The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Bridging the gaps in budget implementation

    Bridging the gaps in budget implementation

    By Tunde Rahman

    To state that there are gaps in the implementation of the 2024 and 2025 budgets is actually stating the obvious. One does not need to be an economist or an expert in fiscal matters to know this. Top government functionaries charged with budgetary matters have all made the point and confirmed that the budgets were not fully funded for apparent reasons. This admission reflects an attribute typically rare in government – transparency.

    In August, at a stakeholders’ engagement on the implementation of the 2025 capital budget and related issues in Abuja, Dr. Tanimu Yakubu, the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, pointed out that the Federal Government was funding the capital component of the 2024 budget using revenue accruing under the 2025 Budget. He also noted that the 2025 revenue projections in the budget had been underperforming because the country had not met the oil production quota.

    Questions, therefore, arose in some quarters about the level of budget implementation. President Bola Tinubu’s announcement in August that the administration had met its 2025 non-oil revenue target even triggered more questions.  What then was the issue regarding budget implementation? 

    It must be noted, however, that there are additional revenue sources for funding budgets beyond Internally-Generated Revenue. These include funding by development partners and foreign and domestic loans. If the IGR performs and there are gaps in other revenue sources, there could also be limitations in budget implementation. In that seemingly innocuous statement, President Tinubu was referring to the non-oil revenue component of the budget for the year. 

    Following the below-par performance of the 2024 Budget, the National Assembly approved the rollover of the budget into 2025. The parliament later also approved the rollover of 70 percent of the 2025 capital projects into 2026.  Given this background of poor budget execution, some had suggested a holistic review of the budgeting process to upend the cycle of rollovers and non-implementation. Dr Muda Yusuf, the CEO of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprises, among others, proposed that rather than discard projects that were approved but not implemented, it would be more prudent to consolidate outstanding projects, clear the accumulated backlog and re-present them within a more coherent and credible framework. 

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    Two weeks ago, President Tinubu moved decisively to address the implementation problems associated with the 2024 and 2025 budgets by using the practical template of the 2026 budget. Presenting the N58.18 trillion 2026 budget proposals to the National Assembly on Thursday, December 18, 2025, the President declared an end to budget rollovers and multiple budgets. Despite the challenges, the 2026 budget aligns well with the December-January budget cycle. 

    Aptly titled “Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity,” this new budget is essentially anchored on fiscal planning, discipline, resilience and sustainable development in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda. With the budget, President Tinubu plans to consolidate macroeconomic stability, improve the business and investment environment, promote job‑rich growth, reduce poverty and strengthen human capital development, while protecting the vulnerable.

    But rather than appreciate the government’s challenge, the courage demonstrated in accepting the fact of poor implementation of the budget and the firm resolve to correct the anomaly, the opposition African Democratic Congress took the notoriously mischievous route to upbraid President Tinubu. The party described the new budget and the government’s remedial plans as “a copy and paste” of previous years’ spending plans. The party’s interim National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said ADC’s economists reviewed the budget, claiming that “it reflects fiscal recklessness and unrealistic projections.” Propagating a doomsday theory, ADC opined that, like its predecessors, the 2026 Budget would end up as another unimplemented document.

    It is fair to argue that the 2025 budget faced the challenge of transition and competing execution demands. But presenting the 2026 Budget to the lawmakers, President Tinubu assured that the budgetary situation would be different this time. The President said: “As of Q3 2025, we recorded: 18.6 trillion naira in revenue — representing 61% of our target; and 24.66 trillion naira in expenditure — representing 60% of our target.

    “Let me be clear: 2026 will be a year of stronger discipline in budget execution. I have issued directives to the Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, the Honourable Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, the Accountant‑General of the Federation, and the Director‑General of the Budget Office of the Federation to ensure that the 2026 Budget is implemented strictly in line with the appropriated details and timelines.

    “We expect improved revenue performance through the new National Tax Acts and the ongoing reforms in the oil and gas sector — reforms designed not merely to raise revenue, but to drive transparency, efficiency, fairness, and long‑term value in our fiscal architecture,” he added.

    President Tinubu recognises the importance of fiscal guardrails, as evidenced by his clear directive to Government‑owned Enterprises and to the heads of all agencies to meet their assigned revenue targets.

    To support this, he said:  “An end‑to‑end digitisation of revenue mobilisation — standardised e‑collections, interoperable payment rails, automated reconciliation, data‑driven risk profiling, and real‑time performance dashboards — will be deployed so that leakages are sealed, compliance is verifiable, and remittances are prompt.”

    These targets, President Tinubu noted, will form core components of performance evaluations and institutional scorecards. “Nigeria can no longer afford leakages, inefficiencies, or underperformance in strategic agencies. Every institution must play its part.  In short: we will spend with purpose, manage debt with discipline, and pursue broad-based, sustainable growth.”

    These are grand plans and clear directives from President Tinubu. The National Assembly, too, has a vital role to play in ensuring the successful implementation of the 2026 budget. Many of the unimplemented projects in the 2025 Budget, for instance, were constituency projects, the brunt of which was borne by lawmakers who tended to allocate the jobs even when the projects had not been cash-backed. Beyond approving the 2026 appropriation, therefore, the lawmakers must show greater restraint and prudence in handling their constituency projects.

    The 2026 budget has other notable aspects. One, it re-presents a defining moment in the national journey of reform and transformation. The 2026 Budget, as President Tinubu said, “reflects the government’s determination to lock in macroeconomic stability, deepen competitiveness, and ensure that growth translates into decent jobs, rising incomes, and a better quality of life for every Nigerian.”

    Two, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda and the practical needs of Nigerians, the budget prioritises five critical sectors: defence and security – N5.41 trillion; infrastructure – N3.56 trillion; education – N3.52 trillion; and health – N2.48 trillion. As the President rightly said, these priorities are interlinked: “Without security, investment will not thrive. Without educated and healthy citizens, productivity will not rise. Without infrastructure, jobs and enterprises will not scale.”

    To all intents and purposes, the government has drawn appropriate lessons from the drawbacks of the 2024 and 2025 budgets. That is why the 2026 Budget is guided by three basic principles: better revenue mobilisation, better spending by prioritising projects, and better accountability through strengthened procurement discipline, monitoring, and reporting. There is a strong optimism that it will yield outcomes that benefit all, which hopefully the perennial cynics would acknowledge.

    • Rahman is Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Special Duties.

  • Tunji Olaopa and the reimagined bureaucracy

    Tunji Olaopa and the reimagined bureaucracy

    By Paul Onomuakpokpo

    When the German writer Franz Kafka directs his narrative genius at the civil service – after spending a princely part of his working life in it – he leaves us with a dark and tragic vision of a bureaucratic system inexorably trapped in detachment from its duty to serve the people. This is inevitable since in his reckoning, the system that Max Weber brands the “iron cage” is bereft of the capacity to even cater to the interest of its loyal devotees who have been desouled per In the Penal Colony, The Trial, and The Castle. We appropriate the above backdrop to properly situate the reform trajectory of the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Prof. Tunji Olaopa, who , like Kafka, spent a huge part of his working life in the civil service. But unlike Kafka, while admitting being confronted with what he has identified as bureau-pathologies which are markers of the resistance to reform, and thus the degeneration of the civil service, Olaopa does not consider it fated to a cul-de-sac. For Olaopa, what is embedded in these is an urgent summons for reform, rather than a wholesale consignment of the bureaucratic system to a mould of a machine that is insensitive to its handlers and those it is meant to serve. Olaopa is clearly alert to the fact that although the civil service is in need of reform, it remains what is commonly referred to as the engine room for translating government’s transformative values – which receive expression through policies and programmes – to realities for the people. This quest for the transformation of the civil service has been the leitmotif of Olaopa’s professional preoccupation whether in the civil service or in academia of his post-civil service life. Thus, whether by serendipity or a master stroke of an uncanny genius for identifying talent, President Bola Tinubu was able to recognise this throbbing reform impulse in Olaopa when he appointed him the Chairman of the FCSC and gave him the charge: Transform the Federal Civil Service Commission. This charge became two-year old on December 13, 2025. In this period, the prosecution of this charge has been manifestly expressed through the tripodal mandate of the FCSC, viz: recruitment, appointment and discipline. Before Olaopa’ leadership of the FCSC, it was bereft of a reputation that would allow the citizens and institutions to deal with it with a measure of confidence that their trust would be creditably requited . For those who knew it, it was perceived as a haven of corruption where only those with the right connections got government jobs. Olaopa has changed all that perception . The FCSC has become a government agency that citizens can trust with their quest to be employed in the civil service. The era of jobs being paid for is gone. Under Olaopa, there is the overarching quest to bring the best and brightest to the civil service, without undermining the federal character principle. His credibility has invested his leadership with an imprimatur of believability. Through credible promotion examinations, the career progression of the most qualified civil servants is guaranteed. Civil servants are no longer apprehensive that they need to look for millions to bribe their way to rise to the top. Olaopa has demonstrated the courage to stop the promotion of those who do not merit it no matter the pressure from different quarters. The avenues for questionable promotion examinations such as leakage and sub-standard examination questions have been blocked. This has saved the commission from wasting time, money and other resources on court cases. Those who fail no longer bother to contest the grades they have been awarded as they rest assured that the system is now credible. Olaopa’s streak of firsts at the FCSC has received a boon with the introduction of the computer-based test ( CBT) mould for the conduct of recruitment and promotion examinations in the civil service. This novelty imposes on civil servants the salubrious necessity of computer-savviness that is reflective of technological developments in a world where those who have demurred at bracing for artificial intelligence and others are faced with the present danger of consignment to corporate and professional backwaters. It has also shrunk the space for the manipulation of examination results that impugn the credibility of the commission. Olaopa has also robustly activated the guardrail for a credible disciplinary process. There is a deliberate process to ensure that civil servants are not unduly punished and witch-hunted. The matters of discipline are thoroughly investigated and fiercely debated by Olaopa and his federal commissioners who represent the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory before a conclusion is reached. No one is allowed to use their influence to frustrate their subordinates out of the civil service. Through a robust deployment of emotional intelligence, Olaopa has been able to forge an unequalled cordial working relationship with the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation ( HOCSF ). Indeed, Olaopa aptly captures his working relationship with the HOCSF as that of Siamese twins who operate with unequalled synergy. Unlike some agencies of government, there is no rivalry between these two agencies of the government that are responsible for the leadership of the nation’s civil service. They both adhere to their boundaries to ensure that the civil service delivers only only the best to the public. At the state level, civil servants have equally benefited immensely from Olaopa’s leadership. Drawing from his rich experience as a former federal permanent secretary and as a professor of public administration, Olaopa has offered himself as a mentor to many managers of state civil service commissions. This finds exemplification in Olaopa’s revitalisation of the National Conference of Civil Service Commissions after an over 10-year hiatus. The last two conferences which were held in Katsina and Abia states birthed declarations that outlined the challenges that state civil service commissions need to overcome to optimise their performance. Olaopa has also extended his mentorship to local government service commissions as he delivered the keynote address to them during their last yearly conference in Abuja. For years, the voice of the Nigerian civil service through the Federal Civil Service Commission was silent on the global stage. But within two years, Olaopa has forged alliances that have returned the voice of the civil service to the global stage. This is so especially at the continental level where under the leadership of Olaopa, Nigeria has become an active voice in the Association of the African Public Service Commissions (AAPSCOMS). In its last meeting in Kenya, Olaopa was elected the Vice President of AAPSCOMS for West Africa.To underscore Nigeria’s influence in AAPSCOMS through Olaopa, the country has been scheduled to host the organisation in 2026 in Abuja. Successful corporations like great nations have strategic plans that define certain directions that they would go in a given time frame. Yet the FCSC for over 70 years of its existence was bereft of such a strategic plan. But within the two years of Olaopa’s leadership , the FCSC now has a strategic plan that spells out the direction the commission would go from now till 2030. Beyond clinking glasses at two years in the saddle, Olaopa’s achievements within this brief period are an auspicious reminder of the gains that accrue to the society when the appointment of people to public office is blind to considerations other than their suitability on account of competence and their readiness to serve. They also signal a determination to bequeath to succeeding managers of the civil service a world-class bureaucratic system that has been made to yield itself to renewal in order to effectively deliver service to the public. Onomuakpokpo, PhD, former Acting Editor, The Guardian, is the Special Assistant on Strategic Communications to the Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission.

  • Festive feasts and hidden germs: How to stay food-safe

    Festive feasts and hidden germs: How to stay food-safe

    Sir: The festive season is a time of joy, togetherness, and abundant food. From steaming pots of jollof rice to roadside suya, nkwobi, assorted and catfish pepper soup, fried chicken, and assorted local delicacies, as celebrations across Nigeria are often marked by generous feasting. However, beneath the excitement of these meals lies a silent but significant risk of foodborne infections caused by harmful microorganisms.

    Each year, hospitals record a surge in cases of diarrhoea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps during and after festive periods. Many of these illnesses are preventable and are linked to poor food handling practices rather than the food itself.

    Foods prepared or stored improperly can harbour dangerous bacteria such as Salmonella sp, Escherichia coli (E. coli), and Staphylococcus aureus. These organisms are commonly found in raw meat, poultry, eggs, unpasteurized milk, contaminated water, and on unwashed hands or utensils. During large gatherings, food is often cooked in bulk and left at room temperature for long hours. Unfortunately, warm conditions especially in Nigeria’s climate provide an ideal environment for bacteria to multiply rapidly. A pot of rice left uncovered for several hours may look safe but could contain millions of invisible bacteria capable of causing serious illness.

    Leftovers are a festive staple, but they are also one of the leading causes of food poisoning. Repeated reheating, poor refrigeration due to unavailability of power, and storing food in uncovered containers significantly increase the risk of contamination. Many people believe that reheating food automatically makes it safe. This is not always true. Some bacteria produce toxins that are heat-stable, meaning the toxins can survive normal reheating. When leftovers are mishandled, the risk of illness increases, especially for children, the elderly, and individuals with weakened immune systems.

    Street foods are an important part of our food culture and provide livelihoods for many families. However, during festive periods, the high demand for ready-to-eat foods can sometimes compromise hygiene standards. Food exposed to flies, dust, or handled with unwashed hands can easily become contaminated. This does not mean street food should be avoided entirely, but consumers must be vigilant. Choosing vendors who maintain cleanliness, serve hot food, and handle money separately from food can significantly reduce risk.

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    Staying food-safe during the holidays does not require expensive equipment or complicated rules; rather, simple everyday practices can make a significant difference. Hands should be washed thoroughly with soap and clean water before cooking or eating, as this reduces the transfer of harmful microorganisms. Food, especially meat, poultry, and eggs, should be cooked properly to eliminate disease-causing bacteria.

    To prevent cross-contamination, raw and cooked foods should be handled with separate utensils and cutting boards. Cooked meals should be served hot and not left at room temperature for more than two hours, as prolonged exposure encourages bacterial growth. Leftover food should be promptly refrigerated in well-covered containers and consumed within 24 to 48 hours. When reheating leftovers, they should be heated thoroughly until they are steaming hot to ensure safety. In addition, only clean and safe water should be used for drinking, cooking, and washing utensils, as contaminated water can introduce harmful pathogens.

    Food safety during the festive season is a shared responsibility between cooks, food vendors, families, and consumers. While the season calls for celebration, it is important to remember that good health is the foundation of enjoyment.

    As we gather to celebrate with family and friends, let us ensure that our meals bring only joy not illness. By practicing simple food-safety measures, we can protect ourselves and our loved ones and truly enjoy the festive season. This festive season, let’s make food safety a family tradition. Wash your hands, cook thoroughly, store leftovers properly, and choose hygienic vendors. By taking these simple steps, you can protect yourself, your loved ones, and your community from preventable foodborne illnesses. Celebrate responsibly because a healthy feast is the foundation of a joyful holiday.

    •Dr. Umezurike Emeka, Lead City University, Ibadan

  • Land titling as a major source of revenue

    Land titling as a major source of revenue

    Sir: Land titling is the transfer of land ownership to individuals, organizations or entities through the issuance of legal titles or documents which formalizes the process. There is convincing evidence that this process enhances security of tenure, facilitates land transactions, and has had diverse impacts on loan availability, investment incentives and higher output, income and family wealth, social security and economic development around the world.

    It is worrisome that in Nigeria, documentation has remained characterized by confusion and disorder in real estate transactions. More worrisome is the fact that about 90% of land in Nigeria is unregistered and untitled. With over $300 billion in dead capital tied up in undocumented land, the nation’s vast land assets are not economically viable, and do not boost states’ revenue.

    Government has enormous responsibilities and obligations, such as provision of infrastructure and social amenities for the people and for the betterment of the society. And for government to be alive to these responsibilities, there must be unhindered flow of revenue from multiple sources. Land titling is a good economic tool, with potentials to significantly boost the states’ revenue, enhance the value of properties and transaction in the marketplace, if it is fully harnessed and implemented. Property is a very secured and reliable source of income, particularly through titling and registration.

    It is in this light that the strategic move by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and the World Bank Group to unlock the several billions of dollars in dead capital tied up in such undocumented land and to make the nation’s vast land assets more economically viable must be commended. In year 2024, the ministry and the World Bank resolved to work together towards addressing the 90% of unregistered and untitled land in Nigeria.

    Through the initiative, the ministry in conjunction with the World Bank planned to, amongst other objectives, register, document and title all land parcels within five years; develop and launch a National Digital Land Information System (NDLIS) and define a framework that would make it accessible to all stakeholders. The plan also include an increase in the formalization of land transactions from less than 10% to over 50% in the next 10 years; and train and deploy technically competent land registration officers nationwide. With this, land registration and titling will open up sources of revenue for the states, and would boost their income through ground rent, Certificates of Occupancy, and taxes accruing from increased investments in real estate.

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    Such funds can be used to  support land administration in Nigeria, affordable housing, sustainable financing mechanism, provide urban services in the states of the federation, help to minimize the effect of infrastructure deficit, address the impact of climate change on the urban sector, and engage in urban land management towards the attainment of liveable cities, digitization, among others.

    To make the programme effective, the National Land Registration and Titling Programme should partner and collaborate with the state governments. In doing this, government can optimize revenue from titling. State governments should complement the ministry’s initiative by ensuring valuation report on the properties are provided for registration.

    Land titles are not just pieces of paper; they are foundational to land governance, development control, and the orderly growth of Nigerian cities. Without proper titling, even the best urban plans collapse under the weight of dispute, delay, and disorganization.

    To ensure sustainable development, Nigeria must align its land titling systems with physical planning frameworks. This alignment guarantees legal security, promotes investment, and prevents the urban chaos we see in unregulated areas. The future of Nigerian urban development rests on the strength of its land titles.

    Wesey Titilayo Folashade, Lagos.

  • Dangote -NMDPRA dispute: The real issues

    Dangote -NMDPRA dispute: The real issues

    sir: We have followed with interest the ongoing impasse between Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA). The issue at stake transcends commercial disagreement. It strikes at the heart of a fundamental development question: the sovereignty of Nigeria’s governance process over its hydrocarbon resources.

    The paradox is striking: Nigeria now has a $20 billion refinery—one of the world’s largest—yet we continue importing petroleum products. A private investor has built the refining capacity our nation desperately needs, but faces systematic undermining from the very regulatory authority whose mandate is to support such investments. When government policy actively frustrates transformative local investment, we must question whether our economic strategy serves national interest or perpetuates dependency. The issues here—local refining, poverty alleviation, employment, industrial development—go far beyond commercial dispute. They touch the fundamental question of how Nigeria governs its most valuable resource.

    This situation exemplifies the conflict between two fundamentally different approaches to petroleum governance. Nigeria currently operates under “Contract Oil”: a system where petroleum is treated merely as a commodity for extraction and export, with value addition and job creation systematically externalized to foreign entities. We export raw crude only to import refined products at premium prices, perpetuating dependency rather than fostering development.

    Saudi Arabia demonstrates the alternative—”Development Oil”—using petroleum resources for comprehensive national transformation. The Kingdom does not permit any operation that undermines its local capacity. This has delivered over 500 vessels in its maritime fleet, comprehensive downstream capacity including world-class refineries, and absolute control over the petroleum value chain. Nigeria operates with no such vessels despite being Africa’s largest oil producer.

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    When regulatory actions frustrate investments that create local capacity, generate employment, and reduce import dependency, they violate constitutional obligation. The current situation where a domestic refinery struggles to secure crude feedstock while import licenses continue flowing represents fundamental failure of this constitutional responsibility.

    This is not merely about one refinery or one company—it is about whether Nigeria will continue the failed Contract Oil approach that has produced seven decades of resource curse, or embrace development oil principles that align hydrocarbon management with constitutional obligations and national development imperatives. This is a defining moment between sovereignty and dependency, between development and extractive stagnation, between constitutional compliance and commercial expediency.

    We urge all stakeholders to recognize the profound implications of this dispute and work toward resolution that serves Nigeria’s constitutional obligations, development imperatives, and long-term national interest.

    •Collins Okeke,

    Dr. Olisa Agbakoba SAN

    Olisa Agbakoba,

    OAL Energy and Natural Resource Practice Group, Lagos.

  • Need for regulation against trademark monopolies

    Need for regulation against trademark monopolies

    By Chukwuma Onyewonsa

    I want to ask every entrepreneur this: If you build the best, fastest, most reliable business, the fastest delivery, the cleanest laundry, the coldest drinks, should you be legally silenced from telling customers the truth? That is not a rhetorical question. It lies at the centre of the “Fastest Cakes” trademark saga, and it exposes a legal and regulatory blindspot that threatens every small, speed-dependent business in Nigeria.

    The recent attempt to hoard a phrase as ordinary as “Fastest Cakes” is not a triumph of branding. It is a linguistic enclosure: an attempt to make the dictionary private property. In practical terms, it is a weapon — a legal cudgel that can be used to intimidate, silence and raise cost of competing for small businesses that want to tell customers what they do best.

    This shouldn’t be a linguistic moat

    Trademark law exists to prevent consumer confusion: to make sure shoppers know who made the product they are buying. It was never designed to convert everyday description into exclusive legal property. The law itself draws that line clearly.

    Consider the Trade Marks Act’s requirements for registrability. It states what a registrable mark must be:

    “In order for a trade mark (other than a certification trade mark) to be registrable in Part A of the register it must contain or consist of at least one of the following essential particulars:

     (a) the name of a company, individual, or firm, represented in a special or particular manner;

     (b) the signature of the applicant for registration or some predecessor in his business;

     (c) an invented word or invented words;

     (d) a word or words having no direct reference to the character or quality of the goods, and not being according to its ordinary signification a geographical name or a surname;

     (e) any other distinctive mark: Provided that a name, signature or word or words other than such as fall within paragraphs (a) to (d) of this section, shall not be registrable under paragraph (e) of this section, except upon evidence of its distinctiveness.” — Trade Marks Act, Section 9 (1–2).

    Put simply: the law expects a trademark to be distinctive — a sign that identifies origin, not a plain description of the goods or service. Where the mark is merely descriptive, the Act requires evidence that it has acquired distinctiveness before it can be monopolised. That legal test matters because, without it, a firm could patent words the public needs to use — “fastest”, “freshest”, “best” — and use the courts to exclude rivals from truthful descriptions of their services.

    The Act goes further to protect honest advertising. It recognises that registration should not interfere with truthful commercial speech:

    “The registration of a trade mark shall not interfere with:

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     (a) any bona fide use by a person of his own name or the name of his place of business, or …

     (b) the use by any person of any bona fide description of the character or quality of his goods …” Trade Marks Act, Section 8. WIPO

    That is the law’s commonsense backstop: you cannot be stopped from using honest descriptions of the quality or character of what you sell.

    Constitutional gravity: the right to tell the truth about your service

    This is not only a matter of statutory technicality. At the highest level, the Constitution protects the freedom to impart information — a protection that extends to truthful commercial speech. Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution provides:

    “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference.” — Section 39(1), Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999. Nigeria Rights

    That protection is foundational. When a baker, rider, or logistics firm tells customers they are “fastest,” they are exercising the freedom to impart information protected by the Constitution. Turning ordinary descriptive language into an exclusive monopoly chills that freedom and constrains the marketplace of ideas and services.

    Yes, constitutional rights are not absolute; the law allows lawful restrictions. But locking down the common words of trade, the language businesses need to communicate competence — cannot reasonably be framed as a justifiable restriction in a democratic society. It is a private advantage dressed up as legal formality.

    What matters for SMEs & economy

    It would be easy to reduce the problem to a single bad trademark application. The truth is more structural: when registries allow descriptive marks to slip through, they hand the first filer a potential instrument of market exclusion.

    For thousands of Nigerian SMEs that compete on speed, food delivery outfits, courier services, event caterers, laundry services, beverage distributors — the ability to say what they do is not puffery; it is the core of their marketing. When the registry gives one firm exclusive rights over the term “fastest” paired with a product, it creates a regulatory gatekeeper that can be used selectively to block rivals or extract settlements.

    Imagine the legal costs for a small baker served with a cease-and-desist for using “fastest” in an online ad while they invest in a motorbike and a training regime to improve delivery times. The cost of defending a simple truth becomes prohibitive. That is not competition but linguistic gatekeeping — a non-tariff barrier to entry.

    Why regulators must act now

    This is not merely academic. The Registrar of Trade Marks and Corporate Affairs Commission are custodians of a legal regime meant to balance private rights with public interest. The Trade Marks Act itself frames registrability to prevent exactly this outcome. Regulators must therefore:

    Apply Section 9 strictly: refuse registrations that are plainly descriptive unless the applicant adduces clear evidence of acquired distinctiveness. The law demands nothing less.

    Uphold Section 8 protections: explicitly affirm that bona fide descriptions remain available to the trade, and publicise this guidance so SMEs are not intimidated by vague threats. WIPO

    Issue a clarifying advisory to the business community: regulatory silence fuels abuse. A short, public statement explaining the boundaries of registrability will deter opportunistic filings and reassure honest traders.

    Streamline opposition pathways: make it simpler and cheaper for groups of SMEs to challenge descriptive registrations, because the current opposition process is costly and slow.

    If regula tors fail to act, courts will eventually do the work — but only after costly litigation. It is far better for the public interest that the registry use the clear statutory standards it already has to refuse monopolies over necessary commercial language.

    The bottom line

    The fastest way to build a robust, competitive economy is to ensure every business is free to describe its service. Let the best service win. But no business should be empowered to silence rivals simply by claiming exclusive ownership of ordinary words.

    Cancel this generic trademark. Reaffirm that description belongs to the market, not the courtroom. Let fair competition flourish, and let entrepreneurs speak plainly to customers.



  • Innovation: Engine of Africa’s digital economy

    Innovation: Engine of Africa’s digital economy

    • By Akeem Lawal

    Today, Africa stands at a defining moment in its digital evolution. Across the continent, technology continues to reshape how individuals transact, how businesses grow, and how governments deliver essential services, even as digital transformation is creating new pathways for inclusion and prosperity.

    Yet, as the continent’s digital economy expands, with projections to exceed $712 billion by 2050 (according to the International Finance Corporation), its growth will depend not only on innovation but equally on collaboration and compliance. These three pillars form the foundation of Africa’s united digital frontier.

    Over the past decade, Africa has witnessed a remarkable acceleration in technological advancement. Fintechs have democratised access to financial services for millions who were once excluded from formal systems.

    According to the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), Africa accounts for nearly 70 per cent of the world’s $1.3 trillion mobile money value, underscoring the continent’s capacity to leapfrog traditional barriers through innovation.

    Interswitch, as a pioneer in the African payments ecosystem, has been privileged to play a pivotal role in this transformation, building the infrastructure that enables seamless, secure, and interoperable digital transactions. Yet, innovation must now go beyond solving access problems; it must create sustainable ecosystems that power scale, interoperability, and cross-border efficiency.

    Artificial intelligence, blockchain, and data analytics are no longer futuristic tools, they are the next growth drivers that are defining how African economies compete globally. But for these innovations to reach their full potential, they must be anchored in collaborative frameworks that amplify their impact across sectors and geographies.

    Collaboration: new competitive advantage

    In today’s economy, no single player, no matter how innovative, can succeed in isolation. Collaboration has become the new competitive advantage. The intersection of banks, fintechs, and other financial institutions represents an opportunity to build an inclusive, scalable, and resilient ecosystem that benefits everyone.

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    Across the continent, partnerships between traditional financial institutions and technology innovators are already delivering tangible value, expanding financial access, enhancing efficiency, and improving user experience. However, true collaboration goes beyond partnerships of convenience; it requires shared purpose, mutual trust, and aligned vision.

    This is precisely the spirit driving initiatives such as Interswitch’s TechConnect series, a platform that brings together stakeholders across the financial ecosystem to explore how technology, innovation, and strategic collaboration can unlock Africa’s next phase of growth. By fostering dialogue and shared problem-solving, we are not just connecting ideas; we are connecting frontiers.

    Compliance: Bedrock of sustainable growth

    Innovation without structure can be chaotic, while collaboration without trust can be fragile. This is where compliance becomes indispensable. A thriving digital economy must rest on a foundation of robust governance, data protection, cybersecurity, and regulatory alignment.

    Africa’s financial regulators have made significant strides in providing enabling frameworks for innovation – sandbox models, open banking guidelines, and digital identification systems are key examples. These initiatives are helping to create the clarity and confidence that both innovators and investors need to scale responsibly.

    For players like Interswitch, compliance is not a box-ticking exercise; it is a strategic imperative.

    Our commitment to global security standards such as PCI DSS and ISO certifications reflects our belief that trust and transparency are the currency of the digital age. By embedding compliance into innovation, we create systems that are not only scalable but also sustainable.

    A united frontier for inclusive growth

    Africa’s digital future cannot be built in silos. It requires the collective effort of governments, private sector players, development institutions, and innovators working in unison.

    As we push toward regional integration through frameworks like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the importance of interoperable payment systems and regulatory harmonisation becomes even more critical.

    Imagine a continent where a merchant in Kigali seamlessly receives payments from a customer in Lagos, where data flows securely across borders, and where regulatory environments enable innovation rather than constrain it. This is the united frontier we must build, a frontier defined not by borders, but by bridges.

    At Interswitch, we believe Africa’s next growth phase will be powered by innovation that includes collaboration that empowers and compliance that sustains.

    The path forward demands not competition, but convergence. And as we unite these frontiers, we unlock not just the next chapter of Africa’s digital story but its destiny as a global leader in technology-driven growth.

    •Lawal is Managing Director, Payment Processing & Switching, Interswitch Purepay

  • Cement blues

    Cement blues

    It isn’t news anymore that the cost of cement produced in Nigeria comes higher for local consumers than for consumers in countries to which same is exported. Now, we know why. Africa’s richest man and a major producer of cement in Nigeria, Aliko Dangote, attributed the higher cost locally to the country’s high taxes and regulatory burden.

    The industrialist said there is a price gap between cement in Nigeria and when it is exported because cement exports are exempt from multiple taxes and levies that apply within Nigeria. He explained that savings get made on exports from not paying income tax, education and health levies, value added and withholding taxes, thereby significantly reducing production cost. These exemptions, according to him, enable Nigerian cement to compete favorably with producers from countries like Turkey, Russia and China.

    The price disparity has often raised eyebrows as to why Nigerians aren’t enjoying the benefit of local production, especially since local manufacturing has often been touted as the way to achieving self-sufficiency and lower consumption costs.

    Read Also: Christmas: Kukah urges Nigerians to rise above divisions

    In an interview with Business Insider Africa, Dangote said: “When you look at my invoice, the cement I export is cheaper than the one I’m selling domestically because that’s how exports work. In export, I’m saving a lot of money. I am not paying 30 percent income tax, I’m not paying two percent education, I’m not paying one percent health, I’m not paying 7.5 percent VAT, and I’m not paying 10 percent withholding tax.” He stressed that the consequence of the system is that domestic consumers end up shouldering the burden of structural inefficiencies, adding that local production alone cannot fully resolve the issue of high pricing for Nigerians.

    Concern over high cost of cement is not restricted to low level consumers among members of the public, it has also bothered government. Early this year, Works Minister Nweze David Umahi urged manufacturers to reduce the price of 50kg bag of cement to N7,000, citing improved economic conditions. According to him, the stabilisation of the naira’s exchange rate at about N1,400 to the dollar and reduction in petroleum prices should translate to lower cement costs. Umahi faulted then-prevailing price of N9,500 per 50kg bag, saying manufacturers had raised cement price when the dollar was nearly N2,000 and had not adjusted despite the naira’s recovery. Currently, the price of 50kg bag of cement hovers at N10,000.

    Dangote’s explanation of the pricing shows up two realities. One is that Nigerians are a captive market and producers do not need to bid for their share – with foreign brands, for instance – through competitive pricing. Another is that producers are passing on their regulatory commitments to consumers rather than innovate to shield vulnerable Nigerians from the burden. Neither reality is heartwarming.

  • Kudos to LASG on ‘Light up Lagos’

    Kudos to LASG on ‘Light up Lagos’

    • By Oluwaseye

    Sir: At a time when Nigeria is grappling with insecurity challenges such as ethno-religious conflicts, communal clashes, insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, and militancy, issues that continue to affect the economy, lives, livelihoods, business activities, and the wider socio-political climate, the Lagos State Government is not resting on its oars. As the nation’s economic nerve centre, Lagos understands that sustained security is non-negotiable.

    This commitment has been evident in the series of security-related engagements held in the last month. From collaborative meetings with stakeholders across the Southern and Southwest regions, to the recent Security Council meeting hosted by the governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu with heads of security agencies in the state, and the upcoming 18th town hall meeting on security, the administration has shown steady attention to maintaining peace and stability.

    Among all these efforts, the ongoing Light Up Lagos project stands out for its direct and visible impact. The project, driven by the Lagos State government, focuses on installing and upgrading LED and solar streetlights across major roads and highways to boost security, support commerce, and improve the city’s overall aesthetics.

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    According to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the streetlight installations and the solar retrofitting initiative form part of the state’s push toward a well-lit, secure, and energy-efficient Lagos.

    With many sites already completed, the Light Up Lagos project is coming at the right moment. December usually brings heavier movement and vibrant nightlife across the state, and improved street lighting strengthens public safety during this period. It also supports economic activity in hospitality, entertainment, retail, and transportation. Last year, the government estimated that December festivities generated about $71.5 million in revenue, with the hotel sector contributing roughly $44 million. With this year’s yuletide events, the figures are likely to rise.

    While the project is a strong step forward, it is important for the government to ensure the sustainability of this infrastructure. Proper maintenance systems and safeguards against vandalism or sabotage will determine whether these gains last.

    Overall, Light Up Lagos is a promising initiative, poised to put Lagos State on the economic and entertainment global talking stage this yuletide. Its long-term success will depend on how well the state preserves and protects it.

    •Oluwaseye,

    Lagos.

  • On the Akume/Alia reconciliation

    On the Akume/Alia reconciliation

    By Prof Leonard Karshima Shilgba

    Sir: The renewed focus on reconciliation between the Governor of Benue State, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia, and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, is both timely and necessary. It reflects the sobering recognition that prolonged political estrangement within the ruling party has consequences far beyond personal rivalries; it weakens governance, destabilizes institutions, and ultimately punishes the people.

    President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s decision to mandate a high-level reconciliation committee, chaired by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, is therefore a strategic intervention deserving of collective goodwill and restraint. It is an effort to heal, not to enthrone; to stabilize, not to reallocate dominance.

    Unfortunately, some recent commentaries have already begun to frame this reconciliation process as a contest with inevitable winners and losers. Such narratives are not only premature; they are profoundly counterproductive. Reconciliation is not a boxing match, and it is not a zero-sum game. It is a disciplined political process that demands humility, compromise, and a willingness by all sides to subordinate private ambitions to public good.

    Predicting in advance who will emerge with the “upper hand” hardens positions and encourages brinkmanship. It emboldens political loyalists to dig in rather than soften, to escalate rather than de-escalate. In fragile political environments like Benue, words do not merely describe reality; they help create it. Careless analysis can easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

    The truth is that neither Alia nor Akume can afford a prolonged cold war. Benue State needs stability to confront insecurity, economic stagnation, and social dislocation. The APC needs internal cohesion to govern effectively and remain electorally viable. The president needs a united party structure in a strategic North-central state. Above all, the people of Benue need leadership that prioritizes outcomes over supremacy.

    Reconciliation does not require silence on truth, nor does it excuse poor governance or political exclusion. But it does require restraint. It demands that grievances be addressed through dialogue rather than spectacle, and that power be exercised with a sense of proportion and shared responsibility.

    Read Also: Tinubu sets up high-powered APC committee to tackle internal crises ahead of 2027

    This responsibility does not rest on the two principal actors alone. Political loyalists, opinion writers, intellectuals, traditional rulers, religious leaders, and members of the business community all shape the atmosphere within which reconciliation either succeeds or fails. When these groups amplify divisive narratives or project partisan certainties, they risk sabotaging a process whose success serves everyone.

    History is unkind to those who profit from division while society bleeds. It remembers not only the leaders who failed to reconcile, but also the voices that discouraged peace and normalized conflict.

    If reconciliation succeeds, Benue State stands to gain political stability, improved governance, and renewed confidence from investors and citizens alike. President Tinubu’s broader reform agenda gains traction. Nigeria gains another example of conflict managed through dialogue rather than attrition.

    This is not the moment to take sides. It is the moment to take responsibility. Reconciliation, properly understood, is not about who yields more power. It is about who shows greater wisdom.

    •Prof Leonard Karshima Shilgba,

    <shilgba@gmail.com>