A Federal lawmaker representing Maru/Bungudu Federal Constituency in Zamfara state, Abdul Malik Zubairu, has married off 105 girls.

The girls are orphans whose parents were killed by bandits.

The occasion, which took place on Saturday in Bungudu town, the headquarters of Bungudu Local Government Area of Zamfara State, was graced by prominent personalities both within and outside the state.

Both the brides and the bridegroom were gorgeously dressed during the event which attracted the attention of thousands of people who attended the occasion.

The lawmaker gave the couples beds and bedding materials in addition to ₦10.5 million paid as dowry for 105 brides.

Zubairu also provided the sum of ₦100,000 for each of the 105 bridegrooms and ₦50,000 to each of the 105 grooms to enable them to start a business of their choice.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has responded after popular businessman, Ismaila Mustapha, commonly known as Mompha, called them out as a “useless” and corrupt organization.

Recall that this response comes in the wake of the EFCC’s claims that a colossal sum of N35 billion was discovered in his bank accounts.

Mompha, facing a money laundering case brought by the EFCC, in a post via Instagram wrote, “The most useless and corrupt Nigeria government agency @officialefcc.”

However, the EFCC, in a statement by the Head of Media & Publicity, Dele Oyewale, challenged Mompha to show proof that they are corrupt.

The statement read, “The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has been drawn to the malicious and unsubstantiated statement made by the embattled Ismaila Mustapha, (a.k.a Mompha) alleging coruption by operatives of the Commission.

“The claim, coming from an accused in a criminal trial for conspiracy to launder funds obtained through unlawful activity, retention of proceeds of criminal activities, failure to disclose assets and property, ought to be ignored as the rantings of a sinking defendant. But his claims strike at the heart of the Commission’s most prized value – integrity and must be challenged.

“The Commission is alarmed that the accused will abandon the platform offered by the court to launch a media war against it through spurious claims. If he believes that raising phantom accusations against the Commission will sacre it from diligently prosecuting his case, he is mistaken as no amount of scaremongering will deter the Commission from pursuing the case to logical conclusion

“While Mompha may just be a drowning man clutching at any straw owing to the overwhelming evidence of his involvement in the money laundering case, his unsubstantiated claims against the EFCC is an issue the Commission is taking seriously.

“To this end, the Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede has directed that Mompha be invited to bring clasping evidence of any issue of corruption against any staff of the Commission. Besides, the socialite should also justify his labeling of the EFCC as a “useless agency” with evidential proofs.

“As a responsible law enforcement agency, the EFCC would not sit back and allow libelous effusions against its reputation go unchallenged. Mompha, to all intents and purposes, cannot be expected to paint the EFCC in bright colours owing to the professional ways officers of the Commission are handling his matter. The EFCC would not be distracted in plying its job by antics of traducers like Mompha.

“The general public is, therefore, advised to ignore his ranting. Mompha should rather face his prosecution before a court of competent jurisdiction.”

Olubukola Akinwumi, a Deputy Director at the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, on Friday explained how Nigerians trading on Binance Holdings Limited’s platform use false names in the transactions.

Mr Olubukola, who is the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC’s 2nd prosecution witness (PW-2) in the ongoing trial of Binance and its executive, Tigran Gambaryan, told Justice Emeka Nwite of a Federal High Court, Abuja, while giving his testimony.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the EFCC had filed a five-count charge against Binance and Gambaryan (1st and 2nd defendants) bordering on money laundering offences.

The anti-graft agency had accused Binance and Gambaryan of money laundering involving $35.4 million.

Besides, the company was under suspicion of alleged terrorism financing.

Led in evidence by EFCC’s lawyer, Ekele Iheanacho, on Friday, Akinwumi, who heads the Payment Policy and Regulation Division in the Payments System Management Department of CBN, said the apex bank did not issue any licence to the cryptocurrency firm to operate in Nigeria.

“In the course of carrying out our operations, we normally monitor development within the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission); monitoring the activities of payment service providers and the usage of the payment system.

“We observed in doing that that Binance provides a trading platform where users trade virtual assets.

“And to consummate their transactions for the purpose of settlement of payments, the users make use of the payment system for the purpose of transfering or making payment to one another.

“These traders normally trade in pseudo names (pseudonyms) that hide their identities and they are not authorised by the CBN,” he said.

The PW-2 described virtual assets as “digital representation of values created by computer system which can be digitally traded, transferred or use in payments.”

He said they discovered that users of the platform received and made payments or transferred payments to one another using the payment system to consummate transactions on Binance Peer to Peer (P2P) platform.

“Binance Platform provides a trading place or market place for traders and users of virtual assets, otherwise known as cryptocurrency.

“The platform also provides other services like electronic wallet, fiat wallet, publishing of exchange rate, etc,” he told the court.

Asked where the activities of Binance are carried out, Akinwumi said its “activities are conducted on its website; binance.com and through its mobile apps (applications).

“They have two variations of Binance Apps; Binance Pro or Binnace Lite.”

Asked what P2P means, the witness said: “P2P means Peer to Peer, and for basic translation, it can also mean person to person.

“What that means is that if a particular user does not want to trade with the platform but rather will like to trade with another user, P2P is a service that brings such two users as described to engage each other in transacting for the purpose of buying or selling virtual asset, cryptocurrency and fiat directly between the two users.

“This is done by quoting rates with offers to sell or buy at the quoted rate.

“The P2P Platform of Binance provides such service to such two users to come to an agreement on such trade.

“Once such understanding for the trade is reached by the two users on Binance platform, the selling party will provide a bank account to which the buying party can send the naira amount or transfer into the account provided by the selling party.

“Once the buying party transferred the amount agreed, he clicks on a particular icon on Binance platform to communicate the fiat that he has transferred the amount to the selling party.

“The Binance platform will, on the side of the selling party, awaits confirmation based on which it will release the cryptocurrency or fiat currency traded on the platform.

“So the Binance platform facilitates all the processes or P2P transaction as I have just enumerated, either using Nigerian bank account already stored by users on Binance platform and or the naira wallet account , provided by Binance platform.”

Submission of certified true copies of documents made available to SEC by Binance which was equally made available to the investigating team at the office of the National Security Adviser, and pages generated on the firm’s website were tendered in evidence and marked as Exhibits 8 and 9 by the judge.

Taking the witness through Exhibit 8 and 9, Iheanacho asked him to tell the court more about the nature of the transactions.

Akinwumi said Page 2 of Exhibit 8 introduced Binance as the world’s leading crypto exchange with users from over 190 countries.

“They have on the page, the address of the website in full which is www.binance.com.

“Binance has what is called Binance Academy. That is on page 16 of Exhibit 8.

“Some of the videos will be on their YouTube platform which they use in educating those who are interested in the services that they provide,” he said.

The PW-2 said the firm equally has Binance coins and that on its website, it gives the description of the coin as “NGN” (Naira).

“On page 21 of Exhibit 8, it listed the ways to use Binance coin,” he added.

Akinwumi said on Page 9 of Exhibit 9, there is an information which reads: “Depositing and withdrawing NGN (Naira) on Binance via cash link; it is swift and simple.”

The witness, however, explained that depositing and withdrawing Naira which “NGN” stands for, is a regulated activity carried out by banks and other financial institutions duly registered by CBN.

He said another information on Exhibit 9 reads: “To help Binance users in Nigeria understand this Fiat Gateway, Binance has been holding various events such as the Binance Cash Link, Live Master Class to educate users on cash link and why it is an excellent method of deposit and withdrawal on the Binance platform.”

“Generally, Exhibit 9 explains to Nigerians on how to deposit Naira on the Nigerians wallet on the Binance platform.”

He said there is a statement on a page which says though “Binance does not charge deposit fees,” he said next to the statement, there is another message which says: “for each withdrawal, a flat fee is paid by users to cover the transaction cost of moving the cryptocurrency out of their Binance account.

“So as I explained earlier, Binance maintains accounts and it needs revenue for its services

“On Page 2 of Exhibit 9, under the Fiat Section, it shows the rates that are applied for regular users.”

After concluding given his evidence, Justice Nwite adjourned the matter until July 16 for cross-examination of PW-2.

Abia State Governor Dr Alex otti will on Thursday, launch the Abia State Cooperatives Support Scheme through which an estimated 10, 000 men, women and young people running different micro and small scale businesses in their various communities will benefit from a revolving interest-free loan programme initiated and promoted by the State Government.

Beneficiaries are members of registered community cooperative groups with clearly defined businesses interests that are relevant within their communities.

In the selection of the present batch of beneficiaries, priority was given to women and young people with established micro and small scale businesses in sectors such as agriculture, food and consumables, petty trading, and local crafts, amongst others.

The process is managed by the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Cooperatives, Ishmael Onuoha, working very closely with the relevant community stakeholders across the 184 wards in the State- including elected and appointed officials from various parts of the State.

Beneficiaries will be required to repay the loan at no interests within a defined period so that other members within the community cooperatives structure can also benefit as the programme is designed as a revolving loan scheme.

Through this initiative, the Dr. Alex Otti administration is working to enhance business consciousness amongst the people at the grassroots by providing support to those who already have something they are doing but would do better through improved access to funds.

The initiative will help revive many micro and small scale businesses that have shut down in the various communities on account of economic difficulties, and peculiar circumstances.

Importantly, this effort will also support the people at the grassroots to fend for themselves through the proceeds of their businesses, enhancing their productive abilities and opening for them, the doors of bigger opportunities.

Some bandits in large numbers on Saturday night invaded Dahjonu Community in Millennium City of Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State and abducted two journalists -The Nation’s Abdulgafar Alabelewe and Blueprint newspaper’s AbdulRaheem Abdu as well as their wives and children.

Alabelewe is also the current chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Kaduna State Council.

One of the victims’ family member, Taofeeq Olayemi, who confirmed the incident, said the bandits invaded the area around 10:30pm and shot indiscriminately before carrying out their dastardly act.

Olayemi said the bandits kidnapped Alabelewe, his wife and two of his children while Aodu and his wife who was also sick were kidnapped, leaving behind their sick daughter.

He said, “Initially, they picked Abdulgafar,his wife and three of his children and a girl staying with them before asking the girl to return back with one of the children and left with Abdulgafar, his wife and two children.

“They shattered their doors, windows and removed their burglary after scaling the fence.”

Olayemi, who is also a neighbour to the victims, added, “they came around 10:30pm on Saturday night and started shooting sporadically. They first bursted Aodu’s door open and picked him and his wife and left their sick daughter behind.

“Then, they entered Abdulgafar’s house through the fence and jumped into his house. They went straight into his bedroom and picked him, his wife and two of their kids and left immediately, after which the vigilantes arrived and started shooting into the air.”

As of the time of filing this report, the State Command’s Police Public Relations Officer, Mansir Hassan, ASP, could not be reached because his telephone was not connecting.

The All Progressives Congress has expressed conviction that President Bola Tinubu will be re-elected in 2027 despite the economic hardship and planned alliance between mega opposition parties.

The lingering economic hardship resulting from ongoing reforms such as fuel subsidy removal and floating of the naira has given rise to palpable fear that Nigerians may vote out Tinubu in 2027.

But the Deputy National Organising Secretary of the ruling party, Nze Chidi Duru, in an interview with Sunday PUNCH, said the ongoing reforms had to come into play to steady the sinking ship of the economy.

He said, “Our party has always recognised the fact that the current challenging economic environment has not in any way got better. When Mr President took over, he asked Nigerians not to pity him. It is an office that he craved and worked hard for before offering himself to provide leadership to Nigeria.

 “What gives confidence is that Mr President is very much aware of the expectations of the person on the street. The minimum expectation will be that they need to be comfortable. So, the discussion around 2027 (election) is not out of place. In the life of a country, four years is like yesterday.

“Let me say every political office holder or politician knows that the first date in office is key because the citizens who elected you into office and those who did not elect you will begin to track your performance as a result of that. They can then decide whether or not to re-elect you.

“Concerning whether we will be re-elected, as a democrat and my personal view, we have always canvassed that unless His Excellency President Bola Tinubu will not contest, the APC government is bound to be represented by our candidate in 2027 to fly the flag for the simple reason that I want to bring up. And, of course, there is the incumbency factor.”

Uruguay beat Brazil on penalties (4-2) to reach the semi-finals of Copa America after an ugly game ended goalless on Saturday.

Uruguay, who finished the game with 10 men after Nahitan Nandez was sent off in the 74th minute, will face Colombia in Charlotte, North Carolina, in their semi-final on Wednesday.

Colombia, now unbeaten in 27 games, beat Panama 5-0 in Saturday’s other quarter-final earlier in Arizona.

The other semi-final, in New Jersey on Tuesday, will see world champions Argentina face surprise package Canada.

For five-times world champions Brazil it was a disappointing early end to a tournament in which they never truly clicked, and a lot of work remains to be done if Dorival Junior’s team are to be in shape to compete for the title in the 2026 World Cup.

In a city better known for boxing than for the beautiful game, it was a bruising contest with little quality play and a tournament high 41 fouls.

A poor quality playing field hardly helped with both teams struggling to produce their best football on an uneven surface.

The first – and best – chance of a game of few opportunities came in the 35th minute when Uruguay striker Darwin Nunez had a clear header in front of goal but mis-timed his effort which flew wide off his shoulder.

Within moments, Brazil created an opening of their own with Raphinha breaking clear, but Uruguay keeper Sergio Rochet stayed tall and made a vital save.

Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay were as tenacious as always, harrying Brazil in midfield and never afraid to interrupt their flow with a foul.

Brazil resorted too often to long balls forward but with only their 17-year-old talent Endrick, in for the suspended Vinicius Junior, as a central striker they lacked the physical presence to make that approach effective.

The game deteriorated the longer it went on with foul after foul, not deterred by lenient refereeing.

But Uruguay’s hopes of wearing Brazil down were dealt a blow when Nandez hacked down Rodrygo with a dangerous slide into his ankle and after a VAR review the defender was sent off.

From then on it was clear that Uruguay were simply trying to make it to full-time and penalties and with no extra-time in Copa America, they were able to achieve their aim.

– Tight game –

After Federico Valverde scored with the first spot kick, Eder Militao saw his effort saved by the diving Rochet.

When Douglas Luiz hit the post for Brazil, they trailed 3-1 and Jose Gimenez had the chance to clinch the game for Uruguay. His effort was superbly saved by Alisson Becker.

Substitute Gabriel Martinelli scored to keep Brazil alive but midfielder Manuel Ugarte kept his cool to drive home the decisive kick and send the 15-times Copa champions into the last four.

Bielsa praised his team’s calmness in the shoot-out and their desire during the 90 minutes.

“I’m more seduced by attacking than defending, but I have to appreciate that in a tight game we created one more situation than our opponents, we defended well and we played 15 minutes with one less player, which at this level is a real factor,” he said.

“If you ask me if I’m happy with having created three goal situations in 90 minutes, no, I’m not. But our opponents had two,” he said.

“Today we outplayed Brazil in segments of the game and were outplayed in others,” added the Argentine.

For Brazil the thoughts turn to the need to ensure they make it to the next World Cup after a poor start to CONMEBOL qualifying.

“We leave the tournament undefeated but not satisfied,” said Dorival Junior whose team won once and drew twice in the group stage.

“We didn’t play at a high level from a technical point of view, but I don’t dismiss any of the games. I think there was commitment, fighting spirit. At no time did the team stop going for the result,” he added.

“This process needs patience. We have two years to work before the World Cup. The first thing is to qualify for the World Cup because we are sixth in the (South American qualifiers) and it is a position that makes us uncomfortable,” he said.

The tournament’s final will be held in Miami on July 14.

• 148 members to work in nine strategy committees

Last Thursday’s judgement on Edo state PDP governorship primary by Justice Inyang Ekwo is a distraction and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has resolved to appeal against it, chairman of the PDP National Campaign Council for Edo State, Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, has said.

Fintiri who spoke during the inaugural meeting of the campaign council at PDP national headquarters in Abuja where nine strategy committees were constituted to undertake special roles towards actualizing PDP’s victory in the September 21 governorship election, also described the judgement as a ‘child’s play’ that cannot stop PDP’s victory.

During the event, party leaders introduced two   defectors – former Deputy   Commissioner of Police and ex-National President of the Road Transport Employers’ Association (RTEAN), Alhaji  Musa Isiwele who said that he just led 5, 200 All Progressives Congress members to join the Asue Oghodalo campaign along with former Edo State Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Francis Inegbeniki who said that he only knew the APC governorship candidate as a welder in Jos, years ago, as latest additions to the party’s army of experienced campaigners.

In his address to members of the Edo State PDP National Campaign Council and party stakeholders, Governor Fintiri who said that the task ahead of the campaign council won’t be easy further stated that immediately after the launch of PDP governorship campaign in Edo State, many members will remain in the state until election day.

“Like I said, this is not an easy assignment, it requires a lot of sacrifice and commitment on our part and for us to have accepted this appointment, I know also that we have really agreed to do whatever is required of us to win the election.

“We are all politicians, the only thing we understand in politics is to win elections and that is why there is no second position in any election; you either win or you are lost but in this outing, we are out to win.

“And yes, there is a little setback, temporarily but God will see us through it; the court judgement of three days ago, anybody who perused and looks through the entire process, you know that is a child’s play,” Fintiri stated, adding that PDP has resolved to immediately go ahead with an appeal against the judgement.

In his speech, PDP National Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN) who said that the ‘somersault’ done by Justice Ekwo does not invalidate Edo state PDP governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo’s candidature also urged party stakeholders not to feel dismayed.

In a brief speech, PDP governorship candidate in Edo state, Asue Ighodalo who expressed concerns about current indicators and distractions also expressed hope that the capacity and experience of those in the PDP National Campaign Council for Edo state will see things through.

His words: “It is not going to be easy, it is going to be very difficult, we are already seeing the signs; it is going to be a difficult election; not on the issues, but on the distractions but sometimes, the distractions  are more difficult to deal with than the issues.

“But I know we have leaders who are more than capable to set the ball rolling and to lift us higher than some others, so, I am truly grateful.”

Eighteen states of the federation have failed to recruit teachers in five years, data exclusively obtained by our correspondent from the National Union of Teachers in Abuja has revealed.

This comes amidst the outcry over the shortage of teachers across the country.

Recently, the Universal Basic Education Commission lamented the shortage of teachers in public schools.

Sunday PUNCH reports that over 47 million pupils are currently enrolled in 171,027 private and public primary and junior secondary schools in the country. UBEC puts the total number of public schools at 79,775, while private schools currently stand at 91,252.

Regarding teachers, the commission stated that 354,651 teachers were currently teaching in early childhood facilities, while 915,593 were employed in primary schools, and 416,291 working in junior secondary schools.

Similarly, the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria recently raised concerns over what it described as the shortage of qualified teachers in the country. It said the shortage was more pronounced in rural areas, exacerbating educational inequality.

The Registrar of TRCN, Prof Josiah Ajiboye, disclosed this in an interview with Sunday PUNCH.

Ajiboye said, “The surge in the population of school children, and the increase in the number of schools in Nigeria, both government and private, present a complex challenge for the education system.

“The availability and quality of qualified teachers are crucial factors in ensuring students receive quality education. However, the shortage of qualified teachers is a concerning issue in Nigeria for several reasons.”

 He explained that with a growing population of school children and insufficient recruitment of new teachers, the teacher-pupil ratio in many schools had become unfavourable.

The data from the NUT revealed that states such as Abia, Bayelsa, Bauchi, Benue, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Kogi, Ogun, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba, and Zamfara failed to conduct recruitment between 2018 and 2022.

The data also revealed that only the FCT, Lagos, and Katsina conducted recruitment during the period under review.

However, Niger State recruited 186 teachers in 2022 according to the data, while Akwa Ibom recruited 3,500 teachers in 2018, and 1,000 in 2022.

Teacher shortages concerning – TCN 

The National President of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Mr Titus Amba, also expressed concern about the shortage of teachers, adding that many governors ignored the advice of the union, which pleaded that retired teachers should be replaced with new ones.

In an interview with Sunday PUNCH, Amba said, “Recruitment of teachers lies in the hands of the state governments. A significant number of teachers have left the service, and till now, there is no plan to replace them.”

Why Bayelsa did not employ teachers

Findings by our correspondent revealed that the Bayelsa State Government did not employ teachers from 2018 to 2022 due to an embargo placed on the employment of civil servants by former Governor Seriake Dickson. At that time, the state government reportedly said the public service was bloated, adding that the monthly wage bill was too high.

Sunday PUNCH also gathered that some unofficial employments were conducted into the public service in the final weeks of the Dickson administration. However, it was unclear if teachers were among those engaged.

Our correspondent’s findings, however, revealed that during the first tenure of the incumbent governor, Douye Diri, the embargo was lifted, and 2,000 teachers were employed to teach in primary and secondary schools across the state.

Efforts to speak with the Commissioner for Education, Gentle Emelah, and his counterpart in the Ministry of Information, Orientation and Strategy, Ebiowou Koku-Obiyal, proved abortive as they were said to be on official engagements.

However, an impeccable source at the state’s Ministry of Information, Orientation and Strategy told our correspondent on condition of anonymity that people who studied Education were among those employed in the last days of the Dickson administration.

Another source at the Ministry of Education, who did not want his name in print, said the employment of teachers suffered a setback due to the undue influence of politicians. He stated that if everything had gone according to plan, the employment of teachers would have been done since October 2023.

Kano recruits 5,632 teachers – Commissioner

Meanwhile, the Kano State Government says it has offered full-time employment to 5,632 voluntary teachers who were under the Better Education Service Delivery for All programme.

The state Commissioner of Education, Alhaji Umar Doguwa, disclosed this in a telephone interview with Sunday PUNCH.

Doguwa, who spoke through the Public Relations Officer of the state Ministry of Education, Balarabe Kiru, said the Governor, Abba Yusuf, recently approved the conversion of BESDA teachers to permanent and pensionable appointments.

“The state government has offered full-time employment to 5,632 teachers previously working under temporary arrangements.

“The BESDA teachers, who have been working as voluntary teachers, were being paid a monthly allowance by an international NGO since the tenure of the past administration. However, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf decided to give them full employment,” he said.

He also stated that the state government had paid the outstanding allowances of N450m owed by the state government for the services the BESDA teachers had rendered in the past.

“The governor has also approved the recruitment of an additional 10,000 teachers with intensified efforts for the continuous periodic training and retraining of teachers,” he added.

Ogun recruited 5,000 teachers – Commissioner

When contacted by our correspondent, the Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Prof Abayomi Arigbabu, said that Governor Dapo Abiodun’s administration had recruited 5,000 teachers into primary, secondary, and technical colleges in the state since he took office in 2019.

Arigbabu said, “From 2019 to date, the government has recruited 1,700 primary school teachers, 3,000 secondary school teachers, and 300 teachers into our technical colleges.”

‘Plateau plans teachers’ recruitment’

The Plateau State Government says it is planning to recruit new primary and secondary school teachers. The State Chairman of SUPEB, Sunday Manu, disclosed this in an interview with our correspondent in Jos.

He said that the board had already submitted a report to the 17 local government chairmen across the state, and was awaiting approval before commencing the recruitment exercise. When asked why there had been no recruitment of teachers in the state since 2018, Manu said, “I don’t know the reason. I was only appointed into office about a year ago, so I can only account for the period I have been in office. If you ask me why we have not done any recruitment in the past year, I will tell you that it is because the verification we started on the needs in those schools has not been concluded. However, the process is ongoing.

“This morning, we submitted our report to the LGA chairmen on what should be done. We are waiting for their approval, and I can tell you that as soon as that is done, the recruitment of new teachers will begin.”

Gombe refutes NUT’s claim

However, speaking with Sunday PUNCH, the Gombe State Commissioner for Education, Dr Aishatu Maigari, insisted that the state recruited teachers in 2018 and 2022. Maigari stated this while reacting to the NUT’s statement in Gombe.

She said, “Gombe recruited 1,000 teachers in 2022, and converted over 200 Local Education Authority teachers to state government workers. Also, in 2018, teachers were recruited.”

‘Zamfara did not recruit teachers for four years’

The Zamfara State Government, however, confirmed that it did not recruit teachers in the last four years. Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, the Commissioner of Information, Alhaji Manir Haidara, said the state government under the leadership of Governor Dauda Lawal inherited the problem from the former Governor, Bello Mattawalle. According to the commissioner, the former governor did not recruit teachers during his tenure, and he also did not promote any teacher to the next grade during his four-year tenure. He added that Governor Lawal’s administration had announced a state of emergency on education, noting that more teachers would soon be recruited.

He added that others who had not been promoted would receive their promotion soon.

Haidara said, “We inherited problems in all sectors, especially in education where teachers have not been promoted for many years. Based on this, Governor Lawal has directed the state Ministry of Education to conduct a thorough investigation to determine the number of teachers in both primary and secondary schools. After the exercise, more teachers will be recruited, and those teachers who have been on the same level for many years will be promoted.”

‘Nasarawa has employed over 10,000 teachers’

Also responding, the Nasarawa State government says it has employed no fewer than 10,000 teachers for primary and secondary schools to enhance manpower in the education sector of the state. The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Abdullahi Sule on Public Affairs, Peter Ahemba, while speaking with our correspondent in Lafia, said that apart from the over 10,000 teachers recruited for both primary and secondary schools, an unspecified number of lecturers had also been employed in tertiary institutions in the state.

He said, “Concerning the employment of teachers in primary and secondary schools in Nasarawa State, the story has been very positive. When Governor Sule came on board in 2019, he met a category of teachers called ‘engaged staff’ by the previous administration, about 1,500 of them. He immediately gave them permanent and pensionable jobs.

“He further announced the recruitment of 2,000 teachers who also received permanent jobs. After a while, an additional 2,500 secondary school teachers were employed by the state government to ensure that we have sufficient teachers in the state.

“As I speak with you now, we have just concluded the recruitment exercise of 4,700 teachers for our primary schools. Very soon, the names of the successful candidates will be released, and they will be issued their appointment letters, and posted to their various primary schools to enhance manpower at that level of education.”

Additional reports: Samuel Ese, Tukur Muntari, Bankole Taiwo, James Abraham, Chima Azubuike, Collins Agwam

As Nigeria battles an economic crisis sparked by the government’s twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of FX windows, United Kingdom-based Diageo joined about 15 other multinational companies that have exited the country in the past three years. 

Diageo is the latest to announce its departure on Tuesday, June 11 when it said it will sell its 58.02% stake in Guinness Nigeria to Tolaram.

Diageo joins others like Kimberly-Clark, manufacturers of Huggies and Kotex brands of diapers; US-based Procter and Gamble (P&G); GlaxoSmithKline (GSK); Unilever and Sanofi-Aventi Nigeria, who are either exiting completely or reducing their exposure in a country facing its worst cost-of-living crisis in decades.

Unilever Nigeria announced its exit from the home care and skin cleansing markets in Nigeria in November 2023, saying it did so “to find a more sustainable and profitable business model.”
Procter & Gamble was the last to announce its exit from the country the same year.
Similar reasons given by these and other companies include high energy costs, currency depreciation, insecurity etc.

The Federal Government itself acknowledged these challenges in an interview granted by Minister of Finance, Wale Edun on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme, where he said “lack of a liquid foreign exchange market was the major reason why some multinational companies exited Nigeria,” explaining that the inability of the exiting multinationals to access foreign exchange was a major impediment to their operations in the country.

Weighing-in, the Director-General of Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA, Adewale Oyerinde, disclosed that at least 15 multinationals have either divested or partially closed operations in the country in the last three years.

Oyerinde, in his assessment, stated: “Over 15 organisations, with a combined value-chain staff strength of over 20,000 employees, have either divested or partially closed operations,” lamenting that this has “dire consequences not only for organised businesses but also for labour, government revenue and the households; massive job losses across sectors, which would continue to create insecurity challenges”.

Oyerinde added, “When NECA examined the exit of prominent companies like GSK, Sanofi, Procter & Gamble, Nampak, and others, who had been doing business in Nigeria for decades and were huge employers of labour, it was worried about the ripple effect on the broader business ecosystem.

“Within the value chain, numerous enterprises serve as suppliers to these major corporations, and their sustainability is significantly compromised when the primary businesses they cater to face extinction.

“The survival prospects of these secondary businesses are at stake, and their employees are also at risk, as the departure of the main clients could lead to their demise. The crisis within the value chain deserves more attention than it currently receives”.

Other sectoral group leaders and analysts maintain that the continuous exit of multinational firms would dampen Nigeria’s $1trn GDP target of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

The President had, at the 29th Nigeria Economic Summit in Abuja, told business leaders and Nigerians that Nigeria’s economy can grow to $1 trillion by 2026.

Analysts believe the persistent exit of multinational companies from the country is set to impact negatively on this target.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that the performance of the GDP in the first quarter of 2024 was driven mainly by the services sector, which recorded a growth of 4.32 per cent and contributed 58.04 per cent to the aggregate GDP, whereas the nominal GDP growth of the manufacturing sector in the first quarter of 2024 was recorded at 8.21 per cent (year-on-year), 9.64 per cent points lower than the figure recorded in the corresponding period of 2023.

Real GDP growth in the manufacturing sector in the first quarter of 2024, on its part, was 1.49 per cent (year-on-year), lower than the same quarter of 2023.

Reacting to this, President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Otunba Francis Meshioye said, “MAN expects the government to frontally address insecurity, improve electricity supply, promote fiscal sustainability and ensure policy consistency.

“Among other priorities, the fiscal authority must also lend supportive measures by adequately incentivising the manufacturing sector and other productive sectors.

“This is very important to boost non-oil export earnings in addition to the increase in oil export proceeds occasioned by increased oil production, rising global oil prices and the coming on stream of the Dangote Refinery”.

Director-General of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr. Chinyere Almona, also speaking on the issue, said: “Over the last few months, there has been a consistent increase in exit plans or a reduction in involvement in the Nigerian market by the multinationals, and this trend is worrisome.

“We have seen the likes of Unilever Nigeria, GlaxoSmithKline, and recently now Guinness Nigeria Plc.

“In Nigeria, lingering foreign exchange scarcity, poor power supply, port congestion, multiple taxation, insecurity, and poor infrastructure, among others, have taken a toll on many businesses in the country.”

The chamber recommended that the government should implement measures to stabilise and ensure the availability of foreign exchange for businesses, particularly those operating in dollar-denominated environments, also imploring the government to create a more flexible and transparent foreign exchange policy to address scarcity issues.

“Further, the Chamber urges the government to engage multinational corporations and the business community to understand their challenges and gather input and feedback on policy decisions to collaboratively develop solutions that will forestall the exodus of businesses from Nigeria. The CBN should prioritise the stability of the country’s currency and adopt the right policy mix to ensure price stability,” Almona said.

National President of the Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria, ASBON, Femi Egbesola, maintained that multinationals are among the companies that contribute largely to the country’s GDP and earnings.

“We cannot be talking of growing our economy when the real investors are leaving. Assuming they are leaving and the indigenous ones are increasing, it would have been a different thing. But that is not the case. You make income as a nation when you have investments and investors,” he said.

However, since the coming of the Tinubu administration, Tinubu and Edun, among others, have been speaking on efforts being put in place towards revamping the economy, encouraging Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and also making local industries vibrant and competitive.

Whether the assurances of Edun, who, on the Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme, said, “recent executive orders signed by President Bola Tinubu have improved the investment climate … and also disclosed that tax reform proposals aimed at simplifying doing business for local and foreign manufacturers are being considered as part of an Economic Stabilisation Package,” would stem the flow of multinationals exiting the country, only time will tell.