If you consumed too much foreign media after the inauguration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on May 29, 2023, you would conclude that Nigeria was finally on its way to El Dorado. From day one, when Tinubu said “subsidy is gone”, there was euphoria among the advocates of market economy who had always argued that the subsidy bill was killing public finance. Approximately N3 trillion was yanked off government expenditure with his announcement. A few days later, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) began the “unification” of the exchange rates. This got more people excited. It was not just about ending the perverse distortion of the forex market but also getting us back to reality.

The simultaneous removal of these two subsidies — the one on petrol and the other on forex — had been unthinkable all along. When Tinubu was declared winner of the 2023 presidential election and the opposition parties kicked, the thinking among advocates of economic reforms was that it would be near impossible for the new president to take certain decisions, particularly in the early days, because he would be trying to establish the legitimacy of his government. Since reforms are fundamentally political, or subject to political vagaries, no new president would want to start off on such an explosive note in the midst of a strong legal challenge to his victory. But Tinubu did.

What happened next? Petrol prices tripled and the cost of living went haywire. The naira went on a massive fall, threatening to hit a four-figure high against the dollar. You can argue that economic reforms cannot yield results within three months and that Nigerians need to be patient. True. Things could get worse before they get better. But that cannot be music to the ears of those who are daily struggling to feed and paying through the nose for transportation. The lamentation in town is how Tinubu’s policies have brought misery on millions of Nigerians. Even many who voted for him are expressing regrets. The poor are always disproportionately affected by adverse economic realities.

I have noted a series of false starts and missteps by the president. The first, which I raised after his haphazard announcement of the removal of petrol subsidy, was the way he communicated such an important message to Nigerians. I do not deceive myself that there is a neat way of announcing subsidy removal that will invoke a standing ovation. It doesn’t work like that. But I saw a president communicating such a monumental policy decision to millions of Nigerians without empathy and without strategy. Operators in the petroleum industry did not have any inkling of his overall plan and its timelines. Saying “subsidy is gone” on national TV looked like a spur-of-the-moment declaration.

The ensuing confusion was glaring. The subsidy budget President Muhammadu Buhari left behind was to cover up till June 30, 2023, but by saying “subsidy is gone” on May 29, Tinubu ensured there was instant commotion at the fuel stations. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd, the sole importer of the product, had to adjust pump prices immediately — from an average of N185 per litre to over N500. This was to prevent prolonged agony at the stations. Marketers would naturally have taken advantage to fleece motorists if NNPC had waited till June 30. This, to me, was a clear hint that Tinubu did not have a ground plan and was just being impulsive. That was a false start.

If you want to do away with subsidy, there are better ways of going about it. It is a sensitive policy. Critical segments of the society should have been carried along. Issues regarding the so-called palliatives should have been finalised. Yes, there is no nice way of removing subsidy. It will always come with pains. There will always be resistance. Nonetheless, the policy could have been better thought out, packaged and implemented with extensive and strategic public engagement. It makes sense to build trust with Nigerians so they can be reasonably assured that the outcome would be different from previous experiences. All I hear is a rehash of the old songs around subsidy removal.

Another false start was the unification of the exchange rates. The national currency had been falling against the dollar since 2015 following sustained drops in the inflow of petrodollars. Our warped way of facing the new market realities was to put an official peg and create multiple exchange rates. But in trying to address this anomaly, the Tinubu administration did not appear to have a roadmap apart from removing the official peg. The forex crisis Nigeria has been experiencing is basically a supply crisis. If demand is $5 billion but supply is $1 billion, there is no magic that “unification” can do beyond pushing the naira down the abyss. Demand management has not solved the problem either.

It took two months after “unification” before Mr Folasodun Sonubi, acting CBN governor, came out to make some pronouncements on how “Mr President is very concerned about some of the goings on in the foreign exchange market” and how the central bank would “improve the liquidity in the market” and how “speculators would lose out”. What this tells me is that there was no strategy on the ground from the get-go. It seemed “unification” was the sole tactic to attract forex inflow. Again, maybe it is too early in the day to conclude that this would not work, but I have never thought a single policy action would resolve the chronic crisis. I would be shocked if CBN thinks otherwise.

I hope we can now see that it is wrong to build the entire strategy on the assumption that once the naira was not artificially priced, investors would flood in with loads of dollars. Investors won’t come still if they are getting better value elsewhere. What other values are we proposing to them, beyond a market-determined exchange rate? And if we are trying to please investors at all costs, at what stage should we begin to worry about the welfare of our own citizens? As long as the exchange rate continues to rise, petrol prices will continue to rise too. What are we going to do? Keep adjusting pump prices upwards? Where are we going to draw the line? What is Tinubu’s fallback plan?

As many have already pointed out, Tinubu also made a wrong call with some cabinet nominations. First, it amazingly took him an eternity to send an incomplete list. The senate overlooked the constitutional breach, which, I can bet, will now become a precedent. I was first disappointed that the cabinet positions of the nominees were not on the list. This had been an unwholesome tradition that I expected Tinubu to break, given the way he was marketed as a trail blazer. If we cannot do the simplest things, how much more the complicated ones? The senate still went ahead to interview the nominees, asking questions blindly as if we are all fools. We are being taken for a ride in this country.

Worse, though, is the quality of most of the appointees. I am a realist, by the way: I was not expecting an all-round world-beating cabinet. I expected political favours to be done. I expected electoral IOUs to be settled. That is the way of politics. I am not one that will sit down in my living room and be daydreaming that every single person in the cabinet will be what we call “technocrat” in Nigeria. What I cannot stomach is the assemblage of ex-this, ex-that, some of whom did not particularly set the world on fire in their previous lives. Some former governors, for instance, were not shining examples of goal getters with all the executive powers they wielded in their states.

If anyone was in doubt that many things Tinubu has done so far were not well planned or adequately conceived, the drama around the cabinet was yet another proof. For the first time since I was born, there was a cabinet reshuffle even before inauguration! I hope I am wrong, but this must be a first. What does that say about the way Tinubu is running his government? It tells us quite a lot. It is worrisome. I am seeing too much impulsiveness and ad hoc management. He is making things up as he goes. This is far from the political packaging of Tinubu as someone who was adequately and extraordinarily prepared to preside over the affairs of Nigeria. No, I expected something better.

Is Tinubu losing the momentum? For one, it does appear to me that he did not think through the different dimensions of the two reforms and did not prepare the appropriate strategy to address the impact of the shocks on individuals and businesses. I accept that it may be too early in the day to judge him. I understand that some leaders struggle with starting well. Politics and reforms can be raucous and not usually neatly fleshed out. In the main, reform is about doing, learning and adjusting. Even with the best of plans, things can still take their own turns. I accept all that. What I cannot accept is the lack of assurance that Tinubu is on top of his game with his actions so far.

Tinubu must now ask himself the hard question: can he continue like this and expect to leave Nigeria better than he met it? It seems to me that he got carried away by the initial euphoria. He celebrated victory too early and started taking several decisions without a clear strategic plan. He needs to step back, make the needed corrections, and proceed in a more methodical way. The president must urgently change something about his style. If there was ever a time the country could use some urgency and a clear path forward, this is it. Citizens are getting overwhelmed as economic, political and security problems tear at them from all directions. Nigeria cannot afford another false dawn.

AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…

PUTIN AND PRIGOZHIN

On June 23, 2023, Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, launched an audacious mutiny against the Russian government, complaining that his mercenary troops in Ukraine were being denied the necessary tools. Russian President Vladimir Putin briefly fled Moscow before Prigozhin retreated. Both men later met and made peace — and the rest of the world started waiting for when Prigozhin would, like other renegades, fall from the 15th floor of a hotel. On August 23 — exactly two months later — it more or less happened: a private jet conveying Prigozhin and lieutenants fell from the skies and burst into flames. Putin has since expressed his heartfelt condolences. Legend.

LAGOS LIFT

Do you remember Dr Vwaere Diaso? I won’t blame you if you don’t. Tragedies are two for one kobo in Nigeria and we easily move on. When she was crushed by the lift at the General Hospital, Lagos Island, on July 26, 2023, there was outrage and all that. We spoke the language of fury and made recommendations. The Lagos chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) set up a committee to investigate. Its report is telling us what we already knew: that the lift crashed. We heard nothing about the quality of emergency care she received, or if indeed there was shortage of blood. We are now waiting for the government side of the probe. Let’s hope there would be more clarity. Waiting…

WARRIOR WIKE

Among the ministers appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Chief Nyesom Wike is already dominating the front pages. Wike, governor of Rivers state from 2015 to 2023, was welcomed to his new base as minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with the building collapse on Wednesday night which led to at least two deaths. He has been talking tough and has promised to enforce standards, which would mean demolition of structures and revocation of land titles. Wike played the major role in weakening his party, the PDP, in the presidential election, and serving in an APC government will provide us some tasty duels. I would easily pick him as the minister to watch. War!

AND FINALLY…

A letter written by “APC Youth Wing” and circulated extensively made a case for the appointment of Seyi, son of President Bola Tinubu, as the minister of youth development. It brought back memories of Youth Earnestly Ask for Abacha (YEAA) which, in 1997, orchestrated the campaign for Gen Sani Abacha to transmute from military head of state to civil president. I should think that was when sycophancy became mainstream and at least 1.5 million youth groups have been floated since then to praise, recommend, condemn or endorse politicians. Whoever is flying the Seyi kite should please calm down. He can be PA to his dad if he wants. Let’s not complicate matters at this stage. Caution.

The common saying that when a problem is identified, it is half-solved is valid only when it is the identified problem that people conscientiously seek to solve. It becomes a different matter when in the process of solving a clearly identified problem,state actors lose focus and either divert attention to other ancillary matters or begin to imagine that the procedures and processes for attaining a goal and the goal itself are coterminous. Well before independence, the people of Nigeria were fully aware of the heterogeneous nature of their country. Also clear to them was the inclination for a multi-ethnic society to be easily destabilized by innate centrifugal or divisive forces. Unfortunately, the same Nigerians keep failing to downplay divisive forces by embracing the centripetal or unifying forces available to them. 

To continue to bemoan the existence of diverse cultures and multiplicity of ethnic groups in the country is unwise because the problem of Nigeria is not her ethnic diversity but the failure of her leaders to manage the phenomenon. Nigeria has failed to read Jawaharlal Nehru’s book “Discovery of India” which had laid bare the expedience of ensuring harmony and unity amongst different regions and cultures through the instrumentality of the principle of inclusivity.Our people have to constantly abide by relevant legal provisions especially section 14 of the 1999 constitution which provides that at all levels of government – local, state and federal, the composition of government or the conduct of public affairs “shall be carried out in such manner as to recognise the diversity of the people within its area of authority and the need to promote a sense of belonging and loyalty among the peoples of the federation.” 

Despite the relevant constitutional provisions, the recommendation of “unity in diversity” by Jawaharlal Nehru is yet to take root in Nigeria. But at no time in the nation’s history has inclusivity been as blatantly breached as the last 8 years of the government of former president Muhammadu Buhari. Apart from several federal appointments in which the dominance of particular ethnic groups became the order of the day, it took a few courageous governors of the ruling party to scuttle attempts to foist another northerner to succeed the departing president of northern extraction. In the states, the situation has not been better, perhaps it has only been less publicised. In Benue state, no one has been able to persuade the major ethnic group to allow their neighbours to serve as state governor for once since the state was created. In Kogi state, if the candidate of the ruling party is declared winner in the forthcoming governorship election, the new governor would succeed his fellow tribal brother.  

The implication of the love for ethnic dominance is heightened suspicion and mutual distrust by different people at the expense of unity. Interestingly, our leaders cherish self-denial as they continuously make statements that they themselves hardly believe. We keep telling ourselves what we know we are not likely to adhere to. Last Monday, president Bola Tinubu told the ministers he picked on the basis of state of origin that they should work not for their states but for the federation. Tinubu who spoke at the inauguration of the new members of the federal executive council said: “you are not a minister of a particular state, colony, region or ethnic nationality; you are a minister of the federal republic of Nigeria.” The president’s point is clear but he knows, just as the ministers and the rest of us do that action will not match those words. 

The states from which the ministers were picked will not even allow them to be that pragmatic. It is what they can do for their families and their states that will eventually determine their popularity and acceptance in the states. History in fact teaches us that political office-holders are usually bugged down by self interest and other parochial tendencies which every citizen has since taken to be normal. Nigerians who diligently work for the entire nation are quite few. Among them are our high performing sports men and women such as the super falcons. This explains why no one saw anything wrong with the uncoordinated reception for a team which demystified traditional world champions like Australia, Canada and England in the last female world cup. We were all satisfied that the best way to applaud the super falcons that were picked not on the basis of state of origin but on merit was to clap for state governors who honoured some of the team members from their states.

Although we agree that the players did well for Nigeria, we will not allow them to forget their respective states of origin. Accordingly, both the super falcons and our new ministers are better appreciated by their states; yet we occasionally charge them to be patriotic enough to put Nigeria before their ethnic units. Indeed, we are constantly reminded that Nigeria is not only indivisible but that its continued existence is in addition not negotiable. This viewpoint however violently offends the principle of self-determination which recognizes the freedom of people to determine where they wish to belong. It also encourages us to forget that negotiation is what guarantees unity, not bullying. Through such negotiations, leaders are better positioned to delicately address the different concerns of each group thereby encouraging such groups to develop a sense of belonging.

Unity in diversity is more likely to propel a voluntary and positive renewal of a group’s belief in a particular union. On the other hand, mutual suspicion grows when some societal institutions that are central to the attainment of national unity fail to perform. A good example is the federal character commission whose main purpose is to moderate recruitment into government services to avoid the dominance of any group. A few weeks ago, Nigerians watched on national television, how the commission transformed itself into a body that organizes recruitments for sale.

In fact, a proper understanding of the endless in-fighting within the commission is that how to secure employment slots from different government bodies for their relations is the main goal of the members. Associated to this negative posture is how to convince a young Nigerian that it is in order for his colleagues with lower scores than his own to get admitted into elite schools because of their states of origin. ‘Quota system’ will no doubt eternally persuade those it favours to embrace loyalty to their states rather than the nation. The situation would have been different if the quota system was used to pick the best from every state instead of officials exploiting the strategy for ethnic dominance.

Another societal institution whose main goal has been thwarted is the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). After the Nigerian civil war, government set up the scheme for the purpose of creating easy integration of different groups. It was then decided that to ensure Nigerians massively interacted with one another for a better understanding of each other’s sensibilities, no one was allowed to undergo the one-year compulsory national service in his or her state of origin. Today, many citizens are able to choose where to serve especially with increased insecurity in the land. A few others are mysteriously able to serve in their states of origin, while a third group does not serve at all notwithstanding that evading service is designated as an offence. In this group, there have been at least 3 ministers and some governors. 

We dare say that if well managed, the NYSC can successfully unite thousands of Nigerians annually.  It is such unifying factors that another tool for national integration – the National Orientation Agency (NOA) was set up to propagate for the benefit of all. Painfully, whereas everyone including legislators believe that NOA is moribund, no one has cared to know that unlike its predecessor, MAMSER, the Agency is not equipped to engage in effective value re-orientation of Nigerians. It is only assured of salaries for its workers but no funding to meet the task of mobilizing Nigerians to embrace patriotism. Hence, whereas people have held-on to the erroneous viewpoint that Nigeria’s problem is her multi-ethnic diversity, the failure of leadership to manage the nation’s cultural diversity is in reality the real issue at stake.  

•We got only half of money promised – Kano, Nasarawa, Benue
•Ondo, Osun say nothing received yet
•Oyo, Ekiti, Ogun mum
•Full money in – Borno, Niger, Adamawa

State governments across Nigeria, at the weekend, sang different tunes on the N5 billion promised each of them by the Federal Government to cushion the effects of the removal of petrol subsidy on the masses.

While some said they had received only N2 billion, others said they had not been paid anything.
Some claimed to have been paid in full.

Last week, while representing President Bola Tinubu at Chief Edwin Clark’s book launch, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, had re-echoed the promise: “Solutions to problems can never be as instant as coffee. But, we must certainly be there.

I know the removal of fuel subsidy has created some things. “And, that is why palliatives are being put in place; 100 trucks of fertilizers have been sent to the states; 100 trucks of grains have been sent; and more are coming, and more buses are coming.”

In addition, the National Economic Council, NEC, approved N5 billion and five trucks of rice to each state.

Kano, Nasarawa, Benue

Kano, Nasarawa and Benue state governments said they had received N2 billion each while Nasarawa said it received in addition one billion Naira worth of maize.

Kano State Commissioner for Information, Halilu Baba Dantiye, confirmed the receipt of the money to Sunday Vanguard in a telephone interview.

Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State, on his part, said the state was still expecting the balance of N3billion from the Federal Government.
Adamawa

In Adamawa, the state government confirmed the receipt of N5 billion palliatives and has accordingly set up a high powered committee headed by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Hon Awwal Tukur, to ensure even distribution to the people.

The committee has since been inaugurated by Acting Governor Kaleptawa Farauta.

Also, Sokoto State government confirmed receiving part of the N5 billion promised by the Federal Government.

The State Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Sambo Bello Danchadi, while speaking to our correspondent, however, declined to mention the amount so far received.

Niger

Reports from Niger State said N4million had been received by the authorities while the balance of N1m was expected to be expended on assorted grains to be supplied by the Federal Government to the state later.

Governor Muhammed Umaru Bago declared that part of the money already received will be used to improve the transportation system in the state as a way of bringing succour to people of the state.

He said his administration had concluded plans to flood the state with gas fueled vehicles for inter and intra city services across the state as one of the numerous steps taken to cushion the removal of petrol subsidy.

Bago spoke during the swearing-in of 60 Commissioners and Special Advisers in Minna, the state capital.

Ondo

Ondo State government said it was yet to receive the N5 billion support money..

A source in the state Finance Ministry said, “The state government has not received the N5 billion. But anything can happen between today, Friday, and Monday.

“But what I can confidently tell you is that we’ve not received the money in our state. We’ve only received 3, 000 out of the 81, 000 bags of rice promised states by the Federal Government.

Efforts to speak with the state Finance Commissioner, Wale Akinterinwa, proved abortive.

In Ogun, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Dapo Abiodun, Mr. Kunle Adeniran, promised to get back on the promised N5 billion palliative but didn’t until press time.

Osun

Osun State government said that it was yet to receive the N5 billion.

The state Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, said they had received the 3,000 bags of 50kg rice as the first batch but was yet to receive the promised N5billion.

“I am not speaking for any state, but here in Osun, we are still expecting it and when we get it the whole world will know”, Alimi said.

“Yes, we have received 3,000 bags of 50kg rice from the Federal Government, but we have not received any amount from the N5bn it pledged to the state.

“We are still waiting for another consignment of 14, 000 bags as well as 3,200MT of maize. Governor Ademola Adeleke is running an open administration, when we get it, we will definitely make it public”.

Government officials contacted in Oyo and Ekiti states declined comments on the N5 billion palliative.

Kebbi

Kebbi State government said it was yet to receive the cash.

The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Idris, Ahmed Idris, told Sunday Vanguard that they were yet to receive the N5 billion.

Ahmed added that as soon as the cash is received, the state government would set up a committee to distribute them to get to beneficiaries which include civil servants and the vulnerable people in Kebbi.

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State, on his part, confirmed that the state government had received N5 billion.

Zulum spoke in an interview with newsmen at the flag-off of the distribution of food items to about 300,000 vulnerable groups and households of Massandari Ward at the Bakassi IDP Camp, Maiduguri.
He said, “Borno state government has received N5 billion from the Federal Government as palliatives/grant.

“Out of this, N4 billion would be used for the purchase of 100, 000 bags of rice while the remaining N1 billion is for maize.”

He noted that 52% grant of the N5 billion would be provided by the Federal Government while the remaining 48% will be funded by each state and its local governments and the grant payable back to the Federal Government coffers.

Yobe

In Yobe State, the Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, Dr. Mohammed Goje, who is also a member of the Palliatives Committee set up by Governor Mai Mala Buni, told our correspondent that the state received four trucks of assorted food items from the Federal Government.

Goje, however said, even though more consignments were still awaited, he was not in the position to talk on the N5 billion grant.

“I don’t know how much the state has collected so far, but I can confirm to you that we have received four trucks of assorted food items as palliatives from the Federal Government as we await the remaining consignment”, he added.

The Director General, Media and Press Affairs to the Governor, Mohammed Mamman, also said he was not aware of the amount received so far from the Federal Government.
He, however, directed our reporter to the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Alhaji Baba Malam Wali, and two text messages sent to his MTN line for inquiry delivered, but he did not reply as of press time.

[Vanguard]

A former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has said Nigeria should restore electricity to Niger Republic because the action is affecting the innocent citizens of the country.

In a now-deleted Twitter post on Saturday titled ‘Does Killing Nigerien Babies Bring Glory to Our Name?’, Fani-Kayode said there is inflation in the West African nation, residents are unable to access cash easily, and people are living in the dark.

He lamented the reported deaths of at least 40 innocent babies in Niger and other humanitarian issues because hospitals are unable to power their incubators and other life-supporting equipment.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain wondered how Nigeria could inflict such damage and unleash such wickedness and misfortune on innocent people who live just across the border.

He, therefore, urged President Bola Tinubu, who is the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), to restore electricity to Niger Republic.

The post partly reads: “This is all the more so, given the fact that cutting off electricity to that nation is bringing death, suffering and hardship more to the women and children than to their government officials and members of the newly installed military junta.

“Although there were power cuts before the sanctions, they usually lasted a few hours, but now the cuts are much longer – sometimes up to 18 hours a day.

“How can we as a nation inflict such damage and unleash such wickedness and misfortune on innocent people who live just across the border from us and who are essentially our people, too?

“This is unacceptable and especially so given the fact that we are not at war with Niger and the overwhelming majority of our people regard them as our brothers.

“This begs the question: Is this the way to treat our African neighbours and brothers even whilst we lay claim to seeking and preferring a diplomatic solution to the crisis? Methinks not!”

“If our claim and intention are to better the life of these people by insisting that they must have a democratically-elected Government and by resisting a military one, is our purpose truly served by killing the children of the very same people that we claim we want to help?

“Again, does this murky and murderous course serve our national and security interests, and does it enhance better relations with other African countries?

“Does imposing sanctions and policies like cutting off electrical supplies that, albeit inadvertently, lead directly to the death of innocent babies and defenceless children help our cause, bring glory to our name or give credence or credibility to our so-called fight and quest for democracy? I doubt it very much.”

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said that he takes a queue from no nation, but will only advance the interest of the Nigerian state in his approach toward ECOWAS’ handling of the regional standoff, particularly in Niger Republic.

He also received an invitation to a sideline event at the United Nations General Assembly in New York from the US President, Joe Biden, a statement by the Presidency indicated on Saturday.

Tinubu was also said to have advised U.S. Presidential Envoy & Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador Molly Phee, to ensure that U.S. policy is intentionally collaborative with independent African democracies at a time when they are under assault by anti-democratic forces within and outside of the continent.

The President noted that American-backed development finance and multilateral institutions, which were designed to support war-torn Europe after World War II, require swift and comprehensive reform to meet the developmental requirements of younger democracies in Africa, which operate in authoritarian-crowded environments, would no longer be manipulated to serve self-seeking demagogues through unconstitutional takeovers of power.

“Yes, the private sector will lead the way within an enabling environment we create for them, but the U.S. Government must be innovative in its thinking and systematically create incentives for U.S. industrial investment in Nigeria.

“Under my leadership, Nigeria stands ready to address their specific regulatory, tax and environmental concerns. I am determined to create prosperity for all Nigerian families,” the President declared.

The Nigerian leader affirmed that the crisis in Niger Republic would not deter him from concluding his economic reform programme successfully for the benefit of Nigerians and that he takes a queue from no nation, but will only advance the interest of the Nigerian state in his approach toward ECOWAS’ handling of the regional standoff.

“We are deep in our attempts to peacefully settle the issue in Niger by leveraging on our diplomatic tools. I continue to hold ECOWAS back, despite its readiness for all options, in order to exhaust all other remedial mechanisms. War is not ideal for my economic reforms, nor for the region, but the defense of democracy is sacrosanct. The ECOWAS consensus is that we will not allow anyone to insincerely buy time,” the ECOWAS Chairman affirmed.

Pledging its support for the position of ECOWAS, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy expressed the high regard the U.S. Administration has for the leadership of the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, President Bola Tinubu, and extended an exclusive invitation from U.S. President Joe Biden to meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City to advance discussions further in late September.

“We know there is more we can do to incentivize large-scale American investment in Nigeria and we are committed to working closely with you to achieve that, as part of efforts to strengthen the Nigerian economy and the regional economy. We appreciate your willingness to create an enabling environment for that. President Joe Biden is asking to meet with you on the sidelines of UNGA and you are the only African leader he has requested to meet. It is a mark of his high regard for your leadership,” the U.S. Special Envoy said.

The President concluded that he accepts the invitation to meet the U.S. President on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and that the work of perfecting democracy is never done, even in developed democracies, as seen recently in America, as well as other emerging democracies in the world.

Junta puts armed forces on red alert

Meanwhile, the Niger junta has ordered its armed forces to go on highest alert, citing an increased threat of attack.

This was according to an internal document issued by its defence chief on Friday that a security source in the country confirmed was authentic.

According to Reuters, the document, which was shared online on Saturday, indicated that the order to be on maximum alert would allow forces to respond adequately in case of any attack and “avoid a general surprise”.

“Threats of aggression to the national territory are increasingly being felt,” it said.

Meanwhile, the President, Economic Community of West African States Commission, Omar Touray, on Friday said the sub-regional body had neither declared war on the people of Niger Republic nor planned to invade the country.

Touray clarified that the ECOWAS would employ all measures, including the use of standby force to restore civil rule in Niger Republic.

Also, he noted that Niger Republic as part of the West African region bloc subscribed to its rules and regulations to deploy measures to support its fight against terrorism to ensure the restoration of democracy, peace, and security in the community.

President Mohamed Bazoum was ousted July 26 in a military coup led by the former commander of Niger’s presidential guard, Abdourahamane Tchiani.

Leaders in the ECOWAS bloc said that they would keep all options on the table for a peaceful resolution to the crisis and ordered the activation of an ECOWAS standby force to restore constitutional order in Niger.

These are indeed challenging times for parents residing in Nigeria but who have kids in foreign schools as they struggle to raise foreign exchange to fund their children’s education due to scarce foreign currencies amidst rising rates.

Some of the parents, who spoke to Sunday PUNCH on the development, expressed frustration at the falling value of the naira, which they had to use to purchase foreign currencies to pay the tuition of their children as well as other associated costs and living costs.

The naira traded at 915 against the United States dollar at the parallel market on Saturday, while the pound sterling was sold for N1,180.

At the Investors and Exporters’ forex window, the naira commenced trading at 773.29/$ on Friday and hit a high of 799.9/$ before closing at 778.42/$. The currency lost by 0.87 per cent compared to the N771.69 it exchanged for the dollar on Thursday.

The open indicative rate closed at N773.29 to the dollar on Friday. A spot exchange rate of N799.90 to the dollar was the highest rate recorded in the day’s trading before it settled at N778.42.

A total of 73.80 million dollars was traded at the Investors and Exporters’ window on Friday.

A businessman, Mr Kunle Olajide, whose son is in 200 level at a Cypriot university, lamented the stress he is facing paying the tuition and sending money to the Computer Science student.

Olajide stated, “Since the administration of President Bola Tinubu decided to allow the naira to float, it has not been easy to source forex for the purposes of paying my son’s tuition and sending upkeep allowance to him. My business is essentially naira-denominated and you know that the currency has been consistently falling and this is putting a lot of pressure on me. I am currently spending almost double what I was spending on him this time last year.

“I have filled Form A since mid-June to buy dollars at the official I&E rate, but my bank keeps complaining of not having the currency to sell to me. Even the exchange rate on that platform keeps rising. When my son mounted pressure on him about being denied access to the school portal, I had to go to the parallel market to buy $2,500 at N889. I understand that it is now over N900/$.

“Honestly, I don’t know how I will continue to fund his education going forward without crippling my business and affecting the rest of the family. I have two other younger children who are in private secondary schools here in Lagos. When they resume later in September, I will have to cough out a lot of money because the schools have increased the fees in line with the inflationary trend and the after-effects of the removal of subsidy on petrol by the Federal Government.”

A Lagos-based businesswoman, who has two of her children schooling in the United States, Mrs Adebusola Adeyinka, said before the floating of the naira, sourcing forex to pay for her children’s fees and meet other needs was nightmarish.

According to her, the older son, Tinuade, is studying at the University of San Diego, California, while the brother is rounding off his A-levels.

Adeyinka said, “Before now, I would have to apply for the purchase of dollars three months ahead. Earlier this year, when I knew I had to renew my children’s fees after summer, I applied for forex, and up until May, the bank kept pushing me around.

“I made sure I had enough naira in my account, but it was not just that. The officials in charge told me to keep checking with the bank to know when it would be my turn. They claimed that some people were in the queue before me, and the time was drawing closer for me to renew my first son’s accommodation.

“After a few weeks, the schools started harassing the children. I had the money in my account but it was in naira. The school needed dollars. My children were about to lose out on their admissions.

“I got frustrated and used a BDC (Bureau De Change) via peer-to-peer transactions, but the rate was so expensive. I had no choice but to use that option.”

With the floating of the naira, the mother-of-two said things became a bit stable.

“Apart from the ever-fluctuating rate, now, I just apply directly and get the forex within a defined time. The application is done to the CBN through my commercial bank at the official rate. Once the CBN approves, the bank sends the money to my sons’ respective schools and everybody is happy,” she added.

The father of a Medical student in the United States of America, Mr Olabode Rotimi, said he always made sure he applied for forex long before he would need to pay for his son’s fees.

“It is better the money is in the school’s account than for my son to be sent out of school. These foreign universities don’t listen to any complaint or understand the hitches we face here; they simply send your child back home if you can no longer afford to pay the fees,” he said.

On how he used to get the forex before the floating of the naira, he said, “I simply patronised Bureau De Change operators. They are more reliable. They will demand more money, but you are sure to get the forex remitted into your account in due time.

“I haven’t really used them since the floating of the naira anyway because I heard that they are also affected somewhat.”

Another parent, who is also a popular politician in Rivers State, said he used his ‘contact’ in the CBN to facilitate the remittances of forex to his daughters’ universities.

“When I used commercial banks, it used to be problematic. If the forex is not there, they’d say I would have to wait for 90 days. I could not wait. I asked some friends who told me how to apply directly to the CBN and fast-track it,” the source said.

A civil servant in Lagos State, Mrs Bola Hamzat, said her husband, who is an engineer and contractor, was getting very moody in recent times as he struggled to pay the daughter’s tuition in Canada due to the pressure of sending money abroad.

She stated, “I am now very careful with my husband as he gets unusually moody nowadays because of the pressure he is facing to raise our daughter’s tuition and accommodation fee. Our daughter is about to resume for the second year of her degree programme at a university in Alberta. Though things were tough when she started, the exchange rate was, however, not this high. Though it was taking time to get our applications approved, we were still getting forex at official rates, which were about N200 cheaper than the parallel market rate.

“However, after the floatation of the naira, it has become extremely expensive to buy foreign currencies with the naira. Even at the official I&E window now, the rates are exorbitant and the funds are not easily available, so we rely on the parallel market to get forex. At a time before May 29, 2023, we were getting the US dollar at around N460 at the I&E window, but that has almost doubled now.

“My husband had to set aside about N20m from his company’s account as proof of funds when our daughter secured admission after paying about $6,000 for tuition and accommodation. To renew these now, he has to look for almost double naira equivalent and that is driving him mad. He doesn’t want to be seen as abandoning his daughter’s education and at the same time, his firm is battling insufficient funds to execute contracts given to him by clients.

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“I am trying in my own little way to support him, but my brother, how much am I earning as a grade level 14 civil servant? To compound the problem, transport fare is taking a chunk of my salary and we still have to survive at home. My daughter is trying too as she is supporting with the little she is earning by working even as a student.”

This has further led to increased patronage of the parallel market with many students seeking admission abroad reportedly purchasing forex from dealers ahead of the resumption of school activities in September after the summer break.

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the subsequent crash in global oil prices threw into chaos the economies of many foreign exchange-dependent countries like Nigeria.

While the CBN has managed the allocation of forex to banks for the payment of school fees and other invisible transactions since August in 2020 when schools started resuming from the initial global lockdown, the situation has become especially tough for foreign students.

Some Nigerians studying abroad, who spoke to our correspondents on Saturday, said they were frustrated due to the scarcity of Form A to procure foreign exchange for their transactions.

Form A, which is an application form designed by the CBN to pay for service transactions such as school fees, medical fees, and more, allows customers to purchase funds at the CBN or interbank rate to make payments for these services.

A student in the United Kingdom, Williams Awara, who narrated his experience said, “My experience was hell in a handbasket.

“I was hoping to pay my last deposit with the Form A. But the new forex rate made it impossible. I paid in pounds sterling since I got here.

“New students coming in this September have spent so much with this new forex rate.

“A friend of mine paid N5.5m for £5,000. This is what he would have used N2.5m or N2.8m maximum to pay with Form A.”

A Nigerian, who identified herself as Miriam and got an admission into the University of Hull, United Kingdom, said she almost missed the payment deadline due to the non-availability of forex.

Miriam said, “The naira floating is not making things easy. The banks do not have forex. The black market still overshadows everything.

“I had a payment deadline that I almost missed due to non-availability of forex.”

A student of the University Canada West, Jane Idabor, said she managed to escape the challenge, noting that some institutions did not accept forex for tuition.

Idabor noted, “It was way easier for me because back then, Form A was still in use.

“However, it is now challenging for people as some schools do not accept forex for tuition.”

Also, a student of the University of Law, UK, Oluchi Onyeama, said she gave up on getting forex from Nigeria after encountering challenges.

“It was not easy. I had to get pound sterling here rather than wait for Form A from Nigeria,” she stated.

Another UK-based student, Victor Chukwu, said that he was sponsoring himself, adding that forex challenges were affecting his rent, transportation and feeding.

Chukwu stated “I sponsor myself. Obviously, the cost of living and paying fees is very high because foreign students pay higher. Without forex, rent, transport fares and living are impacted.”

Parents too are not left out as they are feeling the brunt of the forex challenges.

An Abuja-based parent, who has his child studying in Canada, Anthony Momodu, said due to the forex challenges, parents might start having a rethink about sending their children to schools abroad or transferring them to cheaper schools, while others might consider withdrawing their children and enrolling them in schools in Nigeria.

Momodu stated “For middle-class families, the foreign exchange challenge has made most parents rethink about sending their children abroad, while for those already studying there, the parents are thinking of transferring their children to schools in other countries that may be cheaper.

“This has caused a lot of trauma for students themselves because their pocket money has been slashed. The parents used all their resources to pay their children’s school fees.”

Another parent, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “Last year’s stress and pain cannot be compared to this year’s.

“It is not easy to get these foreign currencies. It is very difficult and traumatic for parents. The naira has been devalued. It is very difficult to make transfers.”

A Rivers State-based parent, Mr Tamunotonye Ibulubo, said even with the recent floating of the naira and the unification of the exchange rates, getting forex to pay the fees of his son, who is in a university in the US, had been difficult.

Ibulubo said his son was in his second year and studying Social Work at a US university.

He stated, “I have even been duped before by a bank worker, who promised to help me. I gifted him N20,000 to help facilitate it. The banker later said I should pay another N15,000 so that I could join the latest batch of those waiting for dollars. Even after all these payments, I still have not had access to forex.

“Whenever I get a call from my son, I feel sad because I cannot do anything to help him. If not for a church there that he identified with, maybe, he would have been sleeping in the open.”

Ibulubo added that he tried to borrow from his cousins abroad to send directly to the school, but it had not been easy for him to get someone willing to give the sum he needed.

He also claimed to have approached the CBN in both Rivers and Bayelsa states but was told to approach his commercial bank for direction on how to access forex.

“It is frustrating to be honest. I don’t even know. They (banks) even said I would not be able to use the I & E window as, according to them, it is not meant to address my kind of need. I am really confused. I have not been abroad before, but I want my child to have a better life, which was why I sent him there. Now, this country is frustrating me; I need help,” he added.

An Ibadan-based public servant who works for a Federal Government agency, Mrs Oluwaninyo Clement, whose daughter left for Toronto, Canada, two weeks ago for a nine-month diploma course, said if not for the fact that she had a brother in Canada who had been supporting her, the dream of sending her daughter abroad for further education would not have been realised.

She said, “I started buying US dollars more than a year ago when my daughter finished her first degree here and was undergoing the National Youth Service Corps mandatory service year. Initially, my husband and I as well as our daughter were pumping all the naira we could save into buying dollars, but when the CBN made it difficult for the Bureau De Change operators to get the currency, we had to slow down.

“It was at this point that a lifeline was thrown at us by my brother, who is based in Canada, told me that he had a friend who needed naira there and was willing to sell the US dollar to us at N705, which was a very good deal. He also helped us to buy $1,400 Canadian dollars at N530/C$, which translates roughly to US$1,090, and I had to look for N742,000 to send to his naira account in a Nigerian bank.

“He was also very helpful in paying part of the C$21,700 school fees so that my daughter could get her student visa, which will also enable her to work part-time while studying. When she was applying for the visa last year, we had to raise N15m as proof of funds, but I am sure that will be more than N20m now. We also spent around N1.5m on a one-way ticket to enable her travel.

“Since I started working almost 15 years ago, I have not been able to save up to N1m at any given period, but when my daughter’s ambition to study abroad gained traction, I had to look for money from where I didn’t even imagine before. We are just praying that after study, our daughter will be able to get a work permit and permanent residency and pull her sister, who is still an undergraduate in Nigeria, to Canada.

“The stress is too much. If it is now, there is no way we would have been able to send her abroad to study.”

No fewer than 78,679 international students from Nigeria are currently studying in the UK, US, Canada, and Ukraine, according to official figures. The number excludes Nigerians who study in these countries but did not process their admissions from Nigeria.

According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency of the United Kingdom, as of December 2022, there were about 44,195 international students from Nigeria in UK institutions with average tuition fees between £11,000 and £32,000.

The President, National Parents Teachers Association, Haruna Danjuma, had in an interview with Sunday PUNCH pleaded with the Federal Government to intervene in the forex crisis.

Danjuma had said, “If you ask for my honest opinion, I will say the Federal Government should help all those involved because when you look at it, it is not their fault.

“Also, one of the reasons people even go abroad in the first place is because of the situation of things in our institutions. We need the government to work together with parents and academics to find a way in which we can solve the problems in the education sector.”

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, has said that the different errors discovered in the certificate of President Bola Tinubu validate his discovery.

Recalls that Tinubu, in response to the petition of Atiku in a Federal Court in Chicago, Illinois, United States, blamed the errors discovered in his academic certificate on the clerk of the Chicago State University (CSU).

Speaking in a statement issued on Saturday, the former vice president argued that documents submitted by his lawyers in the United States and Nigeria showed disturbing discrepancies and circumstantial fallacies in Tinubu’s academic records from the university.

According to him, “One of the documents, for instance, is the certified true copy of the certificate submitted by Tinubu to INEC on 17th June 2022, and according to Atiku’s lawyers, “this, purportedly, is the certificate issued to him by Chicago State University (“CSU”) showing that he attended the school, and evidencing the degree he was awarded.

“In another document is a copy of a letter dated September 22, 2022, from Mr. Caleb Westberg, the Registrar of CSU, attaching a copy of the certificate issued to Bola Tinubu in recognition of the degree he was awarded by the university.

“There is another document, which is a copy of the certificate forwarded by Mr. Westberg, as mentioned above, in response to a subpoena that was issued to CSU in respect of Bola Tinubu’s academic qualifications and achievements.

“There is also a copy of the bio of Dr. Niva Lubin-Johnson. Dr. Lubin-Johnson was the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of CSU from January 2001 to December 2002.

“Also is a copy of the bio of Dr. Elnora D. Daniel. Dr. Daniel was the President of CSU from 1998 to 2008.”

“However, the interesting thing upon further examination of these documents is that while they all speak to the same subject, Tinubu’s academic qualifications from the Chicago State University, they all bear different details.”

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has revealed that the arrest and subsequent indefinite detention of its embattled former Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, has not stopped the anti-graft agency from carrying out its statutory duty or probing both high- and low-profile persons suspected of corrupt practices.

The spokesperson for the commission, Wilson Uwujaren made this known on Saturday, in an exclusive telephone interview with our correspondent.

Sunday PUNCH reports that while Bawa has now spent exactly 75 days in the dungeon of the Department of State Service, following his arrest in June, the EFCC has yet to arrest or probe any high profile suspect, including former and incumbent governors and ministers such as Bello Matawalle, Yahaya Bello, and Kayode Fayemi, all of whom were under probe of the commission before the assumption of the acting EFCC Chairman Abdulkarim Chukkol, to office.

In May 2023, under Bawa, the EFCC revealed that it was investigating Matawalle over an alleged N70bn contract fraud. Months before then, the commission had revealed its ongoing probe of the Yahaya Bello and some of his relatives over 14 properties and N400million alleged to be proceeds of corruption; while Mr Fayemi was said to be under investigation and was invited by the commission, over an alleged misappropriation of N4billion.

Intercontinental Marketing & Communication Consortium Limited has apologised to the Advertising Standard Panel, Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria, over the usage of an unapproved advert billboard tagged, ‘All Eyes On the Judiciary’.

The company responded to the letter of violation received by the company from ARCON through its Managing Director, Stephen Ogboko.

Ogboko stated, “We sincerely apologise for this and state that our action was not intentional. The truth is that immediately after we received the brief for the said campaign, we sent the artwork to Mr Markus Inji Lukman, an ARCON liaison officer who has helped us vet campaign materials in the past. Mr Lukman assured us that the material would be approved, as he had seen a similar one.”

The company apologised for causing any inconvenience, adding that it would never do anything to threaten or cause disrepute to the country’s judiciary.

FG disbands advertising panel over controversial 'All Eyes on the Judiciary' billboards
Reacting to the development, the ARCON Director-General, Dr Olalekan Fadolapo, stated that despite the apology, the company would face the tribunal.

He said, “They’ll be appearing before the Advertising Offences Tribunal and need to explain their position because it is very unfortunate. Verbal or communication of approval through verbal means or text messages doesn’t constitute approval. They are professionals; they are sworn to the advertising oath to protect the integrity of the profession. So, coming out to say that somebody within the system orally or verbally gave them approval is not acceptable. The damage is done already and they will be appearing before the tribunal.”

Fadolapo said the official who gave the purported verbal approval had been queried, adding that a committee was also looking into the process that led to such permission.

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has appealed to Nigerians to stop cursing electricity workers.

Rather, he urged people in the country to support them.

He made this appeal on Friday during a visit to the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

Adelabu said his vision for the ministry was to leverage the Nigerian Electricity Act of 2023 which opened new avenues for power provision and encouraged collaboration among states and the Federal Government.

The minister stated that the ministry under his leadership would foster robust partnerships between the private and public sectors and build upon the foundation laid by his predecessors.

“The Electricity Act of 2023 has unbundled electricity generation in Nigeria. So, I will urge all state governors to accelerate the passage of the electricity bill in their states.

“More so, I want to promise that the Ikere Gorge dam generates 20 KVA hydroelectricity. Ikere Gorge Dam is one of the major dams constructed by the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority to tap the water resources of the Ogun River basin,” he added.

Earlier, the CCII President-General, Niyi Ajewole, advised the minister to join hands with Governor Seyi Makinde for the progress of Ibadanland in particular and the state in general.