The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Food prices continue to drive Nigeria’s headline inflation

    Food prices continue to drive Nigeria’s headline inflation

    • By Kenechukwu Aguolu

    Sir: It is no longer news that Nigeria’s headline inflation on year- on- year basis declined for the first time since December 2022. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, it dropped to 33.40% in July from 34.19% in June. It is no fluke as the month-on-month headline inflation declined consistently since March, with June as an exception. It is important to note that inflation only started to decelerate after the Central Bank, at its first Monetary Policy Meeting of 2024, held on February 26/7 , the benchmark interest rate, by 400 basis points from 18.75% to 22.75%. It made subsequent increases, as need arose. The benchmark interest rate is currently 26.75%.

    Interestingly, from January to July , food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation contributed to no less than 51.8% of the headline inflation on a year-on-year basis. In July , it contributed to 17.3% of the 33.4% headline inflation rate. The headline inflation rate was lowest in January when food inflation was also at its lowest. Therefore, reducing food inflation is key to the government’s long-term goal of driving inflation to single digit. It is not strait jacket as various factors, some of which are interwoven, have contributed to food inflation in Nigeria.

    The rising cost of farming and transporting food commodities to the point of sale has affected the final price of food items. For example, the cost of animal feed, veterinary services, energy, fertilizer, seedlings, machinery and spares, and fuel has risen since the removal of the fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira by the government. Insecurity, which has caused many farmers to abandon their farmland, has led to a decrease in farm produce, causing shortages, especially during the dry season. This has encouraged hoarding and profiteering, with food prices skyrocketing. Food availability was also impacted by the increased demand for our farm produce from neighbouring countries as the devaluation of the naira, made them cheaper.

    Read Also: Tinubu appoints new management team for NDPHC

    It is likely that, in the immediate future, headline inflation will experience more decline but not necessarily on a straight-line basis, because the implementation of the new national policy is expected to increase household spending and raise the cost of producing/offering goods and services as employee wages increase. The Central Bank of Nigeria may be tempted to raise interest rates to slow demand and encourage savings. Also, with the harvest season commencing and the implementation of waivers on tariffs and duties on some essential imported food items, food prices are expected to drop. The recent mobilization of 10,000 agro-rangers by the Civil Defence Corps to secure farmlands across the country, if effective, is expected to encourage people to return to their farms and, in the long run, increase food production in the country. However, the recent fluctuation in the value of the Naira is likely to impact headline inflation in subsequent months.

    While we celebrate the decline in headline inflation on a year-on-year basis and acknowledge government efforts in this regard, it is important to avoid a further decline in the value of the naira because of its multiplier effect. Improving the country’s revenue base and balance of trade by optimizing oil production and diversifying the economy will help achieve this. The government should also provide Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) trailers, lorries, and trucks to ease the cost of transportation farm produce. The government should continue to closely monitor events as they unfold and take proactive measures when needed. It should also adopt a robust monitoring and evaluation mechanism for its policies and programs to ensure objectives are met.

    •Kenechukwu Aguolu FCA,

    Kenerek1@gmail.com   

  • Fantastic figure

    Fantastic figure

    Many Nigerans facing a crushing cost-of-living crisis were shocked to learn how much the country’s senators get for so-called running costs. The information was supplied by one of the senators, which made it credible. Senator Abdurrahman Kawu Sumaila of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), representing Kano South, said on BBC Hausa Service: “My monthly salary is less than N1 million. After deductions, the figure comes down to a little over N600,000. Given the increase in the Senate, each senator gets N21 million every month as running cost.” What? Did he say N21m monthly?

    But the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Muhammed Shehu, had said each senator received a total monthly salary and allowances of N1,063,860. The agency is responsible for fixing salaries and allowances of public servants. This suggests that the figure revealed by the senator is unknown to the agency.  That looks like an anomaly.

    Public reaction to the information was predictably negative because it didn’t make sense that senators got so much to cover so-called running costs, particularly when many Nigerians are facing hardship as a result of hyperinflation.

    Read Also: Tinubu appoints new management team for NDPHC

    Commendably, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) wrote a letter, dated 17 August 2024, to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, saying it is “concerned about the practice by the lawmakers of fixing their salaries, allowances and running costs, and the opacity and in the spending of millions of naira in running costs by lawmakers.” The body is a Nigerian non-profit promoting socio-economic rights, transparency and accountability in the country. 

    SERAP said: “The allegations that members of the National Assembly are fixing their own salaries, allowances and running costs are entirely inconsistent and incompatible with the constitutional oath of office and the object and purpose of the UN Convention against Corruption to which Nigeria is a state party.”

    The non-governmental organization (NGO) urged Akpabio and Abbas to “promptly end the alleged practice by the National Assembly of fixing its own salaries, allowances and running costs”; to “end the alleged practice of paying running costs into the personal accounts of lawmakers”; and to “promptly disclose the total amount of running costs that have so far been paid to and received by the lawmakers and to ensure the return of any misused or mismanaged public funds.”

    It looks like the federal legislators have lost touch with reality. They obviously need a reality check.

  • Again, OBJ talks the talk

    Again, OBJ talks the talk

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has a personal blight: he must talk down others to look good.  That rather nasty habit has been emblazoned in all of his books: My Command, Not My Will, My Watch and sundry other self-glorifying tomes he has churned out, worshipping himself, demonizing others.

    But Obasanjo has one terrible Hercules’ heel: he lacks any self-propelling models to push, beyond his annoying platitudes.

    In truth, a part in Obasanjo knows the right things and perhaps craves those in his cheap talks.  But he is simply wired against such nobility.  He’s just too narcissistic and too vain-glorious to pay that huge price.

    He played it all out during his latest grandstanding over qualities of leadership — beloved qualities he never lived out during his three tours as Nigerian dealer — sorry, leader: one as military junta head; the other two as elected president: his second term is still buried in a heinous controversy of vote-fixing, his execrable gunning for an illegal “third term” is still fresh; and, that checkmated, he organized the most rotten election, in 2007, in the current 4th Republic, if not in the entire history of Nigeria.

    Yet, Obasanjo harbours the hubris of pontificating over “good leadership”!

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    Even if things like rigged elections, and trying to subvert the Constitution to grab a third term are soon forgotten by contemporary Nigeria with faint institutional memory, crass materialism is always there, staring at the grand pretender — and that was the grand irony from Obasanjo’s latest posturing, issuing from the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), first in Africa!

    From that gangling monument to corruption, Obasanjo roared that most Nigerian leaders ought to be in jail, or even be shot!  Did he realize if that were to be, he’d probably be among the very first to be nabbed — and fairly so?

    OOPL is personal trophy for his years as elected president.  That was personal service.  Facing that outrageous edifice is another eminently public asset: the Wole Soyinka Train Station, Abeokuta. 

    That is public service, left by President Muhammadu Buhari, for the travelling pleasure of Nigerians, high or low, even in hard times, compared to the Obasanjo presidential era, when Nigerian earned humongous revenue from oil.  Yet, the taciturn Buhari is not lecturing anyone on “leadership”.

    If OOPL was Obasanjo’s trophy for his elected presidency, Obasanjo Farms Nigeria (OFN) was Obasanjo’s personal trophy from his military junta years.  His government ironically ran Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) under which the Land Use Decree (later Land Use Act: LUA) ceded the control of all land to state governors. 

    Might LUA have been a subterfuge to power a post-power venture of the exiting Head of State, just as states and government contractors in Oil and Gas, and banks were suborned to “donate” for OOPL, by a sitting president and substantive Oil minister?  Hard but quite legitimate question!

    Those that walk back to their vomit for Obasanjo’s endorsement — as the House of Representatives members that visited OOPL — are entitled to their democratic folly.  Obasanjo belongs to the past — a seedy past that hardly deserves any reference.

    Obasanjo himself must remember that those whose palm kernels are cracked for them by benevolent spirits should learn to be humble.  Should those spirit turn malevolent — as Greek mythology always warns — that could turn well and truly tragic.

    Let Obasanjo keep his grating leadership tutorials.  From his conduct in office, he has nothing to teach anyone.

  • Government policies and widespread hardship

    Government policies and widespread hardship

    SIR: Nigeria, once hailed as the “Giant of Africa” due to its abundant natural resources and strategic economic position, now finds itself entrenched in an economic crisis that continues to worsen by the day. The reality of living and doing business in Nigeria today is defined by widespread inflation, rising unemployment, and a decaying infrastructure that fails to support its youthful population. The nation’s dependency on oil, combined with policy missteps and deep-rooted corruption, has crippled sectors that were once considered the backbone of the economy.

    For many young entrepreneurs, the dream of running a successful business in Nigeria has turned into a nightmare of daily struggles. From fluctuating exchange rates and scarce access to foreign exchange to the burden of navigating inefficient government systems, the frustration is palpable. With over 33% of the youth unemployed and businesses closing down due to economic constraints, many young Nigerians are left questioning the viability of their entrepreneurial dreams.

    In recent years, the government’s policies, though laden with promises of economic diversification and innovation, have failed to deliver tangible improvements. Instead, these failed promises have widened the gap between government rhetoric and the harsh realities of doing business in a failing economy. As a result, young entrepreneurs, once the hope for revitalizing the economy, are left navigating an economic landscape riddled with obstacles that undermine their potential to succeed.

    Nigeria’s economic diversification efforts have been plagued by a series of missteps and inadequate implementations. Government rhetoric has long promised a shift away from oil dependency, with initiatives aimed at bolstering sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and technology. However, these promises have often failed to translate into actionable strategies or substantial results.

    Read Also: Tinubu working hard to alleviate economic hardships – Umahi

    Agriculture, for instance, was expected to become a major driver of economic growth. Despite the introduction of various support programs, the sector remains underdeveloped due to poor policy execution and insufficient infrastructure. Efforts to modernize farming and improve food security have been marred by insecurity, corruption, mismanagement, and inadequate support systems. As a result, Nigeria’s agricultural sector continues to struggle with inefficiencies and low productivity.

    Similarly, the manufacturing sector, which was supposed to benefit from industrial policies and incentives, has seen little progress. High operating costs, erratic power supply, and lack of infrastructure, have stifled growth leaving many factories unable to compete with cheaper imports. The government’s failure to create a conducive environment for local production has left the sector stagnating while Nigeria remains heavily reliant on imported goods.

    The technology sector, though burgeoning with potential, also suffers from inadequate support and infrastructure. While tech hubs and start-ups emerge, they are frequently constrained by poor and costly internet infrastructure, unreliable electricity, and insufficient government backing. The disconnect between the government’s promises and the realities faced by tech entrepreneurs further exacerbates the sector’s challenges.

    To overcome these obstacles, Nigeria must undertake a comprehensive reform agenda that addresses policy failures, supports entrepreneurship, and fosters a more stable and inclusive economic environment. This includes addressing bureaucratic inefficiencies, reducing tax burdens, investing in infrastructure, and ensuring that policies are implemented effectively and transparently.

    To revitalize the economy and support entrepreneurial growth, Nigeria must commit to meaningful reforms and address the underlying issues that have stifled progress. Only through genuine commitment to policy reform and infrastructure development can the country hope to achieve sustainable economic growth and provide a supportive environment for its young entrepreneurs.

    • Msonter Ijoho, <msonterijoho@gmail.com>
  • Re: Makinde and the Alaafin stool

    Re: Makinde and the Alaafin stool

    SIR: The piece with the above topic The Nation of August 18, written by Kola Amzat made an interesting reading especially because it addresses an issue that has been of concern for a long time. Alaafin stool needs no introduction unless to a layman including those not conversant with Yoruba nay African history and tradition. Alaafin is a foremost traditional ruler in Yoruba land. Alaafin was and remains the arch custodian of Yoruba history and tradition. The stool is an eye through which Yoruba civilization could be seen.

    There is no doubt that all past monarchs including the iconic late Alayeluwa Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III performed brilliantly well in preserving not only the sanctity of the Alaafin stool but the heritage of the Yoruba both at home and the diaspora.

    With all these, I wonder how the reverend stool could be made vacant for this long. Amzat asserted in the piece that the stool has been vacant for almost 17 months whereas the stool of the Soun in Ogbomoso and those of the Olubadan in spite of controversies that trailed the succession process in those towns have been settled.

    My question is what is delaying the selection of a new Alaafin? Rumour making the round previously was that the Oyo Mesi, the Council of State in Oyo collected bribes from the candidate; that it was as a result of this that some respected kingmakers were dragged to the EECC which should have never been.

    In my own view, I believe Ibadan elite have an agenda to cripple the wings of the Alaafin stool by installing an unpopular person as Alaafin of Oyo who unlike Oba Adeyemi III would be a puppet.  Oba Adeyemi III was nettle on the side of many governors of the state. He was an obstacle to the elevation of the Olubadan stool to be primus inter pares in Oyo State. Senator Rashidi Ladoja began the idea when he was the governor but failed. Chief Adebayo Alao Akala of blessed memory was used in his time to execute the agenda by forcing the state House of Assembly to make a law that made the chairmanship position of the Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs rotational among Alaafin, Olubadan and Soun.

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    Hitherto, the position was the preserve of the Alaafin of Oyo due to his position as the Baba Ogun (the rallying point) of all Obas in Oyo State from whom many descended as children like many Oke Ogun and Ibarapa Obas, through whose influence many got promoted to the Obaship position and being leader of many right from Ile Ife like many classical Obas in Ogbomoso zone. Creation of High Chief Obas in Ibadan is part of the agenda to give Ibadan more say in the council of Obas whenever it is reconstituted to dominate the traditional institution as Ibadan dominated Oyo State for the sake of Ibadan.

    Oyo leaders of opinion and especially the elderly ones in the Alaafin chieftaincy families have their own faults in the failure of Oyo government in appointing an Alaafin all the while. If they are not complicit in the state government ploy, they should have mounted pressure on same to make sure the foremost throne is not desecrated.

    Engineer Seyi Makinde, the governor of Oyo State is a known fighter for just causes even if he is a lone ranger. It is high time he clears air on the reasons why the government is dragging its foot on the installation of a new Alaafin. The position and functions of an Alaafin in Yoruba are strategic to leave throne vacant for this long. Oyo State government has to be proactive in installing an Alaafin and by extension Onikoyi whose stool has also been vacant for a long time.

    •   Adewuyi Adegbite, ayekooto05@gmail.com
  • Economy and the need for urgent action

    Economy and the need for urgent action

    SIR: On Tuesday, August 13, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu presided over a significant Council of State meeting. In attendance were former presidents, vice presidents, a former Chief Justice of the Federation, and several key ministers. The highlight of the meeting was the president’s stance that Nigeria’s democracy must not be undermined. “Any change of government must be through the ballot box not through violence, insurrection, or any other unconstitutional means,” he asserted.

    This is a position that all patriots, fully support.

    However, while the president’s commitment to democracy is commendable, it is crucial that his economic policies reflect the urgency and needs of the people. Nigerians expect the leadership to hit the ground running from day one. Truth is that the nation is in a precarious state, and decisive, people-centred action is required.

    Today, wealth in Nigeria is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a select few, while the majority are left to struggle without access to basic necessities like quality education, healthcare, housing, and employment. It’s not that Nigerians begrudge the success of the rich; rather, they simply want access to the essentials for a decent life. Unfortunately, many ordinary citizens are being deliberately subjected to hardship by leaders driven by greed. Endemic corruption has become the norm, and the promise of equal opportunities seems like a distant dream, despite the blessings of natural resources across the six geopolitical zones.

    Read Also: Defence industry can drive our economy if properly harnessed, says Nwoko

    Poverty remains a pervasive issue. Nigeria is a land rich with potential – oil and gas in the south, commerce in the Southeast, fertile land in the North. There is no excuse for hunger or deprivation. The government should prioritize modern farming systems, where a single machine can achieve in an hour what once took a thousand hands. State governors must fully support federal initiatives, but these efforts must go beyond the token gestures like distributing rice, which too often ends up siphoned off by officials or recycled into the market. Nigerians are not beggars; we have the talent and drive to achieve greatness, but we need an enabling environment, affordable fertilizers, and access to reliable electricity.

    The time for excuses is over. The government must adjust to the realities on the ground. The removal of fuel subsidies and the floating of the naira have brought unbearable hardship to the common people. These policies need to be revisited. We elected this government to make Nigeria work for everyone, not just the privileged few. A stitch in time saves nine.

    • Tajuddeen Ahmad Tijjani, Azare, Bauchi State.
  • Ukraine’s fairy-tale incursion: Matters arising

    Ukraine’s fairy-tale incursion: Matters arising

    By Tiko Okoye

    With the benefit of hindsight, we now know that the authorities in Kyiv were feigning weakness and battle-weariness when they abruptly changed their stance from never holding any peace talks with Russia as long as Vladimir Putin remains in office to seizing any given opportunity to ‘actively’ signal they were open to peace talks with Moscow. Although the seeming change of heart elicited consternation among diehard Putin critics, it was very well received in many parts of the world, not the least of which are leaders of member-states of the NATO Alliance who have been providing Ukraine with considerable supplies of military equipment, intel, advisers and technicians.

    Most of these Western leaders have been – and are still being – subjected to enormous pressure by resurgent iconoclastic far-right parties with sympathy for Putin, to cut-off military aid to Ukraine or watch their favourability ratings take a one-way nosedive southwards, or even risk not being re-elected in some cases. On the grounds that a bad peace is preferable to a just war, these beleaguered heads of government would just want the Russia/Ukraine face-off to end as quickly as possible.

    As for the Kremlin, Putin and his men must’ve washed down mouthfuls of caviar with glassfuls of premium Vodka, celebrating the assumed capitulation of an irritatingly stubborn Nazi-ridden neighbour whose leaders had finally imbibed the harsh lesson, on bended knees, that Oga get master and khaki no be leather.  And then, the world practically woke up one morning to hear the stranger-than-fiction news that elite troops had crossed the border from Ukraine’s north-eastern Sumy region into Russia’s western Kursk region, seizing 23 towns within a perimeter of 400 square kilometres in the Kursk region, and grabbing hundreds of prisoners of war along the way in less than 24 hours!

    Read Also; Acquiescent National Assembly not helping democracy

    Just a week later, the world was assailed with reports of thousands of prisoners of war and the seizure of about 1,000 square kilometres of Russian soil, involving as many as 74 settlements! There’s no gainsaying that that Russia was totally unprepared and blindsided by Ukraine’s rare cross-border attack on August 6, raising troubling questions about Russia’s military preparedness and intelligence gathering, which itself beggars belief as one would’ve thought the Kremlin would’ve learnt a thing or two from the Yevgeny Prigozhin-led Wagner Mercenary Group debacle.

    Even Ukraine’s allies. Including the likes of the USA, the UK, France, Germany, were caught off-guard by the sheer daring and swiftness of the Ukrainian incursion. Still, while Western leaders may be very thrilled to see Putin suffer another military embarrassment, they can only giggle behind the scenes and be very circumspect with any triumphalist public rhetoric in order not to provoke Putin to the point where he would opt out of any ceasefire talks. But they no longer don’t have to engage in self-censorship, as Putin, while addressing members of the Russian National Security Council at an emergency meeting he summoned shortly after the Ukrainian incursion, declared that peace talks are dead on arrival – at least for a while.  

    It’s quite easy to tell that the primary condition for a permanent truce from Putin’s perspective is the ceding of the Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine aka Donbas to Russia. The icing on the cake would be getting Ukraine to sign a treaty of conventional neutrality in foreign affairs. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has so far remained elusive on the exact purpose of rhe incursion, except to assert that his government isn’t out to annex any part of Russia as the Kremlin has done in Donbas and that “Russia must be forced into peace if Putin wants to continue waging war so badly.”        

    It has become very obvious that the effusive expressions of a willingness and readiness to engage in peace talks with Russian authorities was no more than a subterfuge; a drama full of lies and cruel deception that was very strategically acted out with the sole aim of lulling Putin into a false sense of victory and over-confidence. Here then are my well-considered five reasons why Ukraine struck. 

    The first – and the only reason Putin has understandably not mentioned – is to not only give Putin his comeuppance, but to equally teach him a very humbling lesson in over-confidence. And it must be doubly humiliating for Putin that to ensure the success of the planned incursion, the Ukrainians lifted a page right out of the military playbook of the USSR – the old Soviet empire that Putin’s greatest ambition and resolve is to rebuild at all costs. How do I mean? It is now crystal-clear that the Ukrainians adopted the renowned Soviet art of maskirova – meaning “deception in war.”

    The incursion into Kursk, the first foreign incursion into Russia since WWII, will definitely hurt and infuriate Putin. The shame that has befallen the tough-talking Putin and the imperative of recouping reverence for the Russian Republic obviously mean that Putin must go for broke. Kyiv is betting that given a clear choice between allowing Ukrainians occupy a part of Mother Russia and enabling them, even if based on the Doctrine of Necessity, re-occupy parts of eastern Ukraine, Putin would opt for the latter. They called it right!

    Calling the incursion a ”large-scale provocation” and a “terror” operation, Putin vowed in a televised address to Russians that “the Kyiv aggressors will receive a worthy response.” Moscow is already withdrawing large contingents of inexperienced raw recruits who had inexplicably manned Kursk and the adjacent Belgorod region, and has started deploying elite military squads as their replacement. And although it is still early days yet, it is certain that the Ukrainians would achieve their objective of halting, or at least significantly slowing down, Moscow’s advance along the sprawling over-700-kilometre-long front line in eastern Ukraine by way of a forced redeployment of Russian troops and equipment from Donbas to Kursk.

    The second reason, therefore, is a ploy by Kyiv to eke out a temporary respite from the pummelling they are receiving in Donbas. But it remains to be seen whether Putin would be in any position to walk his talk. Too many of the “red lines” he drew in the sand in the recent past have been slowly but most assuredly breached by Ukrainians and their NATO allies without any of the apocalyptic fallouts he had threatened materialising. His braggadocio this time around might just be for the consumption of the domestic audience. 

    The third reason why the Ukrainians struck is to dramatically boost their position in future negotiations with Moscow. From the asymmetrical position where only Ukraine is expected to forfeit the Donbas seized by Russian troops, Kyiv has now craftily procured an invaluable bargaining chip in the form of a part of Russia for a more equitable quid-pro-quo exchange.

    The fourth reason is to create discord and division within Russian society and undermine the unity and cohesion of the Russian people, and possibly effect a regime change! Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak is reported to have revealed during a TV interview that Ukraine’s advances on Russian territory and losses of territory, people and equipment will “scare everyday Russians” and “reset their attitude toward Vladimir Putin.” 

    The fifth reason is because Kursk symbolises a life-and-death struggle from a virtual state of siege. It was exactly in this very same region in the fourth year of WWII (1943) that the Soviet Red Army routed the retreating Nazi German troops in the biggest tank battle ever seen, involving about 6,000 tanks and two million troops. While the number of tanks and troops likely to engage in combat this time around would be a far cry from the 1943 figures, the fact remains that the stakes are similarly very high, and the next 30 days will be critical for both sides as the second “Battle of Kursk” takes on additional significance. The party that blinks first between a ruthless wannabe empire-builder and the leader of a nation of fiercely independent-minded folks would ultimately be forced to play second fiddle in any peace talks. That is exactly why the war in the Kursk Oblast promises to be a mother of all wars.

    On second thoughts, the second ‘Battle of Kursk’ might just hold a glimmer of hope that this messy war might give Russia and Ukraine the opportunity to reset the course of their respective nations. The inevitable exchange of prisoners of war and a land-for-peace transaction between both parties – subject to the Ukrainians rebuffing all Russian attempts to retake Kursk – would enable Kyiv fully retain its territories without ceding any part to Moscow – except possibly granting some form of limited autonomy to the Russian-speaking Ukrainians in Donbas – and rebuild its economy and society with Western assistance.

    But can and would Putin on his part – given his domestic branding as the infallible strongman – easily sell a cock-and-bull tale about why he is changing his initial goals in Ukraine to Russians weary of sanctions and being treated as outcasts by the international community? Only time will tell in both cases!  

  • Protest: What really do some Nigerians want?

    Protest: What really do some Nigerians want?

    By Allison Abanum

    Our beloved nation is currently grappling with incredibly challenging times. The grievances articulated by Nigerians are undeniably valid. It seemed as though we were on the brink of a precarious tipping point, with dire predictions of chaos looming, when the populace, driven by fervent youthful zeal, chose to take to the streets in protest against the unfavorable economic circumstances in which we unfortunately find ourselves. Fortunately, these apocalyptic forecasts did not materialize, as the people exercised their right to express discontent, leaving the prophets of doom disheartened by how effectively the protests were handled.

    Regrettably the protests had violent engagements and confrontations in some places in the country. As predicted, criminal elements seized the occasion to carry out their enterprises. The regrettable death of Nigerians and other negative occurrences threatened to put a dent on the commdndable efforts that security agencies had put in to ensure the situation was not going to spiral out of control. The clamour for Mr President to address the protesters got even louder.

    On the 4th of August, 2024, President Bola Tinubu delivered a crucial address in response to the widespread protests that had engulfed Nigeria. These protests, stemming from underlying issues of economic hardship, security challenges, and governance failures, had garnered significant participation and, on occasions, descended into violent unrest. President Tinubu’s speech aimed to directly tackle these pressing concerns and lay out a roadmap for quelling the turmoil.

    Read Also: Obasanjo more disillusioned than ever

    The subsequent reactions and comments following the presidential address have been far from uplifting or patriotic, to say the least. Criticisms filled with doubt and negativity from individuals such as Chief Dele Momodu, Dr. Obi Ezekwesili, and others, alleging that the speech failed to address the grievances of Nigerians, are not only wide of the mark but also misleading, clearly driven by hidden agendas. Such remarks are not what the country requires at this juncture, regardless of the seemingly insatiable desire of some to politicize every public discourse. These actions reek of blatant lack of patriotism and underlying motivations rather than genuine concern for the nation’s affairs.

    They contend that the President’s plea for patience is inadequate in light of pressing economic and social concerns. Some have even characterized the address as an endeavor to placate the populace without presenting concrete remedies. Nevertheless, these critiques overlook the intricacies of governing a country as diverse and populous as Nigeria. The President’s appeal for patience is not a dismissal of the demonstrators’ requests, but rather a pragmatic plea for time to enact sustainable reforms. Instant solutions, while alluring, often fail to tackle the underlying causes of societal issues. The administration led by Tinubu is entrusted with harmonizing immediate assistance with enduring structural transformations, an intricate and demanding endeavor that necessitates meticulous planning and implementation, tasks that the President has affirmed dedication to fulfilling.

    In their critique of President Tinubu’s address, many analysts have disregarded the adverse aspects of the protests themselves. While the right to demonstrate is a fundamental democratic privilege, it is imperative to acknowledge that not all demonstrations remain peaceful or constructive. The recent protests have witnessed incidents of violence, destruction, and theft, which have only exacerbated the challenges confronting the nation. Even more concerning are the instances where protestors were observed brandishing Russian flags. The rationale behind this action remains obscure, yet it is evident that a clandestine agenda is being propagated, as there is no justifiable reason for displaying a foreign flag while protesting domestic issues. This action poses a threat to Nigeria’s sovereignty and should have never transpired. The failure of these propaganda analysts, who suddenly profess a greater love for Nigeria than the general populace, to address these issues within the protests speaks volumes.

    The adverse actions observed during the demonstrations, often carried out by a minority within the broader protest movement, have resulted in substantial economic ramifications, further exacerbating an already ailing economy. Local enterprises have been plundered, public infrastructure vandalized, and the general sense of security compromised. These unfavorable consequences do not align with the objectives of the peaceful majority advocating for change; rather, they introduce additional adversities and tensions that complicate the journey towards resolution.

    Moreover, the demonstrations have also engendered a polarized atmosphere, wherein meaningful dialogue and reconciliation become increasingly elusive. The ambiance of animosity and confrontation impedes the potential for productive interaction between the authorities and civil society. For enduring transformation to transpire, a collaborative stance is imperative, necessitating a convergence of perspectives from both factions. Critics such as Chief Dele Momodu have refrained from addressing these crucial facets, opting instead to exacerbate the discontent with their contentious remarks. This approach is discordant with the current needs of the nation. It is incumbent upon them to utilize their influence and platforms to address such matters constructively, ensuring that any criticisms or apprehensions articulated are judiciously balanced.

    The president delivered a comprehensive address to the nation, addressing both the protesters and the pressing issues at hand. The speech, available for public perusal, talked about various facets of our current challenges. While expressing remorse for the lives lost, the speech also sheds light on the administration’s strategies in response to these complex issues. Of particular note was the emphasis placed on the economic hardships plaguing Nigeria. The President acknowledged the difficulties faced by ordinary Nigerians due to recent policy adjustments, notably the elimination of fuel subsidies. Although this policy change has led to immediate financial burdens for many households, experts argue that it is a crucial step towards restructuring the economy for long-term stability.

    President Tinubu also spoke about a series of measures that he and his team are  currently implementing to rectify the challenges the country is currently facing. It is widely acknowledged that this administration inherited a precarious economic situation exacerbated by the recklessness and shortsightedness of past administrations and greedy individuals who have consistently exploited our national resources. The prevailing consensus is that the hardships Nigerians are enduring stem from the removal of subsidies and the revised economic policies. However, in the president’s address, he affirmed that these actions and policies were imperative and are yielding positive outcomes by curbing the avarice and illicit gains of smugglers and rent-seekers. Furthermore, these initiatives have put an end to the unwarranted subsidies we had been providing to our neighboring nations at the expense of our own citizens, which had crippled our economy.

    The president emphasized the significant advancements made by  government in revitalizing the economy. Government revenues saw a remarkable increase, reaching 9.1 trillion Naira in the initial half of 2024. There has been a noticeable surge in productivity within the non-oil sector. Previously, an overwhelming 97% of the country’s revenue was allocated to debt servicing; however, this has been substantially reduced to 68% in recent times.

    The Tinubu led administration has successfully settled $5 billion in foreign exchange obligations, ensuring that essential programs remain unaffected and providing greater financial latitude to allocate more resources towards the populace’s education and healthcare needs. State and Local Governments have received their most substantial allocations ever from the Federation Account. The address also underlined a steadfast commitment to infrastructural enhancements and the completion of crucial projects vital to our economic well-being, encompassing roads, bridges, railways, power, and oil and gas ventures.

    A substantial segment of Tinubu’s discourse was dedicated to combatting corruption, a pivotal demand of the demonstrators. He emphasized that corruption erodes confidence in public institutions and impedes economic advancement. President Tinubu is set on fortifying anti-corruption bodies, ensuring their autonomy, and implementing more stringent legislation with severe repercussions. This initiative aims to reinstate trust in the legal system and discourage illicit practices.

    The Tinubu administration surely looks committed to enhancing transparency and accountability through electronic governance platforms. These mechanisms will streamline procedures and facilitate real-time monitoring. President Tinubu also highlighted electoral overhauls to guarantee unfettered and equitable elections. He intends to empower civil society and augment citizen engagement in governance. Economic restructuring will diversify the economy, generate employment opportunities, and alleviate poverty. Strategic investments in essential infrastructure are imperative for economic expansion and ameliorating living standards.

    President Tinubu further correlated effective governance with economic advancement in his address, highlighting the necessity for reforms aimed at fostering a more just society through economic diversification, job creation, and poverty alleviation. The outlined strategies encompass augmenting investments in essential infrastructure to propel economic progress and enhance the standard of living. The speech underscored the importance of maintaining fiscal prudence and ensuring efficient utilization of public resources to guarantee widespread benefits for all Nigerian citizens.

    Overall, the president’s address sought to reaffirm dedication to the task at hand and further underscore the importance of patience and dialogue in addressing issues of discontent, both foundational elements of a democratic system. It serves as a call for solidarity, tolerance, and constructive conversation amidst a period of national turmoil. Detractors of the speech would benefit from considering the broader context in which it was delivered, acknowledging the government’s challenges and the detrimental aspects of the protests impeding progress. Rather than harboring pessimism regarding the efficacy of governmental strategies, greater emphasis could be placed on fostering constructive and nation-building narratives and initiatives. Esteemed individuals should strive for excellence in matters of national significance, for ultimately, we are all interconnected in this journey.

    The progression of Nigeria hinges on bridging the divide between the governing bodies and the populace, ensuring the amplification of the people’s voices and the fulfillment of their needs, all while upholding peace and stability. This necessitates a unified dedication to dialogue, comprehension, and reciprocal esteem—principles that are indispensable for the nation to navigate these challenging times and emerge fortified.

    Allison Abanum writes from Orogun, Delta State.

  • The Nigerian elite

    The Nigerian elite

    Questions regarding the Nigerian elite are being raised recurrently in public discourse in recent times. According to Cambridge Dictionary, the elite are “the richest, most powerful, best-educated, or best-trained group in a society.” The Merriam-Webster Dictionary also defines the elite as “the socially superior part of society” and “a group of persons who by virtue of position or education exercise much power or influence.” The elite therefore provide the model for conduct for the generality of the members of a group, community or nation with respect to different fields of human endeavour. It is, as such, possible to identify the following, among other categories of elite: the economic/corporate/business; the cultural/traditional/religious; the military/security; the political; the legal; the educated/intellectual; and the media.

      As Nigeria continues to face serious, almost desperate, problems, focus on the elite continues to be sustained. This may be accounted for by the belief that the specially-privileged citizens are particularly-endowed to steer the country back on course based on the positive models of conduct they are expected to provide. However, as things currently stand, some distinguished Nigerians are not enamoured of or optimistic about the chances of elite remediation. In fact, Attahiru Jega, former Chair of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in a 17 December, 2023 lecture on Channels TV titled “[FULL SPEECH] ‘Nigeria is a failing state’: Jega calls for restructuring before 2027″ talked about “destructive elite” who have “a reckless tendency … to divide and to rule and to mobilise whether it is ethnicity or religion or regionalism in order to further undermine the State and the positive role that it could play.”

    Moreover, commenting on the Nigerian condition, on 11 August, 2024, an over-80-year-old Professor and former Vice-Chancellor noted: “NIGERIA must note that the ELITES haven’t been able to ASSEMBLE the needed ACTIONS to make the nation move forward positively. The NORTH is the BEST example. The SOUTHEAST is also very well known as not doing well. While we in the SOUTHWEST remain WRONGLY unconcerned. I hope the future will be better but a lot needs to be done.” Columnist Simon Abah in an 11 December, 2019 article in The Guardian titled “Nigeria and her educated elite”, declared: “The educated elites are truly Nigeria’s problems. They believe in regional and ethnic pabulum. The elites are too bitty in Nigeria. The leading lights in all regions teach their people to be regionalist and do not inspire pride in nationalism and promote the vision of other places, people and culture.”

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    In his review of the recent protests in the country, Tatalo Alamu in his 11 August, 2024 article titled “Symptoms of National Distress”, in The Nation, notes about how the government could move forward: “Much will … depend on elite willpower and visionary drive. There is only so much a government – or any government at all – can do to re-engineer a society in the absence of elite amity.” He further states: “So in the long run a lot will depend on elite capacity to forge a consensus about the way out of the economic, political and spiritual morass that has plagued the country for so long. But it is also obvious that elite unanimity cannot be procured at the expense of social and political justice without severe repercussions. Elite consensus in Nigeria is permanently undermined by elite criminality and political delinquency.” He then admonishes the President not to ignore “the possibility and prospects of elite sabotage in a fractious, multi-ethnic and multi-religious conglomeration.” 

    In his 13 August, 2024 article titled “Tinubu, learning from the past to build the future” in The Nation, Jide Oluwajuyitan counselled: “Based on our past historical experiences, President Tinubu must understand he cannot take the loyalty of his ministers, fellow political elite members as well as our economic, intellectual and military elite who have at different times in the past betrayed our nation, for granted. Driven by greed and not living by their creed is often the source of credibility deficit of our educated elite. And it was for this reason Obafemi Awolowo who lived ahead of his time, once observed that ‘given a choice between Nigerian educated elite, traditional leaders and the colonial masters, Nigerians will choose in reverse order’. For our educated elite, greed for power or living in denial is the name of the game.”

    In his column  in the 23 February, 2016 issue of The Nation, in a piece with the complexly-punning title “Supreme Curse”, Olakunle Abimbola noted as follows about concurrent elite judicial, religious, media and even bureaucratic perversities: “Want to gauge the health of a nation? First, gauge the moral health of its judiciary (Their Lords Temporal and their officiating lawyers), its clergy (Their Lords Spiritual) and its editors (famed keepers of its Fourth Estate). Indeed, a society that condones corrupt judges, amoral pastors and hustling, integrity-challenged editors is pretty doomed. … But the controversial Supreme Court verdicts, the decadence in the church and the indifferent segment of the media, for whatever motive, are all symptoms of a serious affliction: a supreme curse of moral apathy hovers over the land.” Incidentally, even the intellectual elite do not seem to give cause to cheer. In fact, some of the most ethnically and religiously bigoted persons, who are impervious to new perspectives, that I have known are people of very high learning.

    The failure of the Nigerian elite over the years to live up to expectation as a path-charting, pace-setting compass for society and the disappointing superficiality, uncritical Westernisation, lack of foresight, and absence of the moral courage to admit error have resulted in deep and recurrent pain to the country. They have also come to incite cynicism about the elite from the populace. This kind of cynicism was manifested in the violence that was unleashed in the August riots in the country. Where the elite had been known to use violence and vandalism to settle scores, it would have been difficult to persuade the populace that there were better ways of resolving issues.  

    In the Second Republic, the Oyo State Government demolished a housing project that was being constructed by the Federal government in order to prove that it had a constitutionally-guaranteed right of action against the Federal Government. In the current Republic, in Kano State, the incumbent government has carried out a series of ill-considered demolition of government and private properties. Consciously or subconsciously, these extreme actions have come to serve as models for the lowly in society. The widespread destruction of property and even the killings that took place in some states of the country may therefore be seen as the manifestation of the acquisition of “destructive elite” values.

    Retrogressive elite meddlesomeness also occurs in different forms. In a 28 January, 2024 reaction to an article on marital renaming, a Professor narrated the following experience: “There is a female senior academic I know who rightly retained her father’s name after marriage. She resisted the pressure of her colleagues who, out of sheer blackmail, argued that she adopted that practice because she didn’t respect her husband. But the situation changed when she registered her children for school. As there was no correlation between her own name and her children’s surname, she had to pay more and lose the benefit of rebate for staff members at the University School. The economic pressure of having to pay more than her family ought to pay made her to grudgingly go the compounding way. But I personally resent those inelegant compound surnames.”

    Elite superficiality has further been manifested in reactions to what some refer to as “mass weddings”, but which I have come to discover should more appropriately be called “group weddings” or “communal weddings”. The Minister of Women affairs made it a trending issue when, without first trying to find out the true situation, threatened legal action against the plan to sponsor a communal wedding of one hundred women in Niger State early this year. The hasty or complicit press saw the Minister’s indiscretion as red meat, and it gave them the impetus to unleash opprobrium against the Northern culture.

    Incidentally, I was in Kano between late May and early June 2024 for the wedding of my Yoruba  nephew. He had come for the wedding from the US where he is based. He holds a Master’s degree in Architecture and the Hausa bride holds a Master’s degree in Law. They met in the US and freely decided to marry. The bride’s father is a retired federal civil servant and the bride’s mother holds a PhD in English Language and is a Lecturer. Ten couples were wedded after Jumu’ah prayers on the date of the event. Meanwhile, comprehensive medical certificates of suitability to be couples were a prerequisite for inclusion in the group weddings. It is also noteworthy that by virtue of the background of the couple and their families, no government sponsorship or subsidy or assistance for the wedding was required.

    After being satisfied with the medical certificate, the officiating Imam invited our group. He asked whether the dowry had been paid. When he got a positive answer, he announced the fulfillment of the requirements for the wedding and the formal process continued. Amazingly, within five minutes, the wedding had been concluded, and we left the mosque, and headed home for feasting which was also moderate.  Looking back, after the event, at the media vituperations against the Niger State group weddings planned for earlier in the year, I began to wonder how a combination of ignorance and arrogance and unwillingness to learn had distorted a noble practice of wedding in communal spirit. Many media practitioners and others who had access to the public platform had unethically weaponised their media privilege. That’s why some people believe that, as bad as the social media are, they serve to somehow restrain the bullying by the traditional media elite.

    The Nigerian elite are of two kinds: the destructive and the constructive. Until January 1966, the country had largely constructive elite whose conduct reflected a significant appreciation of healthy competition. By January 1966, destructive elite gained ascendancy starting with the coup of that year leading to the civil war of 1967 to 1970, to the continuing military governance of 1970 to 1979, to the civilian administration of 1979 to 1983, back to the essentially military regimes of 1983 to 1999, and then back to the civilian governance of 1999 which has endured till date. The destructive elite have held sway for so long that it seems herculean today to find the constructive elite in good numbers in any aspect of the society. The challenge now is therefore to work assiduously to increase the constructive elite in population and influence towards achieving optimum elite consensus underpinned by noble values rather than the competitive pillaging of the nation’s resources. 

  • The making of a confidence vote in President Tinubu

    The making of a confidence vote in President Tinubu

    By Bayo Onanuga

    The National Council of State, a diverse body comprising former presidents, heads of government, chief justices of the federation, state governors, the secretary of the federal government, the attorney-general of the federation and the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, held its first meeting under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday, 13 August. This diverse composition underscores the council’s advisory role in shaping the nation’s policies and decisions, ensuring a broad spectrum of perspectives are considered. 

    At its last meeting 18 months ago, the council was briefed by the INEC Chairman and the Inspector General of Police on the preparations for the general election, which took place two weeks later. Godwin Emefiele, then the Central Bank governor, also informed the council on implementing the currency redesign policy, which created a severe economic crisis.

    This time, six ministers and the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, briefed the council. President Bola Tinubu reported on the appointments made to the National Population Commission and the Independent National Electoral Commission. Both INEC and NPC are federal executive bodies contained in the constitution. In his briefing, the President told the council that he fully complied with the Federal Character principle and subjected the appointments to the approval of the Nigerian Senate.

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    It was fitting that Ribadu, the NSA, briefed the council first, the meeting coming just a few days after the end of peaceful and violent national protests in which some Nigerians called for regime change. In some cities in Northern Nigeria, protesters even displayed the Russian flag and caused some destruction of public and private properties. The NSA profiled some of the protesters as ideologues, anarchists, unemployed youths, and members of socialist movements and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The protesters used internet radio and social media platforms, such as TikTok, Twitter Spaces, and fake news to mobilise people on the streets. He mentioned the involvement of an Islamic Group and some Nigerians in the diaspora. Nigeriens also took part in the protest, and the participation of a foreign agent provocateur, a European, was also found during the protest. His local collaborators have been arrested. The protest was well funded, with N4 billion contributed by political actors and $ 50 million traced to crypto wallets. Four wallets containing $38 million were blocked.  The funding sources are all under investigation.

    The protest recorded casualties. Eight people died from a variety of causes: bombing in Borno, vigilante shooting in Kebbi, and reckless driving also in Borno. 

    The briefing, laced with infographics, was comprehensive. Council members praised the paper. The council suggested the country step up efforts to secure the borders and stabilise the exchange rate. President Tinubu promised to work on the suggestions.

     Economic Updates

    Next was the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari. He reported on the gains of dry-season farming: 118,657 hectares cultivated, 474,628 metric tonnes of grains harvested, valued at N309 billion. He spoke on the food palliatives: 43,000 metric tonnes released from the reserve, 20 trucks of rice sent to the states from March/April, and the decision to allow tariff-free import of food for six months, all designed to crash the cost of food.

    Finally, he spoke of importing thousands of tractors and other mechanisation equipment from the United States, Brazil, and Belarus and establishing mechanisation hubs in the six geopolitical zones with a $945 million loan.

    Olawale Edun, the coordinating minister of the economy, briefed the council on the gains recorded in the last 14 months. Among these are exchange rate stability, a positive trade balance, and an increase in foreign direct investment and Portfolio Investment. According to recent figures from the National Bureau of Statistics, he said inflation has been slowing down. Oil production has increased, and revenues collected hit N9 trillion at the end of June, the year’s first half. He said the outlook for the year’s second half will also be better.

     Infrastructure Development

    Works Minister Dave Umahi reported on the inherited road contracts estimated at N14 Trillion and a funding gap of N13 trillion. Because of current market realities, the funding gap will further increase. He said this has necessitated a comprehensive review of all the critical roads by the Tinubu Administration. According to him, many roads will impact the transportation and marketing of agricultural produce. 

     Using tables, maps and photos, Umahi said N300 billion was provided in the supplementary budget 2023 to fix some roads and bridges. About 90 per cent of the roads have been completed, with all the regions benefitting. Fifty-four bridges were repaired at a cost of N34 billion. He told the council about the various funding models for federal roads: Sukuk loans, tax credit scheme, public-private partnership model and budget appropriations.  Ten major roads, among them, Sagamu-Benin, Lagos-Abeokuta, Lagos-Seme, Enugu-Port Harcourt, and Abuja-Keffi-Makurdi, are being built under PPP arrangement, and they are expected to be tolled so that investments can be recouped. 

    Legacy Projects

    Umahi also told the council about the four legacy projects of the Tinubu Administration under the Renewed Hope Agenda. They are the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Superhighway, which has started, the Sokoto Badagry Superhighway, the Calabar-Abuja Superhighway and the Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe Road. While the Sokoto section of the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway has been awarded, the Kebbi Section of it is under procurement. The designs are ongoing for the Niger, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun and Lagos sections. In the distribution of the four legacy projects, the North Central will get 715 km, the highest, followed by South `South, 670 km, SW 546km, Northwest 431 km, Northeast 268 km, Southeast 105 km.

    Industrialisation and Trade:

    Doris Uzoka-Anite, the trade, industry, and investment minister, came into the chambers after that to brief the council members. While she X-rayed the problems militating against Nigeria’s industrialisation, she was emphatic that the present administration’s goal of building a trillion-dollar economy is achievable. She mentioned the billions of dollars in investment pledges. She said our country can save $25 billion from import substitution. She raised the bar of non-oil exports to $35 billion. Her ministry is preoccupied with initiating policies to make these goals possible. 

    Among other initiatives by her ministry are programmes such as Skilled Up Artisans and NATEP. 

     Solid Minerals

    The Solid Minerals Minister took the hot seat and regaled the Council about the various efforts to make Nigeria reap the full benefits of its mineral endowments. Implementing a seven-point agenda, the ministry has embarked on data collection and raised a mining police force that has succeeded in arresting 317 illegal miners.  Over 52 of the illegal operators are being prosecuted. About 1,000 mining cooperatives made up of artisans have been registered, and a policy of value addition is being implemented. The latter has led to the springing up of lithium processing factories in Nasarawa and Kwara. 

    Marching into the future, the ministry plans to establish Nigerian Solid Minerals Corporation, ban the export of raw minerals, develop a gold aggregator programme and vigorously pursue the development of our country’s bitumen deposits. 

    A sobering moment at the council came when the Budget and Planning Minister, Atiku Bagudu, made a graphic comparison of our country with Brazil, Indonesia and Ghana. In 1960, Brazil had a per capita income of $216. This ballooned to $11,111 in 2024 as the GDP DP also rose to $2.3 Trillion from $15.53 billion in 1960.  Indonesia had PCI of $53 in 1960 and a GDP of $3.25 billion. It now has a GDP of $1.475 Trillion and a PCI of $5713. Ghana’s GDP rose 72 times from $1.22 billion in 1960 to $75.2 in 2024. PCI for Ghana increased from $177 to $2,229. Nigeria’s GDP in 1960 was $4,2 billion and is now $252.7. PCI increased from $93 to $1,109, the lowest among peers.

    He said the one trillion-dollar economy is possible because the government is devoting N9.9 trillion to capital expenditures for the first time in many years after several decades of missed opportunities and reforms. 

    The council members listened attentively as ministers took turns briefing them about the work the Tinubu Administration has been engaged in since May 29, 2023.

    One of the past leaders praised the government and its ministers for the impressive work being done.

    “You have not been sleeping. You have been working. Well done”, he said. A message clearly meant for the protesters who took over the streets of many states the previous week.

    With the past leader’s comment, another member moved a motion to pass a vote of confidence. The vote was passed unanimously. Thus, the inaugural meeting of the National Council of State under President Tinubu ended.

    – Onanuga is Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy