The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Naira to close strong on $34.8b year-end diaspora remittances target

    Naira to close strong on $34.8b year-end diaspora remittances target

    Despite the turbulent time facing the naira, market feedback shows that the local currency will harness major positives in the economy to close strong by year-end.

    The naira appreciated by 21.73 per cent against the dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window- the official market, , closing at a rate of N780.14/$. At the parallel market, the local currency closed at N1,100/$, an indication of easing volatility in the market.

    For Nigeria and many other countries, money transfers from citizens working abroad-Diaspora remittances, are a lifeline for development.

    When migrants send home part of their earnings in the form of either cash or goods to support their families, these transfers are known as workers’ or migrant remittances. They have been growing rapidly in the past few years and now represent the largest source of foreign income for many developing countries.

    PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) analysts said one of the low hanging fruits expected to trigger naira’s continued rebound is the estimated inflows of over $34.8 billion from the diaspora- Nigerians living and working abroad- to the domestic economy this year.

    The PwC estimated $25.8 billion inflows from diaspora to Nigeria in 2021 and $25.5 billion in 2019. 

    “Over a 15-year period, PwC expects total remittance flows to Nigeria to grow by almost double in size from $18.37 billion in 2009 to US$34.89 billion in 2023,” it said a report: ‘Strength from abroad- The Economic Power of Nigeria’s Diaspora’.  

    PwC said the growth in remittances is subject to global economic forces, which could spur or hinder growth of remittance flows, growth in emigration, economic conditions of residing countries and poor economic fundamentals in the Nigerian economy.

    Although a large part of the funds have been accruing to the domestic economy, expectations of higher inflows that come with year-end remittances raises further hopes for  the naira.

    Global remittance flows, which increased by five per cent to $831 billion in 2022, are expected to grow by a more modest one per cent to $840 billion in 2023. Nigeria is expected to attract about $21 billion of the funds.

    The inflows would have been higher but for the anticipated moderation is hinged on the elevated cost of living in several advanced economies, including the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), and the Eurozone, which accounted for almost half of global outward remittances in 2022.

    Augusto & Co. maintained that the steady inflow of funds from the Nigerian diaspora reflects the strong bond between the diaspora community and their home country, fostering economic stability and contributing to economic development. 

    It said the increasing importance of remittances in supporting the country’s reserves has necessitated a better understanding of the dynamics of remittance flows into Nigeria.

    The 2023 Diaspora Remittance Industry report explained that remittances have grown to become a significant source of external financing for most low and middle-income countries (LMICs), playing an increasingly important role in their economies. 

    In 2020, remittance flows to LMICs exceeded the flow of foreign direct investments (FDI) and overseas development assistance to LMICs (excluding flows to China) and served as a major lifeline to these vulnerable economies as they grappled with the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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    Lead economist at the World Bank, Dilip Ratha, explained that in many countries like Nigeria facing dollar scarcity , prevalence of parallel market premiums have encouraged remittance flows through informal channels. 

    “A combination of currency devaluation, higher interest rates on foreign currency deposits (and making such deposits repatriable), and elimination of surrender requirements can increase flows through formal channels,” he said.

    Ratha said remittances will continue to grow with more than a billion people, most of them in Africa and South Asia, expected to join the working-age population by 2050. 

    “By contrast, populations are aging in many advanced economies. This demographic imbalance will increase the supply of migrant workers and the demand for them. Climate change and extreme weather will add to migration pressures. As the number of migrants increases and cross-border payments become cheaper and simpler, remittances will continue to provide stable income to millions of people and play a vital part in the global economy,” he said.

    Some argue that remittances can also create dependency, undercutting recipients’ incentives to work and thus slowing economic growth. But others argue that the negative relationship between remittances and growth observed in some empirical studies may simply reflect the countercyclical nature of remittances—that is, the influence of growth on remittances rather than vice versa.

    On its part, the Bankers Committee enjoined the Federal Government to continue to explore policies to improve investor confidence in the Nigerian economy and pave way for foreign and domestic investments. Members emphasised the need to attract investments, particularly, to auto manufacturing, aviation, and rail industries to boost non-oil revenues. 

    The Committee, thus, expressed the view that, key policy mechanisms to shield the Nigerian economy from persisting global shocks and other emerging domestic shocks, are urgently required for the economy to continue to post positive growth. 

    The Committee also recognized the several measures put in place by the CBN to boost foreign exchange liquidity. 

    “Particularly, Members were of the view that the recent policy on foreign exchange market reform would increase market transparency and encourage more foreign capital inflows. It, therefore, urged the Bank to leverage on effective policies to attract remittances from diaspora to help moderate exchange rate pressures,” the committee members said. 

    The CBN said that upwardly trending inflation in a period of weak and fragile output growth indicate a delicately stable short-term prospect for the Nigerian economy. Unintended and transitory effects of recent supply-correcting reforms (stoppage of petroleum subsidy and foreign exchange market liberalisation) in the domestic economy are combining with global headwinds to aggravate inflation, weaken household demand and dampen economic activities. 

    Former Registrar, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Dr. Uju Ogubunka, said Nigeria’s trade balance has been weakened by its inability to produce and earn forex.

    To firm up the naira, he said Nigeria should equally  find new ways to boost production to earn more dollars and boost foreign reserves.  

    Ogubunka, who is also the President, Bank Customers Association of Nigeria, said aside boosting production, there is need to tackle insecurity to allow farmers go to their farms.

    He said such effort will help increase crop yields and bring more dollar earnings for the economy that will firm up the local currency.

  • Customs raises exchange rate for importers

    Customs raises exchange rate for importers

    These are not the best of times for importers and clearing agents operating at the nation’s sea ports. They are to pay more on every good they import going by new exchange rate regime approved for the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) by the Central of Nigeria (CBN).

    Under the apex bank’s new directive, foreign exchange rate to be used by the NCS for the clearing of imported goods, including vehicles through the ports has gone up.

    The exchange rate rose from N770.88 to N783.174 per dollar (additional N12.29 to every dollar) in the process of clearing goods from the ports.

    Stakeholders in the maritime industry told The Nation, over the weekend, that with the new rate, which was contained in the Customs’ official website, the cost of imported goods in the market will rise, especially, with the approach of the festive season.

    Some of the Importers, who spoke with this newspaper, complained that within the last three to four months, the CBN had reviewed Customs’ duty consistently.

    They urged the apex bank to look into the pains the upward adjustment would bring on Nigerians.

    A member of the Nigerian Importers Integrity Association (NIIA), Albert Samson, said the time has come for the CBN to allow importers breathe by providing a stable official exchange window for them to do their legitimate business and boost international trade.

    Samson decried the situation, pointing out that the country relies heavily on imported vehicles and goods to feed and move the people across the country.

    Few days ago, the Comptroller-General (CG) of the NCS, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, admitted that the floating exchange rate was the major cause of the surge, adding that nothing had changed in Customs duty.

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    But the former President of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shitty, explained that the balance of trade influences currency exchange rates through its effect on foreign exchange supply and demand.

    Shittu said: “When a country’s trade account does not net to zero, that is, when exports are not equal to imports, there is relatively more supply of or demand for a country’s currency. This influences the price of that currency at the international market.

    “Currency exchange rates are quoted as relative values; the price of one currency is described in terms of another. For example, one $1 might be equal to three Saudi Arabia Riyad.

    “In other words, an American business or person exchanging dollars for Riyad would buy three Riyad for every dollar sold, and a Nigerian would buy $1 for every N800 sold if that is the official exchange rate.”

    The rate was adjusted from N422.30/$1 to N589/$1 and shortly after jerked up to N770.88/$1.

    Clearing agents and freight forwarders are mostly affected by this adjustment. This is because those who have been paid by importers at the old exchange rate to clear their cargoes out of the seaports will have to call for upward adjustment.

    An importer, Folagbade Adesanya, said the increment will affect vehicle clearance, saying, however, that clearing agents are engaging the importers to forestall disagreement.

     ”The CBN has increased the dollar exchange rate, from N422.30 to N589.45 and N770.88. Now, we are at N783.174 to a dollar.

    “What it means is that if clearing agents have a debit note that has not been paid on the system or Pre-Arrival Assessment Results (PAAR) or they have given you the value and you have not captured, it has affected your business,” Adesanya said.

  • Nigerian equities’ return rises to N10.7tr

    Nigerian equities’ return rises to N10.7tr

    • Oil, FMCGs, banks biggest gains  

    Nigerian equities rallied about N359 billion by the weekend to push the net capital gains for investors to N10.67 trillion.

    Benchmark indices at the Nigerian stock market closed weekend with average year-to-date return of 38.24 per cent, one of the three highest returns globally.

    This implies that investors in Nigerian equities have earned N10.67 trillion in capital gains so far this year. This places returns at the Nigerian stock market above inflation rate, making equities the only inflation-hedging class of assets.

    The All Share Index (ASI) – a value-based, common index that tracks all share prices at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) closed weekend at 70,849.38 points as against its week’s opening index of 70,196.93 points, an average return of 0.93 per cent or N358.58 billion. It had opened 2023 at 51,251.06 points.

    The ASI, a value-based common index that tracks all share prices at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), is widely regarded as Nigeria’s sovereign equities index, a barometer of pricing trend and investors’ return at the nation’s stock market.

    Aggregate market value of all quoted equities rose from the week’s opening value of N38.557 trillion to close the week at N38.925 trillion. It had opened 2023 at N27.915 trillion. The market value was moderated by the listing of Mecure Industries Plc and delisting of Courteville Business Solutions Plc during the week.

    Sectoral analysis showed that investors in oil and gas, consumer goods and banking stocks were ahead of others. The NGX Oil and Gas Index indicated average return of 108.24 per cent, the highest by any sector. The NGX Consumer Goods Index followed with average return of 95.23 per cent while the NGX Banking Index recorded net average gain of 74.48 per cent. The NGX 30 Index, which tracks the 30 largest stocks at the Exchange, posted average return of 41.33 per cent, underlining the spread of gains across value and growth stocks.

    “In the coming week, we expect the bullish momentum to be sustained due to bargain opportunities,” Afrinvest Securities stated at the weekend.

    Analysts at Cordros Capital said they expected the accumulated capital gains to trigger profit-taking transactions.

    “In the coming week, we expect the bears to book profit across most counters following the recent market rally. Consequently, we expect a “choppy theme” even as institutional investors search for clues on the direction of yields in the fixed-income market. Notwithstanding, we advise investors to take positions in only fundamentally justified stocks as the weak macro environment remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings,” Cordros Capital stated.

    The ASI had recently crossed the 70,000 mark, the first time the index reached the 70,000 points.

    The new psychological index point underlined continuing rally at the Nigerian stock market, after the market had on August 29, 2023 surpassed its previous all-time record to set a new record at 66,490.34 points. The previous highest index point was 66,371.20 points recorded on March 05, 2008.

    There is analysts’ consensus at the stock market that the bullish trend witnessed in recent period was driven partly by positive investors’ perception of the pro-market administration of President Bola Tinubu.

    “The market has been on an upward trajectory since the entry of the new administration led by President Bola Tinubu, due to proactiveness in implementing necessary reforms such as the removal of fuel subsidy and the liberalization of the foreign exchange market,” the NGX stated yesterday, explaining the exceedingly bullish market.

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    The NGX noted that “the remarkable milestone has stirred a frenzy of excitement among investors and ignited fervent discussions about the nation’s economic future”.

    “The historic high of the Nigerian stock market has created ripples in the global financial arena, with investors keenly observing the nation’s economic trajectory. Although it does not guarantee prosperity, it does signify global recognition of Nigeria’s vast potential. The hope is that this extraordinary accomplishment will lead to improved living standards for Nigerians and bolstered economic stability for the nation,” the NGX stated.

    Trading data had shown that while foreign investor participation has been fluctuating, although better than previous records; Nigerian domestic investors have shown stronger positive sentiment, with increased allocation into equities. Already, total transactions in the equity market rose to N2.71 trillion by the end of third quarter ended September 30,  2023; 38 per cent higher than the corresponding period of 2022.

    Analysts were excited about the market performance, noting that the 70,000 points represented a major breakthrough for the market.

    Afrinvest Securities had described the market performance as “historic”, although it expected the capital gains to lead to profit-taking and intermittent negative closing.

    Cordros Securities said the market rose above “psychological mark”, referencing the importance of the new threshold.

    SCM Capital stated that “buy interest persists” at the stock market, underlining investors’ perception and prospects for the equities market.

    Nigerian equities had rallied net gain of N1.708 trillion in October 2023 as investors reacted positively to better-than expected corporate results.

    Despite concerns over macroeconomic challenges, most companies have shown resilience with considerable improvements in profitability.

    Month-on-month analysis had shown that the market capitalisation rose by N1.708 trillion from N36.331 trillion at the beginning of the month to close at N38.039 trillion on October 31, 2023. The ASI also rose by 4.30 per cent from its month’s opening index of 66,382.14 points close October 2023 at 69,236.19 points.

    Managing Director,  Highcap Securities, David Adonri, said the gain reported by the equities market in October showed impressive nine-month results, noting that foreign investors were turning to Nigerian stocks.

    According to him, the overall market performance is driven majorly by sentiment arising from the smooth handover and President Bola Tinubu’s bold economic policy on foreign exchange.

    He outlined that Tinubu prompt change of security chiefs also boosted investors’ confidence. The removal of Godwin Emefiele as Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor was another icing on the cake which impressed investors. All these added to the usual end-of-quarter rally to propel the equities market.

    “Since the huge gain was propelled by investor sentiment, interest in equities in second half, 2023 can only be sustained if the policy changes translate into growth in corporate fundamentals and a fall in interest rate, otherwise, we might see a market correction that may purge equities off the sentiment that inflated it in seven months of 2023,” Adonri said.

    One of Africa’s leading investors and entrepreneurs, Mr. Tony Elumelu had recently said the current economic atmosphere in Nigeria offers the best opportunity for good returns for investors.

    Elumelu owns the single largest stakes in several publicly quoted companies including United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) Plc, Transcorp Hotels Plc, United Capital Plc and Africa Prudential. Elumelu’s Heirs Holdings also own major stakes in insurance, real estate, power and financial services companies.

    Providing an entrepreneurial investor’s perspective to a global audience at the Nigeria-India Presidential Roundtable and Conference in New Delhi, India, Elumelu cited his personal experience, corporate records and researches that underlined a robust outlook for the Nigerian economy.

    He urged the Indian private sector to seize the opportunity to invest in Nigeria, noting that Nigeria s a large market with immense opportunities for foreign investors.

    “This is the time to invest in Nigeria. I speak as a private sector investor in Nigeria, the companies in our group’s investment portfolio demonstrate the opportunity. I believe you also can take advantage of our track record and success.

     “Nigeria is a huge market; over 200 million people with the largest economy on the continent. Most importantly, the population is not just over 200 million people; the demography of the population is exciting. We have a cohort of young people who are there to consume, and we also have people who are intelligent, energetic, hardworking, who provide the human capital that investors need to drive their businesses,” Elumelu said.

  • N156b dispute: UBA takes over Stallion’s Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano assets

    N156b dispute: UBA takes over Stallion’s Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano assets

    The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has taken over the assets of Stallion Nigeria Limited and its subsidiaries in Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Kano.

    The bank’s action followed an order of the Federal High Court in Lagos over an alleged N156,026,032,804.84 debt.

    Last Friday, the bank’s receiver-manager, Romeo Michael, and court bailiffs, under police protection in the three cities, executed the interim orders delivered by Justice Akintayo Aluko on October 20.

    The judge made the order after hearing Temilolu Adamolekun, who appeared with Mohammed Usman, moving the motion ex parte as counsel for the plaintiff/applicants in the suit.

    The order subsists pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.

    The case was adjourned till November 20 for hearing of the Motion on Notice.

    The order also affects the defendants’ funds totalling N156 billion in commercial, microfinance and other financial institutions across the country.

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    The first to fourth plaintiffs/applicants in the suit are: UBA Plc, UBA Cameroon SA, Cote D’Ivoire SA, and Romeo Ese Michael.

    The first to 11th defendants/respondents are: Stallion Nigeria Limited (in receivership), Von Automobile Nigeria Limited, Popular Farms and Mills Limited, Havana Nigeria Limited.

    The other defendants are: KRBL Food Industries Limited, Qingqi Motorcycle Manufacturing Limited, Stallion Auto Keke Limited, Stallion Motors Limited, The Honda Place Limited, Yokohama Construction Limited, and Mr. Sunil Vaswani.

    In granting UBA’s prayers, Justice Aluko also restrained the defendants, their directors, shareholders, employees, officers, and agents, from interfering with or frustrating the receiver/manager from exercising all the powers vested in him or performing his duties as receiver of the mortgaged properties, among others.

    According to the affidavit deposed to on October 18 by Mr. Anthony Chilaka, Group Head, Recovery and Remedial Management Department of the first to third plaintiffs’ companies, UBA, in 2014, gave various credit facilities to the first defendant (Stallion Nigeria Limited).

    Both parties agreed that the credit facilities could be used and were used by Stallion’s sister companies, that is, the second to 10th defendants, in accordance with the offer letter.

    As security for the various loans, the defendants mortgaged their aforementioned assets in Port Harcourt, Lagos, and Kano.

    Sometime in 2014, Stallion Motors (eighth defendant) was awarded a contract by the Federal Government to supply 700 Ashok Leyland trucks/Stallion troop carrying vehicles and 50 Falcon-seater buses to be used by the military with the understanding of the parties that the receivables from the Federal Government would be paid into Stallion Account with UBA.

    But after delivering the vehicles to the Federal Government, Stallion Motors allegedly directed the government to make the initial payment of $50 million into its Dubai account and also received another N8.2 billion into its offshore account, rather than to its UBA account, as agreed.

    UBA alleged that the defendants failed to clear their debts totalling N156 billion.

  • Abdulrazaq mourn Samanja

    Abdulrazaq mourn Samanja

    Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has mourned Usman Baba Patigi, aka Samanja.

    He described Patigi’s death as ‘the end of a great era in the Nigerian comedy industry, especially in the northern region’. 

    The governor said Samanja, 81, who was a prince of Patigi in Kwara State, will be remembered as a pathfinder in what has become known as the Kannywood in the Nigerian movie industry. 

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    He said: “He was a colossus who bestrode the entertainment industry for decades. He will be missed for his great impacts while his legacies live on,” the governor said in a statement.

    AbdulRazaq condoled with the family, and prayed Allah to admit the deceased into al-jannah Firdaus. 

  • Five die, one injured in Ijebu-Ode/Ore road accident

    Five die, one injured in Ijebu-Ode/Ore road accident

    Five persons died and one person was injured in yesterday’s accident on the Ijebu-Ode/Ore Expressway.

    The accident, which happened about 6.09am, at Ososa junction, involved two unmarked vehicles – a Mack truck and a Honda Accord car. It was learnt that the Honda Accord driver was speeding and had a side collision with the truck while trying to overtake it.

    A statement by the Chief Route Commander and Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Public Education Officer, Ogun Sector Command, Florence Okpe, said the bodies were deposited at the Ijebu-Ode General Hospital morgue.

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    Mrs. Okpe described the accident as avoidable ‘if caution had been taken’. She added that the sector commander advised motorists to stop making quick turning on the expressway, and instead use the intersection or proper turning point.

    The statement reads: “Eight persons were involved in the accident, seven males and one female. One person was injured and five persons (four males and one female) died, while two persons were unhurt.

    “The injured were taken to General Hospital Ijebu-Ode, and the bodies deposited at the morgue.”

  • Oyo seals illegal mining sites

    Oyo seals illegal mining sites

    The Oyo State Mineral Development Agency has sealed mining sites operating without consent letters and community development agreement.

     Director General of the agency, Abiodun Oni, who led the enforcement at the weekend, said the decision was taken to restore order in the mining sector for the good of the state.

     Oni added that the government is ready to partner stakeholders to sanitise the sector as contained in the Mining Act and all relevant Laws.

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     He said the agency requested for the consent letters, community development agreements and other relevant documents that legalise mining operations in the state.

     Coordinating Director of the agency, Mrs. Jolade Omidiran, urged miners and all relevant stakeholders to submit their documents before the enforcement team gets to them.

  • The body and spirit

    The body and spirit

    Muhammed Ali of Egypt’s biographers remember the man for a greed for the future of his kingdom. He had greed to civilize his enclave. Dreamers are gluttons of the future. They inflict themselves with borderless imaginations. The good ones have sublime fantasies. Like Ali, known as the founder of modern Egypt. A historian noted that if you asked him to build a castle in the air, he would say, “Let’s try it.”  He was an aggressor of a visionary just like the more familiar Ali, whose fury was in fisticuffs. Both were dreamers. There is no victory without imagination.

     He was a man who loved infrastructure. It means to redesign the landscape, not for aesthetics. We cannot underplay the value of beauty. Dostoyevsky said beauty will save the world. Keats proclaims beauty as truth. From ancient times, great leaders love three things, as Roman historian Tacitus has noted. Infrastructure, healthcare and education. Pericles signed off on a long armistice to redesign Greece. Julius Caesar was not content as the great war general of all time without imprints on Roman landscapes.

    So, development of this sort begins with a state of mind. Before you write the vision, and make it plain in the lives of the people, you first must imagine it. “Imagination,” declared Einstein, “is more important than knowledge.” He said further that it “encircles the world.” So, there.

    When the BOS of Lagos, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu signed off on a deal for the Fourth Mainland Bridge at the AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum, it was first the triumph of the mind.

    So, it is about taking people from one point to another. More than that, it is about disrupting the Lagos landscape. More than that, it is about jobs and commercial verve in a city pining for more. More than that, it is about the intersection of peoples, for tribe and tongue to coalesce. More than that, it is a city rebirth.

    When he became governor over four years ago, the fourth mainland bridge was placed front and centre as a big-ticket item. It was on his predecessor’s table, and the predecessor before that and the one before that. Lagosians sometimes thought it was just a fantasy, an impotent dream, a fantasy in a cage. Dreams die only for purposeless dreamers. But there is time to dream, and time to do.

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    For the BOS, it is a time to do. As it was time to complete the train programme. The blue Rail was given the blues by many who said it was a con job. But it is now revving on the city’s artery. When it chugged into being, the video went viral that those who demonized the governor could not rein in their praise.

    That is a moment in infrastructure beauty. Beauty in healing. Beauty in inter-tribal comity. Beauty in progress. That was what Keats meant by beauty is truth. And we hope to see a new Lagos as the mainland bridge starts brick after brick to change a bush path to an estate, a bald valley to a board room, a hamlet to a hospital, a dead-end to an avenue. Many of these changes may not be from a governor’s imagination but the imagination of its citizenry. The government is to dream so others can dream afterwards. In the beginning was the dream. The entrepreneur will come, ditto the culture icon, the technocrat, the educationist, the architect, the town planner, the market woman and the bricklayer. An infrastructure project is everyone’s party. Governor Sanwo-Olu sends out an invite to one and all.

    “Our vision for Lagos is becoming a reality with the Lekki-Epe International Airport and the Lagos Food Systems and Logistics Hub in Epe. These projects will further boost our economy and serve generations to come,” said the governor.

     Significant is that not a kobo of taxpayer’s money is going into this. It is, just like the Blue Rail, a work of public-private collaboration. It is creative financing. For all its big IGR, Lagos is bringing in corporate buy-in.

    It is not just the bridge, but other projects like Omu Creek Project, and the Blue line to link Mile 2 to Okokomaiko.

    Government, at its best, is like rain. It falls on lover and rival. He has, since the second term begun, focused on not just on new projects but also on reworking old familiars like markets. The great problem with our society is not just to build, but also to maintain. He focused on some of the markets that have gone out of rhythm. Some shouted discrimination. The same persons hailed the rails cutting into their strongholds and improving travel time and time to profit. Government has to be tough at times, and the governor showed his grittier side.

    For all, the projects are to bring the society together, to journey together, to party together, to share the sun and rain, grieve its inevitable sorrows, its giddy laughs and fiery plays.

    That is how the body and shadow can reconcile, to echo the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami ‘s revised novel, End of the World. Some claim to be the city’s body and others the shadow. Shadows disappear in the novel’s first coming. Now, both have come together.

    What infrastructure like BOS’ does, is to find pathways to conjoin body and soul, the flesh and spirit of Lagos. Especially the spirit that, as Jesus said, no one can kill.

    With such ideas as these, we deliver a society from sorcery.

  • Ajaero: outlawry begets outlawry

    Ajaero: outlawry begets outlawry

    In the Joe Ajaero Imo odyssey of November 1, only one thing was clear: outlawry begot outlawry. Everything else was ugly controversy.

    Ajaero, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) president, flush with Aluta,  bucked a National Industrial Court (NIC) order, as he had always threatened to, often claiming such orders were “Jankara” — in local parlance: illicit injunctions procured in bad faith.

    So, Ajaero, an “agbero” (read reckless: thanks to another local parlance) Labour warrior in good faith, blundered into Owerri, ran into counter-”agberos” in bad faith, and got clobbered black and blue!

    When self-help clashes with self-help, it’s chaos in full technicolor! The only safe option is due process.  Yes, it may be slow, or even annoying.  But it gets you there in one piece: no puffy eyes, no broken bones and certainly no jeremiads after — due process!

    Yet, who dunnit?  That’s the big controversy fuelled by mutual finger-pointing.

    Ajaero and his NLC point irate fingers of guilt at Governor Hope Uzodinma and the sitting Imo establishment, who just triumphed at the November 11 poll.  They screech Hope and co have ugly motives to thrash Ajaero but look none the wiser.

    The Imo government returned the grim favour, in full measure.  Governor Uzodinma roasted Ajaero at his own Labour stakes.  

    The Imo local NLC had no problem with him, he claimed.  But joining the political fray, Ajaero had to create one, in alleged illicit aid of the Imo Labour Party (LP) gubernatorial candidate, since Ajaero himself was an Imo native.  It was a rash plot gone awry, that allegedly sparked an intra-Labour “civil war”.  In truth, the Imo NLC had said they had no problem with the governor.

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    Still, an incensed NLC charged back, even claiming that after the vile assault and battery on its president, the governor had allegedly tracked him to his Imo village, thinking he was there, to finish the job!

    Again, who dunnit?  That’s for the Police to find out — except that Ajaero and co are accusing the Police of complicity and called for — and got — the scalp of the Imo State Police commissioner!

    Still, let the Police investigate and dock anyone involved in the fracas.  But let Ajaero too hug wisdom.  

    Honestly, he has been too rash for his own good — and for NLC’s too.  Ajaero would threaten to call off talks with the Federal Government if the Labour and Employment minister sat on the panel.  He would buck an NIC order only to run into a storm.  After, he would threaten a national strike, post his Imo debacle, unless the Police boss was sacked!

    Ajaero had better pipe down before he undid himself — and NLC too.  That would hardly be in workers’ interest.  Already, the NIC has reiterated its injunction.  That’s a chilly warning to Ajaero to behave or take the knocks.  Whoever wants protection from the law must first respect the law.  The Imo excitement just shows that baiting anarchy is bad for everyone — especially the baiter!

  •  Sheriff honours Kokori

     Sheriff honours Kokori

    If man works for a cause, it is not for material reward. But the beneficiaries owe that person honour. Honour, as Greek leader Pericles wrote in his famous speech, is the top reward of human striving. For those who know how this republic was born, the name Frank Kokori stands as high as anyone. He was the leader of oil workers during the Abacha era and the June 12 turmoil. He was the dictator’s nightmare. During the Buhari era, there was controversy over what job they gave him or not. It was not about whether he had money or not, but whether a grateful nation looked his way. Now we know, he made no money.

    The old man is ailing and in an undisclosed hospital in Warri. Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori heard the call and ran to offer help. He did not look at partisan loyalty, or whether Kokori was associated with the other parties. He knew a hero and came around to say thank you.

    “I know people will think that because he is an APC chieftain, I won’t be here. Deltans voted for me as governor. It is not a party matter…I am governor of all Deltans.”

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    Kokori called the governor “a good man.”

    This is the stuff of humanitarian stewardship. We must remember our heroes. It is a great thing he is paying the man’s medical fees. Too many times, we wait for the hero to die in misery and we ask our spokesmen to write poetic eulogies and vow to care for their families. That is a charity of self-guilt, help as cynicism. It is hardly genuine gratitude. Take care of them while they are alive. But more than that, what the governor did was  to honour him. He did not send the money. He visited him in person. That is what others should do. Kokori was ready to give the ultimate prize: His life. He dared the same Abacha that slaughtered Ken Saro-Wiwa. That life is ebbing.  We ought to save him as the Sheriff is doing.