A huge number of unconfirmed reports from the United States indicate that the CEO of Access Holdings Plc, Herbert Wigwe might have died in a helicopter crash near the California-Nevada border.

According to reports, the helicopter crashed on Friday night close to a border city between Nevad, killing five other people on board when it was en route to Las Vegas.

Unverified sources stated that Herbert Wigwe’s wife, Chizoba was also invloved in the mishap.

As of Saturday morning, according to the New York Times, no survivors had been found, according to the officials.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) disclosed that a helicopter crashed Friday night near Nipton, California, with six people on board.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that no survivor has been found as of Saturday morning.

The FAA identified the aircraft as a Eurocopter EC 130.

“We were made aware of a downed aircraft at approximately 10:12 p.m., on February 10, 2024. The scene of the crash was determined to be east of the 15-Freeway, near Halloran Springs Road,” the sheriff’s department said.

Meanwhile, no agency or investigation has reported the cause of the crash.

Vanguard News

The judgement of the Federal High Court in Lagos last week ordering the government to fix prices of some goods and services in seven days has triggered speculations that the government might be considering a reintroduction of price control. Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa specifically asked the federal government to determine the prices of milk, flour, salt, sugar, bicycles and their spare parts, motor vehicles and their spare parts and petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene. The order was contained in the judgement in a suit filed by Femi Falana against Price Control Board and the Attorney General of the Federation according to Section 4 of the Price Control Act of 2004. Falana had sued the Board and the AGF to fix prices of the items but the respondents did not file any defence. The court order has set off speculations that the government might undo its deregulation policy. But it should be noted that the court order was for the government to fix the prices of the mentioned items; it did not specify whether the fixed prices should be above or below market rates.

Price control, first used by the military regime of Gen. Obasanjo in the 1970s, is a government order that stipulates a maximum or minimum price to be charged for specified goods and services, especially during periods of war or high inflation, as we have today. Minimum price is called price floors while the maximums are price ceilings. But with the continued expansion and liberalization of the economy over the years, price control has become largely otiose, although the government is still fixing price floor for wages and salaries (minimum wage). In 2004, the Obasanjo administration reenacted the Price Control Act and set up Price Control Board. The law remained largely unknown and unheard of until Justice Lewis-Allogoa’s pronouncement last Wednesday. If the federal government had been diligent enough to enter a defence and argue against price fixing, the judge might have given a different order. I await the government’s next move, but for now, I caution that reintroducing price control would be counterproductive and difficult to enforce and, in addition, create unintended consequences.

Price control could lead to shortages of goods and services as producers become less incentivized to produce them at lower prices, and this may result in the emergence of black markets where the goods are sold at higher prices than the regulated prices. A good example is the foreign exchange market where black market has become a major determinant of reference prices. Another challenge is that price regulation could also result in reduced investments and innovation in some sectors as producers may be less motivated to make huge investments if they cannot raise prices to recoup their investments. This is one of the reasons that foreign investors shied away from investing in refineries in Nigeria. Regulated prices of refined products were considered major disincentives. Proliferation of fake products as genuine producers cannot produce at regulated prices is another problem of price control, and as I said earlier, price control could be very difficult and costly to enforce. Government will have to deploy regulators or ‘’mystery shoppers’’ to go from shop to shop to catch violators. Trust Nigerians, another set of extortionists and bribe takers would emerge. Every unemployed youth and motor park ‘agberos’ would want to enlist in the Price Brigade! I urge the government to abandon any idea of a return to price regulation.

The leading cause of inflation in the country is food inflation, and to address this problem, it is important to note that Nigeria is not suffering from shortages of food and basic commodities. In fact, our markets are still full of food items in large quantities. Rather, the problem is that people do not have money to buy the food they want in the required amount and quality. This is known as food insecurity. Our problem is not food shortage, but food insecurity. I should note that this is not developing countries’ problem alone. There are many cases of food-insecure households even in the US and some European countries, and they have devised many programs to check it. We should. First, there’s a strong need for employers to increase salaries of low-income earners in their organizations. It’s heartening that the federal government has started minimum wage discussions with the NLC. Second, state governments should establish some kind of food stamp programs in which governments buy basic items in large quantities and resell at reduced prices to the vulnerable members of the public. It was common in the 1970s and ‘80s in the old Cross River State and I am not surprised that Akwa Ibom State government is already planning to bring back the scheme. But the government should guard against possible abuse by light-fingered officials. Third, every household should be encouraged to grow own food crops, especially annuals (those crops that are grown and harvested under one year), and raise poultry. Every civil servant should be mandated to own a farm and Fridays should be declared work-free to enable them go their farms. This is an emergency.

Food insecurity and large-scale hunger in a large population such as our poses serious national security challenges. The outbreak of protests in some northern states last week where, incidentally, poverty is very pervasive should be an early warning signs that things may go out of hand.

Wigwe University…

An online video emerged last week alleging that Wigwe University would be charging school fees in dollars, and that each student would pay over $12,000 in tuition and sundry charges. Although I knew that this was a misleading allegation that could damage the reputation of the new institution, I promptly contacted its founder, Dr. Herbert Wigwe. He responded: ‘’This is not true. It is only foreign students that will pay in dollars. Nigerians will pay in Naira. This is clearly stated in the University’s website. No amount of mischief will derail us from contributing to the development of our country’’. All over the world, foreign students pay far higher fees than citizens of those countries. Since Wigwe University is planning to attract students from other countries, they should pay in dollars and the university will earn foreign exchange. But this is not new or unprecedented. I recall that there were some foreign students at UNN in those days (1970sn and 1980s) when our public universities were among the best in the world. University of Calabar was also full of Camerounian. In fact, Cameroun had to establish a consulate in Calabar to take care of the influx of its students into UNICAL. That era has long gone with the reduced funding and prolonged labour strikes. Now that our private universities in general and WU in particular are hoping to bring back the lost glory, we can only support them.

The dollarization of the economy has become a major problem, contributing to the weakening of the Naira and rampant inflation. The EFCC has announced that it is on the trail of culprits. But we should be careful not to make sweeping allegations against genuine citizens. The Herbert Wigwe I know will never flout the law.

In its renewed bid to support sports tourism in Nigeria and Africa as a whole, the Project Fly with Us Afrika has unveiled the  Face of Africa Sports and Tourism Awards ASTA. This was done at Sofitel Hotel Ivoire, Cote Divoire.

Project Fly with Us Afrika began operation in 2022 with Destination Travels and Tours, recently it became more focused on Sports tourism, recognising and appreciating those who have carved a niche for themselves in the sporting world either as professionals, organisers or ardent supporters of sports and tourism in Africa.

According to the brain behind the Project Fly Afrika initiative, Ambassador Peace Onuiri, the ASTA awards currently taking place in Cote D'Ivoire is the first of its kind and slating to hold during the AFCON 23 football tournament.

He said, this is to show that the organisation is passionate about projecting the impact of sport tourism and rekindling the love of sports, whilst promoting sport and tourism destinations in Africa 

Amb. Onuiri informed that  during the ongoing Africa Cup of nations, the organisation had so far presented awards of Honours to the Nigeria Football Association, (NFF), President, Ibrahim Musa Gusau and  Africa Football Legend, Austin 'Jay Jay' Okocha for their indelible contributions to the growth and development of Soccer in Nigeria and Africa, noting that the recipients also won 2 tickets each for a luxurious tour of East Africa Safari, coming up in few weeks. 

Amb. Onuiri further revealed that  logistics arrangements were also made for those flying to Cote D'Ivoire to cheer the Nigerian Super Eagles to victory in form of round trip flights, luxurious accommodations, guranteed tickets for up-close match experience, as well as guided tours to immerse guest in the whole local atmosphere of the city. 

She noted that it was not just about the match experience but a celebration of culture, camaraderie laced with unforgettable moments to be cherished for long afterwards. 

Amb. Onuiri implored well meaning individuals and corporate bodies to key into the initiative by supporting in any possible way, saying it would not only promote the industry but also go a long way in promoting Nigeria as the 'Giant of Africa' where sporting and tourism activities are concerned.

L-R: Boluwaji Matthews of Oyo State Broadcasting Corporation, Ayo Ibidapo of the NFF media, Austin 'Jay Jay' Okocha, former Super Eagles Striker, Ambassador Peace Onuiri of the Project Fly with Us Afrika and other members of her Media team during the Presentation of the Face of Africa Sports and Tourism Awards ASTA to Okocha at the ongoing 2024 African Cup of Nations in Cote D'Ivoire.

In its renewed bid to support sports tourism in Nigeria and Africa as a whole, the Project Fly with Us Afrika has unveiled the  Face of Africa Sports and Tourism Awards ASTA. This was done at Sofitel Hotel Ivoire, Cote Divoire.

Project Fly with Us Afrika began operation in 2022 with Destination Travels and Tours, recently it became more focused on Sports tourism, recognising and appreciating those who have carved a niche for themselves in the sporting world either as professionals, organisers or ardent supporters of sports and tourism in Africa.

According to the brain behind the Project Fly Afrika initiative, Ambassador Peace Onuiri, the ASTA awards currently taking place in Cote D'Ivoire is the first of its kind and slating to hold during the AFCON 23 football tournament.

He said, this is to show that the organisation is passionate about projecting the impact of sport tourism and rekindling the love of sports, whilst promoting sport and tourism destinations in Africa 

Amb. Onuiri informed that  during the ongoing Africa Cup of nations, the organisation had so far presented awards of Honours to the Nigeria Football Association, (NFF), President, Ibrahim Musa Gusau and  Africa Football Legend, Austin 'Jay Jay' Okocha for their indelible contributions to the growth and development of Soccer in Nigeria and Africa, noting that the recipients also won 2 tickets each for a luxurious tour of East Africa Safari, coming up in few weeks. 

Amb. Onuiri further revealed that  logistics arrangements were also made for those flying to Cote D'Ivoire to cheer the Nigerian Super Eagles to victory in form of round trip flights, luxurious accommodations, guranteed tickets for up-close match experience, as well as guided tours to immerse guest in the whole local atmosphere of the city. 

She noted that it was not just about the match experience but a celebration of culture, camaraderie laced with unforgettable moments to be cherished for long afterwards. 

Amb. Onuiri implored well meaning individuals and corporate bodies to key into the initiative by supporting in any possible way, saying it would not only promote the industry but also go a long way in promoting Nigeria as the 'Giant of Africa' where sporting and tourism activities are concerned.

L-R: Boluwaji Matthews of Oyo State Broadcasting Corporation, Ayo Ibidapo of the NFF media, Austin 'Jay Jay' Okocha, former Super Eagles Striker, Ambassador Peace Onuiri of the Project Fly with Us Afrika and other members of her Media team during the Presentation of the Face of Africa Sports and Tourism Awards ASTA to Okocha at the ongoing 2024 African Cup of Nations in Cote D'Ivoire.

Dear Mr, Festus Keyamo, 

Our epistle is today addressed to you as a contact point because our object of reflection is aviation, in reality though, the content of our considerations affects all of us citizens, operators, regulators and consumers of the aviation sector of Nigeria. They are considerations about a sector that was conceived to make all fly but in Nigeria it has the knack of making the most prominent drown. 

I invite you to think of and read about the rise and fall of many Nigerian airlines and allied companies in the sector to get a feel of the gist here. 

Let us start from the personal. Well over two decades ago, my son who is now a computer scientist but seems more interested in making money than computerising the world, expressed a desire to become a pilot, and many in my family expressed their concerns about the dangers of flying and the concern each of his flight would give the family. 

Amazingly, my late papa, an economist turned accountant and practicing auditor who had spent over four decades in aviation, simply quipped that “the real endangerments in aviation come from the offices and management not in the sky…”. He was a man that firmly believed that “accidents in aviation are planned and achieved via bad management and negligence of the rules of aviation”. 

Whilst still on a personal note, let me invite you, Honourable Minister, to consider that the most noticeable of your predecessors in the ministry of aviation you head today are noted in the industry not for their contributions but for their troubles with the law. Messer Femi Fani-Kayode and Stella Odua are two names that should suffice to making this point clear to all within and beyond the aviation community. 

Your immediate predecessor has not disappointed those expecting the wings of aviation to drown many. Former Minister Hadi Sirika is a man who lately tweets about Islamic teaching, in Hausa, and copiously quotes the Quran. Before then however, he was a man who about 20 days before leaving office got the Federal Executive Council to approve over half a million dollars for the engagement of consultants for the master plan of airports, then about three days before leaving office he launched an airline that had no plane and Air Operator Certificate to operate. 

Like the children of his generation that believe that packaging is everything and that the “why” trumps the “what”, the then minister and his team hurriedly arranged an Ethiopian Airlines plane draped with the logo of “Nigeria Air”, and made it fly to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, a few hours to the end of his tenure in office. The logo of “Nigeria Air” was first unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show in the United Kingdom, we were told then that the project was expected to cost $8.8 million in preliminary cost and $300 million as take-off cost.

Readers of this page will remember me saying that the “Nigeria Air” so dear to the minister was “conceived on PowerPoint, presented in PDF and will die on twitter”. The project was suspended two months later….

When the “Nigeria Air” fantasy reared its head, or shall we say logo, again in May 2023, we, on this page, called for an independent public inquiry that will allow all those involved and interested to give and get a clear, detailed and final understanding of the process, negotiations, partnerships, expenses, and parties involved in the “Nigeria Air” project. It is now close to a year since then and we are still waiting. 

As if to respect the tradition of notable ministers of aviation in Nigeria, former Minister Hadi Sirika has returned to people’s mind because the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is having conversations with his brother over contracts awarded by aviation ministry and have frozen an account with over N8 billion, please note that given the rate of the naira to the dollar when the money got into the account, the frozen funds must have been nothing less than 10 million dollars then. The former minister’s brother is a deputy director in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.

As citizens respectful of the law, we must assume all are innocent until proven guilty and we must give the minister and his brother the space and the right to explain and defend themselves in a clear, detailed and final way on why a civil servant will be getting millions of dollars worth of contracts awarded by a ministry headed by his own brother, what happened to the contracts and the source of the money in the account. All those are criminal matters and we can leave such to the EFCC and the courts to deal with. 

We must however remind the operatives of the EFCC from investigators to prosecutors to make sure they have a clear, tight and convincing case. Sensationalism will lead us nowhere, what we desperately need are more looted funds refunded and paths to future looting blocked. 

The rest of us however need to look at the political, institutional and financial elements of the aviation industry. You, Hon Minister, need to call and promise yourself not to follow the tradition of the noted ones that came before you, yes, a promise to be good is not enough but it gives you a vision to follow. Operators in the aviation sector need to find a way to ensure that no one is allowed to abuse office, disrupt plans and hinder the many progress that the aviation industry can bring to our economy and country. 

No minister can manage or mismanage the aviation sector alone, those around the office of the former minister too should be looked at and those around the current minister should look at themselves.

Outside government, operators in the private sector need to find their voices, before that, they even need to discover or rediscover their worth and consequence in the country’s economy as a whole and in the aviation sector in particular. A well organised, invested, committed and self-regulated private sector that strives for excellence can and should take the lead in aviation, treat regulators as guests not as owners, so that the wings of aviation will make all fly not drown. 

Join me on Twitter: @anthonykila, to continue these conversations. 

The new Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has, so far, demonstrated a hands-on determination to make a difference regarding the fate and fortunes of the Naira. The forces arrayed against him and his team include the following: (1) A volatile and economically insensitive political environment, (2) Elite consumption patterns, (3) Overall low national productivity, (4) Limited public understanding of the difference between fiscal and monetary policy issues, (5) Incredibly high demand for the dollar and, very importantly, (6) The new-found use of the dollar as a major Store of Value.

The points I made on this page on November 15, 2021, Under the title “What the CBN Cannot Do” are even more poignant today, as the new leadership of the bank grapples with great odds today. Those points are so relevant, and so painfully responsible for the crisises of the moment that the article under reference will be reproduced in large measure here; so that Cardoso does not draw undeserved flack for the systemic, contrived and institutionalized shadowboxing that has taken over the profile of our national currency. Here we go, as was said here two years ago.

“The CBN cannot do much about the value of the Naira, for as long as we produce very little, consume much that is not produced here and retain a monocultural economy that is driven by a leadership elite that focuses on distribution and consumption, rather than production. The calls for diversification of the economy have been on for over two decades now. These calls have been so strident, repetitive, and over-dramatised by successive government. That is why, today, the concept has become all but threadbare, tiring, boring and of little interest to many people.

Yet the point remains, that only the diversification of the economy, redemption of our national road infrastructure, reversal of the current state of insecurity in the land, rescuing the power sector, making realistic and sustainable investments in education and health, among other critical interventions, can save the national currency, the national economy and the people.

Looking at some of the issues in detail, it is a matter of record that general insecurity and banditry have been undermining the massive national investments in agriculture for years now. Banditry has laid waste massive farmlands, reduced farmers’ access to their farms and their farm produce, in addition to outrightly wiping out or chasing away large farming communities. When financial outflows into the agricultural sector do not yield the expected returns due to insecurity, the projected gains in terms of food availability, food security and forex earnings from food exports go up in smoke.

Thus a “silo” conversation on diversification of the national economy, especially with agriculture in focus, which does not also simultaneously address insecurity and national road and transport infrastructure is an exercise in self-delusion. You do not drive foreign exchange earnings by designing wonderful projections and making speeches about them in airconditioned halls, when farmers cannot go to their farms.

It is the same thing, that is, misplaced priorities and wrong leadership orientation, when many states of the federation mistake investments in health and education infrastructure for actual investments in “education” and “health services.” They need to be told that brand-new health centres, schools, new classroom blocks and massive stockpiling of teaching equipment are procurement contracts. They do not translate into investment in health and education unless, and until, these states also have commensurate and possibly higher investments in health workers, teacher recruitment, teacher skills upgrade, training of new teachers and retraining of old teachers.

An investor who spends money setting up new baking ovens and launching them is not a baker. Bakeries produce and deliver edible bread. So, state governments that are awarding construction contracts, importing furnishing material for new public and private facilities, have no idea of how much damage they are doing to their states and to the national economy. They are not offering needed health services or producing the needed human capital for development. When misapplied funds are retired under the heading “investment in health” or “education and human capital development,” the people and Nigeria are swindled. But we are digressing.”

The foregoing, which was said over two years ago, reads like it was written for the first time this morning. The reason it sounds so fresh is simple: Nothing has changed. The problems  are still the same today.

The article under reference continued thus. “That the value of the naira continues to plummet, as I write, is not the work of the devil; no! That many big and small businesses have lost value and shut down, is because of high replacement cost for goods sold out and their inability to obtain long-term facilities that would make sense in a Third World economy.

To understand the “replacement cost” narrative, let us suppose that you sell bicycles. If you buy fifty bicycles at twenty thousand Naira each, that would mean that you spent one million naira to stock up your shop. If you sell the bicycles at twenty-five thousand naira each, it will mean that you have made a profit of two hundred and fifty thousand Naira on your current batch of bicycles. It is up to you, whether to keep aside your profit of two hundred and fifty thousand naira, or buy more bicycles; after removing other costs. Whichever way you look at it, or whatever you decide to do, you have enough money to “replace” the bicycles you sold.

Now imagine what would happen if, after selling your 50 bicycles you discover that the price of bicycles has jumped from twenty thousand naira apiece, to N50,000 apiece! That is a 150 per cent increase in bicycle prices. This means that, all of a sudden, you will now need N2.5 million to buy the same number of bicycles! It also means that your “replacement cost” has moved up astronomically. If you do not have the new replacement cost, and your original business capital can only get you twenty bicycles, your business has lost value by a whopping percentage.

Which means that 80 per cent of the shop space may not be needed anymore. Which means that at least 50 per cent of you workforce may have to be laid off. Which means that property rate for shops, and related, real estate will drop at the same time that young traders are becoming jobless and declining income is becoming the norm. Which means that some parents won’t be able to pay school fees, etc., etc. Which then further means that most sellers who still have some old stock will do “anticipatory” mark-up, because of the difference between their original “procurement cost” and the new replacement cost.

That is the reality of the Nigerian wholesale and retail trade economy and situation today. This is in addition to the fact that more is being imported from outside than what we are sending outside for sale. But assuming that, by some as-yet-unknown magic, the CBN grabs the naira by the neck and yanks it back to one dollar to one naira, what then? Will this increase national productivity, diversify the economy, or remove the fact that the problem is much broader than the CBN as such? Will it remove the fact that our foreign exchange problems are connected with our taste patterns, limited productivity, elite excesses and poor integrated national planning? With agriculture, education, health, power, tourism and security in the doldrums as major national challenges, we cannot save ourselves from the avoidable foreign exchange constraints the nation is saddled with at the moment.

A nation with a predominantly consumption-drive economy cannot suddenly catapult itself into the Neverland of foreign exchange El Dorado. You make money from what you produce and sell, or from what you can do and be paid for. You also buy with what you have earned from either goods or services you offered. You get paid nothing when you produce nothing. You spend more than you earn when you produce and sell far less than you buy. The person who produces nothing and earns nothing, but buys a lot, must be getting the money for his purchases from somewhere. If in addition to producing nothing, the person also has some savings, then he must be depleting his savings. But what if this person also has no savings, in addition to producing nothing, that means he must be borrowing. And to borrow is to get credit for present needs, with payment deferred to a future date, right? Well, that is our lot in Nigeria today. And we are still borrowing!

The Igbo man will tell you that you do not borrow money in order to take the Ozo title, or to marry a wife. If you borrow for either of these endeavours, how about maintenance – and other matters arising? But we are digressing, again!

It is largely because we are consuming more than we are producing, and also buying more than we are selling, that the speculation for “phoney money” and profits without productivity have overrun the land. Thus arises the predicament of nations and individuals with “unbalanced” market profile and appetites. Thus also stands the crisis of the Nigerian state and economy today, in bold relief. Thus also shall it remain, no matter the ingenuity and efforts of its central monetary and fiscal regulatory mechanisms, until the right things are done.

Truth be told, our monocultural economy, or overdependence on one major source of foreign exchange revenue, is a drawback that can only be remedied by real diversification of the economy. We are yet to see the alleged gains, or the promised food sufficiency, of the tenure or Adesina as Minister of Agriculture, or the food exports of Audu Ogbe’s intervention.

Are we producing enough to save the Nigerian economy? Is our foreign exchange capacity not constrained because we are not producing, or exporting enough? What is the impact of our energy problems on overall national productivity? If I must buy an industrial generating set in order to set up a big business outfit, and a pepper grinder must also do the same in order to be in business, will the demand for generating sets of all makes and sizes not remain? And will this not mean a continuous demand for forex by importers to buy generating sets from outside the country? And what do you expect when the outflow for all sorts of things, including furniture and kitchen napkins, is not only higher but continues to rise even as the inflow is smaller than the outflow and also dwindling?

As a farmer trying to water and nurture the naira, the CBN “alone” cannot rescue a currency that is surrounded by thorns, dangerous weevils and inclement weather.”

With the above coming from my intervention of two years ago, I conclude today by pointing out that Cardoso is no magician. The man is swimming in very turbulent waters. Besides policy support, he needs resolute political backup as he takes the necessary hard decisions. And take them he must.