The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

Bitter sweet
- That the jobless pulled living funds from their pension contributions is sweet. But the gall is that those savings should be for their evening years
That unemployed Nigerians, as at December 2022, pulled out N207.91 billion from their pension savings, was sweet relief for the drawers. That relief helped to stanch extant pains and get families going.

But the same relief could turn long-term angst. It was evening savings withdrawn at noon. If those jobless folks fail to secure gainful employment to make good the withdrawals, it’s likely hunger and want could stare at them at old age, after working all through their young and productive midlife.

By law, disengaged contributors that fail to get re-hired, for four months running, could pull 25 per cent of their total pension savings as temporary relief. That is sweet cake from the pension reforms, baked by the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidency.

The concept of compulsory savings, as part of pension, arose from the near-collapse of the old system, in which pensioners were subjected to all forms of indignity, many of them falling dead on queues, awaiting re-validation for rights that should be routinely theirs, after a life-long of work.

It is, therefore, good that the reforms are providing relief in tough economic times. But beyond that temporary relief, it is still a bad dream, posing as sweet reverie. Old age money can’t be quaffed at noon for whatever reason, without something terrible giving.

The long and short of this beguiling paradox is to urgently fix the economy to provide jobs for the jobless; and also near-completely eliminate under-employment: non-gainful jobs that make a worker work for mere chaff all his active years, when what he should labour for are rich grains.

The severity of the job challenge can be gleaned from ensuing statistics. Quoting the National Pension Commission (PenCom) quarterly reports, a report in The Guardian of March 21 told a tale of largely progressive withdrawals as unemployment bit hard.

In 4th quarter 2022, the withdrawals from pension savings hit N111.73 billon, up by N6.4 billion, from the N105 billion withdrawn at the 4th quarter of 2021.

These, however, were just symptoms. The real disease was — and still is — declining jobs. Nigeria’s most recent data on unemployment was from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2020, which claimed 33.3 per cent of the workforce was unemployed. That was a whopping third of the labour force.

But with the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment howling that might have been a statistical hyperbole, NBS appears to be taking its time before releasing fresh and more robust job data.

“This new concept and approach of conducting the survey will add new questions on persons employed but not at work, long-term unemployment, job satisfaction, discouraged job seekers, and information on decent work,” The Guardian quoted Semiu Adeyemi Adeniran, Nigeria’s Statistician-General and boss at NBS as saying. ”These new approach involves data collection from a careful sample of 35, 000 households, spread over 12 months, instead of the large 33, 000 samples surveyed every quarter.”

But while awaiting the NBS new data, something is crystal clear: the COVID-19 economic paralysis, which raged from 2020 to part of 2021, the fuel shortage crisis, which bit anew from December 2022 and raged till February 2023, and the Naira re-design chaos which still rages could have even more telling impacts on jobs. That is why not a few economists await the 1st quarter 2023 NBS data with bated breath.

What all of these reinforce is a very parlous job environment that could impact even more negatively on pension savings, as more and more workers fall on the dry patch.

As President Muhammadu Buhari rounds off his eight-year tenure, it is imperative for President-elect Bola Tinubu to give the economy special attention as he promised during electioneering.

Fortunately, by the Buhari government’s clear infrastructural rebirth, and by giving agriculture a fresh kiss of life, to re-develop a new real sector after the massive disruption of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) years from 1986, the new government could pick agricultural processing as low-hanging fruits from its formative days.

That would achieve two goals: food security to sate mass hunger; and delivering fresh jobs for thousands of youths, working in agro-allied factories.

But the ultimate game-changer is to fix the power conundrum once and for all. Power would energize the economy and unleash the people’s creative potential. Then, it would be a brand new and vibrant real sector and general economy.
March 24, 2023
Let’s talk about Lola Akinmade

She was in a forest of a thousand daemons. Not D.O Fagunwa’s, but a modern one. Now, she has survived and her success story seems so good. But Lola Akinmade Åkerström had it rough.

When I first wrote about her in April 2021, she had just released her first novel, a novel rejected, rejected, rejected and rejected before it was accepted. That novel is ‘In Every Mirror She Is Black’. Its sequel, ‘Everything is not enough’, and another book, known now as ‘Deepest Well’, have got dual deals in the United Kingdom and the United States. The U.S. deal is in six figures and the UK one is five figures. Lola’s triumph will only make sense if I recall the struggle to get her first novel published.

It started this way: Lola, who is a Nigerian-American, is a naturalised Swede on account of her marriage. She didn’t start out writing fiction. Creative non-fiction and travel writing found her first. She wrote and published two non-fiction books— ‘Due North’ and ‘Lagom’.

The jealous lover called fiction staged a comeback while Lola was on vacation in Portugal’s Algarve region and reading Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s ‘Americanah’. She visualised a novel about three Black women and one influential white man. Right there she pulled out her notebook, outlined scenes, descriptions, characters, traits, features, interactions and quirks.

By May 2018, as Lola recalled in a July 2020 piece, the first five or so pages were ready and she was so ecstatic. She had a dilemma: “I wasn’t sure which way I wanted to go with the book in terms of prose. Whether or not I wanted it to be pure literary fiction, which is what mainstream publishing expects from me as an African writer in the Diaspora. Especially, if I wanted to be taken ‘seriously’ as a literary writer. We needed to keep proving our command of language to primarily white audiences while writing stories mostly rooted in Africa.”

The war between literary fiction and upmarket fiction was eventually won by the latter after she struggled to get into the second chapter of a literary fiction book. She did not want to write a book that readers will struggle to get into.

“I didn’t want to hide what I wanted to say behind pretentious literary prose,” she wrote. So, she decided to write a novel that is in between literary fiction and commercial fiction. Lola engaged the keyboard and after months of typing away, a character-driven novel with relatable plots was born. She christened it ‘Afroswede’.

For a well-known travel photographer and author of Lagom, a book already translated into 18 foreign languages, you will expect Lola’s sojourn thereafter to be bump-free. But, in the forest of a thousand daemons that international publishing is, her road was rough and it only later ended in praise with publishing deals (in the US, UK, Canada and the Commonwealth) sealed for her debut novel now renamed ‘In Every Mirror She Is Black’.

She worked with a writing guru, Leigh Shulman, to get the manuscript ready for submission to a literary agent as required for mainstream publishing, but nothing prepared her for the heart-breaking rejections to come. To get an agent, she participated in a Twitter pitching initiative called #DVPit. Several agents requested her manuscript, but nothing came out of it. Later, in 2019, two-times Booker Prize finalist and Booker Prize judge Chigozie Obioma came to Stockholm, where Lola lives, to promote ‘An Orchestra of Minorities’. Obioma’s agent at the time, Jessica Craig, was also on the trip. Lola’s friend, Yomi Abiola, sent Jessica a brief email introduction. Lola and Jessica met for 30 minutes. Jessica loved the first draft when it was sent to her.

Lola and Jessica were so eager and positive that the book would be snapped up in an auction because it was “unique, different, epic, genre-crossing, and boundary-breaking”. But traditional publishers were nervous about it because the book didn’t fit into a clear category.

In the long run, seventy commissioning editors rejected the book and thirty-five others kept mute. On June 10, 2020, Sourcebooks Landmark came through with a pre-empt book deal to publish it in the US and Canada. On April 8, 2021, a deal for the UK and the Commonwealth was announced. Head of Zeus saw the vision and is running with it. On September 7, 2021, the American and Canada editions came out and the UK edition came out on February 2022.

The novel is about Kemi Adeyemi, a marketing executive, who is lured from the U.S. to Sweden by Jonny von Lundin, the CEO of Sweden’s largest marketing firm. Kemi’s immediate task is to help fix a PR fiasco about a racially tone-deaf campaign. It is also about Brittany-Rae Johnson who meets Jonny on the plane on his way to the U.S. This chanced meeting ushers the former model-turned-flight-attendant into a life of wealth, luxury, and privilege. It is also about a Somali refugee named Muna Saheed, whose day job is cleaning the toilets at Jonny’s office.

Their ordeals did not end in ‘In Every Mirror She Is Black’. One of the two-book deal Lola tweeted into existence, ‘Everything Is Not Enough’, will tell us more about them and Sweden’s discrimination against black women. The book, whose proof copies are out, will be released in October. It has the potential to outdo its predecessor. It is said to contain twice the drama of ‘In Every Mirror She Is Black’.

Lola tweeted a two-book deal into existence, now I am, on her behalf, writing a TV series into existence. Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO or any other streaming giant needs to option these books on three Black women. The series will open up Sweden like never before seen on global television.

My final take: If you are about giving up on your dreams, tarry a while because you never can tell what tomorrow will bring. Lola Akinmade Åkerström’s new two-book deal is sweet music, so sweet it overshadows the 70 rejections ‘In Every Mirror She Is Black’ earlier suffered. Now, Lola is having her well-deserved place in the sun.

March 24, 2023
Tinubu’s uneasy path to power

By Olabode Lucas

After the stunning victory of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in the last presidential election, the highly cerebral and valued columnist in the Sunday Nation newspaper, Tatalo Alamu described Tinubu as “the man who walked on water,’ Nobody has been able to perform this feat carried out by our Lord Jesus Christ as reported in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and John in the Holy Bible. Even our so-called men of God despite their regular self-aggrandizement have not been able to claim this feat. There was no doubt that the talented columnist in his piece used his immense literary prowess to highlight the herculean political obstacles faced by Asiwaju Tinubu before he could beat all odds to become the president-elect.

Tinubu had been nursing the ambition to become the president of the most populous country in our continent right from the inglorious days of the annulment of June 12, 1993, presidential election won decisively by the late M.K.O. Abiola. He met a lot of searing obstacles on his way to achieve his ambition. Tinubu overcame all the obstacles which could have overwhelmed a less politically sagacious person. These obstacles came from within and outside his party, the All Progressive Party which everybody knows he helped put together in 2014 to wrestle power from the rudderless and corruption infested governing party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Many people were amazed that despite his political dexterity in the formation of the APC and also in ensuring with others that the party became the governing party, some of the big wigs in his party even in the presidency tried everything in the book to deny him the presidential ticket of his party and dent him politically. He was able to survive the minefield put in front of him politically because of the unexpected support of his party’s northern governors who insisted that power should rotate to the south after it has stayed in the north for eight years with Buhari’s presidency. It was a deft move by the governors which caught the cabal in the presidency flat footed. Notable among these governors are Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna State, Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State and Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State.

Outside his party, it was also not an easy ride for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. The opposition parties threw dirty muds and arrows on him about his family background, his educational background and qualifications, his relationship with some people while he was in the USA and his fitness for the post health wise. Asiwaju Tinubu survived all these scurrilous political arrows thrown at him.

After getting his party’s ticket, the electioneering campaign was not a cup of tea for Tinubu. It was a gruesome and excruciating exercise which was not for the faint hearted. Asiwaju transversed the length and breadth of the whole country and addressed more campaign rallies than any of his competitors. He silenced his critics who had raised doubt about his fitness for the tasking job of the presidency with his frenetic pace of campaign. Asiwaju’s choice of Senator Kashim Shettima, the former governor of Borno State as the running mate was also mired in controversy because of the Muslim – Muslim nature of the ticket. Many political pundits felt that the choice was unwise and insensitive to delicate religious configuration in our country. Consequently, religion became an issue in the campaign just as it was in the 1964 US presidential election. In that election voters were asked to reject Jack Kennedy, the Democratic Party candidate just because he was a Catholic. Richard Nixon, the Republican candidate campaigned that as a Catholic, Kennedy would subject the sovereignty of USA to that of the Vatican. Despite the religious propaganda, Kennedy won the 1964 presidential election in USA and religious propaganda on Muslim-Muslim did not also deter Asiwaju Tinubu from winning Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election.,

The major political tendency in the present Southwest was kept in the cold politically from 1954 to 1964 during the NPC/NCNC coalition government. However, since the beginning of the present political dispensation, the Southwest has fared better than before. Asiwaju Tinubu would be the second person from the zone to be president of the country. The other person from the zone to have such an honour is Olusegun Obasanjo who became a civilian president 20 years after he left the office of the Head of State in a military toga. However, without any attempt to disparage the tenure of Obasanjo, it is a well-known fact that he did not enjoy the support of majority of people from Southwest. People in the zone felt that he was imposed from outside; this not the case with Asiwaju Tinubu who enjoys the support of the people of the Southwest.

From his credentials as somebody who fought with others for the present political dispensations coupled with his achievements in Lagos where he laid the foundation of the present rebirth of the state and produced worthy successors, there is no doubt that Asiwaju Tinubu would give Nigeria a focused, and goal-oriented administration which will unite the people of the country irrespective of their ethnic and religious affiliations. It is imperative for Asiwaju Tinubu to be fair to all sections of the country in the distribution of developmental projects as there should be no longer a sacred cow or and an underdog in political and economic dispensations in the country. Although the problems facing the country are daunting, I have a feeling that with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as the president of the country, the sleeping giant of the continent will now wake up.

•Professor Lucas writes from Old Bodija, Ibadan, Oyo State.

March 24, 2023
Polls: Opposition sour grapes and media

By Ojo Emmanuel Ademola

On Saturday, February 25, 2023, Nigerians trooped out en mass to exercise their democratic rights to elect a new President to replace incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari. The election took place in over 170,000 polling units all over Nigeria and retched up a lot of emotions; partisan, religious and tribal which revealed the deep apertures existing in our multi-ethnic country.

The election proceeded smoothly and with minimal hitches at the various polling units. At this level, there was almost a unanimous agreement that the process was free and fair save for some noticeable observations of malfunction of BVAS machines, which were rectified and delayed the commencement of elections in some polling units until they were equally rectified. Sure, there were few reported incidences of skirmishes and minimal roughness, here and there but they were comparably few and insignificant as to affect the credibility of the election or mar its outcome. At this stage, almost all the contesting parties and observer groups, both local and international, agreed to this, and indeed confirm that Nigerians must be proud of both the process and the outcome of the election.

Polling ended peacefully nationwide. Collation commenced at the various polling units and results were tallied, declared at each polling unit and subsequently sent to the ward collation centres. Note that at these polling unit collation centres, all the various party agents handled a truly certified and fully endorsed copy of the result sheets, signed by all verified party agents. Essentially, this process provides huge evidence of the exemplary nature of the election as it all ended peacefully as all the party agents signed copies of the verifiable outcomes.

At the ward collation centres, results from all polling units that make up the ward were tallied and the result entered into the ward result sheet signed by the party agents and handed to all the agents present at this stage. At the local government collation centres, the results from all the wards were tallied and entered into the local government result sheets, signed by all party agents and given to all participating agents of the various parties.

The state collation centres tallied all the results from the various local governments to arrive at the election results of the various states. Here, the results are equally entered into the state result sheets and signed by all the party agents who were given the result sheets. Evidentially, it remains an exemplary process where everything moved toward the epitome.

The National Collation Center in Abuja then calls on the various states’ Resident Electoral Commissioners and the State Collation Officers to present the results from their various states. At the national collation centre, the National Returning Officer who is usually the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) presides and his job is chiefly to call the State RECs and the State Returning Officers, who are usually Vice Chancellors of their respective university to present the results from the various states, with party agents and accredited observers participating. After each state presents its result, the entire state’s results are tallied to get the national election result and the INEC Chairman then declares the winner of the presidential election based on the results collated from all the states and Abuja, after taking all observations, complaints issues raised by party agents.

I have listed the progressive stages in this long, meticulous and tedious process to show how the electoral system in Nigeria works and to bring out these salient points:

•That the main, most critical aspect of elections happens at the polling units, which is the basic and micro level where polling takes place and that results obtained at these units determine the winner of elections.

•That reservations, objections, and complaints about the conduct of elections first emanate and are handled at the polling units and that based on satisfaction with how these complaints and objections are raised, party agents sign the result sheets.

•That whatever happens at the other collation centres, wards, local government, state and national tallies with the outcome at the polling units and that noticeable alterations at each level after the wards are treated in respect of their veracity at the stage or level it is noticed.

•That the National Collation Center is just to tally the results that have been compiled from the polling units to the wards, to the local government, to the states and the national collation centre is hardly a place to raise issues that occur at the polling units.

•That depending on the capacity of each party, it is not impossible to know the results of a presidential election, a few hours after the conclusion of polls, as the results of each polling unit are endorsed and declared.

My reason for this detailed excursion is to expose the mendacity of the two opposition parties that are now making outlandish claims concerning the outcome of the 2023 presidential election.

My intervention is equally targeted at a section of the international media, which gleefully jumped at the phoney claims by the opposition to thumb down such a meticulous process and perhaps the freest, fairest and most credible election ever held in this country. The penchant of a section of the international media to gobble any negative information about Nigeria, ostensibly to suit their pre-election Armageddon prediction for Nigeria, often leads them to jump at any sly effort by the opposition to rubbish the county as a result of their failed selfish projections and there was plenty of such dubious buy-in with the 2023 election. As the opposition parrot the selfish orchestra of a ‘rigged election’ without any scintilla of evidence, so did a section of the international media parrot the tale of a ‘flawed election’ without subjecting their report to minimal enquiry.

Let us note that the plank on which the opposition rests its wonky rigging charge was that election results were not uploaded directly on the INEC server from the polling unit, in ‘real time’ What a charge! The opposition parties (here, it is the two losing parties, the PDP and Labour Party that are marketing this rigging charge) raised the allegation of not uploading results at the polling units in real-time at the national collation centre, during the declaration of results from the states. By this time, they had the results from all the states so they know whether they won or not before coming to the collation centre. Of course, they knew they lost the election and were therefore determined to cause obstructions that they hoped would sabotage the process and throw up a diktat. The opposition tactics themselves raise pertinent questions; Why didn’t PDP and LP raise allegations of rigging at the polling unit, ward, local government and state collation centres? Why did they wait till the results get to the national collation centre before raising allegations that results weren’t uploaded to the INEC server?

Again, what actually does an electronic transmission of election results from the polling unit to the server actually contribute to the fairness and credibility of elections? Essentially, what is transparent at the polling units is indeed by efficacy transparent at the ward level right to the National Collation centre!

Are PDP and LP arguing that there were differences between the results they signed and collected at the polling units, wards, local governments and states collation centres? Is the difference in the fact that results were not uploaded to the INEC server as soon as they were declared at the polling units? If there were differences between results, why did the opposition parties not raise these differences at the earlier stages of collation?

These and many more are posers the section of the international media and other interests would have raised before magnifying the mischievous, dubious allegations of the opposition after they found out they lost an election that saw many people in positions to rig the election, losing their states and strongholds in a manner never witnessed in Nigeria before.

As has oft been emphasized, the courts are there for those who feel the election was rigged to expose such acts of rigging and possibly get a reprieve. In Nigeria, there are legions of instances where election results had been upturned at the courts so the two aggrieved losing parties, having reluctantly elected to take this course, should channel all their energies to proving these cases of rigging during the election. The courts offer the opposition the theatre to prove before the whole world how the 2023 elections were rigged and we eagerly await such exposure for the benefit of our democracy.

But then, why are PDP and LP so piqued by INEC’s failure to electronically transmit polling units’ results to the INEC server in ‘real time’? Why are their ludicrous charges of rigging anchored on this very thin, shaky and collapsible prop? An effort to interrogate this abnormal obsession will reveal an elaborate plot to hack and manipulate results uploaded to the INEC server, to produce dubious results that are different from the votes cast by Nigerians. Reports of the arrest of several people in various parts of Nigeria with cloned BVAS machines and other electronic accoutrements and the recent report that the INEC portal witnessed millions of attempts to hack it on election day, lends credence to this suspicion. INEC knew of this deliberate cyber attack strategy and decided that only declared, certified and endorsed results from the polling units are uploaded on the INEC server; not in ‘real time’ but after the declaration of such results. Indeed INEC has done that and this leaves those who are bellyaching over the failure of INEC to upload results in ‘real time’ to cross-check if the results they have tally with the results declared and uploaded by INEC. Who has any issue with this? Is the prejudiced section of the international media aware of this process and the underlying factors behind INEC’s refusal to upload results in ‘real time’ before they go to town with the pejorative narratives fed to them by losing and mischievous oppositions?

Are PDP and LP, with their obsession with electronic transmission of results ‘in real time’ justifying the popular opinion that the refusal of INEC to upload results ‘in real time’ frustrated their alleged robust plan to hack the INEC server and replace real election results with their fake versions?

It is even important to know that no law mandates INEC to upload election results from polling units ‘in real time’ as the mischievous opposition claims. A Federal High Court in January ruled that INEC cannot be compelled to electronically transmit election results from polling units. Indeed the court ruled that it is at the discretion of INEC to decide which collation method to use for the 2023 election. So how does failure to transmit results electronically from polling units to the INEC server, immediately after the announcement of results, amount to ‘rigging’, as the sly opposition claims or vitiate the outcome of the last election, as the equally sly section of the international media charge?

Knowing the desperation of some interests to tamper with the INEC server, INEC decided to manually collate the results at all levels and then upload the vetted results to its server. That way, each party has the privilege of endorsing the results at the polling unit, ward, local government, state and federal levels and getting copies of the endorsed results. Both the PDP and LP have copies of these results and their agents endorsed them and they are critical to their vow to challenge the results at the courts. So why the hullabaloo about INEC not uploading results ‘in real time’? Who are those behind the multifarious and desperate attempts to hack and compromise the INEC server?

So, let the prejudiced section of the international media shine their eyes (as we say in popular Nigerian lingo) and question the opposition’s inappropriate interest in uploading election results in ‘real time’ and juxtapose this against the many attacks on the INEC server on election day. The international community and its media should interrogate every propaganda from the Nigerian opposition before lapping on such to discredit a very credible election that recorded very many upsets as never ever seen in Nigeria’s electoral history.

So surprising that the opposition has no real and tangible pieces of evidence of infraction to justify their desperate negative campaigns against the election. The only ground they trumpet is that the results of the election weren’t uploaded to the INEC server in ‘real time’ which neither was an infraction to the electoral law nor does it signify any electoral fraud.

It is quite easy for the section of the international media that markets the jaundiced ware of the opposition on the 2023 election to hide their partiality in a nebulous and often dubious crusade for a ‘perfect election’ which itself is a utopia as no such thing as perfect election exists. The last United States election that was won by President Joe Biden, against former President Donald Trump is still in dispute today and has bred millions of Americans now fondly tagged ‘election deniers’ who emphatically believe that Biden didn’t win the election. So why should a section of the international media, bent on promoting the warped and deeply mischievous interests of the Nigerian opposition, hide under the nebulous demand for a ‘perfect election’ to demarket an election That was outstanding for the way and manner those who are in a position to rig the election, lost their strongholds?

Nigerians, including the mischievous opposition, know that the election conducted on February 25 remains our best so far. There was no report of ballot snatching; a notorious glitching that had defaced Nigerian electoral practice for several decades. There were no reports of vote-buying, of the scale that we are used to in the country:’s electoral history. The BVAS eliminated double or multiple voting as we used to know.

These and several reasons account for the shocking outcome of the election where both the President and the President-elect, with several governors lost in their states to the opposition. Surprisingly, the opposition PDP and LP are desperately tarring the election because they lost and unfortunately, a wing of the international media is magnifying their efforts. I advise the international media to get themselves educated on the Nigerian electoral process and electoral law, subject the last election to deeper scrutiny before they hawk the prejudiced opinions of those that lost the election and employ the same to tar a credible election, which, I repeat, remains the freest, the fairest and the most credible election ever held in this country.

•Ademola is a professor of Cyber Security and Information Technology Management

March 24, 2023
Bad breeding

THE old jingle, on the old Radio Nigeria network, went: the words of our elders are words of wisdom.

Talking of words of wisdom, a Yoruba saying comes to mind: they say your child is daft and you quip at least (s)he’s alive, not dead; whatever kills a child more than rank stupidity?

Now, how do you apply this saying to the fate of two women with Yoruba-sounding names just nabbed for Naira swap racketeering?

One was partying, throwing wads of new Naira notes — now as scarce as water in the desert — at fellow revellers and stomping on the new Naira notes (mint-fresh!) in the ecstasy of the moment!

But for bad socialization of the most garrulous kind, how can you do such things? How can you video yourself doing them, and then post such nonsense in the social media? How!

Well, that ignited a trail and before the virtual D-J could scratch the vinyl and change the tune, EFCC had nabbed her with reportedly other damning evidence of Naira swap racketeering — in a Range Rover to boot!

Indeed, nothing more slays a child faster than rank stupidity!

The second woman virtually lighted a lamp, showcasing her own “crime” scene: she advertised her sale of new Naira notes on her social media handle, just like her other hustles in beauty care and beauty products, she being a “serial entrepreneur”!

Now, does exposure to the social media equate manic thoughtlessness? That might not be far from the truth given how recklessly many youths — and even some elders — act on the social media!

But the basic question, beyond rank stupidity, is how these young women came about that volume of cash they trafficked in, in an era of acute scarcity, causing everyone pains?

Which soulless bank managers, or even higher up in the hierarchy, are so soullessly greedy as to slay the sacred trust the bank put in them to slake the evil greed that gnaws at their souls?

That is the pit-black heart of darkness of the Nigerian today. That bad socialization is reflected in both the Naira crunch and acute fuel scarcity.

Yes, the government should be drubbed for its own carelessness, which always brings out the worst in everyone. But the basic culprit is that dark heart that glories in others’ pains.

So, nabbing the girls are not enough. They must lead the arresting agencies to the bank fat cats that drive this illicit hustle. Those are the true devils that must be nailed on the cross.

•First published February 6, 2023

March 24, 2023
Keyamo petitions DSS over ‘incendiary comments’ by Obi, Datti
- Post-election remarks capable of causing insurrection, says APC chieftain
The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN), yesterday petitioned the Department of States Services (DSS), demanding the arrest of Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the February 25 poll, Mr. Peter Obi, and his running mate, Senator Datti Baba-Ahmed, over alleged incendiary comments.

In the petition to the Director General of DSS, which he shared on his verified Twitter page, Keyamo said the comments by the LP presidential and vice presidential candidates were capable of causing an insurrection, a rebellion against the Federal Government and President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The minister, who wrote the petition through his private law firm, said it was being submitted in his capacity as a patriotic citizen.

He wrote: “I write this petition with the full realisation that in a post-election period, such as this, there is a need to sooth frayed nerves, lower the temperature and begin the healing process. The President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has issued a statement to this effect a few days ago.

“However, it appears the president and vice presidential candidates of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed, are not prepared to toe this conciliatory path for the sake of peace and national cohesion, whilst exercising their rights to pursue duly laid down constitutional means of addressing their grievances.

“In this regard, since the declaration of the presidential election results, they have been hopping from one media house to the other making incendiary comments and claims about the declaration of the President-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“These comments and claims are made, not just within the boundaries of exercising their rights to freedom of speech and the freedom to air their grievances publicly, but they have since crossed the line to call for the outright truncation of democracy by insisting on the adoption of other processes outside the contemplation of our Constitution…”

Efforts to confirm the receipt of the petition from the DSS proved abortive as calls and messages sent to its spokesman Peter Afunnaya were neither answered nor replied to last night.

“In some cases, their privies have even called for the establishment of an Interim Government. The latest of such are the comments made by Datti Baba-Ahmed on behalf of himself and Mr. Peter Obi on Channels TV on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, wherein he threatened that if the President-elect is sworn in on May 29, 2023, it would ‘signal the end of democracy’.

“Posing as an accuser, a judge and a jury, all by himself, he unilaterally declared the duly elected President-elect as ‘unconstitutional’ and, in a subliminal manner, threatened mayhem if the President-Elect is sworn in on May 29, 2023.

“Also have it on good authority that Mr. Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed have camped some youths in a popular hotel in Abuja with the sole aim of instructing them to push out inciting messages everyday on social media in order to cause panic and fear within the federation and to incite people to riot and cause social unrest.

“It is noteworthy that Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed have submitted elections petitions to the courts for adjudication, but their conducts and utterances amount to subversion of the processes they have instituted in court and a subversion of our Constitution and the laid-down processes for addressing disputes and grievances.

“These conducts and utterances are a build-up to something more sinister, and it is important you rein them in NOW!

“In the circumstance, I submit this petition in my personal capacity as a patriotic Nigerian to invite/arrest, interrogate and after investigation, if necessary, charge both individuals to court for their conducts, which amount to incitement and treasonable felony.”

Efforts to confirm the receipt of the petition from the DSS proved abortive as calls and messages sent to its spokesman Peter Afunnaya were neither answered nor replied to last night.
March 24, 2023
Buhari signs copyright, laboratory institute Bills into law

President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the new Copyright Bill into law, The Nation has learnt.

The President recently assented to the new Act, alongside that of the Bill on Federal College and Medical Laboratory and Technology, Jos, according to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives), Nasiru Baballe Ila.

Ila said the new Act is geared towards protecting the right of authors.

He also said the new Copyright Act “has again demonstrated the commitment of this administration to re-energising Nigeria’s creative economy and making it more globally competitive in the digital age”.

The presidential aide explained that “the principal objectives of the new law, as outlined in Section One, are to: protect the rights of authors and ensure just rewards and recognition for their intellectual efforts; provide appropriate limitations and exceptions to guarantee access to creative works; facilitate Nigeria’s compliance with obligations arising from relevant international copyright treaties and conventions; and enhance the capacity of the Nigerian Copyright Commission for effective regulation, administration, and enforcement.

“The new Copyright Act expands the rights of authors, raises the sanctions for criminal infringements and more adequately addresses the challenges posed by digital and online use of copyright works. The Act also provides, specially, for the needs of blind, visually impaired and print disabled persons to have access to learning and reading materials in accessible formats.”

According to Ila, the other Bill assented to – the Federal College and Medical Laboratory and Technology, Jos – is aimed at strengthening the medical laboratory institute.

The Federal College of Medical Laboratory Science and Technology, Jos, Act, 2023, which repealed the earlier Act, the iresidential aide adde, “seeks to make the institution more effective in the discharge of its functions by strengthening the organisational framework”.

March 24, 2023
UK interest rate rises 4.25%

The Bank of England has raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.25% in response to higher than expected UK inflation and signs that Britain’s economy was holding up better than feared.

In a fortnight of heightened unease in global financial markets, the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) voted by a majority of seven to two to increase the base rate for the 11th time in a row.

It comes after an unexpected jump in the UK’s annual inflation rate in February to 10.4% from 10.1% in January, fuelled by food prices increasing at the fastest pace in 45 years. The Bank’s official target for inflation is 2%.

UK interest rates raised to 4.25% by Bank of England, but inflation expected to cool – business live

The Bank also said the outlook for the economy was slightly improved and it was no longer predicting a technical recession, where the economy shrinks for two consecutive quarters.

Central banks on both sides of the Atlantic have pushed ahead with rate increases despite fears over the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the Swiss-government brokered rescue of Credit Suisse by its rival lender UBS. The US Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate on Wednesday by a quarter of a percentage point to a range of 4.75% to 5%.

In a move widely anticipated by City traders after the shock UK inflation increase, the MPC said growth in the British economy was holding up better than expected, as the nine-member rate-setting panel pushed up borrowing costs to the highest level since the 2008 banking crash.

However, it indicated that inflation was still expected to fall “sharply” over the coming months amid a decline in global energy prices, in a potential sign that the MPC’s most aggressive assault on inflation in its history could be near an end.

In a signal of its future plans, the committee said that if there were to be “evidence of more persistent pressures, then further tightening in monetary policy would be required”.

Threadneedle Street said the UK economy was now expected to grow slightly in the second quarter of the year, after previously forecasting a 0.4% drop in activity, suggesting that the recent sharp fall in global energy prices and extension of government support for gas and electricity bills would help to bolster spending.

In a judgment issued after Jeremy Hunt’s spring budget last week, it said the measures announced by the chancellor could help to increase the size of the economy by about 0.3% over the coming years. The extension of the government’s energy price guarantee, at £2,500 for an average household bill, would help real incomes remain broadly flat, rather than falling significantly.

The extension in the cap is expected to lower inflation by about one percentage point, while freezing fuel duty would contribute a further third of a percentage point drop compared with its previous estimates.

Economists have said the turmoil in the global banking system has potential to further weigh on the economy, reducing the need for further interest rate rises at a time when headline inflation is already expected to fall sharply.

Two of the MPC’s external members, Silvana Tenreyro and Swati Dhingra, voted against a rate rise, saying higher borrowing costs were weighing on the economy in a way that could bring forward the point at which rate cuts would be required.

It comes amid signs that an acceleration in wage growth since the Covid pandemic has juddered to a halt in recent months, despite continuing signs of labour shortages in several sectors of the economy. Economists have suggested weaker levels of wage growth could reduce the risk of persistently high inflation.

The Bank said it was closely monitoring the economic effect of the failure of SVB and UBS’s takeover of Credit Suisse, and would issue a full assessment in its next update on the economy, in May.

The central bank’s financial policy committee said it “judged that the UK banking system maintained robust capital and strong liquidity positions, and was well placed to continue supporting the economy in a wide range of economic scenarios, including in a period of higher interest rates”.

March 24, 2023
Osun governorship: Judgment today in Adeleke’s appeal

Ahead of today’s judgment by the Court of Appeal on the dispute over the election result of the Osun State governorship mandate between Governor Ademola Adeleke and his predecessor, Adegboyega Oyetola, security operatives have been on red alert to prevent likely breakdown of law and order in the state.

The Court of Appeal, yesterday, fixed today for judgment.

Oyetola of All Progressives Congress (APC), who was defeated at the July 16, 2022 poll by Adeleke of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), challenged the victory at the Election Petition Tribunal on two grounds of over-voting and alleged certificate forgery by the latter.

The majority judgment, read by the panel chairman, Justice Tertse Kume, sacked Adeleke on over-voting at 744 polling units.

The judge directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the Certificate of Return from Adeleke and issue a fresh one to Oyetola.

But INEC approached the Appeal Court to challenge the judgment on 44 grounds.

But Oyetola and APC filed a cross-appeal over certificate forgery, which the three-member panel established against Adeleke.

During the last sitting of the Appeal Court, Akure, which sat in Abuja on March 13, the court reserved judgment after the adoption of the final written addresses by all the parties.

The lawyers in the case were informed yesterday that judgment would be delivered today at noon.

Security personnel have been deployed in the state to prevent likely breakdown of law and order from the camp that may not be satisfied with tomorrow’s judgment.

When contacted yesterday, spokesperson of the Osun State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Kehinde Adeleke, said: “We commenced strategic deployment of personnel around critical infrastructure in the state and 24-hour patrol by armed detachment of the corps in readiness for emergency responses ahead of Friday judgment on Osun governorship mandate.

“The command is ready to prevent any breakdown of law and order that may arise from possible protests by aggrieved parties.”

March 24, 2023
Hit by cash crunch, manufacturers, businesses rue losses

The protracted cash crunch forced by the national currency redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has not only posed an existential threat to most Nigerians; it has also crippled economic activities in the country. The policy under which CBN mopped up over 70 per cent of cash in the economy has left manufacturers agonising over a more than 25 per cent dip in sales of manufactured products. Many operators in the informal sector have also shut down, with corresponding job losses in hundreds of thousands, forcing millions of Nigerians to slip into penury. Assistant Editors CHIKODI OKEREOCHA and OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE report that the economy has lost an estimated N20 trillion and still counting

Nigerians have never been this traumatised in recent history. The protracted cash crunch foisted on them following the implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) national currency redesign policy has brought economic activities to a halt, with various players in the economy and indeed, Nigerians generally counting their loses.

From manufacturers to small scale businesses in the informal sector, and to buyers and sellers, artisans and company workers, no one is spared of the disruptive and damaging impact of the policy and its attendant cash scarcity. For instance, the crisis has disrupted manufacturing activities and by extension, the economy in a profound manner, with manufacturers contending with more than 25 per cent dips in purchase of manufactured products.

The Director General of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Segun Ajayi-Kadir, gave insight into how the cash crunch left manufacturers with about 25 per cent decline in purchases. For a start, he said although manufacturers do most of their transactions such as purchase of raw materials electronically, they also engage in cash transactions. According to Ajayi-Kadir, the purpose of manufacturing is to sell, and selling takes place typically at the retail end where most people use cash. “Even in some cases where we have to gather our raw materials from the local areas where cash is king, you make those purchases particularly from the farmers when you are aggregating the input for your manufacturing with cash,” he said.

The MAN DG further stated that manufacturers are particularly impacted by the currency scarcity in the sense that all that they produce need to be bought for them to have successfully executed business. “For us, what happens at the retail end of the market is of paramount importance. It means that the average citizen will simply not have enough cash to be able to buy,” he told The Nation.

Ajayi-Kadir also pointed out that even though a lot of advances have been made in terms of electronic transfer of funds, “you discover that most of the purchases you have, particularly in the sub-national and in the rural communities, are still transacted in cash and so we are going to have limitations in those areas.”

That is not all. The obviously worried MAN DG also said there is the issue of not being able to move around very easily because one needs to pay cash, and trade requires movement of people. “We have also seen some disturbances that have accompanied the non-availability of cash and most citizens are getting frustrated and they are prioritizing the purchase of food to survive. So, the little naira you have, you tend to use it to buy food and it has had major impact on us. Some of our members are already complaining that what they are able to produce; they are not able to sell. This is swelling the unplanned inventory that they have,” he told The Nation.

However, manufacturers who have been saddled with huge inventory of unsold goods were said to have been left with no choice than to invest heavily in hiring warehouses to keep their goods. This is because most of the products produced by manufacturers could not be sold because of the currency scarcity. But the option of hiring warehouses isn’t without implications. As Ajayi-Kadir put it, “it means that some of the goods that are stored in the warehouses will reach their shelve life and it will become a burden even on manufacturers to dispose of them. So, we are looking at a situation where the naira scarcity doesn’t augur well for the manufacturing sector and we are eagerly looking forward to the issue being addressed.”

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr. Muda Yusuf, is no less worried by the obvious negative impact of the prevailing cash crunch on the struggling manufacturing sector and by extension, the economy. He said the crisis has disrupted many business activities especially at the distributive trade level. Dr. Yusuf pointed out, for instance, that in many locations, particularly in the informal sector and the rural economy, transactions are basically cash-based. Also, movement logistics to and from work by employees of many organisations, including manufacturers, he said, has been severely affected because intra city commercial transportation is purely a cash business. Many members of staff of organisations have also not been going to work due to lack of cash.

“The implication of all of these is that manufacturers’ products that are traded largely in the informal sector and in the rural areas across the country suffer serious setbacks in terms of sales and turnover. This naturally had a knock-on effect on capacity utilisation and manufacturers’ inventory levels,” Dr. Yusuf told The Nation.

He said beyond the cash crisis, there is also a lot of pressure on digital payment platforms, many of which have either collapsed or functioned sub-optimally. As a result, those seeking to make payments on digital platforms have been having serious problems of transaction failures, with many business transactions getting stalled.

Bad as it is, Dr. Yusuf, however, said there is very little manufacturers can do to fix this problem since it is purely an exogenous factor. Besides, manufacturers, he said, do not have direct interface with consumers or retailers. “The best they (manufacturers) could do is to strengthen their advocacy towards a much better management of the economy,” he suggested.

As far as Dr. Yusuf, who is a renowned economist and former DG of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) is concerned, “The whole cash crisis is a consequence of huge capacity gaps in monetary policy formulation and management.” He, however, said in terms of options open to manufacturers, there are very limited options other than to get the CBN and the Federal Government to obey and fully comply with the Supreme Court judgment by improving the supply of cash to the economy and give more time for the transition from the old to the new currency note regime.

Dr. Yusuf also said it is important for the CBN to retrace its steps on the arbitrary mop up of 70 per cent of cash in the economy. “This is the big issue because the shock created serious problems for small businesses in the economy. The cost of cash rose to an unprecedented level of between 20-30 per cent for conversion from digital money to cash. This is obviously very punitive,” he kicked.

The expert, however, said with the Supreme Court ruling, he expects to see a gradual normalisation of economic activities and better circulation of cash in the economy. Dr. Yusuf was referring to the Supreme Court ruling on Friday, March 3rd, 2023, that the Federal Government’s naira redesign policy was an affront to the 1999 Constitution; that the policy breached the fundamental rights of Nigerian citizens, and therefore, ordered that the old N200, N500 and N1, 000 notes remain in circulation as legal tender till 31st December this year.

The ruling itself followed a lawsuit filed in February by 16 state governors after President Muhammadu Buhari refused to heed their pleas to show more sensitivity to the plight of millions of ordinary Nigerians and allow the old notes to circulate for a more extended period. The Court held that the unlawful use of executive powers by the President inflicted unprecedented economic hardship on the citizens by denying them ownership of and access to their money, noting that some cash-strapped citizens had to engage in barter to survive.

However, it took the CBN days to confirm its compliance with the ruling by the Supreme Court. Before then, the CBN kept sealed lips over the judicial verdict overruling its earlier 10th February deadline for expiration of old N200, N500 and N1, 000 notes amidst scarcity of new notes that has inflict incalculable injuries to the economy and Nigerians.

On February 16th, President Buhari also made a broadcast granting isolated extension of N200 notes validity to 30th April. But the broadcast did not go down well with Nigerians, with many of them accusing the President of being insensitive to their plight and not appreciating the gravity and enormity of their suffering and pain.

Recall that the Godwin Emefiele-led CBN inadvertently threw Nigerians and the economy into confusion. That was in October last year when it introduced the naira redesign policy, unveiled the specimen new notes in November and fixed January 31 for the phasing out of the old notes.

The CBN fixed a 90-day timeline for the currency transition, claiming among other things that the currency redesign will help mop up excess cash in the system, drive a cashless economy, fight crime and kidnapping, prevent vote-buying, and rein in inflation and counterfeiting.

Sadly however, the unintended consequences of the policy appear to have over-shadowed its envisaged deliverables. Since that January 31 when the CBN asked Nigerians to deposit their old N200, N500 and N1000 notes in exchange for the newly-redesigned naira notes, it’s been a tale of woes by not a few Nigerians and business owners, both big and small.

This is because the CBN did not release enough new notes to guarantee a seamless currency swap. And the acute naira scarcity that followed led to widespread anger and frustration, as most Nigerians could not get cash to pay for food and other basic necessities. To make matters worse, payment systems across all platforms that should have provided alternative to distressed Nigerians and business owners collapsed. The CBN was said to have mopped up as much as 70 per cent of the cash in the economy, forcing many Nigerians to turn to digital or electronic platforms. Yet, many of them could not get relief as most electronic payment platforms have been performing sub-optimally because of congestion.

Many Nigerians who could not bear the unprecedented economic and financial hardship inflicted on them by banks that denied them ownership of and access to their money, practically relocated to the banks where they kept vigil. Some women who were unable to feed their children and send them to school have protested by going naked in banking halls. Several bank branches have been attacked by men who could not bear the hardship, forcing many banks to close their banking halls to prevent their workers from being attacked and killed.

However, it took the Supreme Court order of March 3rd that all old notes remain legal tender until the end of the year and should circulate alongside new notes for distressed Nigerians and business owners from across all sectors to begin to see what appears to be a gradual return to normalcy, even though the crisis has continued to impact businesses and social livelihood beyond intentions.

“Retail transactions across sectors have become nerve-racking and distressing as payment system challenges persist,” Dr. Yusuf lamented, noting that since the onset of the cash crisis, “the Nigerian economy has lost an estimated N20 trillion.”

According to him, these losses arose from the deceleration of economic activities, the crippling of trading activities, the stifling of the informal economy, contraction in the agricultural sector and the paralysis of the rural economy. He also said there are corresponding job losses in hundreds of thousands. It is easy to see how the huge job losses came about. For instance, several operators in the informal sector, particularly Point of Sale (PoS) across the country, have been forced to shut down, complaining of lack of cash to dispense to their numerous customers. Many PoS operators are known to employ several workers, and closing shop meant throwing those workers back into the saturated labour market. Some of the PoS operators, who spoke with The Nation, said they could not stand the exorbitant cost of dispensing N10, 000, for instance, to their customers for as much as between N3, 000 and N4, 000, in most cases.

Although the expected relief from the Supreme Court judgment has not fully materialised, signs of improvement are gradually appearing on the horizon particularly after the elections. Dr. Yusuf, however, cautioned that the CBN should remove all impediments to the flow of cash in the economy, and that all administrative and regulatory barriers should be removed in line with the Supreme Court ruling. “The condition that deposit of cash will require the generation of code from the CBN portal is completely unnecessary and should be eradicated,” he added.

On his part, Ajayi-Kadir said there are still some conversations that need to happen between the CBN and probably the judiciary so that they can find an amicable way to allow the suffering to abate. “There has to be a way of implementing the Supreme Court judgment in such a way that it does not also take away the prerogative of the CBN to manage our monetary policy and how we spend money,” he said.

The MAN DG, while reiterating the need for a high-level conversation between the CBN and the judiciary so that the suffering of the people is reduced and businesses can function effectively, noted that the currency redesign policy was “an excellent monetary control measure by the CBN.” He, however, expressed regrets over what he described as “the inexplicable poor management of the transition process.” He said if the problem lingers, “the in-coming administration should swiftly address it without throwing away the baby with the bath water.”

The DG, LCCI, Dr. Chinyere Almona, also said the Chamber supports the drive towards a cashless economy, but insisted that redesigning the naira and phasing out old currency notes could have been better planned and implemented with no hardship for businesses and individuals.

According to her, the cash crunch is impacting businesses and social livelihoods beyond intentions. She said while banks have endeavoured to meet the currency demands of their customers through Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) and electronic transfers, the scarcity of the naira has rendered their efforts ineffective. “Businesses are suffering the consequences of the CBN currency management policy lapses. Regarding the deadline extension for phasing out old notes, the Chamber does not see any value in this if the scarcity of the new naira notes persists,” Dr. Almona said.

March 24, 2023