 months, nursery school at three and primary school at four years. I had a friend who pushed his daughter into the university at 14 to read medicine! It ended in premium tears. Some of our children are already coding at 15 and seeing themselves outdoing and overtaking the dot.com billionaires before they are 25.

Today’s kids are very aware, probably too aware of who they are, where they want to be and they want to be there now or ASAP. Since we started them on this fast lane, it is our duty as parents to ensure they stay on the straight and narrow. It is sad, however, that more parents think the only way to parent is to throw money at parenting. Put ‘em in the most expensive school. Enrol them in ballet and piano classes, employ Portuguese and Mandarin teachers for them after school and at weekends and shoo them off to boarding house and ‘the abroad’ whether they are mentally and emotionally ready or not. Once daddy and mummy are making enough money, parenting can be substituted with fees and bills. Is there any better definition of destructive parenting?

Let’s break it down and be honest about the kind of parents we really are.

That school your kids are attending, what exactly motivated you to enrol them there? Is it because ‘at your level, where else will they go?’ Ah, got ya! The choice of your children’s school is like ‘aso-ebi’. Because others bought, you also bought. Your children are going to spend their formative years in a school you chose because it’s expensive, not because it is great. Your only son is in that school because it’s cool, not because its’ good. Who are you going to blame if the boy comes home one day and announces that if the driver won’t use the Toyota Prado to drop him off, he isn’t going to school? Does your daughter think it is bush to spend Christmas holidays with her grandparents when all her friends are off to London for white Christmas? You may think those thoughts are nothing to worry about but that’s how a dark slide starts if you don’t get ahead of it.

What values are you inculcating in your children? Do they know what the concept of ‘respect’ mean or they talk back when you correct them? Are they Yoruba children who think kneeling or prostrating to greet their elders is ‘stone age’? Do you have to scream at them when you have guests before they know they have to give you the room? Watch it modern dad. Things do not spiral out of control overnight.

‘Iya ti mo je omo mi ko ni je’ (my children will not suffer the way I did). These are the parents who constitute the most danger to themselves, the children they love so much and indeed the society. It is among these ones you have men who scold their wives for sending the children to go and grind pepper or buy groceries. The children are ferried to and from school. They can’t cross the road on their own or ride on commercial buses. They run home to mummy to speak up for them and everything threatens their mental health. Fragile, do not break, handle with care babies. No street smarts, none at all. Dear mummy, these children you are over-parenting, how will they cope when they face the harsh realities of the real world or you intend to replace this over-protective attitude with therapy sessions each time they have to contend with bullies even in the workplace?

Do you pray with your children? Do you go to church or mosque with them? Do they know God? Do you pray for them? Or you have suddenly left them to find their way? They are old enough now and should be allowed to make their own choices. That is what some fathers tell themselves as an excuse for dereliction of duty. Apart from the holy books teaching that we should lead our children on the right path, who doesn’t know that the child that we did not build will auction the house we built? Chubby-cheeked babies who neither respect nor fear God will eventually become what their parents are not proud of. Even when you have done everything you should and your children are doing well, that is when your job starts, on a different more intense level. Picture it, your actor or musician son suddenly hits the big bucks, fast cars and posh flat. That’s when to hit the prayer mountains with fasting and praying that is directly proportionate to the success of your child. Why? Because a parent’s job is never done.

Your daughter has enrolled for her PhD at 26. She needs you. She is not a big girl, just your fat baby girl. Be all over her business without being intrusive. Your 30-year-old chartered accountant son just became a branch manager? Congratulations, but there are also chances that he will be ‘invited’ to join a cult or envious colleagues may try to  harm him. Yes, he’s ‘blown’ before 30, but did you prepare him for this fast lane, this fast arrival? Most of us are guilty. Take a second look at your children and what you as parents have done to prepare them especially the ones we have shipped to UK, USA, Australia, Canada and China. Can you thumb your chest that they could swim before you pushed them into the deep end?

Now this big one. Why are our boys looking like half-men-half-women? They plait the hair on their heads only to contrast it with very bushy beards. They started years ago with ear studs and have now graduated to dangling ear rings. Some even wear black nail-polish. Everywhere you turn, there are artificial ‘Dada’ and ‘Samson everywhere with dirty, dyed dreadlocks. Perplexing and exhausting for me. Are we being punished for neglecting our God-given duties as parents or am I the only one who is worried? Did anyone just say ‘this Funke is so old fashioned?’ Ah, my dear modern daddy, I’m worried that you are not worried that it is becoming increasingly embarrassing to tell a brother from his sister. The boy wears earrings like the girl and struggles for hair cream with his mum and sister. Looks like we have all lost control of these babies we once carried in our wombs for nine months. The boys, over time, became so envious of their sisters’ and mothers’ looks they now want to look like them. Some of my fellow old fashioned mothers even insist that men who braid and weave their hair are suspects. Please don’t ask me any follow-up questions. I am just one old girl trying to manage the confusion of seeing a man wearing a native cap on weaved hair.

President Bola Ahmed has called on Nigerians to join him in efforts to remake Nigeria into a better place for all the citizens.

In his nationwide address to mark Nigeria’s 63rd Independence Anniversary yesterday morning, he invited all Nigerians to join in this collective endeavour which, he said, can be achieved if they unite behind one national cause.

The president further called for unity, courage, compassion, and commitment to nation-building even as he declared his unwavering dedication to serving the nation faithfully.

In a significant move to alleviate the economic burden on low-level workers, President Bola Tinubu announced a groundbreaking provision.

He said, “For the next six months, low-grade federal government workers in Nigeria will receive an additional N25,000 per month as part of a broader effort to support the nation’s workforce during these tough times.”

He also stressed the need for economic reforms and measures to ensure that the benefits of the nation’s prosperity are shared more equitably among its citizens.

President Tinubu explained the decision to end the fuel subsidy, even as he acknowledged the hardships it had caused. He likened the subsidy regime to building a home on unstable ground and stressed the necessity of reform for Nigeria’s future prosperity.

The president outlined various measures aimed at easing the burden on citizens, including an Infrastructure Support Fund for states, and the deployment of cheaper, safer Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses to lower transport costs.

He said, “At my inauguration, I made important promises about how I would govern this great nation. I said that bold reforms were necessary to place our nation on the path of prosperity and growth. On that occasion, I announced the end of the fuel subsidy.

“I am attuned to the hardships that have come. I have a heart that feels and eyes that see. I wish to explain to you why we must endure this trying moment.

“Those who sought to perpetuate the fuel subsidy and broken foreign exchange policies are people who would build their family mansion in the middle of a swamp.

“I am different. I am not a man to erect our national home on a foundation of mud. To endure, our home must be constructed on safe and pleasant ground.

“Reform may be painful, but it is what greatness and the future require. We now carry the cross of reaching a future Nigeria where the abundance and fruits of the nation are fairly shared among all, not hoarded by a select and greedy few; a Nigeria where hunger, poverty and hardship are pushed into the shadows of an ever fading past.

According to him, while it is no joy seeing the people in difficulties, they must endure in order to have a better future.

“My government is doing all that it can to ease the load. I will now outline the path we are taking to relieve the stress on our families and households.

“We have embarked on several public sector reforms to stabilise the economy, direct fiscal and monetary policy to fight inflation, encourage production, ensure the security of lives and property and lend more support to the poor and the vulnerable.

“Based on our talks with labour, business and other stakeholders, we are introducing a provisional wage increment to enhance the federal minimum wage without causing undue inflation.

“For the next six months, the average low-grade worker shall receive an additional N25,000 per month.

“To ensure better grassroots development, we set up an Infrastructure Support Fund for states to invest in critical areas. States have already received funds to provide relief packages against the impact of rising food and other prices.

He noted that lowering transport costs will be key and that his administration had opened a new chapter in public transportation through the deployment of cheaper, safer Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses across the nation which will operate at a fraction of current fuel prices, positively affecting transport fares.

According to him, the new CNG conversion kits will start coming in very soon as all hands are on deck to fast track the usually lengthy procurement process.

The president paid tributes to Nigeria’s founding fathers and mothers, highlighting their dedication and leadership in establishing a sovereign and independent nation.

He emphasized the unity and diversity of Nigeria, acknowledging the challenges faced in building a nation with such a broad mix of ethnic groups, religions, traditions, and cultures.

He stated unequivocally that Nigeria would stand strong and united, rejecting any notion that the country should never have come into existence.

He also mentioned the ongoing probe of the Central Bank and the commitment to fair tax policies and increased support for small enterprises.

“I pledged a thorough house cleaning of the den of malfeasance the CBN had become. That housecleaning is well underway. A new leadership for the Central Bank has been constituted.

“Also, my special investigator will soon present his findings on past lapses and how to prevent similar reoccurrences. Henceforth, monetary policy shall be for the benefit of all and not the exclusive province of the powerful and wealthy.”

The president mentioned other intervention strategies his government was rolling out to improve economic conditions, including increasing investment in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to boost employment and urban incomes and extending the social safety net through the expansion of cash transfer programmes to an additional 15 million vulnerable households commencing this month.

He commended the security agencies, the judiciary, the National Assembly, civil society organisations for their roles just as he assured women, the physically challenged and other vulnerable groups of inclusion in government activities.

Since man left the Garden of Eden, there is no blight more despicable than the evil of racism. Based on the fallacy that the worth of a person is totally dependent on the colour of his skin, this tempest has actually been responsible for countless crimes against humanity and the polarisation of the world on the basis of skin colour with the ‘white-skinned’ person claiming superiority over the ‘yellow’, the ‘brown’ and the ‘black’. 

No race is more sinned against than the black race. From the era of the trans-Atlantic slave trade through colonialism which eroded the civilisation of an entire continent and showed the bestiality of man to fellow man, to the current global economic arrangement which has been rigged against Africa and its descendants, racism is now so entrenched in some societies that you don’t need to scratch beyond the surface to encounter it.

Lunchtime Murder

It looked as if the world had become unshockable by overt racist crimes after the catalogue of such crimes in the US and other parts of the world, particularly the choking to death of George Floyd. But Italy refused to be outdone in the lynching department when, on 29 July, 2022, an Italian man killed a disabled Nigerian street vendor for attempting to sell a handkerchief to his girlfriend.

The 39-year-old Nigerian, Alika Ogorchukwu, had lived in Italy for over ten years. He was married and had an eight-year-old son. He started hawking wares on the streets of Civitanova Marche, a busy upmarket shopping district in the province of Macerata, after a bicycle accident left him disabled and unable to return to his regular job.

The Italian man, Filippo Ferlazzo, possessed by whatever demon controlling his type, turned on the limping street hustler and used his crutches to pummel him repeatedly before wrestling him to the ground and choking him to death— all in broad daylight before hundreds of lunch-hour passers-by, many of whom were busy recording the murder with their phones. No one intervened to physically restrain Ferlazzo. 

The outrage that greeted the incident forced the Italian government to react quickly. The Italian Anti-Racist Coordination published an open letter denouncing the use of racist imagery in media coverage of the murder while the Human Rights Watch stated that Italian police had historically failed to respond adequately to hate crimes. 

A national protest was staged by the growing community of black Italians, who see Alika’s death, along with a number of other such incidents, as expressions of growing racism and the political ascendancy of right-wing, anti-immigrant hatred in the country. The police, however, tried to steer the discussion away from racism, preferring instead to toe the line of official excuses of ‘mental illness’ and ‘provocation’ for Ferlazzo’s behaviour. 

The good news, if good can ever come out of such a savage separation of a poor black man’s soul from his body— is that last week, Ferlazzo was finally sentenced to 24 years in prison for his crime.

As Ferlazzo’s case was being rounded up, a trending video of another crass display of racism hugged the world’s imagination and showed the urgency of the need to help those in denial come to terms with their racist disease. This time, the shameful sight was in Dublin, Ireland.

Irish Racism

I must confess that I have admired Ireland all my life on account of the positive influence of great Irish reverend fathers of the Societas Missionum ad Afros (Society of African Missions, SMA) who were part of my early training. Indeed, I was privileged to enjoy the friendship and mentorship of the legendary Fr DJ Slattery, founder of St Finbarr’s College, Lagos, and was delighted to play some part in getting him to write his autobiography.

For some reason, it had never occurred to me to associate racism with Ireland until recently when the video of an event that happened in Dublin in March 2022 pierced through the carpet under which it had been swept by the authorities, and caused global outrage. In the video, a female white judge is seen handing out medals for participation to a line of young gymnasts, but she bypassed the only black girl in the group. A photographer, coach and other officials watching the show of shame fail to intervene.

The black girl was Initially cheerful and excited. When she was bypassed, she became disappointed and embarrassed and became a mere spectator as her colleagues proudly caressed the medals hanging down their necks. The only difference between the girl and the others is that she is black.

After the girl’s parents protested, the authorities tried to downplay the seriousness of what happened, claiming that it was a honest mistake and that there was no tinge of racism in the whole affair. They even refused to disclose the name of the offending woman to the media. There were no apologies, save tepid excuses, offered — until someone released the video on social media, thereby exposing the naked racism of the Irish setup. Gymnastics Ireland was forced to issue a statement shortly after the video became viral. 

Nobody is deceived. Systemic racism is alive and well in the Republic of Ireland. That video made me probe further into racial relations in Ireland. I was shocked to discover that the Irish Council for International Students (ICOS) had done an extensive study of the problem and its research findings ought to have nudged the authorities to face the problem headlong instead of living in denial.

The ICOS research in which more than 420 international students participated, found that:

Almost two-thirds (63%) of international students in Ireland have experienced or witnessed racism.

The most common form of racism was verbal (42%). This was followed by ‘indirect’ racism (39%), and physical racism (12%), including physical assaults, the throwing of objects or being spat at. A further 4% had experienced or witnessed online hate speech.

The majority of racist incidents occurred in Dublin (68%), however, incidents occurred in both urban and rural settings 

A quarter of all racist incidents occurred on the street (25%), followed by social settings (restaurants, pubs or nightclubs), the workplace, or public transport (each at 15%), social media (6%), and a series of other public settings (31%). 

Of the participants that provided information on the perpetrators of racism, 35 said the offenders were youths or teenagers. There were 34 accounts of racial discrimination in the workplace at the hands of work colleagues, supervisors, and customers; 25 cases involving strangers; and 23 cases involving individuals or groups of men. In addition, 17 respondents from the survey reported institutional racism.

Scorpion And Frog

A racist is a human scorpion. It is in his nature to dispense venom. The Greek fabulist, Aesop, gifted humanity the didactic tale of the frog and the scorpion. Unable to swim, a scorpion asks a frog to carry him across a river. 

The frog asks, “How do I know you won’t sting me?” 

The scorpion replies, “If I do, we will both die”. 

Midstream, the scorpion stings the frog and in his dying breath, the frog asks, “Why?” 

The scorpion replies, “It is my nature”.

The Organised Labour comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have concluded massive mobilisation of their members and affiliates for a nationwide indefinite strike starting from Tuesday, October 3, 2023.

The development was sequel to the boycott of a meeting scheduled by the federal government on Friday as the last move to avert the impending strike.

Already, the Labour unions have maintained their stand that there was no going back on the planned strike action.

The two Labour centres, which announced the strike action after a joint press conference on Tuesday in Abuja, said the strike was a result of the federal government’s failure to address the suffering and hardship of Nigerians caused by the removal of fuel subsidy and other anti-poor policies of the President Bola Tinubu administration.

They also accused the government of refusing to engage in a meaningful and constructive dialogue with them despite the 21-day ultimatum and the subsequent two-day warning strike of September 5 and 6.

Consequently, in separate memos issued by the different affiliate Unions sighted by LEADERSHIP on Saturday evening, workers across the board were directed to ensure total compliance with the NLC/TUC shutdown directive beginning October 3.

Affiliate Unions like Radio, Television, Theatre and Arts Workers Union of Nigeria (RATTAWU) in a notification to its state councils resolved to embark on the nationwide indefinite strike.

The RATTAWU memo read: “As a follow-up to the just concluded meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) which was held on Tuesday 26th September 2023, it was resolved that all affiliates of the Congress should embark on a nationwide indefinite strike action which should be total, with effect from Tuesday 3 October, 2023. In other words, there shall be no operations in our sectors throughout the period of the action.”

Also, the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (UAMP) issued similar directive to all its members in compliance with NLC/TUC directive.

Other affiliate Unions, who issued similar directive to their members, include; Pharmacists, Physiotherapists, Medical Laboratory Scientists, Imaging Scientists/Radiographers, Medical Social Werkers, Optometrists, Clinical Psychologists, Orthotics/Prosthetics, Speech Therapists, and Medical Physicists, among others.

Also mobilising for the shutdown in the health sector is the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM).

In a memo by NANNM, the Association said, “I am directed to convey the decision of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) National Executive Council (NEC) meeting to commence nationwide indefinite industrial action with effect from Tuesday 3rd October 2023.”

In the education sector, Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU ) has begun mobilisation for the strike in earnest.

According to a memo, the COEASU leadership said, “The Leadership of the Union was in attendance at the emergency NLC NEC meeting of Tuesday 26th September 2023. The meeting, which was attended by NLC affiliates, discussed the failure of government to meet the demands of the Labour Union in the face of current economic reality.

“It is in the light of the foregoing that all affiliates in attendance unanimously agreed to commence an indefinite strike action on the 3 October, 2023, All Chapters are hereby directed by this notice to comply accordingly.”

Also, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has also concluded mobilisation for the strike.

According to a memo signed by the Senior Assistant Secretary of the Association, Comrade Kingsley Okayi, the Association said, “I am directed to formally forward the Notice of Indefinite Nationwide Strike (see attached circular) organised by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). The strike action is scheduled to commence on Tuesday 3rd October, 2023

“Consequent upon the above, all Branch Chairpersons are requested to commence full mobilization of our members to actively participate in the strike that is being organised by NLC. You are therefore directed to liaise with your respective State Council of NLC for proper and effective mobilization, coordination and active participation. Also send a regular report of your participation to the National Secretariat.”

Other unions in the sector that have completed plans to join the strike in include; the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANIP), among others.

Also, the National Union of Electricity Employees (NAUEE), National Union of Banks, Insurance & Financial Institutions Employees, The Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), and Nigeria Union of Public Service, Reportorial, Secretarial, Data Processors and Allied Workers are among the unions that have concluded plans to join the strike.

Others are the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Gas Workers (NUPENG), and National Union of Civil Engineering Construction, Furniture and Wood Workers, and many more.

LEADERSHIP recalls that the organised Labour is demanding specially wage awards for public workers and a new minimum wage, tax exemptions and allowances to public sector workers, provision of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses, release of modalities for the N70billion for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and immediate reversal of all anti-poor policies of the federal government.

The two labour congresses have already urged Nigerians o brace up for a long strike and use between this Saturday and Monday to stockpile foodstuff and other necessities.

Several appeals by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, to the NLC leadership to shelve the planned strike fell on deaf ears as the organised Labour rejected the appeal, saying they will embark on the strike until their demands were fully met.

They also warned that any attempt by the government to use force or intimidation of court orders to stop the strike will be resisted by workers and Nigerians.

The Federal Government is currently engaging the World Bank on a fresh $1.5bn loan, findings by Sunday PUNCH have shown.

Abbreviated as HOPE, the loan is titled ‘Nigeria Human Capital for Opportunities and Empowerment’ based on information obtained from the website of the Washington-based institution.

The objective of the loan is “to strengthen systems for improved delivery of basic education and primary health services in participating states.”

The loan is meant to be implemented in 2024 pending approval by the board of the World Bank Group.

Sunday PUNCH also discovered that there was another loan titled: ‘Nigeria Macro-Fiscal Reforms for Economic Stability and Economic Transformation’.

However, the amount for this other loan was not disclosed as of the time of filing this report.

There were also pending discussions on five other loan projects, according to findings.

These include $300m for solutions for internally displaced persons and host communities’ project, $500m for rural access and agricultural marketing project-scale up, $750m for the Nigeria distributed access through renewable energy scale-up project, $700m for sustainable power and irrigation for Nigeria project, and $500m for NG accelerating resource mobilisation for reforms PforR.

The discussions will determine if the loans will become active or dropped.

So far, Nigeria has secured a total of $1.95bn in loans from the World Bank in the first four months of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

The first was the $750m approved on June 9, 2023 to boost Nigeria’s power sector.

The second was $500m to help the country’s drive for women’s empowerment and was approved on June 22, 2023.

The third was a $700m loan to enhance adolescent girls’ learning and empowerment, and was approved on September 21, 2023.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association, which make up the World Bank, have, over the years, advanced loans to Nigeria.

The IBRD lends to governments of middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries, while the IDA provides concessionary loans – called credits – and grants to governments of the poorest countries.

The World Bank is Nigeria’s biggest multilateral creditor, with the country owing about $14.51bn as of June 30, 2023.

Further breakdown showed that Nigeria has $14.51bn IDA debt and $485.75m IBRD debt by the second quarter of the year.

The Debt Management Office recently said Nigeria’s total public debt hit N87.38tn at the end of the second quarter.

The figure represents an increase of 75.29 per cent or N37.53tn compared to N49.85tn recorded at the end of March 2023.

Further breakdown shows that Nigeria has a total domestic debt of N54.13tn and total external debt of N33.25tn.

While the domestic debt makes up 61.95 per cent of the total debt, the external makes up 38.05 per cent.

There has been a significant increase in both domestic and external debts within three months.

The domestic debt rose by 79.18 per cent from N30.21tn, while the external debt rose by 69.28 per cent from N19.64tn in the first quarter of 2023.

In its 2022 Debt Sustainability Analysis Report, the DMO warned that the Federal Government’s projected revenue of N10tn for 2023 could not support fresh borrowings.

According to the office, the projected government’s debt service-to-revenue ratio of 73.5 per cent for this year is high and a threat to debt sustainability.

It noted that the government’s current revenue profile could not support higher levels of borrowing.

In a report titled, ‘Report of the Annual National Market Access Country Debt Sustainability Analysis,’ the debt office said, “The projected FGN debt service-to-revenue ratio at 73.5 per cent for 2023 is high and a threat to debt sustainability.

“It means that the revenue profile cannot support higher levels of borrowing. Attaining a sustainable FGN debt service-to-revenue ratio would require an increase of FGN revenue from N10.49tn projected in the 2023 budget to about N15.5tn.”

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The DMO stated that the government must pay attention to revenue generation by implementing far-reaching revenue mobilisation initiatives and reforms, including the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiatives and all the pillars with a view to raising the country’s tax revenue to Gross Domestic Product ratio from about seven per cent to those of its peers.

The Federal Government will be unable to borrow a lot as it nears its self-imposed debt limit of 40 per cent, according to the DMO.

To reduce borrowing and budget deficit, the DMO stated that the government should encourage the private sector to fund some of the capital projects that were being financed from borrowing through public-private partnership schemes.

It added that the Federal Government could reduce borrowing through the privatisation and/or sale of its assets.

‘Borrowing plan stays’

Despite the rising debt, the Federal Government has insisted that it will stick to its borrowing plan.

Over the years, Nigeria’s low revenue generation has pushed the government to borrow more borrowing.

However, President Tinubu recently expressed his administration’s commitment to breaking the cycle of overreliance on borrowing for public spending and the resultant burden of debt servicing it places on the management of limited government revenues.

Tinubu recently said the country could not continue to service its debt with 90 per cent of its revenue.

He noted that the country was headed for destruction if that continued.

The President said, “Can we continue to service external debts with 90 per cent of our revenue? It is a path to destruction. It is not sustainable. We must make the very difficult changes that are necessary for our country to get (wake) up from slumber and be respected among the great nations of the world.

“To build a great nation, we must make bold decisions; even though it may be painful at the moment, it is not about you and me, it is about generations yet unborn.”

This indicates that the country may want to explore debt service suspension or relief or restructuring of the debt.

However, the Director-General, DMO, Ms Patience Oniha, told Sunday PUNCH that the government had no plans to seek debt service suspension or restructure the debt.

She said, “With the DSSI, the multilaterals were not giving any relief, only the bilaterals. For Nigeria, we don’t have many bilateral loans. They are very small and they are all concessionary.”

She further explained that there were some costs attached to the debt suspension programme, which made the country opt out of it in the past.

Oniha stressed that the current administration was making significant efforts to boost revenue, which meant that the high debt service to revenue ratio was expected to decline.

“You can see a lot happening in revenue. If revenue is increased, your debt service to revenue ratio will improve. So, do you need to restructure?” she queried.

Although the Federal Government said it would stop taking on new borrowings, she clarified that it planned to stick to the borrowing target approved in the 2023 budget.

The immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari, signed a N21.83tn budget for the current year, which had a deficit of N11.34tn.

The deficit was projected to be financed from N8.8tn new borrowings, N1.77tn drawdowns on loans secured for specific development projects and N206.18bn privatisation proceeds.

The Federal Government said although it was not in a position to keep borrowing, it would still maintain its borrowing plan.

Recently, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, while unveiling an eight-point agenda for the economy, said, “The government is not in a position to borrow if you consider 90 per cent debt service to revenue and behind that, a rising debt to GDP ratio. If you look at the last budget, you will see that there is a borrowing requirement built into it and appropriated by the National Assembly. And that is ongoing.”

At the 2023 Annual Business Summit of Capital Market Solicitors Association held in Lagos, the DMO noted that Nigeria had budgetary approval for N1.7tn external debt borrowing.

“Talking about external borrowing, let me clarify that this year’s budget has room for a new external borrowing of about N1.7tn. When you convert that at official rates, it gives you about $2bn,” the DMO DG stated.

She also said that Nigeria’s debt had grown since the country exited the Paris Club, adding that the key driver of the debt was the budgetary deficit.

Experts caution govt

A political economist, Prof Pat Utomi, cautioned against fresh borrowings, saying, “It is not advisable to seek new loans.”

He stressed that the country needed a thorough review of the current loans and how they had been utilised to ensure economic growth.

“The government has not shown enough discipline in the way it has deployed earlier borrowed money,” Utomi added.

He called for a 50 per cent cut in the cost of governance and transparency in the utilisation of borrowed funds to stir production and boost foreign exchange in the country.

A development economist, Aliyu Ilias, told Sunday PUNCH that with the currency devaluation, the external debt burden would likely double.

“If Nigeria owes a particular amount in dollars, now that we have naira devaluation, the total amount in naira is going to double,” Ilias stated.

He called for a moratorium or debt buyback to alleviate the heavy burden of debt servicing for many African countries, including Nigeria.

“On the issue of debt, I would have wanted a situation whereby we can have a moratorium on our debt. Or there can be an opportunity for a debt buyback,” he added.

He also advised the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to refrain from lending money to Nigeria until 2025.

“Tell the World Bank and the IMF to hold on and not give Nigeria money for now. Let us internally grow our revenue. It is because of the availability of money to borrow that we are into more debt,” he said.

The Resident Representative for the IMF in Nigeria, Ari Aisen, said the country’s economy could become stable without new IMF financing, urging the government to strengthen oil production and the tax base.

He said, “The Nigerian economy can aspire to stabilise without the IMF. It is certainly a sovereign decision of every member country to approach us in case of need. Let us not forget that oil prices are very supportive. The balance of payment is in a reasonable position. There are current account surpluses, meaning that the trade position is good. So, it is really a question of bringing more of this surplus into the economy. Making sure oil production benefits the economy is critical.

“Oil revenue and exports should benefit through an increased production of oil. That is part of why we believe that the government should actually re-double efforts to be able to increase the intake from the oil sector. In parallel, revenue should also increase in the non-oil sector through better compliance. The compliance gap is very large in Nigeria. Very few are paying their dues. Those who pay may feel that they are paying the entire burden, so it is important to broaden the tax base and include more taxpayers. In parallel, governance and good use of funds need to accompany those increased tax payments so that everyone feels more comfortable with the new reality.

“With a revenue-to-GDP ratio of eight per cent, it is very difficult to make a meaningful contribution to improve social indicators in Nigeria. There is an existential issue for the country, and I think the new administration is spot on in terms of conversations with the private sector on how everyone can start collaborating to boost revenue and provide public goods and services.”

The President of Ghana, Nana  Akufo-Addo has said democracy in West Africa is in danger as evident in the recent military takeovers in the sub-region, and urged all to work harder to entrench the principles of democratic accountability in the citizens.

Akufo-Addo stated this at a high-level parliamentary seminar on the ‘Role of the ECOWAS Parliament Relating the Challenges of Unconstitutional Regime Change and Presidential Term Limits in West Africa”, organised by the ECOWAS Parliament in Winneba, Ghana.

The Ghanian President who declared the seminar open, said the West African region is confronted with a difficult economic, political, social insecurity situation.

He said, despite the considerable progress made by ECOWAS in the areas of democracy, good governance and the rule of law since the 1990s, the region is currently witnessing a significant decline in its democratic relations.

Akufo-Addo averred that the region’s democracy is currently facing three serious threats including attempted confiscation by elites who manipulate constitutional rules and the subjugate institutions of the republic with the sole aim of remaining in power.

He said other threats are the emerging remilitarisation of governance with the return once again of the military unto the political scene, and the wanton desire to destroy democracy by terrorist groups and armed criminal gangs to start lawlessness in the absent of freedom in the region.

Akufo-Addo said: “This observation is bitter and implacable, today four member ECOWAS states are led by military government as a result of coup d’etat, this has unfortunately created a stare palpable anxiety and tension in every corner of the region, raising the spectra of

regional instability which we thought had beef banished for ever. Equally apart, is the culture of violence and disputes that characterise the period of electing some of our leaders.

“I want to reaffirm that in the contemporary world, the only legitimacy for any leader is through a mandate that is freely give by the people in a fair, peaceful and transparent election. This is the most tangible and objective way to know and recognize the commonwealth which is the wealth of the people.

“The election of Mohammed Bazum in Niger inboard this recognition of the commonwealth and that is why the coup in Niger is particularly tragic for the consolidation of democracy in our region.”

He insisted that democracy is not a western concept as some believe, but rather a universal concept of general applicability.

According to the Ghanian President, the history of the world, including that of Africa showed that the process of electing and installing leaders in democratic circumstances provides the best form of government.

He urged parliamentarians to speak against the extension of presidential tenures by some leaders to strengthen their grip and power, saying such actions result into discontent among the populace and create fertile grounds for military interventions.

In his remarks, Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Sidie Mohammed Tunis, said the high-level Seminar was put togetehr as part of the performance of parliaments obligations under the treaty, to determine what causes military takeovers, democratic regression, and political instability in the sub-region.

Tunis, reiterated that their responsibility as lawmakers was not only to create laws and policies but to also rigorously monitor implementation of those instruments.

He said to ensure that ECOWAS performs maximally to the expectation of the people, its parliament must facilitate robust and continuous discourse on the broad issues, aimed at formulating effective and sustainable solutions to challenges.

“During this Seminar, we also intend to look at the causes of various attempts by democratically elected leaders in the sub-region to extend their term limits despite crystal-clear constitutional provisions outlining these terms, as well as the potential role the ECOWAS Parliament can play in preventing such anti-democratic actions.

“We note that the role of the Parliament in upholding regional stability, laying the groundwork for democracy, economic growth, and the rule of law, as well as acting as the voice of hope for all our peoples, is invaluable and should never be diminished. Parliamentarians need to step up to the plate and demonstrate the extraordinary leadership that is expected of us.

“The adage “to whom much is given, much is expected” applies here. We must embrace democracy as essential to progress and muster the confidence to speak out against leaders who are solidifying their hold on power against the wishes of the people because we have a moral obligation to do so.

“We must denounce those who start constitutional and institutional coups with the same zeal and tones as we denounce military coups. We must publicly denounce corruption, poor leadership, anti-democratic forces while resisting those who seek to undermine our democracy, he stated.

Tunis said ECOWAS must also be sensitive to the situation of young people who face poverty, barriers to education, many forms of discrimination as well as limited job prospects and opportunities, leaving them susceptible to engaging in anti-democratic initiatives.

He said the ECOWAS Parliament is collaborating with Non-Governmental organisations (NGOs) to establish the ECOWAS Youth Parliament to facilitate the active participation of young people across the region in achieving the community vision.

Earlier in his welcome address the Head of Ghana Delegation at the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Alexander Afenyo-Markin, said the recent activities of unrest in the subregion should in no way give justification for military coups to overthrow democratically elected government.

“We must insist, fervently, that the answer to these acts of terror lies within our democratic institutions, standing as bastions of hope and fortitude amidst the turmoil.

“We stand at a juncture where the road we choose will dictate the future of our great region. The recent resurgence of military coups threatens to drag us back to an era we have fought tirelessly to transcend.

“We must firmly CONDEMN the coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Chad, and Gabon, along with the hostilities in Sudan. These actions are a betrayal of the democratic

principles we hold dear, and we demand a swift return to constitutional rule,” Afenyo-Markin added.

[Leadership]

President Bola Tinubu, at the passing-out parade of Nigerian Defence Academy cadets in Kaduna on Saturday, reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to eliminating poverty, terrorism, and criminality in the country.

Tinubu, who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, outlined a comprehensive approach to tackling the challenges with a promise to mete out equal treatment to all regions of the country.

He stated, “Whether in tackling secessionist elements, counter-insurgency efforts, pursuing normalcy, or resolving farmer-herder conflicts, every group will be treated equally and given a sense of belonging in our government.”

In his address titled “The Heroes of Nigeria’s Path to Prosperity and Security,” President Tinubu acknowledged the pressing need to address the economic and security issues plaguing the nation.

The president stressed that there was a new era in Nigeria’s national defence and security strategy, with a strong commitment to confront the threats within the West African sub-region.

As Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), he expressed dedication to enhancing regional conflict management and development mechanisms.

On the economic front, Tinubu discussed measures to alleviate the hardships caused by the removal of fuel subsidies and the unification of exchange rates.

The measures include reducing taxes on strategic manufacturing industries, distributing grains to vulnerable demographics, providing agricultural inputs, and extending soft loans to small and medium-scale industries.

The President commended the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) for its enduring commitment to nurturing exceptional military officers and academic specialists.

The graduating officers were cadets of the 70 Regular Course, Direct Short Service Course 27 (Army) and Direct Short Service Course 31 (Air Force) of the NDA.

Tinubu recognized the importance of investing in scientific research and technological innovations to align with local content policies, asserting that “this esteemed institution was founded to lead the way.”

In attendance at the passing out parade were Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, Senate Chief Whip Ali Ndume, and several governors and military chiefs, graced the occasion. The event featured parades, prize presentations to the best graduating cadets, conferment of commission, and the administering of the oath of allegiance.

On a number of occasions, I have felt the irresistible pull of homeland.  Maybe it is the subliminal summons of my ancestors or the pull of my birth chord long buried beneath that immortal kola nut tree at the backyard of what used to be my mother’s  hut. When in Nigeria and I feel that homeward call, it is time to head east and reconnect with the unconscious urging of ancestry. The departure of loved ones has made that homeward visitation fewer in recent years.

I am a Nigerian by nationality. My deep green passport says it all to outsiders. Once out there, I take the humiliations that passport attracts with dignified forbearance. (“Please step aside; this way, please!”). But I am originally Igbo. Since I am seven years older than independent Nigeria, I am Igbo before I became a Nigerian. My order of belongings follows that logic.

As I keep telling younger fellow Nigerians and my children, I belong to a lucky minority of Nigerians who have borne the citizenship of many countries while living in one. I have been a British colonial subject, citizen of independent Federation of Nigeria, citizen of Federal Republic of Nigeria (1963 onwards), citizen of Republic of Biafra (1967-70) and back to citizen of Federal Republic of Nigeria.  I and my generation have been ferretted back and forth by the dizzying frenzy of Nigerian history up to this point of habitual regrets and nostalgic reflections in old age.

This past week, homeland called. I answered unconditionally along with an impressive array of home based and diaspora Igbos from as far afield as Australia, United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, United Arab Emirates and even unlikely places like the Pacific Island of Fiji. We gathered in Owerri for a Summit of the peoples of the South East of Nigeria. I do not like the description of South East. It is a geo location, a direction on the Nigerian national compass. Maybe a dog tag to identify a known Nigerian sub- set.

Since everyone from the Nigerian South East happens to be Igbo, I prefer to say that the Owerri Summit was a homecoming of Igbo sons and daughters for an urgent purpose. Our ancient wisdom holds that it is the unusual that forces nocturnal animals to scamper in a hurry by day time. And when the unusual happens and tragic stampede engulfs the village square, people of the same kindred flee together to their own homestead to review the situation and plot collective survival. And so to Owerri we all went in response to a matter of  group survival in the increasing inferno of the Nigerian town square.

All five governors of the zone were present. All traditional rulers from the states as well led by the Obi of Onitsha, Alfred Achebe. I was meeting him for the first time in life and blood. By a strange coincidence, we sat next to each other on the flight from Lagos to Owerri. I met a perfect gentleman, devoid of the pomposity of artificial royalty and conferred importance. There were opinion leaders as well as women leaders,  youth representatives, town unions, market associations, the clergy and a surfeit of the Nigerian political and security apparatus. Chair Person of the Summit team was my friend and sister, Senator Chris Anyanwu, ever sure-footed, confident and crisp in mind and body.

Literally, Nigerian history and politics ‘chased’ us home. I prefer to see the Owerri Summit on Security, Economy and Politics in the South East as a forced response of desperate exiles to come home and reassess their collective survival in the Nigerian market place. Arguably, there probably would have been no reason to organize this elaborate event if indeed all was well with the people of the South East in the Nigerian homestead.

Recent Nigerian history has centralized the South East in Nigeria’s social and political consciousness and discourse.  The plight of the Igbos is not just on the agenda. It is now the agenda. The emphasis has ranged from the question of the possibility of an Igbo president to matters of clear and urgent security and economic survival of the entire region. Since the end of the civil war over half a century ago, never has the very survival of a vital geo political section of the Nigerian federation come under such severe existential threat as the South East now. The reasons are well known.

A homegrown nostalgic micro insurgency has bred a sense of unease. Out of a desperate quest to cling on to something identifying and historically identifiable. The youth of the region bought into the myth of Biafra as a symbol of an illustrious past. Out of a national security panic, the Nigerian state has categorized the IPOB pro-Biafran secessionist pressure group as a terrorist organization. In turn, the group has been driven to the extreme of tinkering with violent challenges to the Nigerian state. Sundry militia groups tied to the larger secessionist impulse have sprang up. Sporadic militancy and a scourge of violent criminality has been unleashed in the entire region. A cocktail of criminal gangs and violent cartels ranging from the infamous ‘unknown gunmen’ to armed political thugs, suspected rogue agents of the state and free lance armed gangs and contract killers seem to be in open competition for supremacy in the zone.

Along the line, the Nigerian security establishment has responded predictably in kind, citing national security concerns as a basis for an intensification of the reign of terror.  For some years, it used to be the  Nigerian Army. In a rash of annual security showmanship exercises, the Army literally exhausted the names of animals in the national fauna to code-name its security operations in the region. “Operation Python Dance”, “Operation Crocodile Smile”, “Operation Eye” etc.

Then the system graduated into a combined security task force comprising of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police and Department of State Security. It became a free for all as these official bodies were joined by gangs of free lance criminals. Since some of the security forces preferred to operate in mufti, it was hard to distinguish between brash criminals and those licensed by the state to impose law and order through state coercion. It has become hard to apportion responsibility for the industrial scale killings and mayhem haunting the region.

As a direct consequence, domestic and foreign investment has been frightened off the region by the specter of violence and instability. The insurgency itself has virtually supplanted the elected governments of states in the region by handing out orders to the populace for the now famous weekly ‘sit at home’ misadventure. In the process, the economy of the very region has been in recess and decline for the better part of the last eight years. Estimates of economic losses to date hover around a few trillion Naira and still counting.

In all of this, fixation with national security in the abstract has tended to blind federal officialdom to the historical causes of the looming anarchy in the South East. A mechanical concern with security as the absence of violent disruptions has included the political causes of the trouble.

The realities are a combination of historic injustice, political and economic marginalization and half a century of psychological exclusion of the people of the South East from the Nigerian enterprise.  For the avoidance of doubt, let us rehash the realities.

There was a civil war in this space. More than two million of these people were killed by the guns of war or deliberate  weaponization of starvation and disease. This small geographical space was devastated and rendered waste. Lives were either lost, badly devastated or put on compulsory hold or reset. An unscripted exclusionist policy kept the regional elite out of the strategic heights of the national political and technocratic power house.  The anger of exclusion and alienation over this half a century has bred a sense of ‘otherness’ among this people. A fierce sense of separate identity within Nigeria has now replaced rhetorical Nigerianness here. This is further effective backdrop to why we are here today.

In suddenly turning into a national killing field, the South East has become a virtual wasteland. It is a homeland of nostalgic ancestry but now deserted by its own sons and daughters. Those living away from the homeland either within Nigeria or in the international diaspora are afraid to embark on the ritual of periodic return home for fear of being kidnapped and traumatized or murdered for no reason in particular.  

The Owerri Summit was a quest for solutions. It was not just limited to the prevailing insecurity. It was about charting a new economic and political road map. The politics was somewhat understandably subdued. Politics is not in season. The security and economics are now paramount.

In my view, the real novelty was the emphasis on security. The prevailing security situation in the nation and the South East in particular is a function of the disrepair in the sovereign status of the Nigerian federation. The most elementary requirement of the nation state is the protection of the lives and property of  the citizenry. A situation in which sections of the polity now have to strategize and fend for themselves on matters of security of lives and property indicates a fatal rupture in the architecture of the state. The Owerri summit was to that extent a loud verdict on the state of health of the Nigerian leviathan.

The speeches were made and loud ovations rent the air as speaker after speaker underlined the need for greater economic self determination and integration among the states of the region. The presence and concurrence of the state governors signaled a quantum departure from previous understandings.

The underlying understanding was that the root of the decay of security and economy of the South East is the political sidetracking of the Igbos for the better part of the last half a century after the war. The marginalization of the Igbos is not just about infrastructure neglect or denial of prominent political appointments to fulfill cosmetic constitutional requirements. We need to state it clearly that a sense of real belonging in a nation is not reducible to highways, bridges and railway lines. There is a deeper and more consequential meaning of belonging in a national community. It is a psychological state of assumed inclusion, a sense of co-ownership of the national patrimony and space. It describes the psychological entitlement to own and be owned by one’s nation.

National history has a moral arc. It bends perennially in the direction of justice no matter how long it takes. The Nigerian situation is peculiar in many ways especially in the mechanisms that have kept the nation afloat to date in spite of its inherent injustices.  Nigeria is unique in being a nation conceived in compromise, nurtured in geo -ethnic competition and sustained by hegemonic blackmail and systemic injustices. The new identity politics of the Igbos of the South East is therefore an a rejection of the immorality of the Nigerian state.

No nation is an immaculate conception. Nations come into being and progress sometimes by willfully or inadvertently hurting sections of their populace. Communal clashes, ethnic conflicts, civil wars, slavery, genocide, pogroms, insurgency, foolish mass killings and reprisals thereof are part of national history. When the hour of sadness passes, a nation so afflicted incurs moral debts to those sections of their community that have been hurt. That is the general origin of the politics of moral consequence.

It was understood in Owerri that the agitation for Biafra is the direct consequence of Nigeria’s politics of bad behavior in the last over fifty years. The solution is first to treat the region like other parts of the federation. Militant struggle for justice in the Niger Delta was resolved through the Amnesty programme which has become a permanent structure with a direct charge on the national budget.

In recent times, we have watched as thousands of repentant Boko Haram and other fundamentalist trouble makers in the Northern hemisphere of the country are resettled with cash payments, entrepreneurial assistance and even more decent clothing.

The question remains: why has no one from within the federal government or from the region advocated for amnesty for IPOB militants? And yet we are in  area where some of the youth followers of IPOB are merely looking for start -up capital to activate their latent entrepreneurial capacity. Why not set up a South East Business Development Fund as an Amnesty and investment fund to assist repentant IPOB militants with entrepreneurial capital?

Throughout the discussion leg of the Summit, the question of the plight of Mr. Nnamdi Kanu ignited raw sentiments. People agreed that the man has made his point but that the loss of control over his followers has led to monumental loss of lives and great economic losses. The sentiment was that the man should be freed in the interest of peace. He should be treated more like a political prisoner than either a war prisoner or law and order detainee.

The most strategic asset of the South East in Nigeria is of course the vast and expansive entrepreneurial presence of the Igbos all over the country. Therefore, more than most other ethnic nationalities in the country, the Igbos have an inbuilt stake in the unity, peace and harmony of Nigeria both as a patrimony and as a market. This truism is inherent in the ancestral wisdom that no trader likes commotion or a fire outbreak in a market place.

The effective management of the Nigerian diversity is in the interest of the Igbos because of their nature and livelihood. The constitutional guarantee that all Nigerians as citizens are free to reside and own property in every part of the federation is perhaps to the utmost advantage of the Igbo people.

Surprisingly, however, the fullest effect of this guarantee has not been pushed by politicians from the region. Ordinarily, our legislators at the National Assembly ought to be in the forefront of a crusade to ensure that all Nigerian citizens are guaranteed the fullest rights of citizenship in every part of the federation.

Over and above pressing for full economic rights all over the country, there needs to be more concerted effort to develop and grow the economies of states within the zone as a homeland for the Igbos. Here, the five state governments of the region have failed woefully so far in evolving a regional economic development template.

At the end of two days of unprecedented kinship and frank exchanges, some consensus emerged from Owerri. It was agreed that Nigerians have come a long way together. Our road only leads from and to Nigeria. The destiny and future of the Igbos lies in a more inclusive, more unified, fairer , more equitable and democratic Nigeria.

Furthermore, the best Nigeria for the Igbos is a free market diverse nation. For the Igbos as a people, the best way to realize their long term strategic destiny is to ‘lose’ themselves in the Nigerian diversity and big market place.

As an itinerant people, let us respect and embrace every language and every culture wherever we find ourselves in and outside Nigeria. Shun hate, violence and reprisal but stand firm and resolute in defense of our rights as guaranteed by law. By permeating every part of Nigeria and every aspect of its economic life, the Igbos will ultimately realise themselves as full Nigerian citizens.