The image of a helicopter parent, standing at the sidelines shouting at the pitch, has long since been an unwelcome stereotype associated with children who play sport.

In some leagues, mums and dads have been issued with a code of conduct to adhere to, in order to avoid unpleasant arguments or physical fights.

However, Manchester City star Demi Stokes is more than ready for that narrative to change.

Growing up, she witnessed dads at the sidelines who yelled ‘Kick her! Break her legs!’ to her opponents. Demi’s first team – called Sunderland 24-7 – was an all-girls team who boldly played in a boys’ league.

‘Some parents get so caught up in thinking “they’re not this, they’re not doing that.” I just think “why does it matter?”,’ Demi, 32, tells Metro.

‘As long as your son or daughter is happy playing sport and becoming more confident in who they are, that’s what’s important. 

‘Taking the pressure away can allow kids to feel more free.’

Born in Birmingham before moving to South Shields, Demi always dreamed of playing football and had a giant poster of David Beckham above her bed.

It was her former PE teacher Ian Williamson, who taught the former Sunderland full-back from the age of 10 at Marine Park Primary School, and urged her to trial for Sunderland’s youth team.

Demi credits him, as well as her mum and nan, with giving her the confidence to brush off laughter from any boys who scoffed at the fact she played football.

‘Ian was brilliant,’ she remembers. ‘It was the encouragement of the people I had around me that kept me going. They supported me, but equally didn’t put too much pressure on me.

‘It was like “we’ll let her figure it out, let her blossom and become whoever she wants to be.’

Previously, research has found that a third of UK children had missed out on a sporting opportunity because of the costs involved, with football, swimming and tennis topping the list.

‘The world is a crazy place where a lot of people are struggling to make ends meet,’ says Demi, who has one son.

‘You never know what people’s lives at home are like, or what they’ve gone through, so these new clubs are massive for kids.

‘Not everyone has the support of parents, family members of school teachers. So football can become a little safe haven where they can feel at home. They’ll make a huge difference in letting kids express themselves and grow in confidence.’ 

As part of Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses team who claimed the Euro 2022 crown, ending a 56-year wait for a major international honour, Demi has also represented Team GB at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and has made more than 200 appearances for Manchester City.

She still has to pinch herself at how far she’s come. When asked if ten-year-old self could have seen her array of achievements coming, Demi laughs.

‘No, not at all,’ she says. ‘As a kid you think “oh, I’m going to do this, I’m going to do that,” unaware you have to make money and pay the bills. It’s been a crazy journey but an incredible one as well. I always say I’m very fortunate and grateful for the journey I’ve had.

‘The opportunities for a young girl today who wants to play football are so exciting. And things are only going to keep improving the more we win and the more the Lionesses win. Women’s football is in a good place but we’re not satisfied yet.

‘If we all play our part, we can make sure that growth keeps happening.’

Kellogg’s Football Camps sessions will begin in July.  Sessions will take place throughout the week during the school summer holidays, with all abilities welcome. 

[Newspot]

Former director-general of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has opposed the move to institutionalise State Police, saying it would hurt the Nigeria’s democracy.
Okechukwu, a foundation member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), disclosed this on over the weekend, shortly after the burial of late Chief Bona Udeh, erstwhile Chairman of Udi Local Government Area in Enugu State.

The APC chieftain said that his lack of support for the establishment of State Police was due to his elementary study of the antics of dictatorship.

He stated that the study made him shiver each time he thought of what would happen to democracy if governors, who had since inception of the fourth republic in 1999 acted like emperors, are empowered absolutely to kill democracy.

“What salvation do we earn, when careful consideration gazetted that the majority of our dear governors are more or less akin to emperors, who are constantly in the breach of fine democratic tenets and civil liberties?” he asked.

The APC chieftain also said the governors had thwarted the local councils since the system had blatantly mangled state judiciary and state legislatures into rubber stamps.

“My dear countrymen, do we in all intents and purposes make altruistic sense to further empower emperors?

Emperors hated alternative views, abhorred popular participation and rule of law throughout the history of man.

“Our dear governors in similar manner abhorred the rule of law and popular participation; this is why they had, in the same bipartisan manner, opposed local government autonomy, independence of state judiciary and state legislatures,” he said.

Proffering security solution, Okechukwu said as a matter of urgent national importance, at this trying period, the country needed well-trained and well-equipped Special Constabulary Police in line with the Nigeria Police Act 2020.

The APC chieftain said Special Constabulary Police should be equipped with sophisticated arsenal to contain kidnappers, terrorists and insurgents at the grassroots, without authoritarian antics.

He said the Special Constabulary Police he was advocating would be funded by Federal and State Governments, jointly recruited from indigenes of the given state in collaboration with the governors, albeit local community, based on “tiny federal strings”, for necessary moderation.

“I appeal for understanding for Special Constabulary Police as the federal and state governments will better fund the outfit, rather than authorising state governors to transfer the burden of funding to our citizenry, majority of who are trapped in multidimensional poverty.

He said although one understood the metastasis of grief, helplessness, despair, despondency and the sordid scenario of a country overwhelmed by insecurity, it would be less strategic in the midst of confusion to over tax the citizenry.

The Director-General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Mr Asishana Okauru, reported that 16 state governors had earlier supported the establishment of State Police.

They supported floating of the outfit as a panacea for the insecurity ravaging the different parts of the country.

Also, the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President on Media and Communication, Mr Stanley Nwakocha, had earlier disclosed in a statement that discussions were held at 140th meeting of the National Economic Council on the matter.

Nwakocha noted that 16 out of the 36 states had already submitted reports on the State Policing initiative and that the remaining 20 governors were already in the process of submitting theirs

“The official position of the forum is in favour of state police. I don’t know of any state that is not in support of state police,” he said.

(NAN)

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu kept mum as the recent 240 per cent electricity tariff hike worsens the suffering being faced by Nigerians.

DAILY POST reports that the recent electricity tariff increase for customers has birthed another page of hardship for Nigerians.

While the residues of pain caused by the removal of subsidy and the Naira floating policies implemented by Tinubu’s Government last year still lingers, the hike in electricity tariff for customers under Band A, getting at least 20 hours of power supply, has further unsettled Nigerians.

In defence of the hike, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, noted last Friday that 85 per cent of electricity will not be affected.

He added that the Government would save N1.14 trillion in electricity subsidies.

Despite Adelabu’s position, the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and Abuja Chambers of Commerce and Industry have all openly condemned the new electricity tariff hike.

They all agreed there is a cloud of confusion around the tariff implementation amid economic hardship.

Upon the new tariff announcement by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission Tuesday last week, the eleven Discos began implementing the N255 kilowatt-hours rate for customers getting 20 hours.

However, the implementation has attracted widespread dissatisfaction among electricity consumers.

Abuja Electricity Distribution Company apologized to consumers for wrongly applying new tariff hikes on B, C, D, and E customers, who were categorized as getting 16 hours of power supply.

Consequently, Abuja Disco was slammed with a fine of N200 million by NERC over the wrong billing of customers. The Commission also ordered the Disco to refund affected customers with energy tokens before 11 April, 2024.

Fear of Arbitrary Billing

Despite the sanction imposed on Discos, Nigerians are still apprehensive that all 12 million electricity consumers may bear the new tariff burden.

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, confirmed this when it asked the Government to order Discos to meter all Band A customers within 60 days.

FCCPC also stated that consumers in Bands B, C, D, and E should not be migrated to Band A without being metered.

According to NERC data, only 5.7 million electricity consumers are metered, while around 6.3 million are unmetered.

The development further heightened the fears of arbitrary billing by Discos.

Nigerians Paying for Darkness

While the electricity hike subsisted, the power supply remained epileptic nationwide.

National grid collapse, repairs by the Transmission Company of Nigeria and fire incidents have resulted in downtime.

This year alone, the grid has collapsed three times.

Electricity supply has dropped significantly since January due to gas constraints.

Meanwhile, the latest gas price increase of 11 per cent has further worsened Nigeria‘s power sector challenges.

This is why Kunle Olubiyo, the Nigerian Consumer Protection Network President, said Nigerians have continued to pay tariffs for darkness.

The Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies, in a statement by its National Secretary, Nnamdi Ajibo, called for a reversal of the electricity tariff hike.

Band A electricity consumers

According to a list compiled by NERC, the eleven Discos have 481 Band A feeders, which supply consumers with at least 20 hours of electricity.

Meanwhile, electricity consumers under B, C, D, and E bands get 16 hours of power supply and below.

However, the Trade Union Congress has said no Nigerian receives 20 hours of power supply.

In contrast, the Association of Nigeria Electricity Distributors, ANED, insisted Nigerians receive 20 hours of power supply.

To address the confusion, NERC told Discos to publish a list of all Band A customers and set up a link to provide customers with information on their respective bands.

Experts React

In an exclusive interview with DAILY POST, Wumi Iledare, Professor Emeritus in Energy Economics and Executive Director of Emmanuel Egbogah Foundation, said the electricity tariff hike and gas price increase seem skewed to optimize producer surplus rather than consumer surplus.

He noted that there seems to be no penalty attached yet for Discos benefiting from the sudden rise in tariff but not delivering.

“New tariff is perhaps based on the increase in the wellhead price for natural gas for power generation.

“However, we must agree that N68 per KWhr is a price ceiling significantly below the market clearing price. So there are shortages due to high electricity demand at low prices.

“N68 is also not anywhere close to the fair return price of an economic good with decreasing marginal cost and average cost curve. It’s not even the socially optimal price of electricity either.

“So NERC had to do something apolitical, which ought to have been done long before now, but for institutional capture and political expediency that has seemed to be good judgement for too long. So it is better late than never. I guess the commissioners have come to understand these facts better than before.

“Of course, the accuracy of the tariff is speculative because of the many unknowns. It is perhaps arrived at based on assumptions and facts within the context of the pricing model applied.

“As more facts become available, the pricing model will be recalibrated in a self-adjusting manner. If what I am reading in the media is correct, there is a price discrimination application based on daily supply hours. Such a mechanism is not unusual in a segregated market structure in the power market.

“Looking at everything done so far within the last month in 2024 to spur up gas to power value chain, the presidential executive order 40, the increase in wellhead natural gas price by the Nigeria Petroleum Regulatory Authority, and discriminatory electricity tariff, the benefits seem to be skewed to optimize producer surplus than consumer surplus.

“Finally, regarding my take or endorsement, the biggest challenge with the implementation is how to properly distinguish the targeted class with the ability to pay and ensure 20+ hours of power supply to them.

“There seems to be no penalty attached yet for Discos benefiting from the sudden rise in tariff but not delivering. The ability to implement price discrimination is doubtful”, he told DAILY POST.

Similarly, Chinedu Amah, the CEO of Spark Online, a power sector investment forum, said the hike will enable the Government to unlock more cash to invest in things that will yield collective growth.

He noted that Nigeria does not necessarily have standard development for all citizens, stressing that it is difficult to define who is rich or poor by their place of residence.

“First of all, it is important to note that subsidy removal is a good move if it will enable the government to unlock more cash to invest in things that will yield collective growth.

“However, it is important to point out that we do not necessarily have standard development in all our cities; thus you cannot clearly define who is rich or poor in all cases by how they reside,” he said.

Meanwhile, an energy expert, Mr Eleojo Joseph, said the last one week had been hellish for Nigerians due to the electricity tariff hike.

He queried that there was no proper demarcation of Bands A, B, C, and E before the new tariff hike.

According to him, the hike will affect the country’s economy in the long run.

“It has been a week of complete anarchy, fraud and scam by the DISCOs on Nigerians, and the people are in total disrepair.

“How did we arrive here? We arrived here because we do not have a competent regulatory authority, and the Government does not understand the importance of electricity generation and distribution.

“NERC has been sleeping for eight years or more, and the incompetence is showing all over the sector. But thank God they have woken up from their slumber and are making all sorts of mistakes.

“The genesis of the problem is the lack of proper mechanism being put in place before the hike in price.

“It seems there is no interface between the operators and the Regulator. Was there proper demarcation or ringing of Band A, B, C, etc., users, and was it tested before they hiked the price?

“Who are the technical experts of the DISCOs? Who are their software and billing teams? So many questions to ask, but there won’t be answers.

“Why on earth will DISCOs lie on actual verifiable events? 20 hours of electricity is measurable. The DISCOs should be ready for litigation because there will be plenty of such cases in our courts in the coming months.

“The new sets of staff of the DISCOs are a fraudulent bunch who are only there to make money, and I foresee anarchy as most angry persons will take the law into their own hands and attack the DISCO staff on the field. We are headed to a dangerous state in Nigeria’s power sector.

“The economy is the ultimate loser in all of these things happening. More industries will relocate or close shops, unemployment will increase by the day and a more gloomy outlook for the country.

“Government should dedicate special attention and rate to the industrial sector and increase the take-home salary of workers in the private and public sector”, he told DAILY POST.

Similarly, the national secretary of the Network for Electricity Consumers Advocacy of Nigeria, Uket Obonga, said most Nigerians believe that the new tariff will be implemented across the board in a matter of time.

“The citizenry’s reaction to the recently announced increase in Electricity Tariff is both baffling and bewildering.

“The Nigerians believe it is just a matter of time before the tariff increase percolates down through the other Bands.

“Proof of this was the enthusiasm with which AEDC, EKEDC and IBEDC applied the tariff increase to all their electricity customers irrespective of their Bands before the Regulator clamped down a N200 Million fine on AEDC.

“It is true that the Federal Government has failed to honour its financial obligations to participants in the NESI, especially concerning payment for gas, GenCOs, and DisCOs.

“These lapses on the part of the Federal Government have emboldened the DisCOs to root for higher tariffs to balance their books.

“Unfortunately, higher tariffs do not necessarily translate to better services because there are two other partners, TCN and the GenCOs, who do not receive commensurate receipts from the DisCOs as monthly energy remittances.

“To improve power supply in Nigeria, a holistic approach must be implemented to address the several teething problems of the NESI.

“Gas constraints: An overhaul of our Gas two Power Policy. Increased homegrown participation in producing, processing, and distributing gas for homes, industry, and power generation.

“Presently, we are importing gas to augment our local supplies, which depend on Forex availability and rate.

“TCN Bottlenecks: an overhaul of the transmission system entails more lines, reconductoring, upgrade of power transformers, and the building of new substations.

“DisCOs rickety networks: some DisCOs have not added a single SPAN of overhead lines to their network, not to mention building new injection substations. There is an acute need to refurbish, upgrade and expand the distribution networks.

“The unending metering saga: There must be new regulations with severe sanctions for failure, flouting or by-passing the metering regulations.

“All connections must be metered; presently unmetered consumers must be metered within three years,” he stated.

[DailyPost]

• Lawmakers’ constituency projects for monitoring

The stage is set for ministers to present their scorecards on the delivery of ministries on the eight priority areas of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination/Head of Central Coordination Delivery Unit (CDCU), Ms. Hadiza Bala-Usman, dropped the hint in Abuja yesterday.

They (ministers) were told by the President that will undergo compulsory periodic (quarterly) assessment to rate their performances in line with the identified priority areas.

The Tinubu’s administration also designed and released a Citizens’ Delivery Tracker App to monitor the performance of ministers and their portfolios.

Nigerians can use device to give feedback to the government on policies, programmes and projects.

The implementation of constituency projects allocated to senators and House of Representatives members are to be assessed too.

Ms. Bala-Usman, who spoke at the Go-Live Event of the Citizens’ Delivery Tracker, said restated Tinubu’s commitment to an open and transparent government in the larger interest of the nation.

She said the President has mandated all ministries to hold quarterly sectorial engagement sessions with citizens.

Unfolding Tinubu’s new strategy called: “Citizen-centric approach to governance,” the special adviser said since the ministers signed performance bonds, they will be evaluated on the eight priorities of the President.

The areas are:

•      Reforming the economy to deliver sustained and inclusive growth

•      Strengthening national security for peace and prosperity

•      Boosting agriculture to achieve food security

•      Unlocking energy and natural resources for sustainable development

•      Enhancing infrastructure and transportation as enablers for growth

•      Focusing on education, health, and social investment as essential pillars of development

•      Accelerating diversification through industrialization, digitization, creative arts, manufacturing, and innovation; and

•      Improving governance for effective service delivery.

Ms. Bala-Usman said: “For each of these priority areas, we agreed on specific deliverables and developed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which formed the basis for the performance bond which all ministers and permanent secretaries signed with the President in November 2023. These parameters will guide the quarterly assessments and annual scorecards, which the CDCU is mandated to present to the President.

“The President also insisted that the pain points of citizens must be recognized in developing the deliverables and KPIs. In line with the directive, the CDCD worked with our partners to further review the deliverables into granular issues that have direct impact on the lives of Nigerians.

“At this juncture, I would like to give a little background on the Central Delivery Coordination Unit (CDCU). The Unit was established by Executive Order 13 of 2022 to, among other things, coordinate and monitor the implementation of presidential priorities through the development of deliverables and KPIs for each ministry.

“These deliverables and KPIs were developed in consultation with the ministries and culminated in the signing of performance bonds by ministers and permanent secretaries of each ministry with Mr. president.”

She said President Tinubu has decided to allow Nigerians to know what the government is doing and assess ministers because of his commitment to “citizen-centric approach to governance.”

“The CDCU has also developed a Delivery Reporting Framework and Template, to accurately assess and report the performance of ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).

“We are adopting international best practices and utilising globally recognized performance indicators and benchmarks to assess the performance of MDAs in the implementation of government priority programmes, projects, and policies.

“The Delivery Desk Officers are the foot soldiers tasked with the responsibility of tracking and reporting the performance of the MDAs ahead of the quarterly assessment.

“Our partners from the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, and Delivery Associates also joined us to share experiences from across the world at this four-day capacity building programme,” she added. Hadiza unveiled Citizens’ Delivery Tracker Application, which is available at the URL: app.cdcu.gov.ng.

She said: “It (the tracker) will be available for download on the Google Play Store and in the Apple store within the next month. This application will enable citizens to know the deliverables and key performance indicators to track.

“It also presents citizens with the opportunity to give real-time feedback on their assessment of policies, projects, and programmes of government from anywhere they are in the country.

 “Additionally, to actualise Mr. President’s desire to give all citizens the opportunity to join the CDCU in the tracking and monitoring of the policies, projects, and programmes of the Federal Government in line with presidential priorities, we have, over the past couple of months, worked to upgrade the Citizens’ Delivery Tracker App.

“The Citizens’ Delivery Tracker is an application which affords citizens the opportunity to view the priority programmes and projects of the Federal Government on their devices.

“We upgraded this application through consultations with a wide spectrum of stakeholders, and it is now ready for use.”

Giving insights into how the government plans to engage the citizens, the special adviser said: “The CDCU is also expected to sensitize citizens-based organizations, working with the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and other civil society groups on the delivery of the presidential priorities.

“This is to be done by coordinating engagements on the priority programmes, initiatives, and projects, and providing up-to-date information using the citizens’ app and other channels of communication.

“Indeed, Mr. President is so committed to a citizen-centric approach to governance that he has mandated all ministries to hold quarterly sectorial engagement sessions with citizens.

“These citizen engagement sessions are part of universal deliverables that is applicable to all ministries and the engagements have already commenced for Q1 in consonance with Mr. President’s directives.

“The import of the preceding points is that the President is keen on leading an inclusive government through the involvement of all Nigerians in the governance process and that the CDCU is central to the actualization of this presidential aspiration.”

Responding to a question, she said: “The execution/ performance of constituency projects can be tracked in the Ministry of Special Duties.”

[TheNation]

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday stepped up its fight to boost foreign exchange liquidity in the economy with a new circular mandating Deposit Money Banks to stop the use of foreign currencies as collateral for naira loans within 90 days.

The development happened as the naira rose against the greenback at both the official and parallel markets on Monday.

The CBN has continued to deepen its battle to free dollar liquidity stocked up in the financial system by deploying various measures aimed at shoring up the naira against the United States dollar.

On Monday, the Olayemi Cardoso-led CBN issued a new circular, expressing concerns over the use of foreign currencies as collateral for naira loans. 

The circular made available on its website and titled “The use of foreign-currency-denominated collaterals for naira loans”, was referenced BSD/DIR/PUB/LAB/017/004.

Although this is not the first time the bank has prohibited the use of FCY, it said it had observed the use of foreign currency by bank customers as collateral for naira loans. Hence, the decision to prohibit its use.

In 2023, in a confidential letter to commercial lenders, the apex bank issued a stern directive against naira overdrafts backed by foreign currency deposits.

In the leaked letter dated August 17, 2023, and signed by the Director of Banking Supervision, Mr. Haruna B. Mustafa, the CBN said the development followed its findings from a recent supervisory review.

It was uncovered that the banks had been offering naira overdraft facilities secured with foreign currency deposits.

Despite this warning, the new directive indicates that banks have continued to engage in such practices.

In the latest circular signed by the acting Director, Banking Supervision Department, Adetona Adedeji, the apex bank said it observed the use of foreign currency by bank customers as collateral for naira loans.

As such, the regulator directed banks to trim all existing loans with foreign currency collaterals to 90 days or attract a 150 per cent capital adequacy ratio computation as part of the bank’s risk.

The new directive means a borrower may no longer use dollar deposits in their domiciliary bank accounts as collateral to obtain naira loans.

According to stakeholders, the practice is partly due to the need to hedge against foreign currency spikes which can be costlier than interest rates.

 “The Central Bank of Nigeria has observed the prevailing situation where bank customers use foreign currency as collaterals for Naira loans.

“Consequently, the current practice of using foreign currency-denominated collaterals for Naira loans is hereby prohibited except where the foreign currency collateral is Eurobonds issued by the Federal Government of Nigeria or guarantees of foreign banks, including standby letters of credit.

“In this regard, all loans currently secured with dollar-denominated collaterals other than as mentioned above should be wound down within 90 days, failing which such exposures shall be risk-weighted 150% for Capital Adequacy Ratio computation, in addition to other regulatory sanctions,” the circular read.

The CBN’s stance against such practices arises from concerns of currency mismatch, which could introduce substantial financial risks for banks.

Rather than convert their dollars to naira, some borrowers will rather borrow in naira as the cost of buying the dollars back might be higher than the interest rate they pay for borrowing in naira.

However, this can have a ripple effect on the exchange rate due to its speculative tendencies.

The CBN maintained that it was on a mission to ensure adequate foreign exchange in the market even as the naira gains strength.

Eurobonds, according to the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, are bonds issued offshore by governments or corporations denominated in a currency other than that of the issuer’s country.

Eurobonds are usually long-term debt instruments and are typically denominated in US dollars.

Letters of Credit, according to the International Trade Administration, are contractual commitments by the foreign buyer’s bank to pay once the exporter ships the goods and presents the required documentation to the exporter’s bank as proof.

As a trade finance tool, Letters of Credit are designed to protect both exporters and importers.

The PUNCH reports that in the apex bank’s previous circular to all the banks signed by its former Director, Corporate Communications Department, Ibrahim Mu’azu, the bank said its attention was drawn to the increasing use of foreign currencies in the domestic economy as a medium of payment for goods and services by individuals and corporates.

It also observed that some institutions price their goods and services in foreign currencies and demand payments in foreign currencies rather than the domestic currency (the Naira), which is the legal tender in Nigeria.

The CBN stated, “For the avoidance of doubt, the attention of the general public is hereby drawn to the provisions of the CBN Act of 2007, which states inter-alia that “the currency notes issued by the Bank shall be legal tender in Nigeria…for the payment of any amount.” 

Furthermore, the Act stipulates that any person who contravenes this provision is guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a prescribed fine or six months imprisonment.

Meanwhile, the naira has maintained its appreciation on the official and parallel markets against the United States dollar, strengthening to N1,230/$ at the official market and N1,220/$ on the black market at the close of trading activities on Monday.

This new rate which follows the decision by the CBN to adjust downward, the rate it sells to the Bureau   Change Operator, showed a 3.33 per cent appreciation over the N1,240/ dollar it exchanged on Friday at the parallel market.

The CBN on Monday reviewed the exchange rate for the Bureau De Charge Operators to N1,101 per dollar from N1,251/$1 as it plans to sell $15.88 million to 1,588 eligible BDCs.

CBN’s directive

In a letter addressed to the president of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, the CBN announced the sale of $10,000 to the BDC operators at an exchange rate of N1,101 per US dollar.

This measure is intended to facilitate access to foreign exchange for legitimate transactions within the retail market.

The letter, signed by W.J. KANYA on behalf of the director of the trade and exchange department, outlines the directive for BDCs to sell the acquired forex to eligible end-users at a spread not exceeding 1.5 percent above the purchase price

Reacting to its effect on trade, a Bureau De Change operator selling at the popular Wuse Zone 4 market, Ibrahim Suleiman, said the new policy was causing heavy losses to traders, adding that the dollar would keep depreciating.

An affected trader, Malam Yahu Ibrahim, said the dollar was bought between N1,150 and N1,170 and sold at N1,220, leaving a profit margin of N50.

He said, “We are facing serious problem right now due to the way the dollar is crashing, the new rate by the CBN has disrupted a whole lot in the system. We are buying between range of N1,150 and N1,170 and selling at N1,220.  And we still expect that the dollar will continue to crash. the things is just coming down anyhow. If I tell how much people are losing every day, you won’t believe it.  It is just sad but it’s meant to make our economy better.

At the official market, the naira closed at N1,230/$ against the greenback from the N1,251.05/$ recorded on Friday, indicating a marginal appreciation of N21 or 1.67 per cent against the dollar.

This was supported by improved dollar supply at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market.

The dollar supply on Monday however decreased by 49 per cent to $125.55 from $248.27m recorded on Friday.

The summary of the FX auction showed that the intraday high strengthened to N1, 261 stronger than N1,281 per dollar quoted on Friday. The intraday low increased to N1, 200 per dollar from N1,220 per dollar recorded last week.

With the new rate, the black market is currently selling higher than the official market.

The CBN decision to review the BDC rate followed an appeal by the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, the umbrella body for BDC operators. ABCON National President, Aminu Gwadabe, had written a letter to the CBN.

Experts react

Meanwhile, experts have commended the CBN for the latest move, saying it would help shore the dollar value.

Analysing the action of the apex bank, the Director of Research and Strategy, Chapel Hill Denham, Tajudeen Ibrahim, said that the move was a step in the right direction, which would boost dollar supply in the currency market and strengthen the naira.

He said, “The CBN is tackling the foreign currency challenge in a tactical manner and this is one of such ways through which they are making efforts to solve the problem. What this implies is that for you to have dollar collateral for a naira denominated loans, it is a mismatch in the first instance. A customer has gone to the bank to borrow N5bn and then if a bank should take an asset that is valued in dollars, maybe currency in its domicilary banks account or any asset that is sold would be sold in dollars, the bank now holds those assets as collateral. Over the years, if naira weakens, the value of those assets would be appreciating and that is one thing that can embolden the banks to want to speculate on the currency.”

Ibrahim maintained that given that the CBN had restricted the net open position of banks on foreign currency assets and liabilities, it is right to scrap the practice of banks holding foreign currency as collateral for naira loans.

“Since the CBN scrap the NOP on the banks, it is also good that they also scrap this one too. If they don’t scrap it, banks would be collecting dollar collateral meanwhile it is naira that they have lent. The point is that when they collect dollar collateral, what it means is that its gives the banks the chance to possibly speculate in the currency market, which is something that the current CBN leadership does not want because speculation distorts the stability of our currency,” he said

“Secondly, the development will resolve the situation where those holding such dollar assets will have to dispose of them. The banks have to wind down those loans within the next 90 days and if you have to wind them down, it means, the collateral have to go. For the collateral to go, you have to sell them. When you sell them, you are supplying dollars to the market, improving the value of the naira in that regard,” Ibrahim concluded.

Also commenting, an analyst at FSDH Merchant Bank, Ayodele Akinwunmi, said,   “In my view the CBN wants banks to encourage clients to deploy the Dollar in their positions instead of keeping the Dollar as collateral and be using Naira. This situation will lead to an increase in the supply of Dollars in the country and lead to Naira appreciation.”

Meanwhile, further findings indicate some banks have started negotiating with their customers with a view to liquidating the loans.

The development, according to bank executives, will lead lenders to unfreeze the FX in the domiciliary of banks.

‘”Banks will discuss with their customers and reach agreements on how to liquidate the naira loans so that the domiciliary accounts funds can be released,” the top executive of a mid-size lender said.

According to top bankers, some customers use their domiciliary account balances and sometimes FX cash as collateral for naira loans.

“There was time when the naira was depreciating very fast; people saved in dollars. They didn’t want to spend it. Some of them then used it as collateral to get naira loans. Now the CBN wants more dollar liquidity in the economy in order to shore up the naira. This is why this directive has come” another top bank executive said under condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter.

[Punch]

IN January 2014, a coalition of advocates, including Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN; Jiti Ogunye and Tokunbo Mumuni, both senior lawyers; and I wrote to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, inviting it to “to investigate the allegations of fraud detailed by the two committees set up by President Goodluck Jonathan in the wake of the 2012 fuel subsidy crisis.” It failed to do so. Ten years later, the EFCC is now preoccupied with chasing after cross-dressers. How it got so derailed bears attention.

At the beginning of this past week, Nigerians woke up to the story that a demographic of energy users, described in the language of the industry as “Band A” and constituting roughly about 15% of the approximately 12 million official subscribers to electricity in the country, will have their energy tariffs raised by 230.8%. They claim the four other bands will be unaffected. That’s false. Tariff regulation in the energy sector in Nigeria is the primary responsibility of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, a body created originally under the Electricity Power Sector Reform Act in 2005 which was repealed and replaced in 2023 by the Electricity Act. 

For some time prior to last week, various news media had sought unsuccessfully to confirm from the NERC the veracity of information suggesting that it had reached a decision to upwardly review the electricity tariff or that it had plans to do so. When it broke the story on April 2, Bloomberg, a private and foreign news agency, credited “people in the presidency with knowledge of the matter”, suggesting not only a decision with a long gestation period but also that one that had the active authorization of the presidency. The implication is that when it initially denied to Nigerian news sources that it had such plans, the NERC had dissembled.

The day after the Bloomberg story, on April 3, NERC confirmed the accuracy of the report. On the same day, it released the text of the applicable statutory instrument, dated March 28, which designated the commencement date as April 3. 

The energy minister, Adebayo Adelabu, chimed in, explaining that the decision was because Nigerians keep their deep freezers plugged even when absent from home. This energy minister is so out of touch, he doesn’t know that deep freezers need constant electricity. But how could he when all he does is prance about in private jets.

For context, the Energy Progress Report issued jointly by the International Energy Agency, the United Nations, the World Bank and the World Health Organisation, among others, in 2022, conservatively assessed over 92 million Nigerians as without access to electricity. This is at the very bottom of the global energy league. The NERC claims that one of its reasons for the secret energy tax is to “attract more investment into Nigeria’s power sector.” This is what one of my old teachers called “future speculative tense.”

For starters, the new tariffs foster undue discrimination contrary to Section 116(2)(e) of the Electricity Act of 2023 which requires the Commission in setting tariffs to “avoid undue discrimination between consumers and consumer categories.”

The principal crisis with energy consumption currently is not generation but transmission. The country is unable to evacuate anything close to what it generates. To achieve an increase in energy supplied to or enjoyed by any band, therefore, the Transmission Company will have to create energy hunger in a band somewhere in the consumption ecosystem. 

So, to increase the quantity of energy supply that it guarantees to the Band A customers, NERC has to ensure reduction in what is transmitted to those at the bottom end of the bands. In other words, the increase of transmission to Band A customers is achieved by eviscerating supply to the roadside vulcanizer, the neighbourhood Mama-Put restauranter, the welder, all of whom will suffer denial of energy.

This pricing strategy is also poorly reasoned. The Band A users whom it supposedly favours are mostly in a position to transfer the burdens of the higher tariffs to consumers, most of whom are in the lower bands. This hits lower band consumers with a double whammy. By imposing energy hunger on them, it threatens the livelihoods of micro, mini and informal entrepreneurs and will put many of them out of business. At the same time, it will increase their costs of consumption. Unable to pay the new prices of goods and services, they will vote with their feet, which will hit revenues, profitability and viability of industry, leading to loss of jobs, loss of tax take and ultimately burdensome social costs. 

What emerges is that the new tariffs are effectively a regressive energy tax on the poor. In a country already afflicted with prohibitive insecurity, even further rise in insecurity is foreseeable.

It became clear also during the week that NERC chose to adopt this most consequential of decisions for citizens, employers and consumers in utmost secrecy. To preclude predictable public furore about it, the NERC also garlanded the decision making with a bodyguard of lies. Not satisfied with this, the release of the statutory instrument coincided with a pattern of coordinated online behaviour which clearly suggested that the Commission had actively recruited a gang of digital influencers and bloggers in order to create maximum distraction from the measure.

One source of such distraction was the EFCC. As the NERC rolled out this prohibitive energy tax on April 3, the EFCC procured the high profile arrest of Idris Okuneye, a transactional transvestite, better known as Bobrisky, on impressive charges of “abuse of the Naira” and alleged money laundering. With unremitting alacrity, the Commission first paraded Bobrisky, a practice that has repeatedly been declared unlawful by courts in Nigeria. Thereafter, they arraigned him before the Federal High Court in Lagos. 

The law that establishes the EFCC defines “economic and financial crimes” to mean “non-violent criminal and illicit activity committed with the objectives of earning wealth illegally either individually or in a group or organized manner thereby violating existing legislation governing the economic activities of government and its administration.” At the court, the EFCC dropped the two counts relating to money laundering, ultimately charging Bobrisky only with crimes connected with so-called “abuse of the Naira.”  

Having dropped the only charges that could remotely fall within the purview of economic or financial crime, the EFCC forfeited any claim to acting within the law or in the public interest because abuse of the Naira, whatever that means, is outside the statutory scope of crimes that it can prosecute. Yet, in a mere 48 hours, the EFCC processed Bobrisky through the entire gamut of criminal justice from arrest to conviction, setting a Nigerian record in prosecutorial diligence.

It becomes evident, therefore, that the charges against Bobrisky were an artifice for persecuting a person whose life choices are a tad unusual. The EFCC lent itself to this despite the fact that Lagos, where Bobrisky lives, decriminalized the Victorian crimes of “unnatural offences” long ago in 2011. Nor does the leadership of the EFCC remember that over half a century ago, Uzoma Odimara freely promenaded as a cross-dresser and entertainer around the country under the name “Area Scatter”.

In the week in which the EFCC bungled and threw the biggest corruption case in the country in a quarter of a century, it takes unique institutional commitment to frippery to reduce its core business to chasing cross-dressers. In targeting Bobrisky as it has, the EFCC arguably sought to achieve the twin objectives of distracting Nigerians from the NERC’s steep and unlawful energy tax while at the same time pressing home a blinkered wedge advocacy. 

In so doing, the leadership of the Commission clearly abused the sacred instrument of prosecutorial prerogative and showed itself as either idle or misguided, if not both. When this was brought to their attention, they descended into threats, bluster and cringe-worthy trade in mangled adjectives. One concerned citizen responded that “EFCC has gone rogue.” 

Ten years ago, citizens looked to them as part of the solution. Today the EFCC has become part of the problem.

A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

THE year 1984 was quite a trying one for the country. The military, which had five years before, handed over power to civilian leaders, had returned like a badly treated Miliary Tuberculosis. It was on rampage, smashing all other powers in the country. To deal with the press, the regime, led by the duo of Generals Muhammadu Buhari and Tunde Idiagbon, issued Decree 4 of 1984 under which falsehood and truth were punishable offences.

It adopted terror as state policy. For instance, it introduced a War Against Indiscipline, WAI, campaign in which Nigerians were given corporal punishment on the streets not based on any investigation or trial, but the whims and caprices of soldiers and security agents. Student unions were smashed and some of their leaders like Lanre Arogundade, then President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, were abducted on the streets.

Also, retroactive decrees carrying the death penalty on cases like drug trafficking, were enacted and executed. Nigeria was in a war declared by the military Generals on the populace. However, the regime found the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, a formidable foe and tried various means of conquering it. It saw the 1984 NLC election as an opportunity to take over the Congress. But the leading candidate was a stubborn radical, John Enas Dubre. So, pro-state unionists got a court injunction disqualifying him. But rather than allow state agents to take over the Congress, the radical unions swung support to an honest but obstinate Ali Chiroma. He won the election.

Chiroma’s non-radical posture, his being the Principal, School of Health Technology, Maiduguri and, his quiet disposition, seemed to have suited the regime. But the country was in for a shock as he came out fighting, boldly leading workers and refusing to back down. The Chiroma leadership demanded that the regime stopped its mindless mass retrenchment of workers and, delayed payment of salaries. It rejected the ban on strikes insisting that workers have a fundamental right to work or refuse to work. It defended the student movement and rejected the ban on cafeteria system. It sided with the press against the regime. Chiroma publicly demonstrated this by personally attending sessions of the Decree 4 trials of the ‘Guardian Newspaper’ journalists, Nduka Irabor and Tunde Thompson.

The nation heaved a sigh of relief when a palace coup on August 27,1985 swept away the Buhari-Idiagbon dictatorship. Although the new leadership of General Ibrahim Babangida was more subtle, it turned out to be deadlier. When the regime tilted towards taking an International Monetary Fund, IMF, loan and its enslaving conditionalities, the NLC under Chiroma led the populace against it.

Babangida publicly announced the IMF rejection by the overwhelming majority of Nigerians in his December 13, 1985 broadcast. However, the regime went on to take the loan and implement the IMF dictates as the Structural Adjustment Programme, SAP. Chiroma led labour to reject it and refused to back down even when the regime decreed that as far as SAP goes, There Is No Alternative, TINA.

The regime also made opposition to SAP, a crime. Chiroma rejected this, fought against privatisation and the increases in prices of petroleum products. For these, he and labour leaders like Dr Lasisi Osunde were detained without trial.

In leading the opposition to SAP, Chiroma said it is like a Kanuri proverb which says: “If you dig a hole to fill a hole, you have one more hole to fill.” In other words, that is a fruitless and destructive endeavour. He was right. Today, 38 years later, Nigeria is still suffering from the cancerous radiation effects of the IMF-imposed programmes. The IMF was actually a quack doctor administering the same drugs on all patients irrespective of their ailments. In 2015, in its quarterly magazine ‘Finance and Development’  the institution apologised, saying: “The IMF is unconditionally saying sorry for its dogged insistence, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s that countries’ capital accounts needed to be liberalized…We now know that much of that research was useless- no more useful than the types of studies that say homeopathy works…The other culpa is the insistence on austerity.”

So, perceptive leaders with common sense like Chiroma were right, and their tormentors were wrong. Yet, Babangida has not apologised for ruining Nigeria with SAP and, the useless but highly toxic austerity measures. Another arena of confrontation between the Chiroma leadership and the regime, was over draconian labour laws, especially those that prescribed life sentence or death penalty for striking workers. This was threatened against striking National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, members in May 1986, and later, used in sentencing 11 electricity workers for going on strike from October 5-8, 1988.

Back in 1986, the military regime accused Chiroma of trying to overthrow it. This followed the Friday, May 23, 1986 massacre of students and other citizens at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. The regime established a panel of inquiry headed by Major General Emmanuel Abisoye and, appointed the NLC into the panel. But the Chiroma leadership rejected the appointment, insisting that arrested students must first be released and that those directly responsible for the killings should be suspended from office. The NLC then mobilised the public for a Day of National Mourning slated for June 4, 1986. The regime banned the NLC demonstration. Its propagandists claimed the date was an attempt to replicate the June 4, 1979 Rawlings coup in Ghana.

Chiroma responded that the regime’s mobilization “is an all-out war, by land, sea and air, against unarmed workers”. On the eve of the protests, Chiroma, his lieutenants and many activists were seized and detained nationwide. The NLC headquarters and its offices in the states were occupied by armed security men with the army deployed on the streets of Lagos and Kano.

When Chiroma sought re-election at the 1988 NLC Conference in Benin, the Babangida regime decided to stop him. First, it paid up all the outstanding NLC affiliation fees owed by the pro-government ‘Democrat’ unions in order to shore up their votes. When it realised that even this will not give it victory, the regime’s preferred candidate, Takai Shamang and his group, boycotted the NLC Conference but declared themselves elected.

When Chiroma was re-elected, Babangida immediately issued a decree removing his leadership and imposing an employer, Michael Ogunkoya, as NLC Sole Administrator. When the regime ordered Chiroma to handover to Ogunkoya, he, uncharacteristically, did not consult his comrades before doing so. There was also the issue whether it was appropriate for him to have accepted to be the Sole Administrator of NUPENG after General Sani Abacha banned its leadership.

Over the years, Chiroma continued to side with the populace until his departure on Tuesday, April 2, 2024.