Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on Wednesday, visited Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar, former military rulers, in Minna, the Niger state capital.

In a post on X, Abubakar said he visited the former military heads of state at their residences to pay them a “Salah homage”.

See photos below

The immediate past member representing Oredo Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, Hon. Ogbiede Ihama Omoregie, has been expelled from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for anti-party activities.

He was expelled by Ward 2 Oredo Local Government Area (LGA), following the resolution of an enlarged meeting by the ward members and executives, held on Airport Road in Benin City, the Edo State capital.

Reading the resolution, the Chairman of PDP Ward 2 in Oredo, Lawrence Aguebor said the expulsion followed the suspension of Ogbeide Ihama by the ward executives and critical stakeholders of Oredo Ward 2, who met on 3rd of May 2024, and suspended the ex-Rep member for 30 days after which a disciplinary committee was set up.

He explained, “The committee wrote him letters and called him on the phone and sat five (5) times and Ogbeide Ihama Omoregie failed to appear before them.

“Today, we have received the report and recommendations of the committee and the committee has recommended the expulsion of Hon. Ogbeide Ihama Omoregie from PDP. The offenses of Hon. Ihama for which he now stands expelled are captured under section 58 (1) a, b, d, e, f, h, l, j, l. With the expulsion of Hon. Ogbiede Ihama Omoregie, members of the general public are to cease and desist from doing any business that has to do with the PDP with him.”

The ward party members also put his expulsion to a voice vote with all members backing his expulsion from the party.

On his part, the Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Political Matters, (Oredo) Hon. Victor Enoghama, said the suspension and expulsion was long overdue.

He noted, "Hon. Ogbeide Ihama Omoregie has donated his building at Ring Road by Sakponba Road Junction to the All Progressive Congress (APC) to be used as campaign office for the 2024 September 21st governorship election in Edo State.

"His suspension is long overdue. Let him join the APC family as we can’t allow him to be in PDP and fraternize with the APC.

Enoghama further charged, “We also call on the ward of the former deputy governor to follow suit and expel Comrade Philip Shaibu from the PDP, also for anti-party activities.

“He is carrying out anti-party activities. He has also donated his campaign office at Airport Road with vehicles to APC for the Governorship election on September 21st, 2024. He can't be in PDP and be supporting APC.”

The New York Times report "Nigeria Confronts Its Worst Economic Crisis in a Generation" published on June 11, 2024, portrays a bleak outlook on Nigeria’s economic state. However, the report lacks objectivity and may inadvertently misinform readers. It is essential to present a more balanced viewpoint that takes into account the wider context, including global economic trends and challenges shared by other nations. Moreover, it is imperative to highlight the proactive measures undertaken by the current government to address these issues and the inherited economic challenges it faces. By offering a comprehensive perspective, we can better understand the complexities of Nigeria’s situation and the efforts made towards sustainable growth and stability.

The report fails to mention that inflation is a global issue affecting many countries, not just Nigeria. By not acknowledging this, the report gives the impression that Nigeria’s inflation is an isolated problem, which is misleading. Additionally, when comparing the size of economies, it is essential to remember that they are typically valued in dollars. Therefore, individual country exchange rate policies may affect such comparisons. A country’s economic size appears smaller when its currency is devalued. For instance, a country that defends its currency might seem to be doing better economically than a country that floats its currency, although the latter may be making more sustainable long-term economic decisions. 

Labour Union strikes did not start under this regime; even the previous administration experienced various strikes by numerous unions, with the ASUU strike being one of the longest. The current government should be commended for its proactive approach to addressing the demands of labour unions. However, the government and labour unions must find more effective ways to resolve disputes to prevent the economic losses caused by strikes. 

When President Tinubu’s administration took office a year ago, it inherited an economy in a comatose state. The amount used for debt servicing was already over 90% of Nigeria’s revenue, making most expenditures reliant on borrowing. This situation was unsustainable, necessitating significant economic reforms. The New York Times report overlooks that the current administration is dealing with long-standing economic issues rather than creating new ones. It is also important to recognize that high infrastructure deficits and security challenges are inherited issues that the government is actively addressing.

Faced with an untenable economic situation, the Tinubu administration took bold decisions to remove fuel subsidies and float the naira. These measures were necessary to reduce the financial burden on the country and free up funds for critical investments in infrastructure and other sectors. While these reforms caused short-term economic shocks and hardship, they are essential for Nigeria’s long-term economic health. Many Nigerians question where the money saved from these reforms has gone. It is important to note that savings can be actual revenue saved or money that would have been borrowed but wasn’t. The removal of fuel subsidies and the floating of the naira has reduced the need for borrowing and allowed the government to redirect funds to more productive uses.

The New York Times report does not highlight the government’s efforts to mitigate the hardships caused by economic reforms. To alleviate the situation, the Federal Government started paying ₦35,000 cash awards to federal civil servants, with various state governments following suit by paying varying amounts to their workers. Additionally, the government is about concluding a new, improved national minimum wage, with a bill about to be sent to the national assembly. Furthermore, the government has initiated conditional cash transfers and distributed thousands of metric tonnes of assorted grains to support vulnerable households. It has also introduced a student loan scheme to enhance access to tertiary education. The Dangote refinery is scheduled to commence production of premium motor spirit by the end of July. This holds promise for alleviating the impact of fuel subsidy removal by potentially lowering the prices of PMS 

Amongst other things, the report failed to acknowledge the current government's significant achievement in clearing the $7 billion forex backlog owed to foreign companies, a move that has boosted investor confidence. Critics argue that foreign companies are leaving Nigeria due to poor economic decisions, making the country unattractive for investment. However, this is not always the case. Companies may shut down operations for various reasons, including changes in business models or the inability to cope with competition from substitute products or services. For example, GlaxoSmithKline ceased operations in Kenya and Nigeria, opting for a third-party distribution model for its pharmaceutical products.

While Nigeria is facing economic challenges, it's important to provide a balanced perspective that takes into account the global context, historical issues, and the current government’s efforts. The administration led by President Tinubu has taken necessary but painful steps to address long-standing economic problems. These reforms, though causing short-term hardship, are essential for Nigeria’s long-term economic stability and growth. However, the government must remain committed to these reforms and ensure transparent communication with its citizens. Problems of several years cannot be solved overnight, but a committed and balanced approach can pave the way for sustainable growth and development.

Author: Kenechukwu Aguolu FCA, PMP, CBAP

Business Analyst | Project Manager | Chartered Accountant | Public Affairs Analyst

Abuja, Nigeria         This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Last week, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf painted a pathetic picture of the state of primary education in Kano. “Above 4.7 million pupils are sitting on bare floors to take lessons while about 400 schools have only one teacher for all classes subjects and all pupils,” said Yusuf who put the current figure of out-of-school children in the state at 989,234. Not surprisingly, he blamed his predecessor, Abdullahi Ganduje for the problem. “Rather than building more classrooms and providing basic furniture in the schools, as well as hiring more teachers, the administration we took over from chose to butcher the land belonging to those schools. In some places, it demolished classrooms to create space for shops.” The schools that could not be sold, according to Yusuf, were closed. “The encroachment of public-school lands and the conversion of these vital institutions into private business premises is an affront to our communal values and a direct assault on our commitment to public education. This reckless appropriation of educational spaces for commercial use is unacceptable and must stop immediately.”

The growing number of out-of-school children has become not only a social problem but a serious national security challenge. More worrisome is what appears to be the lack of any concerted effort to deal with this vexatious problem beyond bandying statistics. According to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), a huge percentage of the world’s total number of out-of-school children come from Nigeria. And this is not only a Kano problem. While perhaps more pronounced in the north, no state is free of the problem which is compounded by projections that Nigeria’s population could rise to 440 million by 2050. Such uncontrolled population growth of largely illiterate people poses a serious threat to the survival of a nation. Besides, it is from this constituency that criminal cartels now recruit their members. After all, as the saying goes, an idle hand is the devil’s workshop.

Yet, there is hardly any national conversation regarding primary schools. This tragic error has become the bane of education management in Nigeria. Our obsession with university education is based on the warped thinking that we can build a house from the roof while we discount the foundation, which primary schools represent. A recent report by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) that no fewer than 27 states in the country have failed to access the sum of N54.9 billion basic education fund as of the end of March this year is very telling. The UBEC fund is an annual grant to help states upgrade primary schools. But to access the money, they are required to match the federal government’s grant. To evade accountability, many states ignore this facility even as children study under deplorable conditions, including lessons under trees and in dilapidated classrooms.

The growing population of out-of-school children is a symptom of the larger problem of irresponsible procreation. Unfortunately, population control is rarely discussed in Nigeria, not only because we choose to live in denial about what ails us but also because once we cloak an issue in the garb of religion, it becomes taboo for any serious engagement. The major concern about our rapidly growing population, as Dimos Sakellaridis, a population control advocate once reminded us, is the absence of infrastructural support. Especially since social services like schools, health care facilities etc. are not also growing at an equally comparable rate. In fact, they are deteriorating everyday which means that the only thing we are producing at a comparative advantage in Nigeria today are babies.

It should worry all critical stakeholders that a demographic crisis is already upon us. That there is a class dimension to this crisis merely compounds the problem. Deutsche Welle (DW), a German international broadcaster, recently produced a documentary on Nigeria’s exploding population. “Having a large family is a blessing from God. I am a product of a large family. I like a large family,” a resident of Makoko waterfront slum in Lagos who has three wives and 18 children reportedly said without a care about how to raise such a huge number of children that may end up on the street. “As a youth, I decided that, when I was older, I would have a large family.”

That mindset is replicated across the country by thousands of poor people based on the illusion that Nigeria is a wealthy country. We have never been one, though the potential was huge at independence 64 years ago. Even if we didn’t squander our riches, the rate at which our population has grown from 45.2 million to 229 million today would still be a problem. Meanwhile, in 1960, the population of the United Kingdom was 52 million, meaning that the country from which we were gaining independence had about seven million more people than Nigeria. Today, the UK is about 68 million, an increase of almost 14 percent over the past 62 years while Nigeria’s estimated population has increased by about 500 percent!

At some point we must come to terms with the reality that at the rate our population is growing amid dwindling resources, there is no way millions of children will not be left behind to our collective detriment. There must therefore be an enlightenment campaign on responsible procreation. “The resources available are unable to meet the basic needs of the growing population,” John Oyefara, a professor of demography at the University of Lagos, told DW. “This has resulted in inadequate facilities in our health sector, food security, housing, transportation and even employment.”

The numbers don’t look good. As of 2020, Nigeria’s share in the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) adjusted for purchasing power parity (which is used to measure both the economic growth and living standards in any country) amounted to approximately 0.81 percent. Meanwhile, using data from the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook, Pratap Vardin, an Indian full-stack data science engineer, came up with a graphic of countries where the next 1,000 babies would statistically be born into based on population and birth rates estimates. By his projection, 57 of those babies would be born in Nigeria. That means we will account for about six per cent of children born into the world who will then have to battle for less than one percent of global resources!

There is ample evidence to suggest that most educated and relatively comfortable people in our society produce only the number they believe they can care for. In fact, most of the middle-class professionals who have embraced the ‘Japa’ syndrome do so for their children, despite the sacrifices involved. On the other hand, it is those who are at the lower rung of society who have no qualms about having as many children as they like without considering the welfare of those they are bringing into the world. Having allowed the majority of our people to remain chained to belief systems that shun family planning, we now have a huge but largely unproductive population on our hands. If we are to develop as a society, we need an enforceable population policy that is tied to incentives as it is done in several countries.

As I have written several times on this page, the 1974 controversial book, ‘Lifeboat Ethics: The case against helping the poor’ by Garrett Hardin has now become a ready handbook for policy makers in most immigration departments of Western countries. It also accounts for the rise of right-wing leaders to positions of power and why opportunities for ‘Japa’ are shrinking in most of these countries. Metaphorically, according to the late American ecologist and microbiologist who focused his career on the issue of human overpopulation, “Each rich nation can be seen as a lifeboat full of comparatively rich people. In the ocean outside each lifeboat swim the poor of the world, who would like to get in, or at least to share some of the wealth.” He then asked: “What should the lifeboat passengers do?”

This was the way Hardin answered his own question 50 years ago: “So here we sit, say 50 people in our lifeboat. To be generous, let us assume it has room for 10 more, making a total capacity of 60. Suppose the 50 of us in the lifeboat see 100 others swimming in the water outside, begging for admission to our boat or for handouts. We have several options: we may be tempted to try to live by the Christian ideal of being ‘our brother’s keeper,’ or by the Marxist ideal of ‘to each according to his needs.’ Since the needs of all in the water are the same, and since they can all be seen as ‘our brothers,’ we could take them all into our boat, making a total of 150 in a boat designed for 60. The boat swamps, everyone drowns. Complete justice, complete catastrophe.”

The critical point in Hardin’s thesis is that most of the countries from where citizens flee are suffering the consequences of the choices their people make, especially regarding an unbridled population explosion. “The harsh ethics of the lifeboat become harsher when we consider the reproductive differences between rich and poor. A wise and competent government saves out of the production of the good years in anticipation of bad years to come. Joseph taught this policy to Pharaoh in Egypt more than 2,000 years ago. Yet the great majority of the governments in the world today do not follow such a policy,” Hardin wrote. “They lack either the wisdom or the competence, or both. On the average poor countries undergo a 2.5 percent increase in population each year; rich countries, about 0.8 percent. Because of the higher rate of population growth in the poor countries of the world, 88 percent of today’s children are born poor, and only 12 percent rich. Year by year the ratio becomes worse, as the fast-reproducing poor outnumber the slow-reproducing rich…”

For decades, we have sold the myth, especially to the poor of our society, that the government is responsible for taking care of them. And that the only problem is ‘corruption’ which our politicians keep ‘fighting’. The message must be that everyone is ultimately responsible for themselves and their family. Conducting a conversation on this issue is more urgent than ever before. We need voices like that of the Zamfara State Council of Chiefs chairman and Emir of Anka, Alhaji Attahiru Muhammad Ahmad, who once cautioned low-income earners against marrying more than one wife. “Civil servants on a salary of N15,000 a month marry more than one wife and end up raising families they cannot cater for,” the emir said. “It is this attitude that is responsible for increasing out-of-school children because the parents cannot shoulder the responsibility.”

On the immediate challenge, Kano and the other states must find the human and material resources to take children off the streets and put them in schools. But in the long term, Nigerians must also begin to understand that only a moderate population growth that enables a high quality of life for citizens can guarantee a sustainable society.

President Muhammadu Buhari was less than a year in office when he realized that his officials would not be able to produce the budget for FY 2017 on time. His Budget and National Planning Minister, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, was frantically seeking help, not only to produce the federal proposal, but also to reform and reposition the entire budgeting process. The 2016 appropriation bill was signed into law by the president very late in the year; and it was replete with irregularities. It then was clear to senior administration officials that the Budget Office of the Federation, an agency responsible for designing and drawing up the federal government’s budget proposals, required an experienced and suitably qualified leader to do the job. The man at the saddle then was clearly below his depth. Fourteen years earlier, Senator Udoma was the chairman of the Senate’s Appropriation Committee – an influential and powerful Committee that scrutinizes and approves the federal budgets and those of its over 300 parastatals. He knows a lot about the budgeting process and technicalities involved, and was therefore in a hurry to headhunt a man of requisite and cognate skills to lead the Budget Office.

 Enter Ben Ifeanyichukwu Akabueze. Early in 2016, Akabueze was appointed Special Adviser to the President on National Planning, but his job description did not include budget preparations. He had observed the debacle in the Budget Office and all the commotion surrounding the 2016 proposals, but in the nature of Nigeria’s public service, he could only offer suggestions. Somebody then mentioned to Udoma that Ben was the right man to fix the mess. After a few consultations and discussions and Senator Udoma’s recommendation, the president promptly moved Akabueze to the to the Budget Office as the sixth Director General with a clear mandate to ensure the presentation of the annual budgets to the National Assembly by September of every year; review the annual budget and advise on the necessity or otherwise of a supplementary budget and reconcile and monitor monthly performance of key revenue agencies.

A fellow of three renowned professional bodies, (Institute of Chartered Accountants; Chartered Institute of Bankers and institute of Credit Administration), Akabueze came highly recommended for the assignment, and he soon proved that his selection was one of Buhari’s few fit-for-purpose appointments. Ben or Pastor Ben, as friends fondly call him, is one of the nation’s brightest, analytical yet unassuming professionals. For about nine years prior, he had served as the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning in Lagos State, having been appointed by Gov. Tinubu in 2006 and reappointed by Gov. Fashola in 2007. Before then, he was the Managing Director & CEO of NAL Bank (now Sterling Bank) from 2000 to 2005.

There were rumours then that it was Asiwaju Tinubu, then National Leader of the APC, that had facilitated his appointment as the SA to the President, and subsequent deployment to the BOF. Both Akabueze and Udoma refused to comment on this when I asked them. A few months after Ben took the job, Senator Udoma told me in his office. ‘’I am lucky to have Ben around. He is sorting out the headaches in the Budget Office’’. I told Udoma that I knew Akabueze well, and that he had in December 2000 tapped me to lead the Corporate Communications department at NAL. ‘’He will make a difference’’, I assured him. I have been blessed to walk and work with the best of Nigerians in my long careers spanning two professions. Akabueze’s leadership and accomplishments as the nation’s chief budget officer between 2016 and 2024 are transformative, tangible and outstanding. I salute him for his unblemished records and sterling achievements in all of the two terms. He served with dedication, diligence and commitment.

Under him, the budget office recorded improvements in the quality and comprehensiveness of the budget documents, leveraging technology to achieve improved levels of citizens’ engagements in the budgeting process. We now have full disclosures of federal government’s payments; improved transparency, governance, service delivery and accountability. Multi-lateral and bi-lateral project tied loans as well as grants and donor-funded projects are now reflected in the federal government budget, unlike in the past when the process was marred by opacity and lack of clarity. In addition, fiscal risks and contingent liabilities are also included in the budget pack. There’s been also improved coordination and collaboration between the executive and legislature leading to a return to the predictable January-December budget cycle, for the first time since 1999. Until then, it was only the military regimes that were able to issue budget speeches on New Year Day. Another important change that Ben and his team introduced is the inclusion of the budgets of all government-owned enterprises in the federal budget presented by the president to the National Assembly. Further, there’s also been significant improvements in the budget and expenditure management of the MDAs.

Internally, Akabueze also restructured the BOF and took his management and staff through a visioning process that developed a vision and mission statement for the organization. Its mission is to provide efficient and qualitative budget functions to Nigeria, geared towards promoting fiscal sustainability, transparency and accountability in public finance management for national development in line with international best practices. Clearly, the achievements listed above are in with the mission. Its vision is to be a world-class technology-driven budget institution that is a catalyst for equitable distribution of the nation’s resources to engender sustainable socio-economic development. It is for no reason that he’s also known as Mr. Budget.

Last week, I asked Akabueze to review his tenure at BOF and all the other significant positions he’s held. As he is wont to do, he contemplated the question for a while and then said, ’I have done my best. Nigerians should do the assessment’.

Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, and its commercial hub, Lagos, have been ranked as the first and second cheapest cities for expatriates to live in Africa for 2024, according to Mercer’s Cost of Living rankings.

The report highlights the cost of living is a crucial consideration for expatriates when selecting a city for relocation, as it impacts their quality of life and financial stability.

The findings attribute the affordability of these cities to currency depreciations, which have significantly reduced the cost of living for international assignees.

Blantyre in Malawi comes third on the list while Durban in South Africa and Windhoek in Namibia comes fourth and fifth respectively.

Here is a list of the top 10 cheapest cities to live in Africa with their global rank

1. Abuja, Nigeria

2. Lagos, Nigeria

3. Blantyre, Malawi

4. Durban, South Africa

5. Windhoek, Namibia

6. Gaborone, Botswana

7. Lusaka, Zambia

8. Tunis, Tunisia

9. Cape Town, South Africa

10. Johannesburg, South Africa

[TheNation]

Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company (AEEPCO), operator of the NNPC/Aiteo Joint Venture on OML 29, has confirmed the detection of an oil leak at its Nembe swamp facility in OML 29, Nembe Kingdom, Bayelsa State. 

AEEPCO, in a statement on Wednesday, noted that its Oil Spill and Emergency Response Team was immediately activated and all production from OML 29 were shut down as a precautionary measure to mitigate the impact of the incident.

“This is a precautionary measure while mobilising additional resources to contain the spill. The cause of the spill is currently undetermined. However, we are proactively engaging with stakeholders to mitigate the immediate effects,” the statement added.

Commenting on the incident, AEEPCO’s group managing director, Victor Okoronkwo, said: “During our operations on Monday, June 17, 2024, the subject leak was detected. A Joint Investigative Visit (JIV) with stakeholders has been initiated to determine the cause of this incident.

“While we regret the production losses to the Joint Venture and the nation and the potential environmental impact, our current priority is to expedite an efficient spill management process in line with regulatory standards and collaborate with all stakeholders to restore production and mitigate associated risks.”

[Leadership]

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has said Nigeria would probably not have anything to do with banditry if the country had not changed its national anthem in 1978.

In 1978, the military government of General Olusegun Obasanjo dropped “Nigeria, We Hail Thee,” written by Lillian Jean Williams in 1959 and composed by Frances Berda.

“Arise O Compatriots” written by Pa Ben Odiase became the anthem until the government of President Bola Tinubu reverted to the old anthem last month.

The anthem bill speedily passed first and second readings at both chambers of the National Assembly and  was afterwards assented into law by President Tinubu.

Speaking during a visit to the Nigerian Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies in Abuja, on Tuesday, Akpabio said passing the old anthem bill is one of the significant achievements of the National Assembly under his leadership.

He added that the Student Loan Bill was another significant bill that was passed by the federal lawmakers.

“The bill that was sent to us by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on students’ loans and scholarships to enable Nigerian vulnerable students; the less privilege to obtain higher education,” Akpabio said.

“And as I speak to you over 30,000 Nigerian students have been selected to benefit from it. That is one of the bills I would say appeals to me the most.

“The other one on social impact is reverting to our old national anthem. A lot of people are not aware that there was a panel made up of Nigerians set up to receive input from all over the world in 1959.

“So, when people say we are bringing colonial anthem, please look into the history of the “Nigeria, We Hail Thee”.

“If we kept to that anthem, we probably would not have banditry today in Nigeria, because if you took your neighbour as your brother you would not want to kill your brother, if you took your neighbour as your brother, you would not want to into the farm and behead your brother.”