Category: Open Forum

Today, though we gather from different congregations. The greatest thing that holds us together is that we are one in Christ. This is the ideal that our administration has always pursued. We are focused on providing service for a united people, irrespective of colour, religion, ethnic and tribal affiliations.

Hence, what this interdenominational service stands for is what our government stands for – unity with oneness that breeds togetherness.

We have chosen to serve God, and it is a wise choice. We know who we serve and we are committed to serving him. According to the Bible in Matthew 6: 24, no man can serve two masters. Thus, you cannot serve God and serve mammon.

My contribution to the subject of service is quite simple. We all need to serve God. There is no doubt about that. But then, why do we really need to serve God? When we serve the people well, it is also a way of serving God. Hence, service to humanity is also service to God. There is no greater service than that.

So, as Christians who have chosen to serve, there is no greater service than the service that you offer to your fellow human beings.

Now, let me move to the role and responsibilities of Christians serving God in the political field. Interestingly, I fall into this category. But the question is: How well are we serving? How well are we improving the lot of the people?

Well, the THEMES Agenda of my administration was carefully crafted to meet the needs of our people. As the captain of the ship, I am always guided by the fact that God has put us here for the good of mankind. I know that our tenure is time-bound and I am always conscious of that. That, indeed, is why we have made the people the bedrock of our administration. The truth is that without the people, there can be no government.

Lagos is the nation’s economic and commercial nerve-centre; improving the residents’ journey time within the metropolis is necessary. That, in my view, is service to humanity.  Ironically, some of the gridlocks that our people might be facing across the metropolis are by-products of our resolve to redevelop some of our roads.

We are working on many roads at the same time. We are constructing roads in Kosofe, Molebi, Demurin and Church Street (right here; where we are). We are also building roads in Ogudu GRA, Mile 2, Festac, Ikorodu, Agege, Badagry, Alimosho, Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Bariga, Lekki, Agbado, Ebute-Metta and Iju, among others.

We are trying to make commuting easier for our people. That is a core service to mankind because transportation is key for human existence. This explains why we are working round the clock to make our dream of having rail transportation within the metropolis a reality. By the grace of God, this year, our dream concerning rail transportation will see the light of the day.

With this, our people will be able to commute easily from Agbado in Iju to Ebute-Metta within 15 to 20 minutes. That is what we consider an essential service to mankind.

Mind you, we are quite mindful of the fact that working on many roads at the same time could be tough both on us as well as the people, but that is the price we all have to pay to have a better tomorrow.

As they say, there is gain in pain.

We are not just building roads; we are also constructing brand new schools for our children so they could compete with other children from other parts of the world. Considering the relevance of education, we encourage our children, especially those out of school, to go back to school. There is no need for any child to be out of school.  Let us get our children back to school because there is enough space for them in our secondary and primary schools.

We have improved the teaching environment. We are also training the teachers on how to use technology to improve teaching. Fortunately, the results are already matching our investment in the sector. Last year, the pass percentage in our public secondary schools moved from 39.78% to 79.64%.

Yet, we are not resting on our oars because we know that our people deserve nothing but the best. On the 8th of February, 2022, the National Universities Commission (NUC) stamped its seal of authority on the establishment of two specialised universities in Lagos State. This implies that we now have two new State universities for our children to attend.

 

The challenges facing foreign exchange management in Nigeria are age-long. Going by the adage that “you cannot give what you do not have”, it is essential to note that the import-dependent nature of the country has put more pressure on the external reserves and exchange rate. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s import trade accounts for 61 percent of total external trade in 2020. Before discussing issues around forex availability and appropriate forex pricing, there is an urgent need to address the low productivity across the various activities in the non-oil sector, with huge potential to contribute significantly to forex earnings in Nigeria. The trade statistics show that Nigeria is a net importer of agricultural products due to constrained domestic supply. Based on the data from NBS, the net import value of agricultural products spiked to more than double to N1.4 trillion in 2020 from N689.7 billion in 2019.

Nigeria remains a net importer of raw materials leaving domestic resources unharnessed or under-utilised. The net import value for raw materials rose sharply by 79.4 percent to N2.2 trillion in 2020 from N1.2 trillion in 2019, according to the NBS data. This is not surprising as the country also depends on imported finished manufacturing products.

The NBS data showed that Nigeria’s net import value of manufactured goods increased to N11.8 trillion in 2020 from N9.9 trillion in 2019. The unfavourable net trade position across commodities could be reversed if the low productivity across the non-oil sector activities is addressed and their export potentials are fully harnessed. With an improved trade balance position (currently in deficit), the country would reduce its exposure to external borrowing through Eurobonds and other non-concessional loans. Maintaining a favourable trade balance, as well as adequate inflows of foreign investments, will contribute significantly to improving the net flows of forex through the economy – which had crashed from as high as US$102.6 billion in 2013 to US$70.7 billion in 2020.

Meanwhile, the massive dependence on imports has constrained the CBN to manage forex demand by prohibiting certain commodities, that could otherwise be produced locally, from accessing forex at the official market since 2015. The result of this policy action has heightened demand pressures in the parallel market, leading to the wide gap between the official exchange rate (now the I & E Window exchange rate) and the parallel market exchange rate (see Fig. 4f in Part A).

The challenge to the poor forex supply in Nigeria is mainly attributable to the lack of diversification of forex sources, with colossal dependence on crude oil export proceeds and, more recently, foreign borrowings. Another challenge facing forex management in Nigeria is the frequent intervention of the CBN at the forex market, which exerts intense pressure on the country’s external reserves. Faced with the continued dwindling of the external reserves, the Apex Bank resorted to exchange rate devaluation (three episodes were witnessed in 2020) and forex rationing among end-users. These challenges send wrong signals to prospective investors who are more concerned about the safety of their investments (particularly forex repatriation at maturity of investments, in addition to returns).

Despite the various interventions of the CBN in the forex market, the issues of forex unavailability and inappropriate forex pricing have not been fully addressed. To this end, we propose that reforms to address Nigeria’s foreign exchange problems should focus on two key areas: the need to boost forex availability and guarantee appropriate forex pricing.

Reform 1: Need to boost Foreign Exchange Availability

To boost investors’ confidence in the Nigerian economy and enhance the attractiveness of the country’s financial instruments, there is an urgent need to improve the availability of forex. The key considerations that matter for forex availability in Nigeria include:

• Leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and ensuring effective border control: The AfCFTA presents an opportunity for Nigeria to improve trade, particularly exports with other African countries. Nigeria can leverage the trade pact by diversifying its export sources away from crude oil and targeting new markets, particularly light manufacturing exports. To fully harness the benefits of the Free Trade Area, there is an urgent need to improve logistics associated with clearing consignments at the country’s ports. Needful to know is that only two out of the six seaports in Nigeria are fully operational.

A considerable amount of forex is lost due to delays in consignment clearance and damages experienced during the process. Additionally, there is a need to address the porous nature of Nigeria’s land borders as this will help improve proceeds from custom duties collection and the inflow of forex. Effective border control will also ensure that smuggling activities are reduced to the barest minimum.

• Removing capital controls and encouraging the inflow of stable investments: Stiff controls on capital inflows occasioned by market illiquidity and forex rationing have discouraged prospective investors from considering Nigeria as a good investment destination. This has primarily limited Nigeria’s capital importation to portfolio investment or hot money, prone to capital flow reversals or flight. Hence, the country needs to implement investment-friendly policies that will encourage the inflow of stable investments such as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). There is a need for improved compliance of the authorities with contractual agreements. This is important for attracting higher foreign investments, thus contributing significantly to infrastructural development via the Public-Private Partnership framework. This channel will also boost the availability of forex in the country.
• Prioritising non-oil forex sources: While the non-oil sector contributes 90 percent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), it only accounts for a meagre 10 percent of export earnings, according to the NBS data. Given the country’s output potential, there is an urgent need to boost the export of non-oil products, such as value-added agro-based products. One way to achieve this is to develop a home-grown quality control system to ensure that Nigerian-made products become attractive to foreign buyers. The lack of standardisation in Nigeria also partly explains why Nigerian products must be exported to Ghana first for repackaging before being re-exported to the rest of the world. If this reexportation could be eliminated, the additional foreign inflows from value-addition will accrue to Nigeria. Also, there is an increasing need to boost remittances’ inflows via the formal channel, largely banks, to complement the International Monetary Transfers Operators’ efforts by reducing the high transfer costs.
• Enhancing the quality of import substitutes: Many Nigerians patronize foreign-made products due to the low quality of local products. A considerable portion of the country’s foreign exchange could have otherwise been saved if both domestic and foreign buyers patronised goods produced in the country. There is an increasing need for widespread sensitisation of Nigerians, particularly the elite and high-income class, on the benefits of patronising local products, in terms of increased jobs creation for the teeming unemployed if the domestic industries were to be in good working conditions. One more job is likely being created in foreign lands for every US dollar spent on imported products. The forex rationing practice also suggests that the quality of the non-oil commodities need to be enhanced for Nigerians to switch their expenditure towards homemade products. This would also reduce the forex demand backlogs and moderate the pressures on Nigeria’s external reserves.
• Fixing the local refineries and constructing new ones: The much awaited 650,000 barrel-capacity Dangote Refinery project — which will be the largest in Africa — is expected to start operations by the second quarter of 2022.

The US$15 billion refineries would reduce petroleum importation, which accounts for about 80 percent of total fuel consumption in Nigeria. The deregulation of the oil and gas sector as specified in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) is expected to attract more investments to fix the existing refineries and contribute to the construction of new refineries. Reduced dependence on petroleum imports would help boost forex savings and guarantee improved forex availability.

Reform 2: Need to ensure Appropriate Pricing of Foreign Exchange

There are hot debates around what the central exchange rate should be. External agencies such as the IMF have called for unification and flexibility of the exchange rate regime in Nigeria. Notwithstanding, the key considerations that matter for appropriate forex pricing include:

• A clear forex policy to instil investors’ confidence: The multiplicity of exchange rates brings about uncertainty in evaluating profitability associated with alternative investment opportunities. Hence, there is a need for clarity as to what the country’s central exchange rate should be, to improve investors’ confidence.

A transparent exchange rate policy would also attract more stable foreign capital inflows, such as foreign direct investments, which remain very low compared to foreign portfolio investments. In this way, there is a need to alleviate investors’ panic that new forex inflows from the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) of US$3.5 billion and Eurobonds valued at US$4 billion will be judiciously used to meet forex demand obligations. This will also help to restore their confidence in the economy.

 

The rendition is persistent and even though, it is a one line hit song, the orchestra has multiple vocal amplifiers and despite evident fatigue of the global audience, the conductors would not back away.

By now, according to Washington, Kiev the Ukraine’s capital would have been smoldering from tremors of fire unleashed by Moscow and since this is not happening, despite the umbrage of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance, a relic of the cold war era carried over by Western Europe and its North American allies, (The U.S and Canada) that Moscow has massed troops and weapons on its border with Ukraine ready to invade.

Despite concerted and forthright denials by Moscow that it has no such plans, but only deployed its forces like every other normal country in its border to thwart provocations and deter adventurists, the U.S and its NATO orchestra and other ‘Wannabes’ continue to repeat the line that Ukraine is about to be choked by the jugular by its giant, with which, it once shared a country, the defunct USSR.

On the basis of the desperate invocations of Moscow’s attack, batteries of military hardware, whose real value of any real Russia’s attack on Ukraine is doubtful is been shoved down, the throat of the Ukraine’s leadership and this not free. A  U.S force of 8,500 troops is on standby according to the U.S pentagon , ready but not to see action in Ukraine, in case of any event but to give Europe some measure of confidence. Meanwhile, the political show, is that Moscow would be buffeted with stringent and biting sanctions and according to the U.S President, Mr. Joe Biden, the Russian President, Mr. Vladimir Putin himself, would sweat under the heat of damaging sanctions personally targeted at him. Except, the U S leadership and its NATO allies are naïve or living in outright denial of reality, the highly dynamic and resourceful cooperation between Moscow and Beijing would ensure that western sanctions against Moscow would have little impact .

Moscow has however, maintained a fairly decent line of argument, that it has no intention to attack or invade its neighbour but it has security concerns which the Western benevolent of the current Ukraine’s leadership must take into account and its simply that Kiev cannot join the Western alliance, NATO and thus, providing the alliance a veritable frontline to intimidate, harass or even take down Russia, a key pole and major stake-holder in the multi-polar world order. The United States itself through the Monroe doctrine of the 1880s was the architect of safe neighbourhood and when it discovered the Soviet missiles in Cuba is 1962, almost precipitated a war until the Soviets and Cuban agreed to remove them.

At the triumph of the Cuban revolution and its declaration of the Socialist course, the U.S unleashed the deadly  Bay of pigs invasion and for several years, attempted several assassination plots of the Cuban leader, Fidel Castro.  Funding wars, coup d’états were historically Washington’s preferred means of keeping the Americas and even other far flung regions, including Africa away from having governments not explicitly in the good books of Washington. From the murder of Allende Salvador in Chile, and toppling of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala, murder of Maurice Bishop in tiny Grenada to throwing drug-fueled insurgency against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, Washington has demonstrated zero tolerance to any unfriendly regime, not to talk of a hostile one, in its neighborhood.

Moscow’s security concern has long antecedents in its history and is not new and therefore did not originate with President Putin. And fact is, these concerns are reasonably shared among almost Russians themselves. Even the pro-Western Boris Yeltsin government, did not take lightly to the expansion  of NATO membership in the 1990s to former soviet States and Central Europe. Even many Russian western sympathizers and admirers viewed any prospect of Ukraine or Georgian membership of NATO with alarm and clear disapproval.

Even the danger of Western/Russian collusion in the event of NATO vehemence to admit Ukraine was loudly echoed by America’s best known Russian hand, the late professor George Kenan, who is the architect of U.S containment strategy of the former Soviet Union. Even the inscrutable Henry Kissinger doubled down that ignoring Moscow’s sensibility with attempt to seat Kiev on the Western military alliance will spell dangerous face off with Moscow and should be avoided.

The question, is why with President Joe Biden, and establishment figure, with acute understanding of the dire consequences of poking the Russian bear in the eyes, is leading the pack in the grand conflict-shopping of “imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine:, when he knows the real under-current of Russian-Western face-off.

Moscow has already warned that slandering her, in a sleaze of massive disinformation and even the political shadow boxing will not pull its trigger but ignoring her security concerns and taking any step to practically undermine it, will and that is why the world cannot sit akimbo, while Washington and its allies play the dangerous poker games.

Thankfully, the Ukraine President Mr. Volodymyr Zelensky has  warned that the U S and its allies should not put the world on edge on the purported “imminent Russian invasion accusing them of inciting Panic” I can’t be like other politicians who are grateful to the United States just for being the United States”. And he further added “these signals have come even from respected world leaders, who speak openly and with undiplomatic language. They simply say, tomorrow there will be war! This is panic”.

President Biden has actually claimed that Russians could invade in early February but President Zelensky, who thanked the U.S “for its constant support of our sovereignty and territorial integrity” however, emphatically said “I am the Ukrainian president. I am located here. I know deeper details than any president”.

But, here even as the Washington and NATO’s Ukraine gamble takes a deep freeze, with the Ukraine president ostensibly talking down on the myth of Russian  invasion, would the West stand down and engage the substantive issue of Russian security concerns. Or is the Ukraine’s president, a comedian by profession issuing the diversionary theatrics before triggering the spark that would provoke Moscow to a mortal combat? Or he just realising that in the dangerous poker game of allowing Washington and Moscow to lock horns, it will be mostly Kiev that would be bruised and his presidency would be among the first collateral damage?

Whatever the ultimate game plan, war in Europe would be that last that the world hardly emerging from the trauma of the covid-19 pandemic want to see.

President Biden last year at the G7 member in the U.K indicated the Build back a better world development strategy, ostensibly a global project to rival the China Initiated Belt and Road global framework of International cooperation but packing up war machines and scaling up abrasive rhetoric is not the best way to contribute American Wisdom to contemporary global challenges.

Russia has demonstrated comportment and restraint even in the face of extreme political provocation, clearly appreciating the sensibilities of the rest of the world at a time of intense reflection and introspection on how to tame the rampaging monster of the Covid-19 pandemic which is still on the global prowl.

 

• Onunaiju is a research director of Abuja-based Think Tank

We are again back to the debate of whether to increase the prices of Petroleum products or not in what some people call subsidy debate.

Expectedly, most political leaders and those who aspire or pretend to want to lead Nigeria in 2023, have all kept their mouths shut because it is politically risky to speak.

It is however, not in my character to keep quiet on a matter so fundamental as this.

We were in this situation early in the administration of President Obasanjo in 1999 when prices of Petroleum products were suddenly increased without any consultation with the PDP National Executive Committee of which I was a vocal member.

Led by our Deputy National Chairman, Alhaji Iro Dan Musa, Harry Marshal (Vice Chairman South/South), Abubakar Magaji (Vice Chairman North Central), Emmanuel Ibeshi (National Publicity Secretary) and I (Deputy National Publicity Secretary) on behalf of ourselves and other NEC members, addressed a press conference and urged the President to reverse the price increase.

Workers led by Adams Oshiomhole were already on strike. And when the party spoke, President Obasanjo backed down.

As I was not afraid to ask Obasanjo to reverse himself 22 years ago, so I will be very upfront with Mr. President and leader of my party, President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, He does not need to listen to IMF and World Bank on this particular matter.

Firstly, the possibility of spending a maximum of 4 billion dollars at current price levels on Petroleum products over a 12 months that Nigeria could earn about 30 billion  USD from oil exports ((@60USD per barrel based on daily  export estimates) is not the biggest headache in Nigeria finances, but expending  about 10 billion USD on debt servicing.

Debt servicing obligation is the biggest elephant in the room that IMF that functions most of the times, as agent of creditors to weak nations,   does not want to talk about.

At best, the noise about “Petroleum subsidy” is diversionary.

Secondly, the size of what is called subsidy could have even been exaggerated as the value of crude allocated for domestic consumption (415,000 barrels per day) which is swapped, should stand to the credit of local Petroleum product account after deduction of OPEX and average unit CAPEX costs.

When this particular sum is accounted for, the so-called “subsidy cost” will be relatively smaller than the costs bandied about.

This could just be refining costs per litre usually very marginal ,plus freight, insurance and other handling costs. The Natural Resources Governing Institute in a 2015 report, recommended what to do with the Domestic Crude Allocation (DCA) so we can have clarity on product accounting.

The arguments surrounding Petroleum pricing are not new. Since the regime of General  Yakubu Gowon, which moved the price from  6 kobo to 8.45 kobo in 1973, prices of petroleum products have been increased periodically for about 30 times, even when local refineries were working.

It was only during Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s Government that Petroleum products were never increased.

Any time oil price goes up in the international market, there is always a need to hike domestic price of products. Any time international oil price falls internationally, it is an occasion again to hike the domestic price of Petroleum products because the value of the nation’s currency will fall.

Oil is a Strategic National Commodity for Nigeria as it is for all oil producing countries; the policy surrounding it must be well thought out relative to other matters in the economy.

For instance, diesel and petrol are not just products that end up in the tanks of cars and lorries for transportation. These products are the fuel for the tiny generator at the barber’s shops, tailor’s shops, the corn mills, rice mills, local clinics, hospitals, bakeries, small scale industries, telecommunications facilities, banks etc.

Petrol and diesel are fuel for self generated power in Nigeria because Nigeria generates less than 5% of what it should be generating from the grid.As it energy from petrol and diesel is over 150 percent of grid costs.This already makes the energy  costs of an average producer both in the formal and informal sector one of the highest in the world .Specifically the increase been recommended in

PMS prices  will affect informal sector more because PMS is the fuel for small generators.It will also hit  the working class hard!

Petrol and diesel fuels 90% of economic activities in Nigeria. Any increase in the prices causes significant distortion in the economy and whatever gain to the treasury will be wiped off by the losses it will cause to the economy and the net balance will be negative.

You do not have to be a Havard trained economist to comprehend the above simple analysis. Any time Petroleum prices goes up, the people feel it everywhere around them immediately, and that is why anger and reactions to such increases are usually spontaneous.

Read Also: Subsidy palaver

In April 1988 when Prices of products were increased by 2.5k from 37.5k, workers’ strikes broke out in Kano Jos and then Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ilorin, Bank workers shut down the banks nationwide and then nurses went on strike, followed by street protests organised by students of tertiary institutions.

In 1994, the reactions to the whopping increase by the”technocratic” interim government of Ernest Shonekan swept that government out of power. The reactions to the increases in Petroleum products prices under Jonathan’s Government are so fresh in the minds of most Nigerians that it is not worth elaborating upon.

In the 1980’s and 1990’s the Brethen woods institutions put weak third world countries under undue pressure on the management of their economies based on their National debts through ruinous advisories and conditionalities that are not applied on similarly indebted developed nations whenever they want to offer assistance. The US , the world most indebted country with a national debt of over 100% of her GDP does not get such advisory from the IMF.

So, the difference is political power not economics.

Right now, most Western countries in the COVID era are printing money to subsidise their people. So, the conversations we should be having is how developing countries can also enjoy some concessions, not how to take any little support for the people away.

At the domestic level, we need a conversation on a national strategy for economic development, not on how to tinker with the price of petroleum product or value of the national currency which has been an unhelpful path we followed biannually since 1986.

Nigeria economic managers, especially those who have appropriated the titles of technocrats for themselves and their acolytes in the media and the market fundamentalists of the “Chicago school” need to demonstrate more creativity in their postulations than rehashing policies whose outcomes have been  rounds of colossal failure after three decades of  application in Nigeria.

Let us be honest with ourselves; the people that have been decorated with titles of technocrats are not usually people who have won academic prizes to validate their brilliance or originality.  They are usually people outside core economics background and with little knowledge of political economy.

Their only validation is appointments by Bretten woods hawks or some stint in third word finance agency or ministry of a third world country accompanied by just any degree from an Ivy League institution.

Brilliant prize winners such as Jozef Stiglitz, an Ex-IMF economist and Nobel Prize winner in Economics, disagrees seriously with Brethen woods orthodoxies.

The truth is that fuel price increase is a needless headache we do not need at a time like this. There are many expenditure items on the public budget we can knock off instead of what is called petrol subsidy. It will be political suicide for our great party to contemplate increase in prices of Petroleum products at this time.

I believe the leader of the party, President Buhari will not take the bait!

*Writer is a former Presidential Candidate, A Lord Max Bellof Prize Winner in Global Affairs. He was also trained in International Petroleum Management in Boston Massachusetts USA.

The world steps aside for the man who knows where he’s headed -Kunle Bakare.

As the editor of ‘Encomium Weekly’, Azuh Arinze had dreams. One of such dreams was to interview boardroom guru Dr. Christopher Kolade. The reason for this dream was simple: Prof. Pat Utomi, Mr. Tunde Lemo and others Azuh had interviewed mentioned Kolade as their role model. He set the machinery in motion and as he was still juggling how to accomplish that mission, he saw an advert in a newspaper announcing that Kolade would be at the Goldengate Restaurant in Ikoyi, Lagos to give a lecture. On the day of the lecture, Azuh arrived, well dressed, at the venue about an hour to the time. Some 30 minutes to kick-off time, he was sitting inside his car when he saw Kolade sauntering in and clutching what looked like a file. He was unaccompanied. Azuh jumped down from his car and attempted to assist him with the file, as they made their way to the elevator to the hall, but Kolade politely chose to bear his file himself.

Inside the hall, Kolade was looking for the engineer in charge to cue his paper on the projector. Azuh moved closer and introduced himself as a journalist. Kolade said to him: “Young man, I’m here for a lecture and not to have an interview.” Azuh’s attempt to win him saw the elderly man concentrating on the engineer who was battling to get his lecture ready. Azuh refused to leave. He stood behind Kolade and after about 15 minutes, Kolade asked where he could wash his hands and Azuh directed him to the washroom. When he emerged from there, Azuh was still standing at the entrance.

Kolade said: “This young man that will not take no for an answer, yes, what exactly do you say you want from me?”

Azuh stammered: “An interview…very short … ten or fifteen minutes would be okay.”

Kolade replied: “No…only five minutes… I’m here for something else, but your persistence is making me change my mind…” So, Kolade’s ‘no’ became ‘yes’. Instead of the five minutes, the great man had allocated to Azuh, they ended up talking for about 30 minutes.

His persistence and perseverance paid off in the end. This is one of the encounters Azuh, now the publisher of ‘Yes International’, recounts in a 228-page book titled ‘Encounters: Lessons from my journalism career’.

Read Also: ‘Visual narratives’ hits the road

In the course of his journalism career, Azuh has met many of Nigeria’s big men and women. From entertainment to politics to business and so on, Azuh has encountered ex-beauty queen Bianca Ojukwu, board room guru Christopher Kolade, elegant stallion Onyeka Onwenu, ex-Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, the late Prof. Dora Akunyili, ex-Governor Segun Osoba, Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi, and Minister of State for Labour Festus Keyamo. He has also encountered Dr. Tunde Braimoh, advertising guru Biodun Shobanjo, United Bank for Africa owner Tony Elumelu, ex-Super Eagles star Nwankwo Kanu, Zenith bank owner Jim Ovia, Queen’s counsel Fidelis Oditah, businessman Ken Caleb Olumese, movie star Kanayo O. Kanayo and Public Relations expert Yomi Badejo-Okusanya. He met several more. And in a 228-page book titled ‘Encounters: Lessons from my journalism career’, he recounts his experience with these men and women.

Kolade was not the only one he met in a dramatic version. Ovia had walked up to him at the Lagoon Restaurant in Victoria Island to ask where the convenience was. He led the banker to the convenience and introduced himself. Ovia patted him on the back and said: “Thanks so much…I will get back to you on the interview.” Well, the author had to rely on a book Ovia later wrote to get all he needed on him. He also met Elumelu in a ‘funny’ manner. It was in the elevator at the Transcorp Hotel, Abuja, which Elumelu owns. They only exchanged greetings and the author was not prepared enough to seize the moment like he did with some other big men.

Azuh’s relationship with many of these men and women developed so much that they became friends. The late Braimoh, the late Akunyili and others took a personal interest in him and always looked out for him. The author’s narration of his relationship with Kanayo is very instructive. It was a relationship that started when Kanayo was still living in a room apartment. Azuh broke the news of his status and it almost soured their friendship, which they later patched up.

His encounters with Tunde Obe and Julius Agu make an interesting read. Agu was the one who walked up to the author and started a relationship, which has lasted several years and has seen them becoming family. So is the situation with Obe, who, on one occasion, told Azuh that he had very few friends and would not lose his friendship with the author for a flimsy reason.

Oba Dokun Abolarin is another personality Azuh encountered, who influenced him in good ways. Oba Abolarin made Azuh acquire a degree and after he completed the degree, he told him it was time for a Master’s degree.

The author’s recount of the encounter that gave him his wife, Edith, is very instructive. It is a story that puts the ring on the fact that dressing well goes a long way to draw attention to one. Azuh had gone for a meeting at Olumese’s now-defunct Niteshift Coliseum. Edith was part of the meeting and the moment he saw the well-dressed Azuh she told someone that was the kind of husband she would want. She eventually got him. Azhuh’s impeccable dress sense also caught the attention of Ambode who once asked him if he was that super dressed just to come and see him. It has got him so many good things in life.

In this book, we also read about how journalism chose him, how Kunle Bakare, Femi Akintunde-Johnson and Mayor Akinpelu helped his career, and how his encounters with other men and women have defined the man he is.

In all, Azuh has written a book that teaches moral lessons and students, media scholars and journalists will find a valuable companion. The book teaches life lessons about human relationships. It is hard to be lost on an average reader that this book teaches networking, confidence building, never accepting no, knowing when to apologise over a report, igniting enduring friendship, dressing the way you want to be addressed, cultivating and maintaining mentors, reaping the benefits of friendship and being the best you can be.