As the Music Director of Caleb Group of Schools, it is my immense pleasure to pen down my farewell message. I am elated to be here to witness all the graduands receiving honors. It is a great honor to share on such an important day. Since my arrival at the school last November, I have engaged in and had robust discussions with nearly 85 percent of the 2024 graduate class. I can confidently state that their intelligence is highly regarded. Furthermore, I am proud to say that they are destined for success. I am delighted to have met so many exceptional individuals here at Caleb. 

I want to sincerely commend the school's leadership for their unwavering commitment to the success of each student, most importantly our outgoing graduating students. Graduation Dayis a momentous life event that marks the end of the first phase of learning and is a time to celebrate students' accomplishments. 

In the words of Canadian philosopher and entrepreneur Matshona Dhilwayo, "One who sets records is great. Someone who breaks records is extraordinary. One who shatters records is exceptional." The fact expressed by Dhilwayo was inadvertently given credence in this outgoing academic session. The astounding quote is an appropriate word for this 2024 set of graduates. 

Permit me to ask, how exactly are you prepared for a brighter future? Before I delved into the answer to the aforementioned question, Vanni Kapoor once said, and I quote, "Education is the key to a bright future." It is worthy of note that Caleb Schools has prepared you for a brighter future. 

According to the Cambridge Dictionary if someone has a bright future, it is likely that they will be successful and happy. The article released by Forbes on Jan 15, 2023 Gen Z is struggling: 5Things They need for a bright future by Tracy Browser, PhD. 

1)Reflecting and Reevaluating 

2) Fostering Well-being 

3)Expanding Engagement 

4)Connecting with Colleagues 

5) Developing Financial Acumen.

The school has prepared you for a brighter future. The teachers teach you to be the best you can be in your future career. The parents are willing to encourage and guide you to select the best career you have a passion for. I am optimistic that the world will celebrate you; this is the first phase of your achievement. I commend you all for your immense contributions to the school. 

I am proud of your accomplishments here at Caleb. The baton of leadership is waiting at your doorstep. You have acquired skills, so do not look down on yourself. Be confident and have humility in whatever you do. Reflect on whatever you are doing and do not allow money to dictate your decisions. I boldly say that you are going places in life. I foretell your future will be bright and full of opportunities. 

I implore you to say positive things to yourself, figure out what pleases your mind, and follow directions from parents and teachers. Don't lose your originality; connect with other people in the world. Stop wasting your time on unprofitable things. Reflect on what you do every day. All of this prepares you for a brighter future. I send my heartfelt congratulations to all parents for their efforts and encouragement to their children. I want to urge the parents that we should not put our children under pressure and not take them for granted, and we should not allow our career to come before our children. 

I end on this note ; Your tomorrow will be brighter than today. Believe in yourself, be patient, and have focus on whatever you do. This is very important. Keep your ergo, set a standard, befriendly, and remember that you have a brighter future ahead. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

Shosanya Babatunde Oluwaseyi 

Ph.D in view (Music education) 

Message from the Music Director Caleb Group of Schools.

(Address as Chairman of the Investiture Ceremony of the President and Chairman of Governing Council of CIPM, which held at Eko Hotels, VI, Lagos, on Wednesday, 31^st of July, 2024)

It is always a very deep and special pleasure for me whenever I have the opportunity to attend the CIPM or to be invited to any of her programs. CIPM is one organization that I have a significant relationship with, a relationship that spans many years. It is one organization I count as a partner in the struggle for transforming the public service system in Nigeria. This is why I am more than delighted to be witnessing, and chairing, this investiture of the new President and Chairman of the CIPM Governing Council. CIPM is strategic as the key umbrella body—the community of practice—for administering HR practice in Nigeria. Since its founding in 1968, it has consistently continued to push the frontiers and boundaries of the HR profession as well as being in the vanguard of HR management praxis in ways that has consolidated the status of its members, and its own status as a global organizational brand.

In this context, I have no doubt that Mallam Ahmed Ladan Gobir already has his works—and objectives—cut out for him. His status as a distinguished Nigerian, a formidable HR thought leader, astute corporate lawyer and a management professional par excellence already situates him within the challenges that CIPM is currently facing, and how the organization could be positioned as a significant stakeholder in the overall task of institutional reform in Nigeria. In this regard, one must applaud the existing achievement and experiential framework of the preceding presidents, and especially the administrative and visionary efforts of Mr. Olusegun Mojeed, the immediate past president of CIPM, for a most remarkable tenure littered with spirited strides, innovations and commendable achievements and legacies. No avid watcher of Nigeria’s public administration, and CIPM’s role, can be in any doubt as to the depth of clarity amongst CIPM’s thought-leaders regarding what is next level for CIPM, especially at this momentous time in the profession’s annals. A time when the world of work is witnessing profound rethinking and reformulation to institutionalise the post-Covid new normal, and, at that, as we navigate the unfolding Fourth and Fifth Industrial Revolutions.

I am going to use this chairman’s speech as an occasion to spotlight these challenges, and what CIPM is expected to contribute to making it a success; a success that CIPM itself can count on as part of its organizational milestone in Nigeria’s public administration trajectory. Specifically, I want to locate the public service system in Nigeria within the unfolding dynamics of HR developments and practices. This becomes auspicious because it immediately signals to the chairman the crosscutting dimension of the partnership and collaboration that are demanded of the community of service and community of practice—the Nigerian civil service leadership, the CIPM, and the larger public administration community—in institutionally reforming the Nigerian bureaucracy, and inserting its strategic and operational dynamics and processes into the current global trends in HR thinking.

My reform philosophy and advocacy have been hinged on an administrative axiom: if public administration fails in Nigeria, then all else—in terms of building a strong administrative and bureaucratic institutions that will carry the burden of good governance—has failed. This immediately underscores the fact that, given the still challenged state of the performance and productivity capacity of the public service, there is an unfinished business of institutional reform in the public service system to which all hands, including CIPM’s, must be on deck. This administrative axiom is complemented by the observation that it is practically impossible to identify any high-performing economies in the world today without simultaneously discovering that their performance and productivity are founded on the three key elements of knowledge, governance and human capital. This makes it imperative that the “people factor” plays a significant role in governance calculations and in human capital development that translates into the HR framework necessary for national productivity. This implies the transition from personnel management to strategic human resource management.

In linking the President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to the urgency of public service institutional renewal and reform, therefore, it becomes fundamental to conclude that the quality of democratic governance can only be directly proportional to the degree to which policy and managerial intelligence can be matched by dogged political will to commit to a radical transformation of the political service system through a rehabilitation of HR functions and processes in the workplace of the MDAs. The initial move in this direction was signaled by President Tinubu’s determination to constitute a government of national competence that would deploy expertise, technocracy and knowledge to energize intelligent policymaking. However, and beyond this, there is the need for the articulation of critical variables—public administration expertise, leadership sophistication, competent change management strategies and a reprofiled national value system—that would serve as the success factors for undermining the structural constraints that have hindered past and present reform efforts.

Indeed, given the trajectories of the current phase of institutional and governance reform that commenced in 1999 and reached a defining height in 2003, several cogent questions became imperative as the key to determining the direction the Nigerian public service system was heading. These questions include:

• What kind of public service Nigeria needs to successfully manage the transition from military authoritarianism to democratic governance; and

• What the appropriate personnel policies, pay structure, and operational cost ratios that are most cost effective will be, to achieve optimal productivity level in the national economy.

Unfortunately, and more than twenty-five years later, it would seem that for Nigeria, to quote the French critic and journalist, Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

This brief diagnostic analysis brings me to the challenge of the unfinished business of institutional reform that will task the collaborative partnership between CIPM, and the public administration community of service and practice with regard to the core elements of transforming the public service systems. Transforming the public service requires paying attention to workplace dynamics that have been subjected to myriads of changes, especially those that relates with the nature and frameworks of work itself. Given the changing demographics of employees and workers, the workplace now demands new orientations and innovation—like flexi-working—that take into consideration the new normal after the COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence of the Gen Z demographic. Such orientations demand the urgency of rethinking HR functions from multiple perspectives. This is even made more cogent by the fact that government has gradually ceased to be the employer of choice for most people given its lack of incentivization for working in the public service. To change this condition, and key into the unfinished business of reforming the public service, several issues come to the fore.

One, since the HR function is cogent in achieving performance and productivity, there is no doubt that the professionalization of the HR functions is fundamental to transforming the workplace. However, the core professionals need to know that to do this, human resource management can no longer be restricted as the exclusive responsibility of HR departments. Line managers and other managerial executives now require people management skills and competence to facilitate effectiveness and efficiency. This also relocates the HR function from the back to the front office. And rethinking the HR function implies a significant level of reform. For instance, at the basic level, it is no longer productive to treat HR in terms of personnel management, and its preoccupation with the passive role of privileging rules, regulations and procedures rather than developing and pursuing policies in manners that extract performance results and productivity bargains from people and from the processes. This automatically affects the current practice of staff performance appraisal which is very vague about what is being assessed and rewarded, or even how appraisal should be directed towards performance assessment and competences, rather than as a mere subjective protocol.   

Two, it has become almost impossible to think of public service transformation without inserting such reform within the public-private partnership (PPP) framework. Working within this framework demands optimizing the PPP contracts through imbuing public officials with commercial skills and competences that open up their capacities to engage with clients, customers and citizens, acquire knowledge of international business practices and labour laws, adopt multicultural sensitivities and multiple languages, and so on. This also brings in the growing consequences of involving artificial intelligences and robotics in upscaling the performance and efficiency of the public service system. The real challenge is how to translate the uncertainties that attend the deployment of artificial intelligence at the moment to real opportunities that will impact the public service system.

Three, to become the ultimate change agents in the reform of the public service, the HR manager is not only expected to facilitate the establishment of a new HR model that will harness the performance and productive capacities of the workforce. They are also essentially required to deepen the skills and competences with regard to risk management in ways that instigate action research as a component of management cum operation research and organisation development (OD) in the MDAs. This will also enable the HR to institute a learning culture that challenges the bureaucratic status quo, and helps it champions specific cultural transformations directed at translating desirable culture and public service values into public managers behaviour.

The CIPM is strategically located as a key stakeholder in injecting its organizational strengths into articulating a significant blueprint that insert the organization into a collaborative partnership needed to keep afloat the business of reforming the public service system. I have no iota of doubt that the new chairman will not only build on the existing architecture of achievements of the previous chairpersons, but also lay a few solid foundations of his that will keep the CIPM on course as a change agent in Nigeria’s effort to build a world class public service that backstops her democratic governance.   

Prof. Tunji Olaopa

Professor of Public Administration

& Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission,

Abuja

In the delicate dance between law enforcement and peaceful protesters, the role of police officers is pivotal. Their actions can either preserve the tranquility of demonstrations or ignite a powder keg of tension. 

The reason for the foregoing viewpoint cannot be farfetched as overzealous policemen and other security agents often exacerbate tensions during protests, especially when incidents result in fatalities or injuries. Their aggressive behavior can provoke demonstrators, pushing them toward retaliatory actions. When a protester is harmed or killed, emotions run high, and the actions of security personnel can either defuse or escalate the situation. Unfortunately, instances of excessive force, brutality, and disregard for human rights have fueled anger and mistrust between protesters and law enforcement.

Therefore, given the backdrop of the foregoing view, it is expedient for the Police and other security agents to be professional enough in the course of discharging their duties, particularly in the ongoing Hunger Protests across Nigeria so as to prevent the nationwide protests from becoming violent. In fact, it is crucial that security agents approach their duties with professionalism and restraint. 

As it is assumed in this context that the police and other security agents might have undergone training programs, it is expected that at this crucial moment that they should emphasize de-escalation techniques, empathy, and respect for citizens’ rights in the course of discharging their duties in the ongoing protests. This is as transparent investigations into any misconduct or abuse are essential. By fostering a culture of accountability and emphasizing community policing, security agencies can build trust and reduce the likelihood of confrontations. Ultimately, a commitment to professionalism and adherence to human rights principles can help maintain peace and prevent unnecessary violence during demonstrations. 

At this juncture, it is germane to opine that while officers exhibit high sense of professionalism, prioritize de-escalation techniques over force, they should equally engage in verbal communication with empathy, and understanding as they can defuse volatile situations.

In fact, as long as the protests prevail, specifically till August 10, 2024, the police and other security officials should be transparent while communicating with the protesters across the country, given the fact that clear communication about intentions, rules, and expectations fosters trust. Without a doubt, transparency helps prevent misunderstandings and minimizes the risk of clashes.

Analyzed from the angle of accountability, law enforcement agencies must be accountable for their actions, and body cameras (if equipped with), independent oversight, and swift investigations into misconduct are essential.

Again, building positive relationships with the community is crucial. Officers should actively engage with protesters, listen to their concerns, and address grievances, and they should remember that professionalism is not just a badge, it is a commitment to safeguarding democracy and ensuring that peaceful voices resonate louder than chaos.

In a similar vein, when security officials listen to advice, they gain access to diverse perspectives and insights. People offer advice with good intentions, hoping to contribute positively. By dismissing advice outright, security officials risk missing valuable ideas and information.

Again, the police and other security officials should throughout this protests listen, demonstrate respect for others' opinions and expertise. This is as such professional conduct fosters trust and encourages open communication. In fact, when people feel heard, they are more likely to engage constructively.

Good enough, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, has urged police officers to be prepared, alert and professional during the protests scheduled for August 1 to 10, and added that the safety and security of the nation depends on the vigilance, gallantry, and readiness of officers in the police and other security agencies.

According to a statement on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, by the Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, the IG spoke during a virtual meeting with senior officers. However, one hopes the IGP has in the same vein literarily drew the ears of his men, and urge them not to provoke the protesters by being overzealous and unprofessional in the cause of discharging their duties. 

At this juncture, it is expedient for this writer to confess that what inspired him to express this view is the violent experience that characterized the #EndSARS. It will be recalled in this context that the movement, which began as a call for the disbandment of Nigeria's notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), gained momentum in 2020. The protests were fueled by allegations of violence, exploitation, and human rights violations perpetrated by SARS officials. 

However, despite the peaceful atmosphere which initially characterized the protests, it is no more news that along the line that law enforcement agents provoked the protesters, and the protests expectedly turned violent leaving on its trail across the country tears, blood and massive destruction of government infrastructures. To aptly put it, the aftermath has been disappointing. At least 15 protesters arrested during the #EndSARS protests remain arbitrarily detained without trial in Lagos, with trumped-up charges ranging from theft to murder. The unprofessionalism exhibited by the police during the protests exacerbated the situation, perpetuating a travesty of justice. Therefore, no sane Nigerian would want what happened during the #EndSARS to repeat itself in the ongoing hunger protests. Therefore, the police and other law enforcement agencies should be well guided. 

In fact, the impact of #EndSARS is fading, and police brutality is once again becoming a grim reality for Nigerians. Recent cases of extrajudicial killings and extortion highlight that the police are failing to uphold international human rights standards. The protesters' demands for justice and accountability remain unmet, and the unprofessional conduct of law enforcement during the protests has only worsened the situation.

Given the foregoing, it is germane to opine that it is crucial for law enforcement to approach protests with restraint and peaceful dialogue. This is as violence begets violence, and a measured response can prevent further escalation, fostering an environment where grievances can be addressed constructively.

We met last on April 21. I went to Asaba from Lagos to promote my new book, Writing for Media and Monetising It, at Delta State University, which, according to JAMB statistics, is one of the country’s highest subscribers to Mass Communications in 2021.

Senator Ifeanyi Ubah was on the flight to Asaba that morning. I didn’t see him until we entered the arrival hall. He seemed to have added some weight for a man his height. I teased him about his robustly prosperous looks. He replied that journalists like me tend not to add weight because we’re too busy causing trouble, to which I replied that he should not go there.

We laughed and parted ways outside the terminal building. And then, on July 26, news broke that he had died only days after arriving in London. A few days earlier, he shared a video of himself looking slimmer than when I saw him in Asaba in April. He videoed himself singing on a London street with his family, and everyone looked happy.

Gone too soon

He was 52 and only reelected to the Senate last year under the Young Progressives Party (YPP) platform before he defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Ubah was the fourth member of the current National Assembly to die this year, bringing to 29 Federal lawmakers who have died in office from 2015 to date.

The others who died this year were Isa Dongoyaro, APC member of the House of Representatives representing Garki/Babura Federal Constituency, Jigawa State, who died on May 10; Ekene Adams of the Labour Party, representing Chikun/Kajuru, Kaduna State, who died on July 16; and APC member Musiliudeen Akinremi, representing Ibadan North Federal Constituency, Oyo State, who died on July 10.

It’s not just the number of deaths that is striking. None of all four legislators who died in office this year was up to 55. The outlier was the Federal legislator Abdulkadir Jelani Danbuga, an APC member from Isa/Sabon Birni, Sokoto State, who passed away in October at 64. He died three months after he was sworn in, bringing the total dead in one year to five.

At 52, Ubah was the oldest federal lawmaker who died in office this year. Dongoyaro was 47; Adams 39; Akinremi 51.

By life expectancy projection, you could argue that for a country with a life expectancy of 52 years, the average age of the deceased legislators shouldn’t be too unusual. Yet, if a company specialises in life policies for lawmakers, the recent events may force it to review its premium.

Beyond the numbers

There are 469 lawmakers in both chambers of the National Assembly, with the states proportionally represented in the Senate. Representation in the House of Assembly is based on population (favouring the North), among other factors.

However, the constitutionally provided numerical advantage for the North only partially explains the higher proportion of legislators who died in office from the region since 2015.

When I raised the trend of sitting legislators dying at relatively your age, one immediate response was that it’s the prayers of discontented, ordinary citizens at work. Divine recompense, if you like. Why wouldn’t the discontents come out to vote or hold their representatives to account instead?

I have only anecdotal evidence to support my theory, but the trend elsewhere does not support the view that the deaths of our lawmakers in office are the outcome of spiritual warfare. If religion or culture plays any role at all, it reinforces conditions that not only potentially increase the chances of early deaths but also increase the casualties among the affected population.

Different elsewhere?

What do the statistics elsewhere show? According to the Congressional Research Service, 84 U.S. Congress members – 69 Representatives and 15 Senators – died in 39 years between 1973 and 2012. The average life expectancy was 72, similar to that of white males in the larger population.

In 2015, relevant data about members of the British House of Commons between 1945 and 2011 showed that mortality among the 650 members was 28 percent lower compared to the general UK population. The figure in South Africa showed that in its Fourth Parliament 2009-2014, out of 103 members of parliament replaced, 18 passed away, four of them in car accidents.  

The common causes of death in these countries range from coronary artery disease to cancer, especially in the U.S. and the UK, to complications from HIV/AIDS in South Africa to diabetes, kidney-related diseases and accidents.

Because of the availability of data in these countries, it is possible to determine the cause of death and take steps to enhance safety, well-being, and longevity. It’s different in Nigeria, where disclosing the cause of death is treated as taboo.

Cost of taboo

The norm, not just in the legislature but in the broader population, is not to discuss it – an attitude more prevalent in the predominantly Muslim North, where deaths are accepted as “the will of God”, and any discussion of a post-mortem is out of the question.

Such cultural attitudes, reinforced by religion, tend to encourage poor record keeping and further nudge the population to ignore pre-existing health conditions in the fatalistic belief that “something must kill a man” when early detection or greater care could have prevented fatality. A cultural taboo that is useless to the dead and increasingly expensive for the living needs to be reviewed.

It’s bad enough that sometimes bereaved families have to bear the avoidable losses of loved ones. In the case of legislators, the death of sitting members also has consequences for the constituents and the electoral management body. The constituents are deprived of representation, and the electoral management body has to conduct by-elections.

In the last election cycle in 2023 alone, N335 billion was budgeted for elections. Still, that sum, later supplemented with N18 billion due to inflation, was not entirely for the general election but also for by-elections that have become a norm.

Court-determined results, political appointments, and, increasingly, deaths have increased legislative turnover and turned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) into one of the world’s most overworked and undervalued election management bodies. It’s a thankless job.

New approach

We can’t continue this way. Small changes could start with journalists understanding that it is vital to get and include the cause of death in their reports instead of allowing prevailing taboos to take them hostage. Of all five deaths, including Ubah’s, there was not a single case in which the press reported the possible cause of death.

The data of consequential deaths for Nigerian lawmakers cited earlier do not include deaths of sitting members in state houses of assembly, seven of which occurred in the last nine years, bringing the total recorded in that time to 36.

Knowing the cause might not raise the dead; it might help the living take greater care.

The process for replacing dead legislators also needs to be reviewed. We have a system that makes everything expensive and unnecessarily complicated. The Constitution stipulates a by-election on top of other by-elections to fill vacancies for political appointees and court-ordered reruns. Three senatorial by-elections in any state are equivalent to the cost of a governorship election.

Beyond the tears

One way to reduce such unnecessary costs is to use the example of Germany, New Zealand or South Africa, where the next candidate on the party’s list takes the deceased’s place. Or to allow the party to nominate the replacement for the deceased since a candidate holds the seat at the party’s pleasure.

Beyond the tears of this mourning period, we should find a sustainable way to fill parliamentary vacancies. That’s one way to honour the memory of Ubah and the other dead members of the National Assembly.

Ishiekwene, Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP, is the author of the new book Writing for Media and Monetising It.

As Nigeria battles, unarguably, its worst financial crisis since independence, it is only apposite that the most pragmatic way to pull the country’s chestnuts out of the raging economic inferno, to borrow a cliché, is to put round pegs in round holes. The appointment of Ms. Omolola Oloworaran as the new Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) ticks that box.

To understand why her appointment matters, there is need to appreciate what is at stake and the centrality of the pension industry in resolving Nigeria’s extant economic quagmire even if not wholly, at least partially.

Prior to the introduction of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2004, daunting problems, including inadequate and untimely budgetary provision, beset the discarded Defined Pension Scheme (DBS). With rising life expectancy and poor implementation, particularly in the private sector, it was not surprising that government’s budgetary pension deficit climbed to over N2 trillion by June 2004. That was unsustainable and at that point, the pension industry had collapsed, literally.

So, the 2004 Pension Reform Act, which established a uniform contributory, private sector managed and fully funded pension system for both the public and private sectors, was a bold fiscal policy to cure the malaises in the industry. Being mandatory, the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) compelled employees and employers in the public and private sectors to collectively save a minimum of 18 per cent of an employee’s monthly emolument – 10 per cent by the employer and 8 per cent by the employee – into a Retirement Savings Account (RSA), from where employees will be paid retirement benefits.

The Act established the National Pension Commission (PenCom) as the body to regulate, supervise and ensure the effective administration of pension matters in Nigeria. The result was phenomenal. National savings increased dramatically leading to a jump from a N2 trillion budgetary pension deficit two decades ago to a N19. 787 trillion Assets under Management (AuM) as at April 30, 2024. Not only that, data from PenCom indicated a record total monthly inflows of N8.18 trillion. With the proportion of total pension assets to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) standing at 8.39 per cent as at March 31, 2024, the success of the CPS is staggering.

Today, PenCom is the most thriving government’s fiscal agency and it is imperative, particularly at a time like this, that the chief regulator must be someone with the axiomatic Midas touch.

This is where Ms. Oloworaran steps in. Reputed for her visionary leadership, analytical mindset and strong work ethic, she is a financial expert. An accounting graduate from the University of Ilorin, she not only holds a Master degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the Manchester Business School, she is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment (CISI) and a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). She recently completed the Transforming Business Using AI (TBAI) program at the Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires (INSEAD), a non-profit graduate business school that maintains campuses in France, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates.

With over 20 years of cognate experience in the financial services industry, she began her career at Citibank and subsequently worked at Renaissance Capital (RenCap – an investment bank), FDHL Limited (a consulting firm), and Stanbic IBTC Bank before joining First Bank of Nigeria Ltd, where she is currently the Group Head of First Shared Services (FSS).

In all these institutions, she carved a niche for herself as a strong advocate for business growth through innovation, process reengineering, and client service reimagining by instituting strategic business solution-based operations. Whether it is establishing startup operational processes or managing internal, industry, or regulatory-driven initiatives in the banking industry, she has the knack for excellence.

For instance, she is reputed for strengthening collaboration with stakeholders, playing a pivotal role in several industry and Central Bank initiatives at the various banks she worked, including the introduction of federal government’s bonds and treasury bills trading in 2006, implementing internal policy documents for margin trading in 2008, developing market guidelines and accounting entries for repo trading in 2013, deploying the improved Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) SWIFT-based settlement system, the Scripless Securities Settlement System (S4) in 2013, and the introduction of the e-Naira, among other initiatives.

In doing all this, she demonstrated vision and leadership, overseeing the effective, efficient, and optimal utilisation of resources – human and capital – in responding to competitive pressures and in the process, earning for herself nomination and subsequently winning the First Bank Group CEO’s Award – 2022 and the Beyond Excellence Award in Stanbic IBTC.

With good industry experience encompassing regulatory compliance and operational risk, inflow management including pension receipts, strategic planning and policy development, client services, transaction banking operationalisation, treasury and investment banking operations, document and records management, she spearheaded initiatives that enhanced various innovation and automation projects, including Straight Through Processing (STP) initiatives, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Client Services Transformation, records digitisation, and system/process redesign.

These skill sets will, no doubt, serve her well at PenCom. As someone who is very passionate about people and has been involved in mentorship programmes and direct interventions, nurturing exceptional talents and enabling an empowered workforce in the banking industry, Omotola, will indubitably bring her strategic thinking skill, visionary leadership, strong work ethic, integrity and ethical standards to bear on her new job.

Notwithstanding the successes already recorded by her predecessors – Muhammed Ahmad (pioneer DG), Chinelo Anohu-Amazu and Aisha Dahir-Umar – Oloworaran, who has the advantage of two decades cognate experience in Nigeria’s financial sector, has her job cut out as so much is expected of her.

The pension industry has become the bulwark of the country’s flailing economy and has the capacity of providing answers to most of Nigeria’s economic woes because pension funds contribution has significant positive effect on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Besides, the scheme mobilises long term savings for investment thus providing capital for infrastructure projects, business expansion, and job creation. By stimulating entrepreneurship and creating jobs, the Contributory Pension Scheme is the only recipe for economic stability and development.

Not only that, experts aver that pension funds serve as a buffer against the corrosive impact of inflation, with diversified investment portfolios outpacing inflation over the long term. At a time when headline inflation is 34.2 per cent, a 28-year high, the resilience of the CPS ensures that retirees maintain their quality of life despite economic fluctuations.

The tasks before Oloworaran, therefore, include deepening the market by pulling more people into the pension net. In October 2023, the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management disclosed that out of 73 million Nigerian workers, only 10 million have enrolled in the CPS leaving out about 63 million workers.

There is also need to review the contribution rates in accordance with the Act to ensure that retirees maintain their desired standard of living. Though the Pension Act stipulates a minimum contribution of 10 per cent by the employer and 8 per cent by the employee, presently the employers only contribute 7.5 per cent, same with employees bringing the total to 15 per cent.

The issue of non-payment of accrued rights by government is one problem that has deleterious impact on the scheme. Right now, the government is owing almost a two-year backlog of accrued rights, which means that no worker who retired within same period has been paid retirement benefits. While the issue remains a slippery slope, the incoming DG must deploy all her skills in persuading an obviously illiquid government to timeously release the accrued rights to mitigate the sufferings of retirees.

To blunt the edge of the incessant agitation by the police for exit, Oloworaran must seek, urgently, presidential approval of special gratuity for police retirees at the rate of 300 per cent of their last annual gross pay so that the balances in their Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) will be channeled towards their monthly pension payments. Fortunately, all stakeholders in the industry are agreed on this and the request letter has been on the presidential desk since the time of Muhammadu Buhari.

Managing the country’s huge pension assets is no mean feat. The good news is that Ms. Omolola Oloworaran has what it takes to excel. All she needs do is apply herself to the job. Fortunately, she has a solid reputation for doing just that. Nigeria’s economy and her longsuffering retirees will be better for it.

Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State has announced that credible intelligence indicates that mercenaries and thugs have been hired from outside the state, disguised as protesters, to damage valuable infrastructure.

The governor emphasized that the people of Rivers have decided not to participate in the nationwide 10-day protest scheduled to start on August 1.

He shared this information while addressing representatives from Civil Society Organisations, the National Association of Nigerian Students, ethnic and youth groups in Rivers State, and the Port Harcourt Motor Spare Parts Dealers Union, Ikoku Branch, among others, at the Banquet Hall of Government House in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

A statement from Nelson Chukwudi, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, was sent to news outlets detailing the situation.

Governor Fubara asserted that recent public and covert actions by self-proclaimed adversaries suggest that Rivers State faces threats from those determined to destabilize it.

“You are already aware of the political situation of our State where people are looking for every avenue to destabilize this state. We don’t need to give them that opportunity to carry out that act.

“And that is the reason why I, representing the government, and the service commanders, have always been in touch with you all, pleading that we should shelve this protest. And even if you have to do it, we should do it in a way and manner that it will not get out of control,” Governor Fubara said.

The governor mentioned that he possesses information unavailable to others, stating, “I am aware of the people who are being hired to come into this state to cause mayhem. If anything happens here, we are going to be the greatest losers. Our property will be destroyed. Our economy will be destroyed. And when they finish, they will go back to their states.”

He referenced the situation in Kenya, suggesting that it could take two decades to repair the damage caused by similar unrest.

“In Rivers State, we are not that financially buoyant to now start retrogressing where we have already passed. Instead of maintaining and increasing what we have, we will be thinking of rebuilding, if destroyed. Let us not allow it to happen,” he cautioned.

While acknowledging the economic challenges facing Nigerians, Governor Fubara assured that the Federal Government, led by President Bola Tinubu, is implementing effective measures to alleviate the current hardships and secure a better future for citizens.

He urged activists to carefully consider the motives behind the proposed protest and avoid supporting it merely to appease those dissatisfied with the current system.

[NaijaNews]

The Lagos State Police Command, on Wednesday, confirmed that three domestic staff have been arrested in connection with the murder of the daughter of Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court in Lagos.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Benjamin Hundeyin, who made the revelation to journalists, said that the arrest of the three suspects was initiated in line with a directive from the State’s Commissioner of Police, Adegoke Fayoade, to investigate the death thoroughly.

SP Hundeyin further disclosed that the arrested three domestic staff members have been handed over to the State Criminal Investigation Department, which has since taken over the investigation.

The deceased, Aribemchukwu, was reportedly killed in her Parkview Estate residence in the highbrow Ikoyi area of the state on Wednesday morning.

A family source who craved anonymity because of the current state of the family, said she was killed on Tuesday night, and her body was discovered Wednesday morning outside the gate of her residence.

“It would appear that new household staff might have been responsible and tried to stage as if she was outside when it happened.

“There are signs of an attempt to clean up blood inside the house and in the compound. This was indeed the handiwork, and we observed that they were newly employed less than a month, and she was alone in the house with them.

“Newly employed domestic staff, who had been with the family for less than a month, are suspected to have staged the scene to make it appear that Aribemchukwu was outside the house when the incident occurred. Evidence suggests an attempt to clean up blood inside the house and within the compound, pointing to a different narrative,” the source narrated.

Aribemchukwu’s father, Soboma Ajumogobia, is the younger brother of Odein Ajumogobia, SAN, a former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and later one-time Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The latest data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) shows that the currency in circulation (CIC) reached a year-high of N4.05 trillion in June 2024, up by 56% from N2.6 trillion in the same month of the previous year.

The CIC comprises the currency outside the banking system and the vault cash of banks.

This increase in currency circulation could have both positive and negative impacts on the economy. On the positive side, higher cash circulation might indicate increased economic activities and consumer spending. However, it also raises concerns about inflationary pressures, as more cash in the economy can lead to higher prices for goods and services.

For the first time in Nigeria’s history, the currency in circulation has surpassed N4 trillion, according to data from the CBN.

The month-on-month (MoM) growth rate was 2%, from N3.65 trillion recorded in May 2024.

The data  further indicated that  94% of currency in circulation is outside the banking system, as cash outside banks hit a new high of N3.79 trillion. The currency outside banks has more than quadrupled over the past year. 

[Dailytrust]

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory has restricted participants in the August 1 hunger protest against the federal government to the MKO Abiola stadium, also known as the National Stadium.

Justice Sylvanus Oriji issued the order on Wednesday in Abuja while delivering a ruling in an ex-parte application brought before him by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

In the ex parte application argued by Chief Ogwu James Onoja, the FCT Minister had applied for an order of interim injunction restraining the five leaders of the protesting groups from gathering or parading themselves along any roadway, streets, offices and public premises within the FCT between August 1 and 10, or any other day thereafter, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.

He also applied for another order of interim injunction mandating the security agencies to prevent the protesting leaders from gathering or parading themselves along any roadway, office or public premises within the FCT between August 1 and 10, pending the hearing of his motion on notice.

The minister, who said that the federal government was not averse to the protest, claimed that intelligence and security reports reaching him indicated that some elements within the leadership of the protesters intend to capitalise on the planned protest to cause havoc and irreparable damage to public facilities and block roadways to prevent movement of persons and vehicles and disturb public peace.

He claimed that when he contacted the security agencies to ensure that the planned protest did not degenerate into criminality and disturbance of public peace and order, he was told that they are not well equipped to manage any crisis that may arise from the planned protest at short notice; hence, they advised him that prevention is better than cure.

The minister tendered an exhibit from the “Take it Back Movement, FCT”, signed by one Damilare Adenola, in which they threatened to invade the Presidential Villa and also threatened to pull down the outer wires facing the Aso Rock villa during the protest

Besides, they demanded that the FCT provide them with light as well as toilets during the duration of the protest.

In his ruling, Justice Oriji, who recognised the rights of the protesters to embark on the protest, restricted them to the stadium because of the genuine fears expressed by the minister.

“In the light of the above, the court considers it appropriate and expedient to grant an order under the omnibus or general prayer to ensure that the rights of the protesters are guaranteed and that the protest does not negatively or adversely affect the rights of other citizens to move about and to ensure that properties and other public facilities are not destroyed,” the judge held.

He therefore ordered the 1st to 5th respondents to “use the Moshood Abiola Stadium” only for the protest.

Meanwhile, the court ordered the service of processes in the suit as well as the confinement order on the respondents by placing the same in the newspapers.

Defendants in the suit are Omoyele Sowore, Damilare Adenola, Adama Ukpabi, Tosin Harsogba, persons unknown, Inspector General IG of Police, Commissioner of Police, Director General of the State Security Service, Director General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Air Staff, and Chief of Naval Staff as 1st to 12th respondents.

The President Bola Tinubu administration has implemented positive economic reforms which led to improvement in some key economic areas.

An infographic posted on X by Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Social Media, Dada Olusegun highlighted six parameters that have seen positive changes under President Tinubu.

Here are six positive economic reforms under President Tinubu’s administration:

1. Foreign reserves:

Nigeria’s external reserves increased to $35.77 billion from $33.09 Billion at the end of 2023, data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the country’s external reserves movement has revealed.

The figure released on Thursday signifies a $2.68 billion increase in the country’s external reserves in the past six months.

The data revealed that the country’s foreign reserve crossed the $35.05bn on July 8 to the $35.77 mark on Thursday.

2. Minimum Wage:

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday, July 18, approved N70,000 as the new minimum wage for Nigerian workers.

A significant increase from the 30,000 amount accepted by the federal government, led to the enactment of the National Minimum Wage Act 2019 in March 2019.

3. Debt to Revenue Ratio:

The Nigerian government recorded significant strides in its fiscal management, with a dramatic decline in debt service and a surge in non-oil revenue.

The minister of finance, Wale Edun, disclosed these positive developments during an assessment of the economy’s first-half performance.

According to the minister, the debt service ratio has plummeted from a staggering 97% in June 2023 to a more manageable 68% in 2024.

4. Oil production:

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has said the country dominates crude oil production in Africa with an output of 1.61mbpd as of July 23, 2024, boasting proven reserves of 37.50 billion barrels and a production capacity of approximately 2.19 million barrels per day (mbpd).

The Commission’s Chief Executive, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe made this known at the House of Representatives Special Committee Two Day Public/Investigative Hearing on Oil Theft/Losses.

5. Forex backlog:

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on March 20, 2024, cleared the $7 billion foreign exchange (FX) backlog inherited by Governor Yemi Cardoso.

CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso said that it decided to settle the $7.5 billion forex backlog owed, to build investor confidence in the domestic economy and build lasting credibility for the country.

6. Ways and Means:

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun noted that the government is not relying on ways and means of borrowing, which can be inflationary, and has paid back the previous N7.3 trillion obligation within a year of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Speaking at the newly introduced quarterly media briefing yesterday in Abuja, Edun highlighted that the economy grew faster in the first quarter of 2024 compared to 2023.

According to him, economic activity in the first quarter of 2024 was not only faster than the first quarter of 2023, but it was also the second fastest first-quarter growth in the last six years.

[TheNation]