Godswill Akpabio (then Akwa Ibom State Governor) once stated that only the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan could guarantee peace in Nigeria. At an​ interdenominational ​church service beamed live on the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) network on 2 January 2015, he declared: “As a PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) chieftain, I have found the solution to the peace we are seeking in Nigeria. That solution is the election of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for a second term in office. When you do that, you would show that you are not a religious bigot. When you do that, you would show that you are not an ethnic jingoist and that you believe in the unity of this country.”

Of course, we know Jonathan lost the presidential election that year. But Akpabio won his bid to be a Senator. Ordinarily, by their Standing Rules at the time, positions of Principal Officers were reserved only for ranking senators. But on the strength of his previous position as chairman of PDP Governors Forum and the depth of his pocket, the Senate broke their own rule to accommodate Akpabio as Minority Leader. The hope was that he would help to rebuild PDP as a robust opposition platform to counter the excesses of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The hope was misplaced.

Two years into his tenure as Minority Leader, Akpabio resigned from the PDP to join the APC and offered a perfect excuse. “The first thing you need to know about the APC, from the point of view of leadership, I am quite impressed the president has kept his integrity intact. He has been able to improve the image of Nigeria and restore a lot of respect to Nigeria from the international community,” Akpabio said while heaping praises on then President Muhammadu Buhari who later offered him a ministerial appointment after losing his Senate re-election bid. “I am joining the APC to stabilize the government and to assist the government to create employment opportunities for Nigerians so that we can fight the twin brother to corruption, which is poverty.”

We are aware that Akpabio has been fighting poverty with his garrulous and ostentatious lifestyle for almost two decades. Incidentally, on 23 February 2018, while presenting the Special Achievement Award conferred on then Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor by the Silverbird Group in Lagos, Akpabio commended Godwin Emefiele for maintaining the global integrity of the apex bank and stability of Naira, describing him as “a humble and silent achiever”. Now, after being enabled to the office of Senate President by the current President Bola Tinubu, Akpabio is singing a different tune.

 During a thanksgiving service in Rivers State on Sunday, Akpabio compared the economy left by Buhari for Tinubu to a spoof. “Nigeria was like a foam inside a pail. As the foam has filled the pail you think that it was water. The economic situation was tricky. By the time you push your hands (inside), you will only touch water towards the bottom. So, the kind of economic mess we were in, a lot of people do not understand.” After dissing the ‘anti-corruption’ president under whom he was a minister, Akpabio descended on Emefiele. “We don’t even know what to charge the former Central Bank governor (Emefiele) with. Whether to charge him for putting foam on top of the pail or to charge him for printing notes without income. I don’t know what we will charge him with,” Akpabio said, raising questions about the credibility of the ongoing court case if they are still trying to frame the alleged crime. “What we know is that we are here today because of the actions and policies that they (Buhari administration) took, and we recognise that, but we are now battling to ensure that Nigerians can sleep with their eyes closed and have three square meals on their tables.”

 ‘A Man for All Seasons’ is a British historical drama that celebrates the life of Sir Thomas More, the 16th century Chancellor of England who chose death (he was beheaded) to helping Henry VIII achieve his diabolical aim to jilt his wife for another in a desperate bid for a male child. If that popular drama depicts someone whose moral strength did not bend even in the face of death, then what do you call a man like Akpabio? The only phrase that comes to mind is a man for every new season. That has been the story of the ‘Uncommon transformer’ who for the past 22 years has been a ‘government pikin’—a man whose livelihood has depended on political office: Commissioner, Governor, Senator, Minister and now Senate President!

 While endorsing Tuesday’s decision to probe how the N30 trillion Ways and Means CBN loans approved by the last Senate was spent by the Buhari administration, Akpabio said “The food and security crises confronting the nation now are traceable to the way and manner the said Ways and Means were given, collected and spent.” Akpabio may be right but how does such a probe bring down the price of garri in the market or help in halting the depreciation that has rendered the Naira almost of no value? We know that, like all previous probes, it will serve no useful purpose beyond buying time for the government while Nigerians are regaled with tales. Besides, was Akpabio, who has dismissed those protesting the rising cost of living in the country as “sponsored protesters”, not part of the Buhari administration? Does the president need people who can help him find solutions to our mounting economic challenges or those who are good only at inventing self-serving excuses?

For those who may have forgotten, under Buhari, Akpabio was an all-powerful Minister of Niger Delta. He came up with the idea of an Interim Management Committee (IMC) arrangement at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) – whose members he kept sacking while practically running the show so that nobody would “kill the forensic audit”. In the ‘Off the mic’ drama involving one of his henchmen, it was Akpabio who admitted before a House of Representatives committee chaired by the current Internal Affairs Minister, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo that our lawmakers are also contractors while inadvertently indicting himself in the process: “I just told you that we have records to show that most of the contracts in NDDC are given out to members of the National Assembly, but you don’t know about it, the two chairmen can explain to you. I was a member of the NDDC committee; so, I know about it.”

In a milieu where politics has become a vehicle to secure power and privilege (rather than advance the public good) and public office merely provides access for the control of resources, it is no surprise that people like Akpabio thrive. He is of course not alone on this, so I do not begrudge him his good fortune. But those whose palm-kernels were cracked for them by a benevolent spirit, to borrow from the eternal wisdom of Chinua Achebe, should not insult our collective intelligence. By virtue of his current office, Akpabio is one of the few people with unhindered access to President Tinubu. If this is what he says publicly at a time like this, one can only imagine what he is telling the man in private moments.

Let me break it down for the Akpabios of this world who may not be aware of the current situation in Nigeria. If, going by the World Bank parameters, living in extreme poverty means surviving on less than $1.90 (now more than N3000) per day, and minimum wage still stands at N30,000, one can then imagine what many Nigerians are going through. As of last year March, when the situation was not even this bad, a World Bank report revealed that “as many as 4 in 10 Nigerians live below the national poverty line.” Several households in the country, the report added, had to adopt “dangerous coping strategies, including reducing education and scaling back food consumption, which could have negative long-run consequences for their human capital.” 

That report was based on the reality of 2022 when Akpabio was still a minister under Buhari. Today, things are far worse. The removal of fuel subsidy and floating of the Naira have combined to push basic necessities beyond the reach of most Nigerians. With daily hikes in the cost of staple foods, essential drugs, transportation costs, school fees, house rent etc. at a time when there seems to be no bottom to Naira’s depreciating value, millions of Nigerians are groaning under an unprecedented level of misery. Nothing depicts our dire situation more aptly than the trending video of a crowd of women rushing to scoop from a pot of rice being cooked by a food vendor, almost like animals. Therefore, if the president listens only to people like Akpabio, how would he understand how dire the situation is for most Nigerians today?

Let me also be clear here. Buhari and Emefiele deserve all the opprobrium anybody can heap on them for mismanaging our economy. That is not my issue with Akpabio. But not all of us suffer from the Nigerian malaise of collective amnesia. A country where an enabler of every sitting president like Akpabio is a source of state wisdom cannot but end as a basket case. It is therefore no surprise that in a bid to address the fast-depreciating value of the Naira, Tinubu’s henchmen have reduced monetary policy to chasing BDC operators around the streets of Abuja with guns!

ECOWAS and Vanishing Democracy

 On Monday, military authorities in Guinea dissolved the interim government it had put in place since June 2022.  They pledged to appoint a new administration. We recall that Colonel Mamady Doumbouya toppled President Alpha Conde in September 2021, in a coup hailed by many Guineans. Conde invited it upon himself by forcing through a controversial constitutional amendment that gave him a third term in office. And he brutally crushed the street demonstrations that followed, killing many before he was ousted. Although the military promised to return power to elected civilians by the end of this year, there is nothing to suggest such proposition is still on the cards in Guinea.

However, the latest challenge for the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) is in Senegal where President Macky Sall, whose tenure expires on 2 April, is also playing the sit-tight game. First, he toyed with the idea of a third term that elicited street protests. When that gambit failed, Sall postponed the election scheduled to hold this Sunday, 25 February till December this year. The Constitutional Court in the country has ruled that proposition also illegal. While Sall promised to abide by the court ruling, uncertainties remain about when the election will hold. That ECOWAS is silent about Senegal shows the hypocrisy of the leaders within the subregion. Meanwhile, Sall himself has shown that despite mouthing platitudes, his belief in democracy is driven only by self-interest. And I say this based on a personal encounter I had with him six years ago. Although I did not reveal who secured for me the encounter at the time, I can do so now and the circumstance in which it happened.

In writing my book, ‘Against the Run of Play: How an Incumbent President was Defeated in Nigeria’, I spoke to many of the principal actors, including President Goodluck Jonathan and current President Tinubu. Because he was abroad on self-exile at the time, it was difficult to get the former Bauchi State Governor, Adamu Muazu. Yet, I needed him to clarify certain issues to complete the book, considering he was PDP National Chairman during the 2015 general election. Eventually, we agreed to meet in Dakar, the Senegalese capital where I arrived on the day preceding a special ECOWAS meeting in Abuja on the Gambian presidential election lost by Yahyah Jammeh who decided not to leave office. As it would happen, Muazu had a dinner appointment with President Sall, and I tagged along. Below are excerpts from my December 2017 recollection, ‘Buhari, Sall and Jammeh’s Defiance’ to illustrate the tragedy of Senegal today. 

=======================================================

…While I do not know much about Sall’s stewardship, it was nonetheless a refreshing time with him until we departed the presidential palace at exactly 1.20am (Nigerian time) which was 12.20am local time in Dakar. He said he would be departing for Abuja by 6.30am for the ECOWAS meeting on the crisis in The Gambia. By then, I had learnt a lot about the mutiny in Cote D’Ivoire where soldiers went on strike last week as well as the attempts by the ECOWAS leaders, including President (Muhammadu) Buhari, to resolve the political crisis in The Gambia.

 Fortunately for me, when Sall was receiving us on arrival, I had been introduced to him as a former presidential spokesman in Nigeria, so he had no reason to be on his guard, as most people usually are when with reporters. That gave me ample opportunity to ask probing questions during dinner without raising any suspicion about my interest. I started by reminding Sall of what he already knows: that whereas the problem in The Gambia may be a challenge for ECOWAS, it is one that his country (Senegal) would have to deal with. He agreed with my summation before also expressing optimism that it would be resolved before January 19 (2018). He was confident that Yahya Jammeh will go because the consequences of doing otherwise would be too much for the Gambian dictator. Already, some of Jammeh’s ministers have started voting with their feet.

 However, Sall is also mindful of old prejudices between the two countries that for a period in history were one (Senegambia), especially when I asked him whether he was ready to offer asylum to Jammeh; having already told me of such a plan and some of the countries that could play host without mentioning Senegal. “I can have him here in Senegal, but I don’t think he will come,” Sall said as he explained the complications of the negotiations to oust Jammeh. “I think he fears what might happen to him when he leaves office, especially with the International Criminal Court that could look into some things that happened under his watch.”

To say that it will not be easy is an understatement given that Jammeh is digging in, and he is not without his own supporters. For instance, The Gambian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Mr. Samsudeen Sarr, recently took to the social media to reiterate his “unflinching support for His Excellency Shiekh Professor Doctor Alhagie Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh Babillimansa” while attacking Senegal that “has always overtly or covertly expressed its compulsion to annex our Anglophone nation into its 8th region.”

 According to Sall, raising the stakes by Jammeh may prove to be no use for him at the end, given that Charles Taylor of Liberia also negotiated his way out of power before he was apprehended three years later under circumstances that were not particularly edifying for Nigeria. The best way out for Jammeh, the Senegalese president argued, was the first option he took to concede the election before reneging. But Sall believes that he and other African leaders have a responsibility to ensure Jammeh’s exit without damage to his country and Senegal will play a decisive role in that direction…

ENDNOTE: President Sall indeed played a very critical role in ECOWAS efforts to force Yahya Jammeh out of Banjul in defence of democracy in the subregion and peace in The Gambia. It is therefore a shame that he would now seek to plunge his own country into avoidable crisis on the altar of inordinate ambition. But the greater challenge is for ECOWAS that must be worried about the state of democracy, anchored on the rule of law, and expressed will of the people within the sub-region.

• You can follow me on my X (formerly Twitter) handle, @Olusegunverdict and on www.olusegunadeniyi.com   

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Ibrahim Khalil Gaga as executive director, Corporate Services, at the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM).

According to a statement by Presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale on Wednesday, Gaga, a lawyer, has gained over 25 years of experience in the banking sector as well as in legal services.
He said prior to his appointment, he was the Board Secretary and Legal Adviser at NEXIM Bank.

“The President expects that Gaga will bring to his new role renewed zeal and diligence to enhance NEXIM’s mandate of providing finance, risk mitigation services, accurate trade and market information, as well as export advisory services to Nigerians in full support of the economic development agenda of his administration,” he said .

[:eadership]

Two weeks after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu directed the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to release 42,000 metric tons of maize, millet and other commodities from the national strategic reserve to Nigerians for free, the items are yet to be distributed.

This is amidst the biting cost of living crisis in the country which is believed to be largely caused by the present administration’s policies of petrol subsidy removal and currency floating.

The president’s directive to release grains to the citizens was aimed at addressing hunger which had triggered protests in some states.

Following the directive given on February 8, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, last Wednesday at a press conference in Abuja, said grains would be distributed free to poor Nigerians.

Kyari said, “This 42,000MT is going to the needy free of charge. It will be directly to the needy at no cost.” 

The minister said the grains would be released to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for onward distribution to Nigerians because the agency has the poverty index of the country.

“They know exactly where it is needed and they have a policy on how they transport and store it before it is distributed to the needy free.

“We have started working on that. We have already instructed NEMA to give us their work plan so that we can quickly go ahead and take possession of those stocks,” the minister said.

However, Daily Trust’s checks in many states showed that the grains were yet to be made available for distribution as of yesterday.

In Kano, grains had not been released to the state when our correspondent checked yesterday.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Food Security, Hajiya Aisha Muhammad Idris, said the state was ready to distribute food items as soon as they were released.

Our correspondent in Kwara State reports that the grains promised by the federal government had not been released to the state.

NEMA’s head of operations for Kwara and Niger states, Zainab Saidu, told Daily Trust yesterday that “NEMA is not in possession of any grains yet. If there were, they would have contacted us at the zonal office and delivered straight to us. But there is nothing like that yet. I have not heard from my headquarters on the issue and I believe they (federal government) have not released anything yet.” 

Kwara SEMA chairman, Moshood Magaji, also said: “We have not received any message on the issue and my office is not handling anything like distribution. I do not know of any distribution from the federal government.”

Reports from Taraba also indicated that no grains had been released to the state as there were no grains at the NEMA office in the state when our reporter visited yesterday.

The situation was the same in Gombe and Ogun states, as NEMA officials there said they were yet to receive grains from the federal government.

Reports from Niger, Oyo, Cross River, Benue, Bauchi, Yobe, Kogi, and Nasarawa states also indicated that the federal government had not released food items to them yet.

We’re waiting – NEMA hqtrs

At its headquarters in Abuja, NEMA said it was yet to receive the grains from the agriculture ministry for distribution to Nigerians.

Its head of Press and Public Relations Unit, Manzo Ezekiel, however, told Daily Trust yesterday that they were in talks with the agriculture ministry on the development.

He said as soon as the grains were handed over to the agency, distribution would commence.

Why there’s delay – Agric ministry

The Director of Information, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Joel Oruche, neither answered phone calls nor replied to a text message sent to him by Daily Trust for explanation on why the grains had not been released as promised.

But an official in the ministry, who spoke to Daily Trust, on condition of anonymity, attributed the delay to data authentication.

He said this was to avoid the mistakes made during the previous distribution of palliatives.

“The ministry has been holding several inter-agency meetings at various levels to make sure the grains reach the intended impoverished people rather than falling into the wrong hands,” he said.

The official said the grains were in silos located in different parts of the country.

He added that the logistics and security modalities had to be properly worked out to have a hitch-free distribution exercise across the country.

However, credible sources told Daily Trust yesterday that despite claims by government officials, there is not enough grain reserve in the country.

One of the sources said it is better for the government to tell the citizens the truth instead of making promises that would not be fulfilled.

Findings revealed that Nigeria has 33 silos with a total capacity of 1.3 million metric tons for its Strategic Grain Reserve (SGR) system.

However, about 19 of these silos were concessioned to the private sector for a number of years.

The ministry has not given details of what is available in the national strategic grains reserve silos, describing it as a national security issue.

Agric Minister Abubakar Kyari during a recent briefing at the Joint Senate Committee on the State of the Economy, insisted that Nigeria’s grain reserves were not empty.

“On the issue of food reserve, I think a question was asked: Are the grains available? I will say yes, the ones we are about to release are available,” he said.

Meanwhile, the United States has urged the federal government to invest in agriculture to address the food security challenges in the country.

The US Charge d’Affaires in Nigeria, David Greene, made the call yesterday at Ipao Ekiti, in Ikole Council Area of Ekiti State during a visit by the US Embassy to the 15,000-hectare Agbeyewa Farms. 

He urged leaders in Nigeria to harness the abundant arable lands, fertile soil and favourable weather endowments to provide food for Nigerians and for export. 

He said: “We are aware of the food security challenge and the post-harvest losses in Nigeria. With investments and leadership like this, I think the lives of a lot of Nigerians can be changed for the better.”

[DailyTrust]

Napoli captain, Giovanni Di Lorenzo has labelled Victor Osimhen “a champion” after the forward rescued a draw for the club against Barcelona on Wednesday night.

The Serie A champions held the Blaugrana to a 1-1 draw at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.

Robert Lewandowski gave the visitors the lead on the hour mark.

Osimhen, who was playing his first game for Napoli since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, equalised 15 minutes later.

It was the forward’s first goal in the UEFA Champions League this season.

“Osimhen is a champion and he returned with the right mindset. He will give us a hand, just as Simeone and Raspadori will, now the coach has a lot of options to choose from,” Di Lorenzo said after the game.

[DailyPost]

President Goodluck Jonathan in his independent message to Nigerians on the occasion of the nation’s 51st independence anniversary had on behalf of Nigerians thanked our founding fathers who “brought joy and hope to the hearts of our people  after six decades of colonial rule  by working together to  restore dignity and honour  to a multicultural and multilingual nation of diverse people with more than 250 distinct languages and ethnic groups”. This was achieved in spite of the initial lack of consensus on the national question with Nnamdi Azikiwe and his group canvassing for unitary system, Obafemi Awolowo and his Yoruba group insisting on federalism while Abubakar Tafawa Balewa  who believed  “Nigerian unity is a British invention” and Ahmadu Bello who expressed grief over  “the mistake of 1914” settled for confederacy.  But at the end, realizing their responsibility to those that look up to them for direction, these illustrious Nigerian pathfinders settled for a federal arrangement that allowed groups to develop at their own pace without interference from federating members.

Then came in January 1966, a bunch of criminals who like those “the gods want to destroy, they first made mad”, visited violence on themselves killing their best officers and their wives on their beds before descending on politicians – their benefactors who besides sending them for military training abroad set up military institutions for them at home. Forgetting that being the custodian of the nation’s constitution was a responsibility, they defied the constitutional provisions, imposed themselves as rulers and in a moment of madness turned a multicultural and multi-ethnic state into a unitary state. Six months later, a more vicious criminal group embarked on vengeance killing that eventually led to 33 months of civil war.

Most of those that have ruled our nation ever since have always behaved like outlaws. But General Ibrahim Babangida, the evil genius, who after a palace coup against his boss, hilariously called himself president stood out as the one that carried reign of brigandage to other institutions of society notably, the judiciary, the economy, the intellectual and the press on whose back he rode to power. It was Babangida’s Aso rock professor who fraudulently claimed political parties could be decreed. And it was they that undermined the nation’s political socialization process by assuring him he could ban old political parties which was like cutting the umbilical cord between a mother and his baby.

His economic wizards include Olu Falae and Kalu Idika Kalu who in spite of Nigerians’ round rejection of IMF loan and its conditionalities insisted there was no “alternative to Structural Adjustment Programme”, (SAP) which opened our nation to imported goods from any part of the world.

Driven by greed, unpatriotic Nigerians who secured import licences decided to flood the country with substandard goods and fake drugs that killed local manufacturing companies including, electronics, car accessories, textile, ceramics, pharmaceuticals etc. While thousands of Nigerians lost their jobs, criminals were buying land at N1billion per plot in Banana Island and other choice locations in Nigeria.

For the nation, it was double jeopardy. Under Babangida’s dubious commercialization policies, the federal military government divested government holdings in many otherwise thriving government enterprises. State Military Administrators were equally directed to sell off state-owned public enterprises. Thus, Ikeja Cocoa Industry (CIL) owned by the ODUA Group was sold by Yoruba military administrators for an amount less than the cost of land on which the thriving industry with all its equipment was built.

New set of criminals emerged in 1999 in form of military-baked ‘new breed’ politicians that followed in the footsteps of their creator who like military invaders, often loot conquered territories. It therefore did not come as a surprise that about 17 of 22 governors elected under PDP and ANPP between 1999 and 2007 were dragged to court by EFCC for financial malfeasance against the states they governed. National Assembly probe of Obasanjo’s ill-implemented privatization policy also confirmed Nigeria’s total investment of about $100b put together between 1959 and 1988 was sold to PDP stalwarts and their cronies for a paltry $1.5b.

Babangida’s economic wizards found parallel in Obasanjo’s Chukwuma Soludo and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. The banking crisis had its origins in the Soludo’s forced consolidation of the sector in 2005-2006. Like Olu Falae and Kalu Idika Kalu, Soludo, foreclosing a place for small banks in society went on with his program of consolidation and recapitalization which reduced the number of banks from about 90 in 2005 to 24 by 2006 and with 20 of them by end–2011, controlling ₦18.2 trillion assets and ₦12.5 trillion in deposit. The CBN also went on to inject ₦620 billion (about US$4.1 billion) of liquidity into the banking sector.

 By September 2011, the recapitalization of the intervened banks was completed with AMCON purchasing all the Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) of the intervened banks while the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) paid N16.18 billion for depositors in the 20 banks.

It soon became obvious the banking sector had been taken over by a new set of actors. The chief executives of the capitalized banks became too powerful and with too much money at their disposal, compromised everyone while those below also embarked on massive stealing including the alleged 2015 CBN collusion with officials of commercial banks to defraud the country of N8 billion through recirculation of defaced and mutilated currencies (Premium Times of May 31 2015.)

Of those fingered by Sanusi for tampering with depositors’ funds, it was only Cecelia Ibru who apart from forfeiting assets of N191.4 billion including 94 choice properties around the world, was jailed in October 8 2010 by Justice Dan Abutu for 18 months. Other accused criminals were never brought to justice.

With incompetent President Buhari, and compromised CBN Governor Emefiele who was recently indicted by a special investigator’s probe report for allocating more forex than applicant’s request, allocating forex to those who never even applied and of fraudulent cash withdrawal of about $2.9billion, it became obvious that the stars of the leading commercial banks that engaged forex round-tripping that allowed them to declare profit in trillions were men with feet of clay.

Criminals including those who committed treason, economic vampires, intellectual frauds, compromised journalists and sponsors of terrorists and bandits are well known to us but remain untouchable. Their response to the president’s appeal to their humanity in the interest of our beautiful country has yielded no fruit.

If the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, is trying to attribute the “twin challenges of poverty, insecurity and “the untold hardship” arising from unemployment and hunger” in the northern region” to the painful but necessary decision of Tinubu’s eight months administration while ignoring the over 200 years feudal system that today fuels war of resistance between marginalized Hausa farmers and their Fulani overlords; if importers of second hand clothes, substandard products including fake drugs that contributed to the collapse of local industries continue to sabotage government forex policies out of self-preservation, the president should be reminded that what he needs as an elected sovereign, is not moral  suasion but to borrow a leaf from Niccolo Machiavelli, (Italian statesman,1469-1572) the ‘arch apostle’ of naked force, who believes  for a state to “fulfil its function of promoting the common good and preserving justice”, morality has no place. If in line with Machiavelli, his Yoruba forbears spoke of ‘Afobaje l’Oba npa’, the fate of opponents of his policies is sealed.

Tinubu asked for the job. His hands are on the straw.  As an elected sovereign, there should be is no looking back.

Officials of the present administration do not seem to have any other platitude to offer Nigerians than appeal to them to just “endure.” When they mount any available pulpit to comment on the ongoing economic and social crises facing longsuffering and beleaguered citizens, their message hardly ever goes beyond preaching the gospel of endurance. The problems confronting the country have become so convoluted that there is no end in reasonable sight. Since no one can guarantee how and when this would shape out, the best they can offer is more bitter doses.

“Endure, endure, and endure,” they say, but it seems they forget that Nigerians have done nothing but endure. If people have started to cry and groan very loudly now, it is because their capacity to take pain has been overstretched. Even God, in his vindictive rage, did not visit the 10 plagues on Egypt at once.

In the past couple of weeks when the prices of goods and services have unprecedentedly been surging out of control, several emergency measures have been taken to combat the crisis of soaring inflation. From declaring a “war” on forex operators to raiding warehouses for “hoarded” food and several urgent (and contrasting) proclamations by state officials, it is clear that nobody thought through how our present situation was supposed to unfold. There was no clear plan for containing the fallouts from the outset, just the Nigerian tendency to wing things. We should have known that we would end up on Sorry Lane when the president stated that he was possessed by spirits when he pronounced, “subsidy is gone.”

Perhaps the conversations around endurance for the promise of greater glory would have been far different if at least two factors had been in place to reassure that there is a method within this madness. Number one would have been Bola Tinubu’s record of prudent economic management and demonstrated capacity for creative leadership. His paid media vuvuzelas would have you believe that he is the architect of modern Lagos, but they have never quite reckoned with how relatively easier it is to “develop” a city that had already established itself as a national economic base.

The real test of his managerial creativity would have been if he had taken on a poorer city like Osun or Ekiti and turned it into an economic centre. He has no such record, and even his supporters who willfully closed their eyes to that deficiency last year are now beginning to open them to the realisation that they are asking a man whose capabilities have never been truly tested to steer the country through hard times.

Second, it would have been helpful if those preaching forbearance could bring themselves to live what they preach. Apart from professional politicians like FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and Senate President Godswill Akapabio who asked people to be patient until the incoherent policies of their administration somehow begin to work out, even members of Tinubu’s immediate family deigned to contribute their voices from the lush palace of Aso Rock.

On Monday, his son, Seyi, also came out to urge Nigerians to endure the current economic difficulty saying, “We must endure if we are to reach the good side of our future.” Not to be outdone, Tinubu’s daughter jumped into the spotlight to also register her existence on the radar of Nigerians with the same message of endurance and patience. I understand when the president’s wife attends a public function and speaks about the nation’s challenges, but his children’s interventions are an overstep. What exactly do these nepo babies know about life that qualifies them to preach virtues to anyone? If you think enduring hardship is the solution to Nigeria’s problems, maybe you should demonstrate it by offloading some of the privileges Daddy got you.

The Tinubus are not the only ones giving the wrong social cues while pacifying the people growing restless. Former CBN governor and deposed Emir Lamido Sanusi added his voice to those seeking to exonerate Tinubu from the ongoing calamity by saying that, “For eight years, we were living a fake lifestyle with huge debt from foreign and domestic debts. The Central Bank of Nigeria owes over N30 trillion, which resulted in debt service surpassing 100 percent.” I think the problem with people like Sanusi—and this is me being generous—is that they confusedly assume the privileges they enjoy under various circumstances beyond their clique of state-sponsored moochers.

When Sanusi said, “We were living a fake lifestyle,” he should have clarified who exactly was included under that collective pronoun. When he was being driven around in a Rolls Royce as an Emir—a position that gulps massive economic resources and yet has zero economic value—did the millions of almajiri children wandering the streets of Kano and its environs join him in living that fake lifestyle? Nigerian leaders have this penchant for assuming a collective voice when it is time to share either pain or blame for a rotten situation. When they want to splurge on public resources, they see themselves as individuals who have earned the luxury.

Nigerians could be groaning from the agony of insecurity and leaders would still go ahead and budget $2.8bn for bulletproof vehicles for themselves. The same leaders will forewarn the whole country that hard times are ahead and people should be ready to endure, and in the same breath also announce the billions they would be budgeting for renovating their official palaces and procuring even more vehicles for the motorcades.

Times are hard, the times are hard, but they will still throw a birthday party inside a stadium and expend billions on international and domestic travel just to earn the attendant estacodes. The biggest and the most scandalous instances of wastage were perpetrated by the ruling class who had near unlimited access to public resources, yet without concomitant accountability. They do all these in broad daylight and somehow still manage to retain enough guts to tell the rest of us to endure to attain the promise of future glory.

But the question is, how much more should people have to endure? The story of our Nigerian lives has been about endless endurance and unrelenting faith in the possibility of a better future. Nigerians in the past welcomed military coups with a similar same sense of expectation of a new beginning as the Nigerians who now go to the polls. Everything we have done as a people has been in the hope that we would finally turn the corner from merely enduring and start living. Year after year, one leadership tenure after the other, the story has hardly changed. Our leaders do not deliver on their promises, but they expect us to hold up the social contract by being patient and forbearing.

You must have seen Senator Adams Oshiomhole doing the media rounds and now blaming the “eight reckless years of Buhari” for all the woes in the land. Up until last year, he consistently blamed all Nigeria’s problems on the “16 years of PDP.” Now that that excuse is no longer tenable, he shifts gears to blaming the Buhari’s locust years. Notice how, in laying the blame for the present darkness on the immediate past administration, he crookedly manages to avoid naming the party and instead opting for an individual? That is a man who has found a calling in manipulating public memory. By 2031, you can take it for granted that he would still be running from one media house to another to ask Nigerians to be “patient” or to “endure” because whoever is in power at that time still cannot solve the problems caused by the “16 years of APC” overnight. There will never be an end to their weaponisation of the virtue of endurance.

• Experts fault NAFEM intra-day rates, demand full disclosure, transparency

The naira gained marginally against the United States dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market on Tuesday, closing at N1,542.58/$ from N1,551/$ recorded on Tuesday.

The rate represents a 2.9 per cent appreciation from the N1,598.54 traded on Monday and a meagre 0.58 per cent against Tuesday’s rate.

According to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange-a platform that oversees FX trading in Nigeria-the local currency hit an all time intra-day high of N1,755 and an intra-day low of N1,050.

Also, the foreign exchange turnover increased to $172.14m from the $66.43m and $117.32m recorded on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

Banks sale of approximately $172m on Wednesday represents about 47 per cent increase from the $117m sold on Tuesday. While the sale of forex on the FMDQ is dominated by banks, the Central Bank of Nigeria and multinationals especially oil firms also participate in the sale and purchase of forex on the platform.

However, the Wednesday’s 1,542.58/dollar closing rate of the national currency at NAFEM further widened the gap between the official and paralleled market rates.

On Wednesday, the naira depreciated further to 1,900 against the dollar at the parallel market, bringing the gap between the official and black market rate to over N300 and fuelling concerns over round-tripping.

Analysts and Bureau De Change Operators predicted on Wednesday the local currency might reach all-time low of 2,000/dollar at the parallel market before the end of next week.

A BDC operator in Wuse, Abuja, identified as Abubakar Yahu, said the demand for the greenback was fuelling volatility.

He said, “Today’s rate was at N1,900. We bought at N1,900/dollar and sold  around N1,850 and N1,870. Some people say the rate may hit N2,000 by next week or before then.”

Also, A BDC operator in Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos, Mr Lawan Lawal, said the local currency was bought and sold at N1880/dollar and N1,860, respectively.

Another BDC operator at the Lagos airport, Mustafa Zakari, said the naira-dollar exchange rate had experienced high volatility at the parallel market in the past few weeks due to the activities of currency speculators.

On Wednesday, The PUNCH learnt that operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission stormed the Wuse Zone 4 market in search of currency speculators.

The development was part of ongoing efforts by the EFCC and the CBN to restore exchange rate stability and boost forex liquidity.

It was learnt the CBN and the EFCC, supported by the Office of the National Security Adviser were determined to deal with currency speculators whose activities had led to widening gap between the official and parallel market rates of the naira against the US dollar.

The Office of the NSA had in a statement on Tuesday said it was working with the central bank to tackle illicit financial activities.

The partnership, according to ONSA, will involve a coordinated effort with key law enforcement agencies, including the Nigeria Police force, EFCC, Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit.

However, it appears the efforts have yet to yield the expected results, as the naira continues to fluctuate at both forex markets.

 President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday said his administration was making efforts to raise at least $10bn to increase forex liquidity and stabilise the naira.

In June 2023, the Tinubu administration floated the naira. The CBN subsequently diirected commercial banks in Nigeria to sell forex freely at market-determined rates.

In a series of guidelines recently, the CBN ordered Deposit Money Banks to sell their excess dollar stock and maintain certain level of prudential thresholds. The moves were aimed at raising dollar liquidity in the market.

Last week, the apex bank released another set of guidelines that stopped banks from paying Personal Travel Allowance to their customers in dollars. it also asked International Oil Companies not to repatriate all their revenue to their parent companies at once. The apex bank, in another circular, reviewed its guidelines to stop under-invoicing of exports and over-invoicing of imports.

Despite the central bank’s efforts to boost forex supply through various policy interventions, challenges have persisted in the forex market.

Meanwhile, analysts and some stakeholders have faulted the intra-day rates at the official NAFEM, raising concerns over the huge gap between the intra-day high and intra-day low rates.

They said the huge gap between the intra-day rates indicated there was a need for more transparency and disclosure at NAFEM.

Chief Executive Officer of Cowry Treasurers Limited, Charles Sanni; and President of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators  of Nigeria, Aminu Gwadabe, spoke on the various challenges facing forex market especially NAFEM.

Gwadabe, while querying the huge gap between both rates, said there was a need to separate the ownership and structure of the FMDQ Exchange.

He said, “The gap between the intra-day high and intra-day low is too huge. There is also lack of adequate disclosure on who bought what and who sold what on the platform. There is a need to publish this on the FMDQ websites.

“However, my worry is that FMDQ is 90 per cent owned by the banks and 10 per cent owned by the CBN. The banks dominate the place. So, there is an issue here. How can we call this the official rate? I feel the government needs to set up a platform that would be fully independent.”

The ABCON president also wondered how a circular issued by the CBN led to the movement of rates on the FMDQ platform from N900/dollar to over 1,400/dollar.

Gwadabe explained, “This is unacceptable. The country needs patriotism. FMDQ needs to be more transparent, committees can be set up. There is exchange rate volatility which is driven by speculation and other activities.”

The Chief Executive Officer of Cowry Treasurers Limited, Charles Sanni, speaking with The PUNCH, however, said the wide gap between the intra-day trading rates of dollars at the official market was an abnormal situation driven by poor forex supply.

He said, “This shows that while the demand is there, the supply is not okay. That is what is responsible for it. It just speaks to the fact that there is a scarcity of foreign exchange. That is why traders would quote only one-way. It usually occurs in an abnormal situation.”

Efforts to get the CBN to comment on the development did not yield any result. Calls made to the Acting Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Hakama Sidi Ali, by our correspondent, was not responded to as of the time of filing this report.

However, according to top official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, the CBN does not publish the details of parties who bought and sold on the FMDQ platform.

[Punch]

Yakubu Gowon, former Nigerian head of state, says he did not turn down an invitation from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to intervene in the coups ravaging the region.

Gowon spoke on Wednesday after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja.

There were media reports that the former head of state turned down an invitation from the ministry of foreign affairs in collaboration with ECOWAS, to speak at a “press conference” at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.

Gowon was reportedly supposed to speak on the current state of affairs at the regional level, with regards to coups and subsequent threats by the Republic of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso to exit the bloc and likely proffer solutions.

“This is my first visit to Mr President since the inauguration but I was there at the inauguration to wish him well and all success,” the former head of state said.

“If you remember how busy he was after that visitors, members of government, various personalities, so it was not possible for me to be able to see him.

“After that time I had to travel abroad but from broad he was able to reach me on my birthday and after that interesting social media report that I was dead.

“But when I came back I made a number of efforts but unfortunately I think because of his busy programme it was not possible for me to see him.

“But luckily enough, this time he was able to give me the opportunity to see him and to discuss various matters especially the issue of the ECOWAS problem at the moment which I think needs to be resolved.

“And being the surviving leader, or founding fathers of the ECOWAS I think we had to discuss some of his plans in order to see what can be done to bring the matter under control.

“So, this is what has brought me here and we had a very interesting meeting and I’m sure some of you have read reports that I refused to attend ECOWAS conference isn’t it? Is it you that did that report? Who did that? You know, trying to give that impression that it was me who was probably trying to sort of sabotage ECOWAS.

“No, that is not the case. I think there was a miscommunication but then it gave the opportunity for Mr President to call me so that we can discuss what I was to do.”

Gowon said resolutions were made regarding the situation, adding that the messages would be passed across in due time.

[TheCable]

The Nigerian government has ordered internet service providers to block access to the websites and apps of major cryptocurrency trading platforms including Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken.

Authorities said the move aims to crack down on the alleged use of these platforms by currency speculators and money launderers to manipulate the foreign exchange market and facilitate illicit fund flows, further weakening the struggling Nigerian naira.

Sources at major telecommunication firms said they received directives from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Wednesday evening to implement the blockade of Binance, ForexTime, OctaFX, Crypto, FXTM, Coinbase, Kraken and others.

The action comes just days after the office of National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu vowed to tackle speculative activities threatening Nigeria’s economic stability. Officials expressed concerns that criminals were exploiting crypto platforms to funnel ransom payments and engage in forex rate manipulation.

Previously, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) declared operations of Binance Nigeria illegal as it lacked proper registration. However, Binance continued offering peer-to-peer trading services, drawing large volumes of transactions.

The naira recently hit record lows of 1,900 per dollar on parallel markets. The Tinubu administration is seeking urgent measures to halt the currency’s freefall, curb illicit financial activities, and stabilize the foreign exchange market.

The Department of State Services, DSS, has asked organised labour to shelve its planned nationwide protest over high cost of living and sundry issues in the country in the interest of peace.

But the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, yesterday dared the DSS to stop the protest, advising the secret police to face its of job providing credible intelligence to government on the devastating effect of the harsh economic policies.

It will be recalled that organised labour, had served the Federal Government a notice to embark on a twoday protest between February 27 and 28 to protest the hardship which arose from fuel subsidy removal and flotation of the naira by the present administration.

But reacting to the protest notice in a statement yesterday, the DSS said while it is the right of the labour movement to embark on protest, the body should not go ahead with it so as not to further jeopardise the prevailing situation in the country.

The statement signed by the DSS Director of Public Relations and Strategic Communications, Dr. Peter Afunanya, read: “While the Service recognises such action as the legitimate right of the labour movement, it, however, urges the body to shelve the plan in the interest of peace and public order.

‘Pursue dialogue instead’

“The DSS further calls on parties to pursue dialogue and negotiation rather than engaging in conduct that could heighten tensions. ‘’This is more so that the Service is aware that some elements are planning to use the opportunity of the protest to foment crisis and by extension, widespread violence. The development, without doubt, will worsen the socio-economic situation across the country.

“It is common knowledge that all levels of government are striving to ameliorate the prevailing economic condition and as such, should be given a benefit of the doubt. “So far, appropriate authorities are working assiduously with a spectrum of stakeholders to fashion out modalities to address the current difficulties. They should, therefore, be given the chance to handle the challenges at hand. “In this vein, citizens are encouraged to recognise that what remains unsolved in peace time, would not be attained in war-time. The timeless piece of the esteemed Poet, JP Clark, ‘The Casualties’ is a resonating reminder to us on the possible dangers of escalated conflicts.

In time of trouble, everyone will be a casualty. “Also, ongoing wars in the global scene is a stark reminder of their catastrophic repercussions on the affected countries’ domestic environments, thus the critical need to protect and maintain our internal stability and unity. “Those exploiting the fault lines in the country need to have a rethink as resort to negativities will endanger our peaceful coexistence with dire consequences. “Similarly, parents and guardians are implored to exert authority in guiding their children and wards from inimical acts capable of jeopardising public safety and harmony.

“Additionally, all sectors, including political parties, opposition groups, religious and traditional institutions, civil society and non-governmental bodies are called upon to eschew violence; demonstrate leadership and statesmanship in these challenging times.

“Making political capital out of the current situation or involving in divisive utterances at a time like this, will be of no benefit to any peace-loving Nigerian. Citizens are advised to be vigilant and not allow fifth columnists and hostile forces or agents use them to destabilise the peace of the nation. “The DSS stands opposed to violence as a means of settling our present day challenges, be they economic, political or otherwise.

“Accordingly, the Service will work with sister security and law enforcement agencies to ensure that lasting peace is maintained in the country.’’ However, countering the DSS yesterday, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has dared it to stop the protest, arguing that workers have the right to protest the hardship they had been subjected to by government policies.

JAF takes on DSS, reaffirms support for NLC

Similarly, the Joint Action Front, JAF, the umbrella body for pro-workers civil society organizations, CSOs, also expressed angst against DSS’ opposition to non-violent civil protest, saying such statement from the agency could only have emerged from security operatives being hoodwinked and directed by a failing regime desperate to cover up its apparent mismanagement of the country’s affairs. President of NLC, Joe Ajaero, said in a telephone interview: “DSS should have warned the Federal Government not to proceed with their anti-people policies. Anyway, we don’t know their reasons for such warnings but we are not deterred by such. “DSS should rather concentrate on providing credible intelligence to government on the devastating effect of the harsh economic policies.

We believe it is the only way for the DSS to be useful to Nigeria. “It is unfortunate that we only see DSS with their warnings when the poor start crying over the beatings and whippings from government, instead of warning the government to stop flogging the poor masses.” On his part, Secretary of JAF, Abiodun Aremu, said: “JAF deplores this unwarranted and reckless statement credited to have emerged from the DSS. ‘’Such an irresponsible statement could only have emerged from the security operatives being hoodwinked and directed by a failing regime that is desperate to cover up its apparent mismanagement, clueless and apparent lack of understanding of how to govern and manage the nation’s resources.

“The DSS should be warned to desist from its destabilising plot, aimed at the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, under the pretense of non-existence security report, but one manufactured by its own operatives. “At this period, in which the country is almost grinding to a halt and the regime has run out of ideas, a responsible security agency could have authored an independent assessment of the current realities of failures of the current regime and present it as it is, rather than keep chasing deception and falsehoods. “JAF reaffirms its support to the NLC in its resolve to call out workers on February 27 and 28 to protest the economic hardship.”

Vanguard News