The National Leader of the Pan Yoruba Socio-Political Group, Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, has appealed to Nigerians to exercise patience with the present administration and refrain from engaging in protests or actions that may escalate tensions across the country.

Pa Fasoranti, who acknowledged the hardships faced by Nigerians, however declared that “it is important to recognize that these economic measures, although difficult, are part of a larger strategy aimed at restoring economic prosperity and stability to Nigeria.”

He said this in a statement he issued and signed in Akure, the Ondo state capital.

The Yoruba leader specifically asked Yorubas to shun any protests and rallies called over the economic hardship being faced by Nigerians.

He appealed to Yorubas at home and in the diaspora to give President Bola Ahmed Tinubu some time to address the challenges being faced by Nigerians.

While appealing to Nigerians against rallies and protests, the Elderstatesman said they may lead to disruption of social and economic activities of citizens and lead to avoidable death.

According to him “As the National Leader of Afenifere, and leader of the Yoruba, I address all and sundry today with a deep understanding of the challenges our dear country is going through at this critical time.

“The outcry over the hardship, hunger, and price hikes is not unexpected.

“However, we must come to terms with the realities of our national challenges, which the present administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is striving to resolve.

“The government’s commitment to implementing these measures is a testament to its dedication to addressing the root causes of our economic challenges, inherited from the ills of the previous years.

“As a responsible leader, I appeal to every Yoruba man and woman, young and old, and our fellow citizens across the nationalities, to exercise patience and refrain from engaging in protests or actions that may escalate tensions.

“Understandably, the immediate impact of Tinubu’s economic reforms is challenging to everyone, but it is crucial to give the government the necessary time to realise the intended benefits.

“It is important to note that the removal of fuel subsidies and the floating of the Naira is not undertaken lightly, as we all know the great damage done to our national prosperity through the nefarious activities of the agents of darkness within the oil and financial sectors.

“These measures by the Federal Government, though painful in the short term, are designed to create a more sustainable economic environment that will benefit us all in the long run.

“It requires collective understanding and resilience from every citizen as we navigate through these challenging times.

“We cannot afford a preference for the euthanasic approach of painless death of our nation, where we are propped up with loans and subsidies until a total collapse into a failed nation, while we have the opportunity of painful healing through treatment with multiple surgeries that will guarantee not just our survival, but restored health, vigour, and thriving life.

Fasoranti said that “We must endure today’s hardship for tomorrow’s prosperity.

“I implore you to trust in the government’s commitment to the welfare of our nation. Let us engage in constructive dialogue and contribute positively to the ongoing economic reforms.

“Join me in appealing for unity and understanding among our people. Together, we can weather this storm and emerge stronger as a nation.

“I want to assure you as the Leader of Afenifere, that we are actively engaging with the government at different levels to address the concerns of our people.

The Yoruba leader said that “Let us remain steadfast, patient, and united in the face of these challenges, confident that our collective resilience will pave the way for a more prosperous future.”

Says Claims Are Speculative & Protests Legally Questionable

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has alleged that the government has perfected plans to launch attacks against the two-day nationwide peaceful rallies it scheduled for 27 and 28 February.

NLC President Joe Ajaero made the allegation in a statement he signed and made available to journalists on Sunday in Abuja.

In a swift response, however, the federal government has denied the allegation describing it as “speculative.”

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said by raising the allegation, “NLC is feeling guilty in hatching its hidden agenda influenced by partisan considerations.”

Mr Onanuga who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the alleged attack, said the planned protest is illegal as it is against a subsisting order of court.

He said the NLC had a hidden agenda because most of the issues raised by labour for embarking on the protest had been addressed by the government.

Mr Ajaero in his statement titled, “As the State Prepares to Unleash Violence on us” alleged that one of the groups being primed to attack the peaceful rallies is by a nebulous name, Nigeria Civil Society Forum (NCSF).

“NCSF is one of the emergency groups put together, funded, promoted and remote-controlled by government to cause violence against our members for electing to peacefully protest against the hunger in the land.

“We would want the State to know that the solution to our horrible economic situation and hunger is not by suppressing peaceful dissent or inflicting violence on peacefully protesting citizens,” he said.

Mr Ajaero insisted that the NLC and its civil society allies were moving ahead with the protest rallies against economic hardship and insecurity in line with the decision of the National Executive Council.

“As citizens, we have a fundamental right to peaceful protest and history bears us witness that our protests are always peaceful except in instances of State-engineered violence.

“In light of this, we advise the State to put on its thinking cap and find solutions to the pains it continues to cause the people instead of further dehumanising them,” he said.

Mr Onanuga, however, insisted that the issues raised by the labour union had been addressed by the government, including the payment of a wage award of N35,000 monthly for six months.

He said the money had been paid to civil servants up till January 2024 and only that of February is outstanding.

The president’s aide said the federal government had inaugurated a 37-member Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage to review and come up with an acceptable and sustainable Minimum Wage for Nigerian Workers.

He said the government had made substantial financial commitments on the provision of CNG Buses and Conversion Kits.

According to Mr Onanuga, the buses will be rolled out very soon to alleviate the transportation challenges being faced by Nigerians.

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr Ola Olukoyede, says in less than 100 days of his assumption of office, the anti-graft agency received over 5,000 fraud petitions and recovered N60bn loot.

Of the 5,000 petitions, he said the EFCC had approved 3,000 for investigation.

President Bola Tinubu appointed Olukoyede EFCC chairman on October 12, 2023.

He replaced Abdurasheed Bawa, an appointee of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, who was suspended, detained, and booted out of office by Tinubu.

Olukoyede, speaking on Saturday in Lagos as the guest lecturer at the 20th-anniversary lecture of the Human and Environmental Development Agenda Resources Centre, said the EFCC had recovered over N60bn and $10m, in less than four months since he assumed office.

He said, “When we set out to investigate, people see it as a fight between EFCC and the rest of us. It should not be so. How much will the EFCC do?

“How much will the ICPC do with its staff strength? I have less than 4,800 staff. I am talking of an agency that is serving people who are over 150 million.

“All we have to do is investigate and present the facts before the court. I will not be the one to give judgment. That is where we have collective responsibility. When you see something, you say something

“The issue is we are working as if we are not working. Upon my assumption of office between then and now, I have received over 5,000 petitions. I am not talking of just the one we received, but the one that we have checked and we discovered that there was substance in it. That is just for one agency, the EFCC.

“As I am talking to you I have approved the investigation of over 3,000 cases in less than four months, but what is our capacity? How many staff do we have? What resources do I have access to?

“In less than four months, we secured convictions of 700 and recovered over N60bn and over $10m.

“If I am able to recover over N60bn in less than 100 days, you can imagine how much has been stolen.

“I can tell you that for the billion that has been recovered, a trillion has been stolen.”

On his part, the Chairman of HEDA, Mr. Olanrewaju Suraju, noted that the anti-corruption fight had been challenging and urged all Nigerians to join the fight.

“We need an effective policing system with integrity, then the court must not continue to discharge persons with corruption cases still hanging on their necks,” Suraju said.

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has launched an investigation following reports that a stampede during its discounted rice sale in Lagos left numerous people dead.

Eyewitnesses said chaos erupted on Friday at the Customs zonal office in Yaba as huge crowds scrambled to purchase bags of seized foreign rice being sold at N10,000 each, significantly below market cost.

In the ensuing stampede, no fewer than 7 persons were said to have been trampled to death while dozens more were injured. Customs authorities admitted the scenes were chaotic but blamed lack of patience by the crowds.

The Lagos chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) confirmed that one of its female members, Comfort Funmilayo Adebanjo, died in the incident while trying to buy the subsidized rice.

The rice sale was flagged off across NCS offices by the Customs boss, Col. Adewale Adeniyi (Rtd.) last week to ease economic hardship brought on by rising food costs. But the exercise has been marred by poor crowd control, casting doubts on its continuity.

Lagos Customs says it has kicked off an investigation to determine what led to the deadly stampede in Lagos to forestall a repeat as the rice sales continue in other locations.

The private residence of the Minister of State of the FCT, Dr Mariya Mahmoud, located at Asokoro, was on Sunday gutted by fire.

The Acting Director of the FCT Fire Service, Amiola Adebayo, confirmed the incident to our correspondent.

Adebayo stated that the first floor of the building was completely razed by the fire.

He explained that the fire had started at about 9:45 am, but said officers of the Service arrived at the scene some minutes after they had received a running call after responders had tried to reach the Federal Fire Service.

A running call means that rather than calling the Emergency line of the Fire Service, responders had insisted on going to the office to get the attention of the firemen.

“The fire was discovered a few minutes to ten, maybe around 9:45 am. We received a running call around thirteen minutes after ten, so we followed the person who came to call us to the fire scene.

“All of them were on the ground floor. They did not discover the fire on time, and they didn’t call the Fire Service. It was a running call that came to us. From our findings, they say they called the Federal Fire Service, but they didn’t respond on time, that’s when the running call came to our office.

“On reaching there, we saw that the first floor, the upper floor was completely engulfed in fire. So what we could do is just to prevent the fire from spreading to the ground floor, and the adjacent structures. No lives lost”, he said.

As of the time of filing this report, the cause of the fire was yet to be determined, although the media assistant to the minister, Austin Elemue, also confirmed the incident.

The President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has debunked claims that the $3.3b loan that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) acquired from the bank will be repaid with an interest rate of 12%. He said the loan is one of the best priced loans on the market with 6% margin.

Oramah revealed this in an exclusive interview with ARISE NEWS anchor, Ojy Okpe, describing the allegations of repaying the $3bn Loan with $12bn as ‘ridiculous’. He said the loan was very effective in helping FX shortage and stabilise the financial system.

During the interview, Oramah was asked about the nature of the loan, of which the NNPC has received $2.25 billion of the agreed $3 billion in a bid to stabilise Nigeria’s foreign exchange. He replied, “Well, the interest rate on the loan carries a margin of 6.0% per annum above the 3-month secured overnight financing rate (SOFR) that is the base rate which governs the cost of funds, so to say. So, if Afreximbank wants to lend money, any other person wants to lend some money, dollars, you start from there and it stays, then you add your margin. And the margin we have I think is 6%, and this loan is a seven year loan. Actually, it is one of the best priced loans in the market today.

“We’re not talking about three years ago, four years ago. We’re talking of today where interest rates have gone up, and we’re just hoping that inflation will go down globally so that rates can start going down. And in fact, if those rates start going down, the interest rate of this loan will start also going down. So that’s what I thought about it, about the pricing of the loan.

“And it’s transparent, there’s nothing to hide about it, and anybody who wants to compare it can compare it against the yields on the Nigerian bonds trading today.

Responding to Nigerians questions and misgivings regarding the loan, Oramah clarified that the loan is effective as he said, “It actually helps acute FX shortage. And you know there are things people do not know, maybe government will not be saying it, but I’m at liberty because we have a justification for doing what we did. It actually helps us stabilize the financial system.”

He went on to say, “It’s the job of government to do what they know is right actually. Of course, it’s good for the people to criticise ask questions and all that. But I just think that sometimes, people who are criticizing also have to be reasonable. You don’t have to go to the municipal and start telling stories, because if you genuinely want an explanation and you asked, for example, for us, we never got anybody right to us saying explain this to us.

“We’re not hiding anything. If anybody came and we thought we should, if it’s not a confidential matter, because everything we do is confidential. And by the way, we are not the only lender, there are other lenders. So, if it’s something that we believe we should explain, we explain.

The Afreximbank President then spoke about the Memorandum of Understanding he had signed with the Nigerian Health ministry to provide a $1 billion facility that would finance a contribution pool for private investors who want to invest in Nigeria’s health sector value chain.

Giving his reasoning behind this, he said, “I always believed that health care is human right. Every person on this earth should have access to good health care, because that is what makes you to live a wholesome life. It is not what we should just reserve for the very rich and mighty.”

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) on Sunday said that two of its transmission towers, T377 and T378, along the Gombe–Damaturu 330kV transmission line were vandalised.

A statement by the TCN General Manager Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, noted that the act, perpetrated by insurgents, resulted in a load loss of approximately 5MW.

She said the vandalization of the line occurred on 23 February.

“At approximately 9:35 p.m. yesterday, the Gombe – Damaturu 330kV transmission line experienced a trip. Following initial checks, TCN engineers from the Bauchi regional office attempted the restoration of the line but it tripped again, prompting the dispatch of TCN’s linesmen and security operatives to trace the fault. The team then discovered the two collapsed towers, T377 and T378,” Ms Mbah said.

In the interim, she said TCN has arranged to temporarily supply electricity to Damaturu from the Potiskum Transmission Substation.

Meanwhile, she added that arrangements are underway to mobilize contractors that will re-erect the vandalized transmission towers and restring the 330kV line affected by the incident.

“TCN condemns this act of sabotage and is again calling on relevant authorities to intensify efforts in the protection of power infrastructures.

“We are committed to working diligently to expedite the restoration process and minimize the impact of this unfortunate incident on the power supply to the affected areas,” she said.

In recent times, vandalism of the transmission infrastructures and distribution equipment has been a common occurrence.

Earlier in December last year, the TCN said that its Gwagwalada-Kukwaba-Apo 132kV Transmission line 1 had been vandalised between Towers 23 and Tower 25.

Ms Mbah said the vandalisation of the line is suspected to have taken place at about 1 a.m. on Sunday, 10 December.

On 22 December 2023, the TCN said one of its towers around Katsaita village in Yobe State was vandalised.

The company said the vandalisation brought down the 330kV transmission tower which pulled down tower T373 along the same transmission line route.

The TCN had earlier in February said that its tower number 388 along the Jos-Bauchi 132kV Single Circuit transmission line was vandalised.

The company said the vandalisation of the line is suspected to have occurred on the 1st of February, at about 10 p.m.

The company explained that the incident led to a power outage in Yobe and Borno states.

The National Bureau of Statistics has listed the top ten states with the most internet users in the country.

A check on the NBS database on Sunday revealed that the number of internet subscribers stood at 163.8 million as of December 2023.

It added that as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2023, data on internet usage across the country reveals fascinating insights into which states are leading in digital connectivity.

This figure means that internet users in the country have witnessed significant growth as more citizens have gained access to the internet despite the hardship orchestrated by the removal of subsidy and floating of naira, among others.

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Last year, it was reported that internet users were about 154.8 million, a 1.35 per cent compared to the previous year (2021) which stood at 141.9 million.

The bureau said the upward movement marked a 9.07 per cent growth in internet subscribers for the sector in the period reviewed.

“On a quarter-on-quarter basis, this grew by 1.35 per cent,” NBS added.

Meanwhile for Q4 2023, Based on the NBS data, here are the top 10 states with the highest number of internet users in Nigeria:

1. Lagos has 18.9 million internet users.
2. Ogun has 9.5 million internet users.
3. Kano has 9 million internet users.
4. Oyo has 8.4 million internet users.
5. Kaduna has 7.4 million internet users.
6. FCT has 5.8 million internet users.
7. Rivers has 5.6 million internet users.
8. Adamawa has 5.4 million internet users.
9. Katsina has 4.6 million internet users.
10. Delta has 4.4 million internet users.

The Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on New Media, O’tega Ogra, has faulted the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, for comparing the economy of Nigeria to Argentina.

Naija News reported that Atiku had urged President Bola Tinubu to learn from the approach to economic reform taken by Argentina’s President, Javier Milei, for Nigeria’s economic reforms.

In a statement on Sunday, Atiku emphasized that Tinubu and Milei inherited a disoriented economy, but each applied different measures for recovery.

Reacting to Atiku’s statement in a post via his official X handle on Sunday, Ogra said Nigeria is not Argentina and President Tinubu is not President Milei, stating that both nations are incomparable.

The presidential aide said the economic situation in Argentina is gloomy and berated Atiku for criticizing the Tinubu administration while glorifying the dire situation in the South American country.

He asserted that President Tinubu is working hard to address the economic hardship in the country and diligently working towards a prosperous, stable, and inclusive Nigeria.

He wrote: “Respectfully, VP Atiku (1999 – 2007) sir, I come again.

“I would like to start by first saying – respectfully, that Nigeria is not Argentina, and President Tinubu is not the President of Argentina.

“To those who may be enchanted, just like our former VP, by the ‘Argentina Miracle’ he quoted, see below the January data of the situation Alh. Atiku praised and says he would have put on Nigerians – had he been 7th time lucky at his shot at the presidency which wasn’t successful.

“I, therefore, advise a closer look at the data—lest we forget that even a broken clock is right twice a day:

– Argentine Inflation Rates: Jumped to 254% in January 2024 – the highest level since 1990.
– Industrial and construction output in Argentina dropped by 12.8% and 12.2% year-on-year in December, respectively.
– Economic activity in Argentina fell 2.5% year on year according to a Reuters survey.
– Car registrations in Argentina declined by 33% year-on-year in January.
– Retail sales in Argentina fell by 25.5% year-on-year in January.
– Construction activity in Argentina decreased by 28.2% in January.
– Cement deliveries and motorcycle registrations also saw significant declines.
– Halting all public works, freezing public sector salaries and pensions, and eliminating many public subsidies, including for energy and public transportation.
– Tax Increases: Sharp rise in taxes, including import taxes.
– Real Salary Collapse: The real salary of registered private-sector workers in Argentina experienced the largest monthly drop in at least 30 years, with January’s real salaries potentially falling below the levels of the 2001 crisis
– National taxes linked to economic activity across Argentina fell between 15% and 25% annually on a real basis.
– Food sales in retail stores fell 37.1% year-on-year in January.
– Minimum Wage: The current Minimum Living and Mobile Wage (SMVM) is 156,000 pesos per month ($184), with no increase despite high inflation. At least Nigeria is reviewing its own.
– IMF Forecast for Argentina: Predicted a 2.8% recession in 2024.

“This gloomy situation above is the situation former VP Atiku says in his statement that he would have put on Nigerians – had he won. Thank you, sir, for finally telling the Nigerian people what your true plans were. Now we know – stopping salaries, a recession, > 250% inflation, no investment in social security or infrastructure was your plan for Nigerians all along.

“Koko Of The Matter: I honestly appreciate former VP Atiku’s attempt to contribute to the economic discourse, albeit through a remarkably flawed lens. As for my principal – @officialABAT President Tinubu’s administration, we will continue to roll up our sleeves, not to play the fiddle as Rome burns, but to diligently work towards a prosperous, stable, and inclusive Nigeria.

“Alhaji Atiku, your statement is perplexing. Your critique of President Tinubu’s administration, while glorifying Argentina’s dire situation, is akin to applauding the captain of the Titanic for its speed, ignoring the iceberg dead ahead I understand the allure of sensational headlines and the temptation to draw parallels where none exist, but let’s be clear: Nigeria is not Argentina, and President Tinubu is not President Milei.

“Let me be clear: President Tinubu will continue to prioritize the well-being of Nigerian citizens over the theatrics of austerity masquerading as reform.

“Thank you for indulging me once again, sir @atiku.”

[NaijaNews]

The price of a 50kg bag of foreign rice has surged to over N88,000 across major stores in Nigeria, which is 22.2% higher than the N72,000 recorded earlier in the month.

In the same vein, locally made rice increased by almost the same rate (21.8%) to N67,000 in just less than a month. This information comes from findings by the Nairametrics Research team. Compared to the same period last year, the price of foreign rice has increased by 244%, while local rice has witnessed a 209% price increase in the same period.

During a conversation with Mrs. Olanike, a rice dealer at Daleko market in Lagos, she explained that the recent rise in the price of local rice has been largely driven by the surge in the price of foreign rice, which is a result of the depleting value of the naira and the continuous ban on the item.

It’s worth noting that the exchange rate between the naira and other currencies has depreciated significantly in recent times, losing over 45% and 30% year-to-date at the official and parallel market, respectively.

Food inflation at over 18-year high 

Recent inflation data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that food inflation rose to 35.71% in January 2024, the highest level since August 2005.

According to the NBS, food inflation in January was driven by increases in price of bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, oil and fat, fish, meat, coffee, tea, and cocoa. 

• Meanwhile, a further analysis shows that imported food inflation rose to 26.3% from 24.9% recorded in the previous month. This represents the highest rate recorded since January 2012 as FX volatility as well as low agricultural production drive surge in food prices. 
• Also, GDP data has indicated slow growth in the Nigerian agricultural sector in the last two years, hampered by insecurity, impact of global supply chain issues on fertilizer and seed supply, climate change, and flooding.  
• Notably, the agricultural sector only grew by 1.13% in 2023, in contrast to 1.88% recorded in the previous year. 

Drivers of food inflation in Nigeria 

In an exclusive interview with Ibrahim Maigari, the founder and CEO of RiceAfrika, a tech-driven agriculture optimization service provider, he highlighted some of the factors contributing to the hike in the price of rice in the country. 

• He stated that a significant backlog of unmet food demand in the past three years as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, insecurity, Russia-Ukraine war, and flooding is the major driver of food inflation in Nigeria. 
• “The flood in 2022 destroyed about 8.6 million metric tonnes of 14 variety of crops in the country,” he said. In addition to the dwindling production of food in the country, the rising cost of transportation caused by the removal of petrol subsidy has impacted the final cost of food. “To transport a truck of food items from Maiduguri to Lagos has risen to almost 6 million from less than a million,” he added. 
• He also added that the cost of harvesting a plot of farmland has increased from an average of N90,000 in 2022 to about N230,000, representing 156% increase in two years. 

On the solution 

Ibrahim Maigari suggested a combination of seven strategies to drive down the price of food items and improve production in the country, which he termed as the Farm Easy Operating System. According to him, a wholistic approach is required to address the issue of food security in Nigeria.  

• According to Mr. Ibrahim, this approach requires improved land preparation. He noted that 80% of farmers in Sub-Sahara Africa prepare their lands manually, which impacts the level of productivity of the farmers. He also added that access to high-yielding seeds, will improve food production in the country, citing that 82% of farmers in the region plant grains rather than actual seeds, which is less yielding. 
• He pointed to the lack of quality chemicals as a major stumbling block in Nigeria’s agricultural practices, which has resulted in several losses for the farmers. He opined that the availability of quality chemicals in the process of planting and weeding will improve agro-yields in the country. 

In addition, timely delivery of fertilizer is essential to ensure improved food production in Nigeria. The best time to deliver fertilizer to farmers is between March and April, however, what we notice in most times is that the farmers take delivery of these fertilizers around June and July, which is supposed to be a time for harvesting. 

The others as highlighted by Mr. Ibrahim include best agronomic practices, adoption of mechanized family as well as access to market. 

Bottom line 

The problem of food inflation continues to be a major bane to most Nigerians, who already spend about 55% of their household expenditures on food items.

The recent trend of high inflation has significantly eroded the purchasing power of average Nigerians and the government will need a combination of policies to urgently address the food crisis in the country. 

[Nairametrics]