Access to websites of top global cryptocurrency exchanges and virtual digital asset service providers such as Binance, Kucoin, OKX, and others, have been blocked and restricted in some countries.

Major economies like China, India, Turkey, and Nigeria have restricted and curtailed crypto trading.

Authorities are wary of how exchanges may be laundering the proceeds of criminal activity, or aid tax offenders, or host the perpetrators of crypto scams.

In the past few years, the platform has landed itself in a fix over compliance issues in several countries. Binance has been slow to comply with local money laundering laws, and has failed to register to do business in many countries.

On May 12, 2023, Binance exited the Canadian marketplace due to stricter requirements around stablecoins and investor limits.

Canada tightened regulations for crypto asset trading platforms with the introduction of a pre-registration process.

For Nigeria, telecommunications firms have been instructed to restrict access to the websites of cryptocurrency firms such as Binance, OctaFX, Coinbase and others, months after its Central Bank issued a guideline to govern digital asset operators’ activities.

This new restriction on crypto websites is aimed at slowing currency speculation activities in the country, with Binance stating that its platform is not for currency pricing. The platform said this after users complained about their inability to buy dollars.

When Nigeria banned Twitter in 2021, Nigerians continued using the platform with Virtual Private Network (VPN) apps. The same is expected, with the country boasting one of the largest crypto populations in the world.

Binance Holdings Ltd., branded Binance, is a global company that operates the largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of daily trading volume of cryptocurrencies.

It was founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao, a developer who had previously created high-frequency trading software.

Binance was initially based in China, then moved to Japan shortly before the Chinese government restricted cryptocurrency companies.

Binance subsequently left Japan for Malta and currently has no official company headquarters.

Cryptocurrency trading platform is facing restrictions in multiple jurisdictions, such as the United States, Singapore, Canada and the United Kingdom.

In 2021, Binance was put under investigation by both the United States Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service on allegations of money laundering and tax offenses.

Also, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority ordered Binance to stop all regulated activity in the United Kingdom in June 2021.

Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on information and strategy, had advocated that Binance and other crypto platforms should be banned from operating in Nigeria.

Onanuga’s call for a ban on cryptocurrency trading platforms followed the directive of the CBN on February 5, 2021, to banks, non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), and other financial institutions (OFIs), to close accounts of persons or entities involved in crypto transactions.

The regulator also warned local financial institutions against dealing in crypto assets or facilitating payments for crypto exchanges.

CBN cited concerns over money laundering, terrorism financing, cybercrime, and the volatility of cryptocurrencies as reasons for the ban.

Majority of restrictions across countries stem from licensing and money laundering issues.

The countries where Binance has been restricted or banned in no particular order are as follows:
United States
United Kingdom
Japan
Italy
Canada
Belgium
Nigeria
Australia
India
Netherlands
Thailand
Philippines
Germany
France
Bangladesh
Iran
Vietnam
Kazakhstan
Malaysia
China

[TheCapital.ng]

President Bola Tinubu has expressed displeasure with the approach of a section of the Organised Labour, saying calling four strike actions within nine months of a new administration was unacceptable.

Tinubu spoke on Thursday in Lagos where he inaugurated the first phase of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Red Line project, a 37km project expected to reduce travel time and improve transportation and logistics in the State.

The President also witnessed the signing of the contract for Phase 2 of the LRMT Red Line project by the Managing Director of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) Engr. Abimbola Akinajo and the Chairman of CCECC Nigeria Limited, Jason Zhang.

According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, he called on Nigerians to embrace change and work towards national progress.

He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to eradicating corruption and called on labour unions to refrain from disruptive actions.

Speaking to the incessant industrial actions called by Labour, under various pretexts, the President advised Labour leaders to rather help society by maintaining the peace, if their reason is not political, reminding them that the Labour movement is the only voice available to Nigerians.

”Some labour unions should understand that no matter how we cling to our freedom and rights, to call for strikes within the first nine months of a new administration is unacceptable.

”Some labour unions should understand that no matter how we cling to our freedom and rights, to call for strikes within the first nine months of a new administration is unacceptable.

Addressing a gathering of Nigerians at the train station in Ikeja, President Tinubu directed the Minister of Transportation, Senator Sa’idu Alkali, to ensure that the federal and subnational governments strengthen their collaboration to provide reliable, efficient, and affordable transportation systems for all Nigerians across the country.

”It is my singular pleasure to inaugurate the first phase of the LRMT Red Line to the glory of God Almighty and for the benefit of the people.

”Today, I am seriously honoured that I am a Lagosian and the first to be President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

”My promise is not to let you down. We will arrive at the destination with joy, happiness, and prosperity; God willing,” he said.

Reflecting on his tenure as the former Lagos Governor when the vision of a modern and effective public transportation system in the state was conceived, President Tinubu described the project as a dream realised and a fulfillment of years of hard work and dedication by successive governments.

”I am very happy indeed that today is a day to remember in Nigeria’s infrastructural history, particularly Lagos, the center of excellence. Today is evidence that it is good to dream, and it is a serious validation of democracy as a form of government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

”When you put people at the centre of your vision and planning, you will realize the value of democracy.

”Twenty-five years ago, I was elected to lead Nigeria’s most populous state. From the very beginning, my team and I toiled day and night with a very bare cupboard and amidst pervasive deficiency to implement a developmental vision that would transform Lagos into an economic powerhouse. Today, we are realizing that dream.

”The momentum of greatness we kick-started a quarter of a century ago has become unstoppable progress. It is not a crime to dream and dream big. Just stay focused and make development a central focus,’’ he said.

President Tinubu commended the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), the urban transport agency he established over 20 years ago, for its exemplary performance and implored LAMATA to sustain the momentum in completing all other phases of the Red Line project, as well as the full execution of the broader rail blueprint of the state.

Sanwo-Olu explained that the first phase of the project, executed by the State Government, spans 37 kilometers and shares the track of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) Lagos-Ibadan modernisation project from Ebute Metta to Agbado with stations at Oyingbo, Yaba, Mushin, Oshodi, Ikeja, Agege, and Iju.

According to the Governor, phase one of the project will transport 750,000 passengers daily at inception and 1.1 million passengers daily once it is fully operational.

”All the stations are live and ready to receive passengers,” Sanwo-Olu announced.

While speaking to reporters aboard the train during the inaugural ride, President Tinubu assured Nigerians that their lives will only become more enjoyable as modern amenities are built across the entire nation under his progressive leadership.

‘‘This is very efficient and comfortable, and I am happy. Our transportation system must be all about the people. We have cut down imports on PMS by almost 50 percent. We need mass transit to complement the daily efforts of citizens and make things easier for our people. And this is what this is all about. It is about the people. It is about democracy. We are happy about it,’’ Tinubu stated.

[TheNation]

The House of Representatives, on Thursday, described the 2012 Steve Oronsaye Report as outdated and called on  President Bola Tinubu to thoroughly review it before going ahead to implement the same.

The House, therefore, raised a 23-man committee chaired by House Leader, Julius Ihonvbere, to recommend appropriate measures to mitigate the likely fallout of the Oronsaye Report review.

The Federal Government had on Monday announced plans to implement the Oronsaye report, which proposes the merger of ministries, departments and agencies, as a measure to cut the cost of governance.

Presidential Goodluck Jonathan had in 2012 set up the Presidential Committee on Rationalisation and Restructuring of the Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies.

The committee headed by former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Steve Oronsaye, recommended the scrapping and merging of 220 out of the then existing 541 government agencies.

Moving a motion of urgent public importance on the floor of the House of Representatives on Thursday, the trio of Kama Nkemkanma, Olumide Osoba and Gaza Gbefi noted that the Oronsonye Report “Recommended the reduction of statutory agencies from 263 to 161, the abolition of 38 agencies, and the reversion of 14 agencies to departments in ministries and the management audit of 89 agencies capturing biometric features of staff as well as the discontinuation of government funding of professional bodies/councils.”

The lawmakers said if implemented, the government would be saving over N862bn between 2012 and 2015 with a breakdown which showed that “About N124.8bn would be reduced from agencies proposed for abolition; about N100.6bn from agencies proposed for mergers; about N6.6bn from professional bodies; N489.9bn from universities; N50.9bn from polytechnics; N32.3bn from colleges of education and N616m from boards of federal medical centres.”

They argued however that the White Paper Committee set up by Jonathan’s administration rejected most of the recommendations, while those accepted were not implemented.

“The House notes that in November 2021, the President Muhammadu Buhari administration inaugurated two committees; one of the committees Chaired by Goni Aji, a retired Head of Civil Service of the Federation, was to review the Orosanye report and the second committee, chaired by Ama Pepple, also a retired Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, was constituted to review agencies created between 2014 and 2021.

“The House also notes that upon submission of their reports, the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government in July 2022 set up another committee chaired by Ebele Okeke, a former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, to produce a White Paper on the reports.”

The lawmakers said implementing the Oronsaye Report 12 years after it was made without first reviewing it might not be in the best interest of the nation because by now, the report “ordinarily may be described as outdated, especially because of how dynamic the society, economy, polity, technology and all facets of our national life has been.”

“Contrary to the assumption that the full implementation of the report would reduce cost of governance, with the current realities, the full implementation of the report will not substantially reduce the cost of governance as it does not reflect the current situation in the Public Service of the Federation,” the lawmakers said, stressing that a full implementation “Will certainly throw up unintended consequences, implications and outcomes.”

Following the adoption of the motion, the House urged President Tinubu to “comprehensively review the 2012 Orosanye Report, the Goni Aji Report which reviewed Orosanye Report, the White Paper released by the President Jonathan administration, the Ama Pepple White Paper and the Ebele Okeke White Paper in line with current realities, while considering implementable alternatives that are in tune with current realities, and which at the same time would have minimum unintended consequences, impacts, implications and outcomes.”

The House also urged the Federal Government to develop and implement policies “that will reposition the agricultural sector, the solid mineral sector and the informal sectors which will serve as alternatives to those that may be laid off consequentially while at the same time spurring economic growth.”

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, who presided over plenary on Thursday inaugurated a 23-man committee chaired by House Leader, Julius Ihonvbere, to recommend appropriate measures to mitigate the likely fallout of the review exercise.

“The committee is to study the recommendation of the executive arm of government and advise the House on likely impacts of this restructuring exercise,” the Speaker said.

[Punch]

The British Council in Nigeria has increased the fee for the academic international English language testing system (IELTS) examinations.

This is the second time the council will be hiking the examination fee this year.

Last month, the price was increased by 29 percent from the N107,500 that was being paid for the test.

IELTS on computer academic and general training modules was set at N139,000; IELTS on paper academic and general training modules was pegged at N134,000; the UK visas and immigration (UKVI) was increased to N149,000; Life skills: N130,000; and one skill retake (O.S.R): N87,570.

In an update on its website cited on Thursday, the council said it had reviewed the fees.

The new fee for IELTS on computer academic and general training modules is now N266,000; IELTS on paper academic and general training modules: N256,500; UKVI: N285,500; and life skills: N249,000.

“The above fees will be subject to review based on the prevailing market dynamics,” the council said.

“The change in fees is due to the evolving market dynamics and increased costs in the delivery of our exams.”

The council added that the updated prices for the IELTS range of tests will take effect from March 1.

In September 2023, the British Council increased the cost of IELTS from about N90,000 to N107,500.

At the time, the council said the new prices were necessary to sustain the high quality of standards for the testing experience.

[TheCable]

A former lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani, said the Oronsaye Report is outdated and needs to be updated before implementation.

Sani stated this in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday.

Recall that the Oronsaye Report was commissioned in 2012 with the goal of rationalising and restructuring federal government parastatals, commissions, departments and agencies.

But, Sani said the report has become obsolete due to the proliferation of new agencies and commissions since its inception.

He said that legislators’ performance was often measured by the number of bills they sponsored or the creation of federal agencies and commissions resulting from their initiatives, thereby leading to a high number of federal agencies and commissions in the country.

Sani noted that the approach did not align with the country’s economic realities.

He said, “Most of these commissions were created by the National Assembly. When you are elected into office as a senator or as a member of the House of Representatives, one of the factors that they use to gauge your performance or stewardship in office is the number of bills you are able to sponsor, or the number of federal agencies that came out of your bills.

“And as such, you see every year, legislators come out with all sorts of ideas about commissions and agencies and boards and bureaus. But we don’t take cognizance of the fact that we are a poor country. A nation of 224 million people with such little resources.

“Some of the agencies that we created in this country are so irrelevant and useless. And it’s time that we implemented this report.

“But Oronsaye Report could have been updated. The President could have invited Oronsaye and his committee and said, ‘Update your report based on the new commissions and agencies that have been created after your report.’ Because as it’s now, the report is outdated.

“If you live in Abuja today, there’s hardly any street you will move without seeing an agency you never knew before. It’s either one commission on this or an agency on that.

“Now, look at the number of the agencies that came after Oronsaye Report. So if you look at what’s being done now, it’s simply ‘Let’s implement this without thinking that it has gone out of date.’

“So, the best thing now is to invite Oronsaye and ask him to update his report and then the government can implement it,” he said.

The Oronsaye Report was formulated in 2011 by the then-President Goodluck Jonathan under the Presidential Committee on the Rationalization and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions, and Agencies.

The report aimed to streamline governance, reduce costs, and enhance efficiency.

[Vanguard]

I like to proceed by taking a largely critical look at Nigeria’s development crisis  and attempt to proffer some solutions to our more obvious challenges. I anchor this on what I refer to as the five monsters that Nigerians must tame if we must move out of extant development crisis

Nigeria officially became a sovereign state on 1st October, 1960. We started off with a lot of enthusiasm and promises; as of a country ready to live out its manifest destiny of greatness. We had a robust federal system that promoted healthy competition among the federating units, and thereby pushed the country on the path of development. Recall that in some of the critical theatres of development, our own Western Region was actually ahead of some of the countries of Europe of the era. Our people were full of confidence on what the future held in store for them; and there was no question about the desire of Nigeria to lead, not just West Africa, but indeed, the entire continent. We actually fantasised with the idea of promoting the interest of the Black person anywhere and everywhere in the world. At some point in the mid-1970s , we were widely regarded as belonging in the exalted group of the Newly Industrialising Nations (NICs) of the world, sharing the same platform with countries like Brazil, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey, etc.

Somewhere along the line, the bubble burst; as the country got overwhelmed by a slew of challenges, among which were, an emergent culture of electoral heist, intense and unhealthy inter-ethnic rivalry, sectarian violence, military coups and counter coups, a civil war, evident governance, capacity, and integrity challenges, and acute public trust deficit.

When you juxtapose the earlier years of independence with what eventually came to define us, you cannot but declare, with all sense of responsibility, that we have not done well as a nation. The reality becomes starker yet, when you compare our socio-economic status with that of some of the countries with comparable status, with which we started out on the development trajectory in the early 1960s. While some of these contradictions will become apparent in the course of this discourse, I hasten to draw some inferences from South Korea, aptly described by the CNN anchor-man, Fareed Zakaria (2018), as ‘the most successful nation in the world’ in economic performance terms.

Economics:

We claim to have the largest economy in Africa, but with less than half a trillion dollars GDP; and as someone pointed out recently, what is the worth of a dwarf claiming to be taller than another dwarf; and I add, in the community of giants? We are a country of more than 200 million people, but with a GDP under 400 billion US dollars, while South Korea with a population of about 52 million has a GDP of 1.7 trillion US dollars, as at 2023. These translate to GDP per capita of $33,170 for South Korea, against Nigeria’s $1,750. Yet, ‘by 1960, GDP per capita (current US Dollars) in South Korea was $158.24, while in Nigeria it stood at $92.96’ (World Bank, 2019). As a matter of fact, GDP was higher in Nigeria in 1962, at $4.91 billion, as against South Korea’s $2.42 billion, in 1961. What is more, today, all the Asian tiger economies, with a population less than 90 million – about half of Nigeria’s – have a combined GDP above three trillion US dollars. Above all, we are a heavily indebted nation, which according to the World Bank, spent in 2022, 96.3% of its total revenue on debt servicing.

To elaborate a bit on the Nigeria-South Korea narrative; if you live in South Korea instead of Nigeria, you are likely to, among others,

                live 21.6 years longer. In Nigeria, the average life expectancy is 61 years

                be 77.2% less likely to be unemployed.

                be 64.1% less likely to live below the poverty line.

                be 98.8% less likely to die during childbirth.

                be 94.9% less likely to die during infancy.  (www.mylifeelsewhere.com, using data from World Fact book, National Tax Office, South Korea; and Federal Inland Revenue).

For emphasis, using human development indices, Nigeria is no better vis a vis South Korea. Life expectancy here is 61 years, compared with South Korea’s 83! Furthermore, we are a nation with the highest number of out-of-school children in the world; the poverty capital of the world, with about 63% of our population regarded as multidimensionally poor; and more than 40% unemployment rate among the youth, who constitute more than 60% of the population. Yet, more Nigerians are entering the poverty pool in Nigeria, with the figure being some 10 million in 2023, according to the World Bank. The second highest number of women, globally, die in pregnancy in our land. To all intents and purposes, Nigeria remains what OXFAM referred to as a profoundly unequal nation, where the combined wealth of its five richest men ($29.9b in 2021?) would end extreme poverty at the national level.

National fragility:

As at 2017, Nigeria was ranked 13th (out of 178 countries) in the Fragile State Index, by U.S think-tank, Fund for Peace. The Fragile State Index is based on 12 social, economic and political factors, which include mounting demographic pressures, massive displacement of refugees, erecting severe humanitarian emergencies, widespread vengeance-seeking group grievance, uneven economic development along group lines, severe economic decline, deterioration of public services, suspension or arbitrary application of law, and widespread human right abuses. This seems to define Nigeria of today (Mimiko, 2018). The only countries higher than Nigeria in fragility are some chronically challenged conflict-infested ones like South Sudan, Somalia, Central African Republic, Yemen, Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

Insecurity:

As recorded in the Vanguard newspaper of May 20, 2023, 63,111 persons were killed in Nigeria in the eight years of Buhari’s government! It was also indicated that some 2,423 people had been killed, and 1,872 kidnapped in the eight months since May 29, 2023! (Daily Post, January 29, 2024, quoting Civil Society Joint Action Group). The Punch editorial of January 1, 2024, provided relevant contextual comparison, to the effect that in the 30 year-long insurrection in Northern Ireland (1968-1998), 3,500 deaths were recorded. Even so, as alarming as the Nigerian figures are, these may be gross underestimates because of under reporting of low-profile cases.

Most of our solid minerals’ exploitation is carried out through unregulated artisanal mining. At a February 1, 2024, ECOWAS Conference on illegal mining in the sub-region, its Speaker, Mohammed Tunis, disclosed that Nigeria loses 91% of its revenue from the mining sector to illegal miners (Punch, 2 Feb. 2024). May I just add, for the sake of emphasis that illegal mining due to amongst others, lax oversight by the Federal Government is one of the drivers of mindless killings in our land, solid minerals being on the exclusive legislative list in our ‘Federal’ constitution. This much has been attested to by the nation’s Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake (BusinessDay, Dec. 12, 2023) recently.

III.              The ‘potentially rich’ narrative

What has been established so clearly in the foregoing paragraphs is that in social and economic terms, Nigeria is a miserably poor, insecure, unequal, and fragile nation. Even looking at the ‘potentially rich’ narrative, which should ordinarily encourage us to strive to be actually rich, our leaders, perhaps because of this narrative, exhibit a mental construct that predisposes them to wealth entitlement, and make them less empathetic. This, arguably, was what informed a federal legislator to imagine that an Innoson SUV is not good enough for his duties. This may be the mind-set that has informed the management of what was meant to be humanitarian intervention in such inhuman way, as we have seen in the Humanitarian Ministry saga!  To be sure, there are a legion of similar/worst heist in our economic development history.

In any case, I posit that almost every nation is potentially wealthy. Biblically God has provided everything we need to prosper, with responsible leadership and knowledge prioritization. As Pastor E.A. Adeboye (Daddy G.O.) recently pointed out, the leaves that transformed the water of Marah from bitter to sweet, as narrated in Exodus 15: 22-25, had always been there; but it took leadership and knowledge of what to do, to effect the transformation that took place.

Djibouti is notably poor in mineral resources and agricultural land unlike most African countries, but it’s strategic position at the connection of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden has given it an immense advantage in international maritime trade, which is being translated to wealth. With a GDP (PPP) per capita of 5,893 USD in 2022, it is wealthier than many resource-rich African countries like Nigeria (5,680 USD), and Democratic Republic of Congo (1,337 USD).

These indices apart, our everyday experience tells the same story. For example, growing up in the 1960s and 1970s in this part of the country, there were no commercial motorcycles. There were taxis everywhere. The present spectacle of a motorcycle (okada) transporting a whole family of five, in some cases, including new borne babies, was unimaginable. The living condition (accommodation and feeding) of our undergraduates in government owned tertiary institutions is beyond imagination, as attested to by the 2012 report on the Needs Assessment of Nigerian Universities, facilitated by the Federal Government.

IV.              Interrogating extant reforms

Perhaps the most talked about element in the unfolding reform agenda of the new President Bola Ahmed Tinubu government is the removal of fuel subsidy; and of course, the floating of the Naira.

Subsidy regime:

Let me emphasize here, that there is nothing basically wrong with applying subsidy for desired economic outcome. It is only our experience as a nation with fuel subsidy that has tended to give it a bad name. My take on this greatly contentious subject, therefore, is that subsidy removal may be desirable, but follow-up palliative action on the part of the Government, would seem to have been a bit slow in coming, and could definitely admit of greater coordination.

The back-and-forth movement on the exact nature of the palliative measures; seeming confusion about the issues of minimum wage; students’ loan, etc., are all indicative of this tentative responses to current challenges on the part of government. And a thorough pre-subsidy removal consequences-study should have been undertaken to put the entire programme on a surer footing. Talking about the structures of implementation, the prompt manner in which Government responded to the embarrassing report on incipient mismanagement of critical funds in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs is quite commendable. It was a fist critical step, and actual practical expression of the readiness of the government to confront the challenge of endemic corruption in the public sector headlong.

That said, grant me the indulgence, to further interrogate the subsidy framework in a more holistic manner. What has been bad about fuel subsidy is not necessarily the concept per se, but our inability to deploy the requisite administrative capacity and integrity quotient to run it well. To be sure, every of the developed nations and the emergent ones, including the Asian tigers have had to deploy the subsidy tool as part of the overall industrial policy or redistributive mechanism. Even now, in this emergent era of has been dubbed, ‘neo-protectionism,’ ‘de-globalisation,’ or receding globalization, the subsidy regimen, in different forms, are on the block. Talk about America’s (USICA and Chips for America Act, where $52 billion has been earmarked as incentive and subsidy package, for evidence. As it is in the US, so it is across Europe. The truth, therefore, is that there is no way Nigeria is going to avoid having to subsidise some sectors of the economy – food production, energy development, etc. – but in all cases, in a manner that is most efficient; and as a catalyst to expanded production and overall national development.

Poverty reduction:

It is also my considered opinion that in our effort to combat poverty, emphasis should shift from narrowly targeted measures to generally universal ones. On this, I posit, with all sense of responsibility, that what befell fuel subsidy management is exactly what is befalling targeted palliative measures, emblematized by the apparent rot in the Humanitarian Ministry. Many development scholars would rather we put our palliative resources in universal sectors, rather than narrowed targets, especially in a developing terrain like ours, essentially because of the triple realities of administrative cost, competence, and corruption. As noted by the UN Research Institute for Social Development,

In many successful late industrializers, it became self-evident that where poverty was widespread, targeting would be unnecessary and administratively costly. Thus, the universalism in many countries was in fact dictated by underdevelopment—targeting was simply too demanding in terms of available skills and administrative capacity (unrisd.org).

In addition, the agency argued that,

One well-known fact is that the policies that have the greatest impact on poverty are not necessarily the most narrowly pro-poor, targeted ones. Indeed, in many cases, the focus on pro-poor policies has diverted attention from policies that have the most broad-based and sustainable effects against poverty. The success of the late industrializes of Northern Europe in conquering poverty was not by explicitly addressing it but by addressing a whole range of issues that positively impacted on poverty or impeded the poor from bettering their situation—economic development in a broad sense, investment in human capital and equity were crucial to rapid eradication of poverty (unrisd.org).

It is, therefore, much better to invest our savings from subsidy removal on more universal policies like increased income, food security, affordable education, affordable quality healthcare, and universal support for MSMEs etc rather than the type of things going on in the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry, which made funds easily susceptible to mismanagement.

V.               Where do we go from here?

It bears emphasis that the people of this land are going through very stressful times, accentuated by recent economic reforms packaged as subsidy removal and foreign exchange rates unification. But the truth is that a lot had been wrong for far too long. Reference policy frameworks like the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), currency devaluation, premature de-industrialization, deepening poverty, unemployment. These are all by-products of neo-liberalism, and a compliant national leadership that has straddled our public space for so long. It is also trite that our problems date back further than this modern era of neo-liberal triumphalism. A proper dimensioning of all of this would therefore touch on issues of our mental state as a people, the structure of the state structure bequeathed us by the colonialists, as well as the agency of leadership.

Mental state:

400 years of slavery, more than a century of colonialism and enduring neo-colonialism have definitely taken their toll, not only on our physical development, but also our mentality and our mind set. As Nathan Nunn, Harvard University Professor of Economics, put it, the evidence accumulated ‘suggests that this historic event (i.e., colonialism) played an important part in the shaping of the continent, in terms of not only economic outcomes, but cultural and social outcomes as well’. Thus, to move forward, we must liberate our minds from ‘mental slavery.’ We must go through what I referred to in my Chairman’s remarks at the Elizade University Convocation lecture in 2022 as a ‘risorgimento of mental dignity and confidence.’ We must reject tokenism in development. We must reject metrics of development delusion. We must seek the cure for irresponsible illegal acquisition by our leaders, and their unbridled elite greed. If we agree that we are not sub-human, we must strive to equal other humans, other races in endeavours and accomplishments. We must sing a new song for a new generation.

Structure of African nations:

African nations were carved out for the economic exploitation convenience of our colonial overlords. This was a major accomplishment of the Berlin Conference of 1884/1885. The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) at its debut in 1963, in its wisdom, endorsed the sanctity of the colonial boundaries. Anything short of that would have been a harbinger of sustained conflicts among the newly independent entities.

Even so, it is true that the arbitrariness of these physical boundaries is doubtlessly one of the drivers of multiplicity of conflicts in Africa since independence, in the form of perennial unrest, military coups, genocidal conflicts, civil wars, spilling across national boundaries. As Robert Nesta Marley (Bob Marley), the iconic Jamaican reggae singer, guitarist, and songwriter sang, we have come to epitomise a state of:

War in the east!

War in the west!!

War up north!!!

War down south!!!!

War, war …!!!!!

Yes, war in the Horn of Africa; war in the Great Lakes region; war in the Sahel. It’s war, war, everywhere!

The ‘Silencing the Guns in Africa’ by 2030 is a flagship initiative of the African Union (AU), as encapsulated in Agenda 2063. It aspires to ending all wars and conflicts, preventing genocide, and stopping gender-based violence. Unfortunately, the guns have since been increasingly louder, giving scant hope of respite! For a moment, think of the resources Africa has expended in conflicts; add to it illicit financial flows facilitated by neo-colonial economic arrangements, vampirism, and arrant lack of imagination by our leaders, then you behold the exit passage of our development.

Let’s look at Nigeria’s structure, for specifics. The Yoruba are comfortably spread across national boundaries in the West African sub-region. Ditto for the Fulani, and Hausa, etc. So, in the case of Nigeria, as in most other African nations, we have cobbled together a nation of various ethnic nationalities with different histories, different life values and perspectives. After a brief period, post-independence, Nigeria has been running essentially as a unitary government, with profound implications for diversity (mis)management and economic development. We are by nomenclature a Federal Republic, but to all intents and purposes, a unitary republic. Well, we are, for instance, the only federal republic of this status, with a centralized Police Force; with implications that are now too obvious in the dysfunctionality of our policing charge.

It has been argued by pundits that the Asian Tigers, which have developed in the past five decades or so, each is essentially ethnically homogeneous. South Korea is 90% ethnic Koreans, Taiwan and Hong Kong are 90% ethnic Chinese, and Singapore is 70% Chinese. So, if we cannot create new nation-states out of our country, RESTRUCTURING, with ethnically homogenous sub-nationals with reasonable degree of autonomy, within a broader federal structure, is not just imperative; it is an act which time has come!

Visionary leadership:

One thing that is so obvious from all of these is that these times call for new vision. They call for creative thinking out of the neo-liberal paradigm box, and out of the box of international organizations structured to continue to hold us down. The good news is that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. The Asian Tigers that have broken out of this box and enacted impressive development in recent times hold out lessons for us. A look at Japan and China also tells the same tale.

We have to look inwards and leverage on our strength. We must be disciplined and creative. Through leveraging on initial demographic advantage, cheap labour and aggressive export with creative Import Substitution, subsidy administration, general protection of local industries, sequenced financial liberalization, reverse engineering (even at times, breaching intellectual property regulations), Japan, China, the Asian Tigers and the emerging Asian Cubs have been able to post phenomenal developmental strides.

It bears repetition again, that creative, locally driven economic development paradigms with massive investment in relevant education and skill sets, is the way to go. Think of it for a moment. After so many years of producing world class engineers, we can’t deploy indigenous know-how to build the second Niger bridge, or any of our major motorways for that matter. After so many petroleum engineers, we can neither build refineries nor maintain existing ones built for us by foreigners. In spite of all year-round sunshine, so many engineers and abundant natural resources, we import solar panels from countries with just three months of sunshine.

After so many doctors, and midwives, we have the trophy of the second highest number of pregnant women dying in pregnancy. Our top professionals are voting against our dysfunctionality by ‘JAPAing,’ and we seem to be helpless.

US President J.F Kennedy, in 1960, gave vent to a vision of landing human beings on the moon. In 1969, a year short of his target, the mission was accomplished. But beyond landing humans on the moon, the Apollo programme sparked innovation in aeronautics, nutrition, material science, electronics, software and other areas. We can make do with our own moon-shot vision now!

Still on leadership; one thing that has become obvious over the years is the convoluted leadership recruitment pattern that our country seems wedded to. The outcome has been the crises of governance, which has defined the Nigerian state in the past few decades. We, therefore, need to encourage a conversation on this, with a view to engendering a leadership recruitment process imbued with the support base requisite for legitimacy, without which government cannot be effective. It is trite to aver that this cannot be achieved unless we clean up our electoral process in such a holistic manner as to inspire confidence at home and respect abroad.

Market forces:

I conclude this section with a look into our fetish of ‘market forces,’ ‘government has no business in business,’ ‘subsidy distorts market,’ ‘ease of doing business,’ sacrosanctity of foreign direct investment (FDI), and other neo-liberal jargons, packaged and delivered as drivers of development. These must be properly interrogated and creatively applied to our current situation. We must think like the children of Issachar, ‘that have understanding of the time.’ The high priests of neo-liberalism and globalization are gradually moving in the direction of Industrial Policy and protectionism. As noted earlier, the USICA, Chips for America Act, Buy America policy, etc., are some of the initiatives speaking to this new thinking among former patron saints of neoliberalism. And so, the question, what are we waiting for?

In conclusion, I argue that for us to get out of our present miserable level of underdevelopment, we must tame the monsters of the crisis in a holistic and composite manner.

I emphasize that this must percolate from top down, in a manner that is encapsulated by the popular maxim, that a nation rises and falls on leadership?

–                 Tame our Palate for imported goods and elite greed. So, the popular saying goes, we should consume what we produce, and produce what we consume. This will not come about through admonitions. In today’s interconnected liberal economy, with the rules skewed against us, through international institutions like the World Trade Organisation (WTO), we need deliberate financial, industrial and trade policies to accomplish the goal of creating the necessary nexus between local production and consumption.

–                 Tame our Procreative Proclivity. The growth of our population continues to outstrip our economic growth. We have grown from 45 million in 1960 to about 230 million in 2023 (more than 500% growth). For context, UK, which was 53 million in 1960 (bigger population than Nigeria), has only grown to 67 million today, a meagre 126% increase. Depending on our development paradigm choices, this large and youthful (more than 60%) population of ours can benefit from what demographers refer to as demographic dividend or demographic bomb! With the present level of youth dependency and restiveness, manifesting in the widespread agitations of #EndSars, and recent sporadic protests against rising cost of living, time seems to be ticking. The choices we make today will prevent the coming explosion. In a development milieu of creative Industrial Policy, financial targeting and aggressive investment in education and skills-set, and vastly increased governance integrity quotient, we may yet escape the bomb detonating.

–                 Tame our Penchant for Corruption. Need I say anything further on the monster of corruption, how it fundamentally constrains development possibilities on all fronts, and the need to deal with it in a decisive and sustained manner? Conceived as ‘abuse of entrusted power for private gains,’ by Transparency International (2023), ‘corruption erodes trust, weakens democracy, hampers economic development and further exacerbates inequality, poverty, social division and the environmental crisis’ (Ibid). There is the commonality of opinion among the citizens of Nigerian, civil society, and development partners – practically everyone that the country has zero chance of development as long as the State continues to be the platform for primitive accumulation and rent seeking in the hands of its privileged elites. The need to deploy more of technology than admonitions in attacking corruption from the roots cannot be overemphasized. This, indeed, should rank high among the priorities of all governments, going forward.

–                 Tame our Political Structure. We have mentioned our defective structural birth, our defective 1999 Constitution (as amended), which are some of the drivers of economic mismanagement, underdevelopment, and insecurity. Now, a national consensus has more or less been developed on the need for multi-layered policing architecture to tackle insecurity. All that government has to do is emplace actionable RESTRUCTURING PLAN, short to long time; say, from Executive Orders and legislation on security, up to a new constitution. To my mind, this is the main challenge before the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration; and I shouldn’t have any doubt that going by his political antecedent and trajectory, Mr. President should have the clarity of vision, courage of conviction and determination to move our most tortured country to this desirable and rational end-state. My admonition is, let’s get started while there is still time!

*Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, CON,  Governor, Ondo State, 2009 – 2017 delivered this

Paul Pogba has vowed to challenge his four-year ban from football by the anti-doping Tribunal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), stressing that he was innocent and that he had never taken any substance knowingly that comes under the purview of doping.

A “shocked and heartbroken” Paul Pogba said his career had been left in ruins after being handed a four-year ban for failing a drug test.

Pogba, one of the biggest names in world football and formerly the most expensive player, vowed to appeal the career-ending sanction, saying he had never cheated by taking a banned substance.

The 30-year-old said in a statement: “I have today been informed of the Tribunale Nazionale Antidoping’s decision and believe that the verdict is incorrect. I am sad, shocked and heartbroken that everything I have built in my professional playing career has been taken away from me.

“When I am free of legal restrictions the full story will become clear, but I have never knowingly or deliberately taken any supplements that violate anti-doping regulations. As a professional athlete I would never do anything to enhance my performance by using banned substances and have never disrespected or cheated fellow athletes and supporters of any of the teams I have played for, or against.

“As a consequence of the decision announced today I will appeal this before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.”

[Leadership]

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Professor Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, has asked professionals not to leave Nigeria in the hands of politicians.

He stated this in Abeokuta, Ogun state, while delivering a lecture titled: “Town Planners, Sustainable Development and Nation Building” at the 10th Waheed Kadiri Lecture Series. 

The annual lecture is organised by the Ogun State chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners in honour of the former President of NITP, Waheed Kadiri.

Delivering his lecture, Egbewole, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), insisted that professionals and not only politicians must build Nigeria.

He expressed danger in leaving politicians solely in charge developing Nigeria, saying “to a large extent, our decision-makers are planning illiterate”.

He said, “It is now more imperative to allow professionals build our nation than succumb to the manipulations of the few and octopus called government as represented by few misguided public officials.”

The Vice Chancellor charged town planners “to promote lively and self-sustaining communities, town planning propositions must be ingenious to foster mix of residential, commercial and recreational land uses and enforce zoning restrictions that allow for mixed-use projects, building a feeling of community and reducing commuting lengths, as far as practicable.

“Every plan should be people-centered. As a process, planning must follow the dictates of Peoples Leading in Addressing their Needs (PLAN) that allows the targeted beneficiaries to take leading roles in conception and settings.

“Town planners must prioritise and plan for efficient and well-maintained infrastructure, including transportation, utilities and public services that meet future requirements and provide fair access to essential services.”

In his remark, Kadiri called for strict implementation of government policies and plans on urban regeneration to prevent natural disasters.

[DailyTrust]

Bayer Leverkusen winger, Nathan Tella admitted he was disappointed not to make Nigeria’s squad to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, in Cote d’Ivoire.

Tella was born in England to Nigerian parents.

The 24-year-old was eligible to represent both countries.

The former Southampton player however opted to play for the Super Eagles.

Tella was called up for Nigeria’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Zimbabwe in November 2023.

The pacy winger made his international debut in the 1-1 draw with Zimbabwe.

He was however omitted from the AFCON 2023 squad.

[DailyPost]

With foreign exchange earnings  from future fuel sales mortgaged by Buhari’s government; with government spending close to 95% of our earnings to service our $40b debt, with the alleged mismanagement of close to 50% of N23trillion that CBN printed for government through ‘ways and means’, with Emefiele the immediate past CBN governor doing father Christmas with the nation’s limited forex earnings and with Chukwuma Soludo’s ill-advised mega banks declaring profit made from forex round tripping in trillions while the nation’s economy remains prostrate, there is every temptation to assume our problem is economics.

The truth of the matter however, is that our crisis of nation-building has nothing to do with economics but everything to do with politics. Like corruption, poverty, terrorism/ banditry and economic crisis arising from fuel subsidy scam and foreign currency speculators, are all but symptoms of our failure to first seek the kingdom of politics, as advised by the great Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana.

By embarking on economic crusade, President Tinubu like his predecessors is engaged in a wild goose chase. It is however hoped the response to his government’s efforts beginning with the removal of fuel subsidy scam responsible for $800m monthly haemorrhage by ethnic irredentists who in an effort to foreclose distributive justice unleashed immigrant Fulani terrorists on their fellow  compatriots and economic saboteurs  responsible for flooding Nigeria with foreign manufactured substandard goods, and killer drugs in order to drive local manufacturers out of market, will convince him he is putting the cart before the horse. Politics and professional politicians are the greatest threat to the nation.

Unfortunately, the Fulani and the Igbo, both political rivals that regard every part of Nigeria as “a no man’s land’ have held the nation to ransom since the 1957 London Independence Constitutional conference when they first betrayed the country because the former wanted a Nigerian state that would be home to stateless Fulani from all over West Africa,  while the latter, a  landlocked  group with hostile environment wanted their members to operate freely from any part of Nigeria without challenge of citizenship.

After the 1957 betrayal, fortune-seeking Igbo political elite and their power-seeking Fulani also betrayed the nation in 1962 when they illegally interfered in the affairs of the West against the letter and the spirit of the independence constitution.

Their dispute over the 1962/63 census outcome led to the 1964 constitutional crisis which snowballed to January 1966 mindless assassination of northern military and political leaders and the July 1966 Hausa Fulani vengeance killings of Igbo military officers. In 1967, the two rivals plunged the country into a three years civil war only to regroup between 1979 and 1983 to form the NPN/NPP coalition which again collapsed over sharing of spoils of office. They jointly imposed Obasanjo on Nigeria in 1999 and for 16 years behaved like an army of occupation by stealing the country blind.

Both the Fulani suitors and their Igbo ever alluring willing brides are opportunists ever ready to put their personal interest before that of Nigeria. At the Lancaster House Conference, while the North wanted a loose federation and the East, a unitary system, their compromise over non-creation of states for minorities paved the way for coalition of NPC and NCNC. Ahmadu Bello was reported by the Sunday Express of December 20, 1959 at page 2 as saying “I shall divide Nigeria into two and hand them over to my lieutenants just as Dan Fodio divided the conquered north among his two sons.” After the election, Balewa got the Holy Quran as Sardauna’s lieutenant in the north and Zik, a horse as the one that held sway for the Sardauna in the south.

Buhari with the help of Yoruba took over in 2015. For him and those hiding under his government to implement an ethnic agenda, it was a winner takes all.  While armed Fulani immigrants from other parts of West Africa were unleashed on the reserved forests notably in the middle belt and southwest regions by Buhari’s loyal gatekeepers headed by Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General and Minister of justice, the Igbo indirectly supported IPOB as balance of terror in their five states of the east while maintaining their control of urban centres across the nation.

 The mainstream Yoruba political tendency, led by Bola Ahmed Tinubu, with the support of some 11 northern governors, for the first time in the nation’s history, won the presidential election in May 2023. If, however, there is anything that has drawn closer the two rivals for the soul of the country since the 2023 presidential election won round and square by Tinubu and confirmed by sound pronouncement of the highest court in the land, it is their opposition to Tinubu’s presidency.

 While Igbo political leaders have continued to insist Obi who came a distant third was the winner just to delegitimize Tinubu’s presidency, in less than seven months NLC tele-guided by Obi’s Labour Party (apology to Olumide Apata) and infiltrated by the “obidients” who have openly called for military take-over, have under Joe Ajaero who was exposed by events in his native Imo State to be openly partisan, has embarked on four major strikes. On their path, ethnic irredentists who but for the revolt of 11 northern governors opposed Tinubu’s candidacy are blaming the impoverishment of their compatriots they have always treated as mere tools for winning elections on Tinubu’s eight months administration.

President Tinubu must be reminded that our problem is politics and that the way forward after almost 80 years in the wilderness is to retrace our way back to where the rain started to beat us.

First, the reasons that led to the development of federalism as an innovative approach to governance at specific moments in history has been well articulated. From the experiences of other multi-ethnic nations, we now know that the federal arrangement as a coherent set of mechanisms, procedures and institutions are best at managing key public policy issues in contemporary democracies.

 We also now know that those shouting “banish tribes” while riding to power on the backs of tribesmen are playing the ostrich since tribes remain the building block for modern society. Europe, after two devastating tribal wars ‘formally recognized groups’ identities as legitimate and autonomous participants in the political process.’ In Spain, we have the Basque, Galician, Castilian and Catalan. British 25 tribes coalesce into Northern Ireland, Wales, England and Scotland. Elsewhere in the world, Japan, China, and India celebrate their various tribes.

This was why the British vision for Nigeria, according to Oliver Stanley in 1920, was a “national self-government that secures to each separate people, the right to maintain its identity, its individuality and its nationality, its own chosen form of government, which had been evolved for it by the wisdom and accumulated experiences of generation of its forbearers.”

In line with this British vision, regionalism was put in place by Richards 1947 constitution while the 1954 Lyttleton ensured each tribe or group of tribes had powers over law and order, education, economic development etc. while Macpherson 1957 constitution consolidated everything.

If Nigerians who now know that nationalism is not often driven by altruism have to choose between the colonial masters, our military adventurers and their new breed politicians, Nigeria will choose in reverse order.  But President Tinubu has an historic opportunity to change the narrative.