The deregulation of the downstream arm of the oil and gas sector and the power sector has generated discussion among Nigerians. Assistant Editor CHIKODI OKEREOCHA examines the case for and against this action

CHIEF Toyin Amuzu, a community leader in Ogun State, is livid. He could hardly hold back his anger and frustration over the barrage of increases in the price of essential services including Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), electricity tariff, as well as the upward adjustment in Value Added Tax (VAT), and subscription price by pay-TV operators, among others.

“It is disheartening that this is coming during the COVID-19 pandemic which has disrupted economic activities and taken many people out of jobs with other attendant negative effects,” Amuzu, who is the Okanlomo of Oke-Ijeun, charged.

He lamenting that “The increases will result in an upsurge in costs of goods and services, which in turn, would worsen the biting hardship presently faced by Nigerians who are already impoverished and overburdened.”

Chief Amuzu, who spoke in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, said he had earlier called on government at all levels to give succour to Nigerians who are still rattled by the COVID-19 pandemic. He called on the Federal Government to lift the heavy burden on Nigerians by reversing the hikes immediately.

The distraught community leader justified his call for a reversal thus: “The price increases, no doubt, would work against the fight against corruption and insecurity, as there can be no secured society where many people are so poor, finding it difficult to make ends meet.”

But it is doubtful if the call for a reversal by Amuzu and indeed, other Nigerians traumatized by the rising cost of living and its associated hardship and misery will hit the right chord in the ears of the authorities. This is because such upward adjustments in prices appear to have come to stay, going by some of the reasons adduced for the action.

The removal of subsidy, inflation, currency devaluation, rising operational costs and other prevailing economic realities, for instance, service providers across critical sectors such as power, oil and gas, and entertainment, among others, literarily hit the raw nerves of Nigerians when they increased their prices.

In what would go down as perhaps, a season of price increases, Nigerians, still reeling from the double shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic and the plunge in oil prices, woke up to a new tariff regime in the power sector last Tuesday.

Without much ado, the Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) jacked up the electricity tariff payable by consumers from the original N22.30 per KWH to between N42.73 per KWH and N55.20 per KWH.

However, the tariff payable by consumers now depends on service availability in homes and offices, the quantity of supply, and the band or group into which a consumer is categorized. These, of course, vary from DisCo to DisCo.

Nigerians were yet to come to terms with the reality of paying more for electricity amid outcry over the declining quality of services when, the following day, Wednesday, September 2, 2020, the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMS) also announced N151.56 as the new ex-deport price of PMS.

PPMC is a subsidiary of the Nigerian Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). And going by its current template, the price of PMS has gone up from its original N148 per litre to N151.56. However, some filling stations now dispense the product at between N162 and N164 per litre.

Even before service providers in the oil & gas and power sectors went for the kill, their counterparts in the Pay-TV segment of the entertainment industry had gone on the rampage, reviewing the prices of their products and services upward.

For instance, largest Pay-TV operator MultiChoice Nigeria announced the implementation of subscription price adjustments by 13 per cent on some of its Digital Satellite TV (DStv) and GOtv packages on August 18, 2020. It came into effect on September 1, 2020.

Consequently, the subscription price for its monthly premium package went up from N16, 200 to N18, 400, which is N2, 200 increase. Compact plus subscribers will now pay N12, 400, up from N10, 925, while compact bouquet subscribers will pay N7, 900, from N6, 975.

The South African-owned operator, however, said the adjustments only affect the Premium, Compact Plus and Compact packages, as lower-priced packages such as Confam, Yanga and Padi retained their normal prices.

Multichoice explained that the increase in fees was in line with the Federal Government’s legislation which increased VAT in January 2020, with implementation effective on February 1, 2020.

“To provide some relief for customers, Multichoice Nigeria has absorbed the cost of an increase in VAT for the past four months, keeping its products and services at the old five per cent VAT. However, this is no longer possible and the mandated 7.5 per cent VAT will be applied accordingly,” the company said.

Second largest Pay-TV operator StarTimes also raised prices of its subscription plans by an average of 22 per cent effective August 1, 2020, with its Brand and Marketing Manager, Viki Liu, also citing increased VAT as well as the foreign exchange rate which has impacted its cost of operation as reasons for the price increase.

“Our business is not exempted from the effect of the naira depreciation affecting all businesses in the country. All of our foreign content is bought in dollars and to continually serve our subscribers the best content, the subscription price has to be reviewed upwards,” Liu explained.

Nigerians scream blue murder

Expectedly, the increase in the price of essential services has not gone down well with Nigerians. For instance, Amuzu described the price hikes as “Anti-people and insensitive to the plight of Nigerians.”

He said: “It is so disturbing that while responsible governments all over the world are giving out succour through tax relief, grants, free electricity and other benefits, the present government has chosen a low time in the lives of Nigerians to further elevate their sufferings.”

According to him, Nigerians provide virtually everything they need, thus the least any responsible government can do is seek to lessen their burden and not add to it. “If protecting the wellbeing of citizens is part of the duties of any good government, our government has failed in this regard,” he stressed.

Lagos lawyer and public affairs analyst Obiora Akabogu could not agree less. He said the government has failed in its duty to enhance the lives of its citizens and protect their interest.

“It is the duty of the government to take measures to stabilise the prices of goods and services. If it were in more civilized countries, the government would have resigned,” he told The Nation.

As far as Akabogu is concerned, there are no justifications for the increases because “the quality of services has been declining; quality of life of the Nigerian worker is on the decline; the average Nigerian worker’s purchasing power has been on the decline, too. I don’t see how the masses will cope with the fact of the crashing value of the naira.”

“Nigeria is heading to nowhere. Yet, they (National Assembly) is incapacitated or at best, compromised,” Akabogu charged, regretting the docility of Nigerians in the face of the untold hardship foisted on them. “Nigerians seem to be happy with the increases otherwise civil society groups and the labour movement would have been blocking the road to Aso Rock, the nation’s seat of power, challenging the increases and demanding for immediate reversal,” he said.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar lent his voice to the growing outcry against the increases particularly electricity tariff. His grouse stemmed from the timing of the price adjustment, which, according to him, was wrong.

He said instead of an increment, Nigerians deserved a “stimulus”, especially in the face of COVID-19 pandemic currently ravaging economies across the world. “I reject the increased electricity tariffs. Coming out of the lockdown, Nigerians need a stimulus, not an impetuous disregard for the challenges they face.

“Many Nigerians have not earned an income for months, due to no fault of theirs. This increase is ill-timed and ill-advised,” Atiku said.

ActionAid, a non-governmental organisation in Nigeria, brought the scary situation nearer home when it said Nigeria is dealing with too many increases at the same time, and the increases came at a wrong time when a lot of people have lost their jobs because of COVID-19.

For the Registrar/CEO, The Institute of Business Development, Dr. Paul Ikele, the COVID-19 and the slump in oil prices, which contributed to the increase in the cost of essential services is not surprising because “They are global issues that are not peculiar to Nigeria.”

While admitting that the multiplier effects of the increases are far-reaching and dangerous, Ikele, however, said the nation’s economic managers and planners failed when they could not foresee or forecast the price increases and put measures in place to cushion their effects on the citizenry.

“Our mono-economy is no longer sustainable,” Ikele emphasized, adding that the current crisis is a call for Nigeria to look inwards and take advantage of her rich human and natural resources to reset the economy.

Dr. Ikele recalled, for instance, that before the discovery of crude oil, palm oil, cocoa, textiles and groundnuts, among others, were major export products.

Govt’s response

As things are, the Federal Government’s hands appear tied. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva conveyed this sentiment when he said the government had stepped back in terms of price-fixing for petrol. He added that crude oil price, as well as market forces, would continue to determine the cost of PMS.

The minister said the introduction of the deregulation policy had saved Nigeria about N1 trillion, which came after the subsidy was removed and N500 billion mapped out for subsidy payments in the 2020 budget removed.

According to Sylva, Nigeria spends over a trillion naira yearly as subsidy payment. So, the high cost forced the government to allow market forces to determine the prices of the product since the country cannot sustain petrol subsidy payment.

“Government has stopped subsidising petrol at the pump. It will now play its traditional role of protecting consumers from exploitation by ensuring that marketers do not profiteer at the expense of ordinary Nigerians and consumers of the product,” the minister said.

The Federal Government seems to have allies in Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), which said the fuel price increase was in line with their advocacy in favour of deregulation.

For instance, MAN Acting Director General Mr. Ambrose Oruche told The Nation that the fuel price increase was expected, as the Organised Private Sector (OPS) has long been requesting for full deregulation of the petroleum industry.

While noting that deregulation remains a sure way of opening the floodgate of investments into the sector to grow the economy, Oruche said the era of fuel subsidy breeds corruption, as the subsidy does not get to the intended citizens, but to those he described as “briefcase billionaires.”

The MAN chief said deregulation means that the fixing of prices is no longer in the hand of the government, as market forces now determine the prices of petroleum products.

He, however, pointed out that what government is trying to do with the new fuel price increase is to control the hands of market forces, as “They are now taking the cost of PMS beyond the reach of ordinary Nigerians.”

The LCCI also weighed in on the matter, saying that the development was in line with its persistent advocacy on the need to deregulate the downstream sector of the petroleum industry to allow investors come in and develop the industry and by extension, the economy.

Sound economic argument no doubt, but most consumers have refused to be swayed. For instance, a banker at United Bank for Africa (UBA) in Malam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, Mr Oluwole Johnson, kicked his heels in, insisting that “The hardship caused by the increases will affect a lot of people especially those who earn a low income.”

A printer at Beirut road, Kano, Mr. Jilani Usman, corroborated the claim, saying that the hike in tariff should have been delayed till 2021. “The whole thing is wrongly timed because the entire world is just recovering from the COVID-19 blow. Many businesses were shut and so many suffered huge losses.

“So how can you increase tariff now when businesses are just trying to pick up, I think it will only lead to massive inflation,” Usman said.

Labour, civil society spoils for war

Eighty workers’ unions and civil society groups under the umbrella of Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond (ASCAB) are said to have concluded arrangements to stage protests across the country this week. They will be protesting against the recent increase in electricity tariff and the petrol price.

Speaking on the planned strike, Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), described the hike in electricity tariff and fuel price as an anti-people development. “Other nations are giving cash to their citizens, cancelling rents, but Nigeria is imposing taxes and all other levies on its citizens. We will fight against it,” he said.

Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Ayuba Wabba also said the group would mobilise Nigerian workers to protest the hikes. “NLC seriously frowns at, completely condemns and rejects any plan to inflict further pain on Nigerians at this very time of great economic distress,” he said.

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) said it has begun an investigation into competition and possible consumer rights violations by DStv, Gotv, and other Pay Tv service providers in the country.

It remains to be seen whether the planned protests by the labour movement and civil society group, as well as inquest by the consumer protection agency, would force the hands of the services providers to reverse the price increase.

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, speaks with reporters on the 2020 Goalkeeper’s Report. Excerpts:

Fourth annual Goalkeeper’s report

We’re hosting this call to answer any questions about our fourth annual Goalkeeper’s report. Obviously, this is the report card tracking the progress towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Now, the first three years, we were able to report the steady and gradual progress towards those goals, and so hence the very positive story about the reduction in childhood deaths, the reduction in malnutrition, the improvements in literally, all things that the Development agenda, in the last few decades, had made great progress on. You know, every single one of the goals was moving in the right direction.

Of course, this year is different,  it’s unique. The COVID-19 pandemic not only stopped progress, but it pushed us backwards, and that varied quite a bit by the different areas. It was hard to track because things have changed a lot in a short period of time, and even in different places and countries, the impacts are quite different.

For routine immunisations, over the last 25 years that went up from 70% to 84%, and now it’s back down to 70%, so that’s a huge setback. Extreme poverty, we have 37 million more people in extreme poverty, and of course, that’s after 20 years where that number had gone down.

So, you know, the GDP drop, broadly, is very large, and for the developing countries, the impacts are really quite great because they can’t borrow money in the same what that rich world governments have, and so much of their work is physical work, and so simply connecting up to the internet doesn’t let them do their jobs.

So, you know, we need a cooperative response for several things. The first thing is to end the pandemic. Ending the pandemic is what will let us get back to where we were at the start of 2020. Critical to ending the pandemic will the availability of a vaccine, and it’s great we have a lot of efforts underway. You know, I feel almost certain that many of those efforts will succeed and that by early next year we’ll have a number of vaccines, and then the question will be how much can we manufacture, and how do we get them out to the ones most in need?

You know, it shouldn’t just be the rich countries winning a bidding war, but rather have equity weigh in on that allocation. Misallocating the vaccine would cause dramatic additional deaths, as we see from the model done at Northeastern.

When we do Goalkeeper’s, we want to keep in mind our tagline that progress is possible but not inevitable, and we feel much, we believe that we’re still optimistic, we can get on track. You know, will that take us two years or three years? Will there be exemplars on getting back on track that we can all learn from? With our commitment to help with the pandemic and then help the countries move back towards these goals.

So, we do believe we’ll overcome this and get back on track.

Vaccines development

The regulators should take a hard look at that, and you know, they’ve done a fantastic job of that, for all the vaccines that have gotten approval. It is true that, when you have viral vectors, you can trigger an underlying autoimmune condition that would have shown up at some point, and so they’ll be looking into whether there’s a connection to the vaccine, or is it something that would have been there anyway.

You know, the Gold Standard regulators, the European regulator, including the UK and MHRA, and the US FDA, they deal with this stuff all the time, and so it’s not at all surprising to have the one adverse event. Unless they find other such ones, they’ll make the judgment about whether to resume that trial, but you know, whatever goes on with these vaccines, it underscores the fact that, having taken many different approaches is quite valuable, and there are six that have a very good chance of having approval by early next year, through a Gold Standard regulator, that will hopefully avoid having – countries having to consider using something that hasn’t gone through a Gold Standard regulator.

Hoarding the first vaccines

Well, you know, one positive thing is that the United States has done very substantial funding for the research and the trials. In return for that, the idea that there is some capacity set aside, that prioritises doses going to the United States, I don’t think that’s out of line. The one thing the United States has not done, as yet, that I’m very hopeful it will, is allocate substantial resources for the vaccine procurement and other drugs and diagnostics for the pandemic. If they would couple that with their funding of the R&D, and facilitate these vaccines being made in many factories, then you’d have the complete picture there.

So, no one is saying that there shouldn’t be any recognition of where the trials are done, where the R&D funding has come from, but the way to deal with this problem is to have that capacity be as large as possible. And so, as you’ve noticed, our foundation with partners is putting together something that’s never been done before, which is to have the vaccine created by one company, also being manufactured in parallel, not only in that company’s factories, but also in other companies.

And so, here, a number of the alliances tie Western vaccine manufacturers like J&J, AstraZeneca and Novavax, with the Indian manufacturers, including companies like Serum, who is the world’s pipeline vaccine manufacture Bio E, or others, and so if we can get many billions of doses made during calendar 2021, then the allocation you can serve multiple goals. If you have very limited manufacturing capacity, then that makes the dilemma of the tradeoff that much worse.

 Vaccine development and distribution

Well, I’m seeing a lot of countries, you know, through the COVAX facility, talk about how they meet their own needs, and how they make sure that particularly the developing countries have access. The benefit of global cooperation on this is very, very high, because even if you’re a country that has very few cases, we’ve seen that you have to keep very strict measures in place. And even so, you get outbreaks because, as long as the vaccine isn’t circulated into the world at large, creating a perfect barrier between your country and the rest of the world is very, very difficult to do.

So, of all the causes in global health, where not only is there a humanitarian and strategic reason for helping out developing countries, here, even in a very direct sense, there’s a selfish reason that that’s what allows us to go back to normal.

You know, the good news is that all these vaccines, you know, the cost per dose will probably be two or three dollars on the margin, and not funding the R&D or the trials, but just the pure manufacturing costs, and so this means that, given the trillions that are being lost, economically, that the idea that some number of billions need to be allocated to get vaccine coverage up to levels where you can stop the spread of the disease, globally, you know, it’s a pretty obvious investment, that every month earlier that you get that done, literally, it pays off in the trillions, and yet the cost to do it is in the billions.

So, I’d say we are seeing that countries are cooperating in terms of letting trials be done in the places where there are the most cases. There are some very good trials being done in Brazil and South Africa, as well as the UK and the United States. We’re seeing people talk about these manufacturing agreements, which would be quite novel, and the groundwork that we’ve helped facilitate for a lot of those pairings is already in place. There are some additional pairings that we’d like to get into place.

So, as soon as we get all the rich countries putting out essentially the special donor money, and figuring out how, for vaccines, they use this GAVI fund, and for diagnostics and therapeutics, they use the Global Fund. As soon as that comes into focus, along with some of the R&D money that’s gone through CEPI, I think we have a chance of rating this as a great example of global cooperation.

UN SDGs

Well, the SDGs represent the values that we have for humanity as a whole, and so although some of the numeric targets you might want to go back and say, okay, this is no longer realistic because at a minimum you’re going to have two to three years before you can get back on track, I’d say that the reinforce of the goals, if anything, it’s reinforced by the pandemic.

After all, the pandemic has in almost every dimension made inequity worse. The poorer countries are suffering far more than the richer countries because of a lack of fiscal resources to draw on. The well-off workers who can do their work on a virtual basis are suffering less than the hands-on workers who are generally paid less. We even see pretty substantial racial inequities where in many of the developed countries it’s Blacks and Hispanics are suffering at much higher rates than other races.

Because the SDGs are about achieving basic norms for all of humanity, getting rid of extreme poverty, having education and having toilets, having great vaccines, so-called universal health care, these setbacks just underscore that those inequities, sadly, which were going down year by year, now they’ve gone up a lot.

Whether we’ll be able to find the additional resources for this is tricky because the rich countries are (inaudible) more that they’ve had a great deal of suffering, both economically and in terms of health as well.

I doubt anybody would pick one of the goals and say, okay, let’s drop this goal. Some of the goals already had very aspirational targets that weren’t likely to be achieved by 2030. An exception to that is we actually were involved in helping to pick the neonatal death goal, MMR, and the under-five mortality rate, U5MR, and the maternal mortality rate, and we did get those set that if things had gone well and a lot of the exemplary practices were adopted, they were achievable. Now they’re probably somewhat out of reach, but I don’t know if the UN will choose to go back and change that target. I mean, at the UN, anything that goes on there it’s completely up to the General Assembly, which is where all those decisions are made.

Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator

It’s quite a range of items that come under ACT-A. We’ve got in Africa Strive Masiyiwa doing the African Medicines Initiative where he’s done a great job getting personal protective equipment and things like dexamethasone out to countries in Africa. That’s kind of an exemplar. There’s been countries where they’ve raised money locally to support some of those efforts.

You know, I wish in a way that we had even more tools available. Right now, in terms of treatments, nothing is proven to have substantial effect beyond dexamethasone, not plasma or even Remdesivir is fairly expensive, right, still, because the way it’s synthesized and the impacts and the studies are quite modest.

Hopefully, in the months ahead, through additional new modulators, perhaps some additional antiviral drugs, there’s a few that are in testing stages, and perhaps most promising, monoclonal antibodies will be added to the list of things that significantly impact the death rate, and then, you know, the good news is that we’ll have those. The challenge will then be that how do we get the manufacturing and generosity up. It’s more than the vaccine that we want to be able to get out and make available.

The vaccine is the most important, and here we don’t yet have all the money to do that procurement. Once the U.S. shows its interest, which historically in global health, like smallpox eradication or HIV or malaria or even polio, it’s been a huge leader, I think it’s likely we’ll be pretty close to the funding we need to do that procurement, certainly for all the vaccines that we’ll be able to get during calendar 2021.

It’s been a challenge, but the European leaders, Macron, Merkel, Johnson have all made significant commitments for their countries and have been very helpful, have tried to put together a coalition around this to make sure that the poor countries are not excluded.

The COVID-19 response and preparedness for a pandemic

Well, the entire world was unprepared for this pandemic, and it’s unfortunate that practicing and really figuring out how to orchestrate the key resources quickly, the rich countries, the developing countries, nobody really was as ready. A few countries that have experienced MERS and SARS did respond fairly quickly and they’ve been rewarded by having relatively modest epidemics.

In terms of Africa know, a lot of the health capacity that’s there is funded by the polio program. And so, you know, those resources were able to shift their focus and help out with the planning, figuring out what the steps should be to minimize the impact of the epidemic.

Other than South Africa and some countries in northern Africa, the actual number of infections and deaths has not been large in Africa. Sadly, as our report documents, there’s probably been more negative effects on health because of the disruption to the health system, including malaria bed nets, HIV drugs, TB drugs and routine immunization or measles campaigns.

And so, you know, that’s why the report really underscores for Africa where the health numbers are the most challenging, that getting those things back on track and getting back to the kind of yearly improvement that we were seeing is super-important.

You know, I spent a lot of time talking to some of the state governors in Nigeria about their plans, and in fact, Aliko Dangote and I spent three hours today going through three of the states, we’ll do the same tomorrow, trying to understand what bottlenecks they’re running into and how the international actors can help them, because even before the pandemic, those primary healthcare systems were far short of what they should be, and the goal is to get up to covering every child.

Increasing inequality in the world due to the pandemic

Sweden is a very generous foreign aid donor, right up there at the top with Norway by the common metric, which is 1 percent of GDP. Point-seven that the UK achieves is considered fantastic and anything above that is excellent. Sweden, I believe, has been coming in around 1 percent or even slightly more

Swedish citizens should feel very proud of that generosity, and even with the domestic challenges, maintaining that has set a really great example, because I am worried that some donors, you know, either in the quality of their aid to the amount of the aid, will look at this pandemic and not make it the priority that they used to. But Sweden’s encouragement on this has always been helpful.

Sweden can also participate in the R&D where we need hopefully some of these vaccine platforms that come out of this pandemic will let us get a malaria, TB or HIV vaccine a lot sooner. Hopefully, other technologies will help us provide seeds to African farmers so that as they’re facing climate change, they’re not facing increased malnutrition where the current levels of malnutrition are very high, and Africa faces not only climate change but also very substantial population growth in areas where even the very basics of growing enough food is already very, very difficult.

Our foundation has had a great relationship with Sweden and I wish all donors were as generous. The more the better, but they’re at a very generous global.

With the destructive influence of fake news pervading the society, curious stakeholders converged on Lagos to deliberate on how to effectively tackle the menace. OMOLOLA AFOLABI reports that the consensus was that the traditional media should uphold its gatekeeper role.

They all converged virtually to find a solution to a disturbing issue. What could it be other than fake news whose potency is huge enough to throw the society into indescribable chaos?

Among the critical stakeholders was Minister of Youth and Sports Development Sunday Dare who called on the traditional media to strengthen its gatekeeper role in combating fake news in Nigeria.

The webinar was organised by the International Centre for Journalists in conjunction with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting fact-checking project. Its theme was “Gaining Trust for the Media in the Fake News Era.” It was moderated by ICFJ Fellow and former reporter with The Nation, Hannah Ajakaiye.

Dare decried the impact of social media on the gate-keeping legacy of traditional media. According to him, the traditional media has a legitimate duty in upholding the gatekeeper role of the media as the rule of engagement still remains “when in doubt, don’t publish.”

“The role of the journalist as a gatekeeper has, therefore, become more relevant in exploring the political, technological, and societal contexts of misinformation in Nigeria. The social media environment in Nigeria has become even more toxic than the contentious atmosphere that Cambridge Analytica precipitated with its video in 2015. Successive general and local elections have seen an escalation in the deployment of fake news to launch attacks on opponents,” he said.

Decrying the situation where the government is guilty of perpetuating fake news said: “When fake news comes from government, the media should query such information and investigate the claims.”

With regard to seeming lack of control over purveyors of fake news, he said: “The moment one gets an audio, video, document or picture one is not sure of and one proceeds to share it, one has automatically joined the array of fake news perpetrators.

“The media has the responsibility of coming to the rescue. It must ensure that the public gets good, useful and truthful information, particularly now that people can act on the information they get online and on social media such that they could get hurt or even get killed.”

The minister also made reference to the Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, who has been a victim of fake news in his symposium on fake news on the BBC where he said: “I’ve said this before that fake news will cause World War 111 and the fake news will be started by a Nigerian.”

He also appraised the efforts of fact-checking organisations such as Africa Check, Dubawa, and International Centre for Investigative Reporting and The Cable at combating fake news.

“There must be civil punitive measures against peddlers of fake news and we must ensure silver bullet on misinformation, legislation, persuasion, co-operation and enforcement should be deployed,” he added.

He also said the media and journalists should commit to countering fake news as an opportunity to claw back the influence lost to the emergence of the situation.

“The growth of social media, technology and the internet has made everyone a journalist; all that is needed is a connected smartphone. But the tasks of gate-keeping, verification and contextualisation still fall within the jurisdiction of the career media practitioners and they must pick up the gauntlet.

“The opportunity it offers is one that will drive traffic to the websites of organisations that have proven to be credible and reliable as fact-checkers,” he said.

On the activities of the Ministry of Youth and Sports in ensuring a disciplined and responsible technology and social media among the youth demographic, he said: “Nigerian youths spend at least four hours online daily, which implies they are exposed to fake news for the most part of the time they are online. This is why at the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development we continue to work towards ensuring that the opportunities offered by technological improvement are put to good use.

“Since the COVID-19 pandemic made virtual meetings preferable, the social media and the internet generally have been deployed for educating and training the youth, which includes modules that teach responsible use of social media.

“This is the good use of social media and the internet. The youth and people, in general, should add the additional layer of using these platforms for the spread of truthful information and fighting harmful misinformation and disinformation.”

According to the project lead Ajakaiye, the initiative is designed to amplify the reach of credible information by sharing fact-checks published by media partners on their social media platforms. It will also help to crowdsource online misinformation being debunked by participating fact-checkers.

The event had Investigative Journalist, Fisayo Soyombo, multimedia journalist, Ejiro Umokoro and the Director of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, Mr.Dayo Aiyetan as panellists and was attended by journalists and fact-checkers across various media houses.

Mr Aiyetan who emphasised the urgency of conquering the menace of fake news through legislation said: “Legislation can be used to combat fake news but it shouldn’t be repressive. According to him, people lose trust in those in power as a result of their influence in the media.

Soyombo called for a reversal in the role of journalists as mischief-makers begin to tag their work fake news. He said:

“I’m very worried that people who don’t like critical journalism are branding true work of journalists as fake.”

In his paper entitled “Fake News and the Influence Industry: The Responsibilities of Social Media,” Soyombo admonished social media influencers to be thorough when sharing information, as it is important to do self-examination by examining the implications of sharing news, the level of trust in the source and the motive behind sharing the information.

According to him, efforts as simple as employing Google reverse image search in verifying fake pictures enables even social media influencers to ensure verified news are spread.

He also gave reasons fake news is booming, especially in a pandemic, noting that there are instances of the genuine intention of people to help and the fear of contracting the virus.

Corroborating Dare’s views that online consumption is at an all-time high as a study reveals that an average person spends over six hours online, Soyombo said the second quarter of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that most sectors of the economy received a contraction. Telecommunications industry, however, grew by 18 per cent.

For example, MTN data usage rose by more than five billion from first quarter to 2nd quarter of 2020.

He, however, warned social media influencers to be cautious as their reach is deep and their followers are people who have developed confidence in them over a period of time.

Ejiro Umokoro, a winner of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, award remarked on the digital ecosystem of Journalism.

According to her, the work of journalists must not be affected by the brown envelope scandal.

She also reiterated that biases which come in different forms, including cognitive bias, among others are some of the reasons people share fake news.

She said: “The situation where public opinion is no longer shaped by truthful information but popular information is perfidious. We have to separate opinion and bias to be able to combat fake news, adding that journalism should go beyond sensationalism. It has to connect with people.

“There is also the need to create a distinction between journalism and citizen journalism in order to avoid a breach of social trust. Shoddy journalism is also part of the reasons people perpetuate fake news.”

Umokoro also advocated collaboration with digital and emerging practitioners in the media space.

The fact-checking project is an opportunity for digital influencers to become verifiable sources of credible information to their online followers. She said it would also empower citizens by providing them with accurate information to enable them to make informed decisions. This is according to Jerri Haggins, Director ICFJ Knight Fellowship.

Assistant Editor CHIKODI OKEREOCHA

THE Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) has urged the Federal Government to take a further step towards full deregulation of the downstream sector to enhance economic growth and development of the nation.

The government in March introduced a price modulation policy where international product prices and associated landing costs in Nigeria are used as inputs in the determination of final pricing to the local market by government through the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), which is disclosed periodically.

Commending the government for consistently seeking ways to reposition the sector for effectiveness and profitability, DAPPMAN Chairman, Mrs. Winifred Akpani, said DAPPMAN remained in full support of the implementation of a fully deregulated regime which will make the downstream sector’s operations more seamless, enhance transparency, competitiveness and sustainable growth.

“DAPPMAN is mindful of the commitment of the government and the functional organs managing the sector to ensuring value to every Nigerian and we salute them for this as we are indeed up against uncertain times. However, we believe that full deregulation of the sector remains the most viable option for Nigeria to effectively navigate this period and ultimately safeguard the future of our economy and wellbeing of 200 million Nigerians” she said.

According to her, deregulation will open up the sector for fresh investments, market deepening, diversification, and expansion, culminating in stable demand and supply regimes which are critical to ensuring that consumers have uninterrupted access to affordable quality products without the huge financial burden currently borne by the government.

“DAPPMAN is aware of the considerations that have dogged the issue of deregulation over the years and we believe they are very important. However, we believe these considerations will be duly addressed with a deregulation regime that guarantees long-term benefits and empowers the government to commit savings made in the process to infrastructure development, job creation, agricultural revolution, education and health.

This will spur growth of Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) as well as large corporates, that would increase Nigeria’s human capacity index, competitiveness and ultimately drive inflow of foreign investments,” she added.

Akpani, who is also the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Northwest Petroleum and Gas Company Limited, said DAPPMAN had contributed towards the upgrade of medical facilities, distributed tens of thousands of masks and sanitizers; and made donations of relief items to hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries across the nation in support against COVID-19 pandemic fight.

Four Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) teams including Plateau United and Enyimba competing in the CAF Champions League as well as Rivers United and Kano Pillars gunning for honours in the CAF Confederation Cup, will expectedly fly the country’s flag in the 2020/21 CAF Inter club competitions. Correspondents TUNDE LIADI and TAOFEEK BABALOLA x-ray past performances and preparations for the forthcoming campaigns

Though Nigeria clubs have long been competing in the CAF Inter club competitions with relative successes for over five decades, recent performances have raised serious concern about the standard of the domestic league.

Right from the now rested African Cup of Champions Clubs (now known as the CAF Champions League), Nigerian clubs have made a huge impression on the continent.

It is on record that Port Harcourt FC was the first club to represent Nigeria in 1965 on the continent in the African Cup of Champions Clubs but their participation was short-lived after they were walked over by AS Porto Novo of Benin Republic.

Thereafter, Stationery Stores became the first Nigerian club to win a game on the continent when they defeated Cape Coast Dwarfs of Ghana after qualifying through the drawing of lots in the first round in 1968. The two-leg ties had ended 4-4 on aggregate but the away goals rule was not yet in operation as at then. But the Lagos-based team later bowed out in similar circumstances to FAR Rabat of Morocco after both ties ended in a 2-2 draw in the quarter-final.

Other clubs that tried but without any success to win the foremost continental club title at one time or the other  included sides like Enugu Rangers, Bendel Insurance, Shooting Stars, Iwuanyanwu Nationale (and later Heartland), Kano Pillars, Sunshine Stars amongst others.

But respite came in 2003 after Enyimba, assisted by some shrewd players’ transfer and uncommon support of the then Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu, won the competition at the expense of Ismaily of Egypt.

They successfully defended the trophy by beating Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia on penalties the following year (2004).

Ever since, no Nigerian club has won the trophy again with Heartland reaching the final in 2009 but lost to DR Congo side TP Mazembe.

CAF CONFEDERATION CUP

It is also a mixed results in the second tier Cup Winners Cup which began in 1975 and later got fused together with CAF Cup to become CAF Confederation Cup in 2004.

Shooting Stars Sports Club were the first winner of the title for the nation in only its second edition in 1976 after a 4-2 aggregate victory over Tonnerre Yaounde of Cameroon.

They got as far as the semi-final the following year only to be stopped by fellow Nigerian side, Enugu Rangers who went ahead to beat Canon Yaounde of Cameroon in the final.

Shooting Stars also carted home the inaugural edition of the CAF Cup named after late Moshood Abiola (who was then named African Pillars of Sports) in 1992 and Bendel Insurance laid their hands on the same crown in 1994.

Before Bendel Insurance’s feat, BCC Lions emerged as Champions of the Cup Winners Cup in 1990 with a 4-1 thrashing of Club Africain of Tunisia in the final and they almost kept the title the following year before they were narrowly edged out by Power Dynamos of Zambia in the final.

After putting up modest outings in the Africa clubs’ competitions in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and the early part of 2000, Nigerian clubs have been a shadow of themselves and barely manage to even take part in the competition as recent results have shown.

The obstacle

Abdu Maikaba, head coach of Plateau United that will fly the country’s flag  in the 2020/21 CAF Champions League, blamed the clubs dwindling fortunes in CAF Inter club competitions on shoddy flight arrangements, inadequate preparations, lack of facilities and equipment to improve the technical crew and the players as well as late kick-off of the league.

“There are so many reasons Nigerian clubs have not been doing well on the continent. The most prominent among them is arrangement for flights,” said Maikaba who was a former assistant coach at Kano Pillars, “Playing continental games away from home is another factor; we don’t have access to chartered flights here and with this we find it difficult to get a direct flight to our away games on the continent.

“For instance if you are playing against a club in Guinea, you may have to travel through Air Maroc which takes you to Casablanca before you connect to Conakry from there after spending some hours there. You find out that most of the time we travel to the venue of the game like a day or at times early morning of the day of the match.

“At times we do not have the chance to feel the turf that we would play because of our late arrival. Kano Pillars have set a good example in that regard when they got to the semi-final stage of the CAF Champions League in 2009 they were always travelling for their away fixtures in chartered flights. It was the reason why they were able to hold Al Ahly to a draw in Cairo. It was because of the flight arrangements,” he said.

Aside from problematic flight connections, Maikaba said the Nigerian football calendar has for long hindered the performance of clubs on the continent, adding most clubs are usually ill-prepared since the domestic league most often on break at the start of continental competitions.

He said: “Most of the time CAF competitions start before our league season commences which is not good. Late commencement of the league season affects Nigerian clubs. If we start our season earlier, it means you will play some games and your teams will be in a very good shape going into the CAF competitions.

“But in a situation where you are not involved in competitive games and you start CAF competitions directly, it will be difficult for your team because you will face teams that are already in a competitive period so it is going to be difficult.”

Maikaba equally cited poor training facilities and equipment as other factors that have militated against the aspiration of most clubs on the continent, adding Nigerian clubs are not in tune with current standards as obtainable with European clubs for instance.

Solutions

Another veteran campaigner on the continent, head coach of Rivers United Stanley Eguma said administrators need to do better in the area of motivation and proper welfare of the team if they want the players and the coaches to give their best.

The former U-23 assistant coach also admonished club administrators to be patient with the coaches while lamenting the incessant sacking of coaches.

“Some clubs do not respect contractual agreements which put them at loggerheads with players and when players are playing with divided minds, they are psychologically down and won’t prepare well for such a tournament. Some teams are owing a backlog of salaries and bonuses and so forth,” Eguma said.

“The coaches too are not given the opportunity to plan and when they don’t plan it will affect the teams’ performance. Coaches need consistency in their planning to get expected results. Players’ movement from one club to another with reckless abandon and coaches without job security also disrupt plans made by them because it is the coaches that bear the brunt of most bad decisions made by the clubs.

Eguma charged the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to assist the country’s representatives in the area of logistics to ensure smooth running of administration and also harped on early preparation for clubs to make progress on the continent.

Clarion Call

Meanwhile, Nigerian league legend, Victor Ezeji who was in the 2003 CAF Champions League victorious team of Enyimba appealed to clubs representing the nation to desist from embarking on mass sack and recruitment of players if they hope to do well in the competition.

“Consistency of the playing staff and coaches is not considered by most Nigerian clubs and most of the time you see our clubs almost starting on a clean slate when they want to play on the continent,” Ezeji said. “They sack most of the players that secure the tickets and go for mass recruitment of new ones without recourse to proper blending and quality preparations. It is not supposed to be like that. There is continuity in football.

“You can’t see any serious club In Europe embarking on the signing of 10 or more players in a transfer season. It has always been our problem. We are supposed to look at where we have defaults or deficiencies and try to tie up those ends.”

The former Dolphins striker also challenged various clubs in the NPFL to make their feeder team functional so as to provide budding talents to the senior team.

“There are players that are supposed to grow from the junior to the senior team because of the tradition, culture of the team. What is the essence of the feeder teams? It is supposed to provide young players for the senior teams but it is not applicable here,” Ezeji added.

The President of the Nigeria Football Coaches Association, Ladan Bosso said the nation’s clubs results on the continent have plummeted as most of the coaches are inexperienced.

“Our coaches too do not attend enough certification courses and are eager to start working even with only a few weeks training under the guise of obtaining a diploma,” Bosso revealed.

“Quality coaches produce quality players. We should not put the blame on the players. The output of the coaches determines the quality of players to be produced. If you look at the current transfer market in Nigeria you will notice that it is the same recycling of players by various clubs. You hardly see coaches producing new players,” he regretted.

Counselling

Experienced tactician Kadiri Ikhana who led Enyimba to break Nigeria’s duck in the CAF Champions League in 2003, has offered useful tips to any club flying the country’s flag on the continent,

He counselled: “Watching videos of successful teams would help any team preparing to learn. “Early preparation is very important for the team going on the continental assignment. It is not a one-week preparation and such teams should also play friendly matches both local and international, I am sure this will help them,” explained Ikhana.

However, Kano Pillars, a team that will be campaigning in the CAF Confederation Cup this year, several plans according to the club chairman, Surajo Shaaibu have been put in place to ensure a good outing.

According to Shaaibu, part of the team’s preparations for the new season and to have effective participation in the tournament is to have quality and experienced players on parade.

“The first thing we did is to retain the players that featured for us last season,” he revealed.

“No players left us and we have recruited five new players; and are still looking for experienced and good players as well.

“We have signed three players including two from Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire. Again, we are waiting for the League Management Company (LMC) directive on football activity to resume before we will start our training,” Shaaibu said.

Though Kano Pillars are yet to decide on a match venue for their continental campaigns, Shaaibu said fans support will not be lacking irrespective of whether they choose to play at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium in Bauchi or Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna.

“Kano Pillars is a popular club in the north and Nigeria at large, we have full support everywhere. The players are professional and they can play anywhere. We have contacted the Government of Bauchi State for the use of the ATB stadium and we are looking at Kaduna Stadium as option B. The two states are our closest associate and we were well received by the people of the states and the emirs,” he added.

Kofoworola Belo-Osagie

THE Acting Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Theophilus Omololu Soyombo, got a rousing welcome from non-academic staff as he made a grand entry into the Senate building – the administrative headquarters of the institution yesterday morning.

But members of the union he belongs to, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) were largely absent.

ASUU insists it does not recognise the Ag. Vice Chancellor because the process that produced him was flawed.

The Chairman, ASUU-UNILAG, Dr. Dele Ashiru, said the procedure was for the University Senate to recommend the candidate for the position.

“Our reaction remains unchanged.  We are convinced that the processes leading to the appointment of the so-called Acting Vice Chancellor are not in accordance with the law.  And all we are saying is that all parties should follow the law in the interest of the education system.

“It does not matter whether anybody addressed the press or not; what is consistent is that the law says that whoever would be appointed as the Vice Chancellor, the recommendation must come from Senate.  In this case, the so-called Acting Vice Chancellor has not been recommended by Senate and cannot be recognised by our union,” he said.

Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe,  who was removed as Vice Chancellor last week, said he would not comment on the development in the university. When The Nation reached out to him, he said: “No, I do not want to comment on what is happening. I am a man under authority.”

The Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) announced late Tuesday that it had pulled out of its resolution with ASUU and two other workers’ unions – the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) – to support the embattled Prof. Ogundipe.

NASU also withdrew its call for the dissolution of the Governing Council led by Dr. Wale Babalakin.

A statement by NASU Chairman Kehinde Ajibade, Secretary A.J. Aderibigbe, and College of Medicine University of Lagos (CMUL) Chairman Comrade T.S. Aderibigbe noted that the new position aligned with the members’ superior demands.

It reads: “Coming to terms with the superior demand of our national body and the general members of the union, the union and branch chairmen hereby clearly dissociate themselves from the above-stated actions. As a responsive and responsible union largely known for putting the interest of her members first, NASU UNILAG and CMUL Idi-Araba will continue to frown at any act capable of jeopardising the common interest of all members and stakeholders.

“On this note, the union hereby wishes the Acting Vice-Chancellor Prof. Theophilus Omololu Soyombo a smooth sail in office.”

While addressing reporters yesterday, Soyombo promised to get across to ASUU members. He said he had received support from a large number of his colleagues.

“I can say that we have a cross-section of the staff of the university at my interaction with workers.

We have members of NASU, SSANU, NAAT, and we also had members of ASUU at that interaction and indeed we had a professor who spoke to stand with me. So what we had is a cross-section. But we should also know this interaction is a continuous process. The academic staff is located largely in the faculties and departments so the Acting Vice Chancellor will still visit the various faculties across the university as we move on.

“I can assure that we received messages and goodwill from the majority of the large cross-section of members of the university workers as well as students, as well as the alumni,” he said.

Soyombo, who said he had worked in the university for over 40 years, said he emerged Acting Vice-Chancellor because the Governing Council had not confirmed the election of the two Deputy Vice-Chancellors, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola (DVC, Development Services); and Prof. Ben Oghojafor (DVC, Management Services).

He said the institution was bigger than any individual.

“This appointment was with immediate effect. And I saw it as a call to service to the University of Lagos. And it is in this regard that I accepted the appointment for the ultimate benefit of the University.

“I thought that we should not allow the ship of the University of Lagos to continue to drift. The University of Lagos is a foremost university; the University of Lagos is greater than any individual; anyone of us.

“We all come here to work and at our various times, we pray that we all live till retirement. But whether we like it or not when we work in UNILAG, we will leave UNILAG. But the University of Lagos will continue. It behoves us to leave the university of Lagos better than we met it.”

He called on members of the university community to support his efforts to put the institution back on track.

“We are all familiar with the current situation. On the 12th of August 2020, the Governing Council of the University of Lagos removed the former vice-chancellor and announced my appointment as the Ag. Vice-Chancellor of the University. This appointment was with immediate effect. And I saw it as a call to service to the University of Lagos. And it is in this regard that I accepted the appointment for the ultimate benefit of the University.

“There is a lot of work in the University of Lagos but I can’t do it alone that is why I need your support that is why I need your prayers and I believe that we should all join hands together; let us work together for the progress of our University. When we have a success story it should be for each of us.”

Plans for UNILAG

Speaking about his plans for the university while addressing the workers from the foyer of the building, Soyombo pledged to prioritise their welfare. He also promised to ensure that the institution’s limited resources touch all areas. He said he would seek to expand its internally-generated revenue.

He said: “I want to tell on my immediate plans for the University of Lagos. My major focus will be on staff welfare.

“I believe in this regard the human resources are the core assets of any organisation and I believe that a well-motivated staff to be able to deliver and work very hard. We must encourage our staff; we must motivate our staff to work well. I can assure us that issues of staff welfare; issues of the promotion will be properly addressed.

“The resources we have are very limited. But I will also ensure that within the limitation

s of our resources we will still explore possibilities or avenues for generating more internal revenue. And the profits from this will be utilised more equitably for the generality of our staff.”

With six months to work in an acting capacity, Soyombo called on the workers to support him.

“These are indeed trying times for our great University and your prayer is that God will see us through this trying period.

“I want to thank all our unions and the members – NASU, SSANU, NAAT, and ASUU. No matter what we say, we are all together and should all just work together and I believe that by the grace of God peace and stability will return to our University and we will all continue to work together in unity,” he said.

Preparing for resumption

Soyombo said the institution would improve on its facilities as well as build capacity to offer online classes as dictated by the present circumstance.

“I also want to say that we are missing our students. It is so unfortunate the current situation in the country. But the truth is that the University is not the same without them.

We are missing them, and we want them back. But in bringing them back we will ensure that will comply with all the NCDC hygiene and health practices and guidelines. We do not want to endanger the life of anybody.

“In this regard, we will ensure that the necessary facilities are put in place both for the classrooms, laboratories, lecture halls and halls of residence. So that when our students come back they would be able to operate in a safe environment.

“We will also explore the opportunities for online teaching for our students because if we had been able to do this, we would have made some progress as some of the private Universities have been able to do. In this regard, we will be challenging our CITS to step up so we are able to do this.”

Two professors, introduced as Prof. Daramola and Prof. Olowe, spoke in support of Soyombo’s appointment.

COVID-19 has ravaged through societies and affected lives in very unprecedented ways, including the finances of women. Many of them have lost their means of livelihoods and are now struggling to keep body and soul together as a result of the pandemic. In this report, JUSTINA ASISHANA analyses the impact of COVID-19 on Nigerian women.

IN April, when Mrs. Chinyere Philips was sacked, it seemed like the end of her world. She never knew she would be a victim of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“My employer could not keep paying me for services not rendered,” she said.

Mrs Philips worked in a museum attached to a private school. However, since the Federal Government had ordered all schools to shut down as part of measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the museum has not been functioning.

She said: “I had hoped that when school reopened, I would resume my work when the school resumed classes. Then they started online classes and since the museum was for practicals and there were no practicals at this time, all the staff at the museum were sent home at the end of April. I was in shock,” the widowed mother of three, said.

She is job-hunting and worried that if she does not get an opening soon, she may deplete the little savings she had made. “I have nowhere to go and the debts are steadily piling,” she said.

She is one of the millions of Nigerians, many of them women, who are likely to be pushed further down the poverty ladder.

The World Bank Nigeria Development Update (NDU) titled ‘Nigeria in Times of COVID-19: Laying Foundations for a Strong Recovery’ shows that the human cost of COVID-19 could be high in the country.

“Beyond the loss of life, the COVID-19 shock alone is projected to push about five million more Nigerians into poverty in 2020,” the report, which was released in June, noted.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics Nigeria Living Standards Survey 2018-2019,  82.9 million Nigerians or 40 % of the population were living below the poverty line of 137,430 naira per year. An estimated 70% of those living in poverty are women.

“In Nigeria, 40.1 per cent of the total population was classified as poor. In other words, on average four out of 10 individuals in Nigeria has real per capita expenditures below 137,430 naira ($352) per year,” the report by the Statistics office said adding that 52 per cent of people in the rural areas lived in poverty compared to 18 per cent in the urban parts of the country.

The Nigeria Development report says that more Nigerians will be pushed into poverty by the Covid19 outbreak than had been expected. The number of poor Nigerians was, before Covid19, estimated to grow by two million. Instead, it is now estimated that seven million Nigerians will sink into poverty. The poverty rate is projected to rise from 40.1per cent in 2019 to 42.5 per cent in 2020, according to the report.

Mrs Philips joins an estimated 510 million women, or 40 per cent of the women employed in the hard-hit sectors, including accommodation and food services; wholesale and retail trade; real estate, business and administrative activities; and manufacturing.

The ILO said, globally, millions have lost their jobs during the pandemic and vulnerable groups are the hardest hit, especially women who were already facing an uneven playing field in the workplace. “They are now being laid off and furloughed at higher rates than men.”

Before the outbreak, the unemployment rate was estimated to be at 23.1 per cent. A higher percentage of women were unemployed with their unemployment rate estimated at hard-hit sectors, including accommodation and food services; wholesale and retail trade; real estate, business and administrative activities; and manufacturing 26.6  per cent. The collapse of businesses, the closure of manufacturing concerns, the economy leading to job losses. Unemployment is now estimated to rise to 33 per cent by the end of 2020.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who chairs Nigeria’s Economic Sustainability Committee (ESC), had said the government was anticipating 39.4 million job losses by the end of the year.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in its COVID-19 Impact Monitoring Report, also reported that 40 per cent of Nigerian workers had stopped working in June and they lost their jobs as a result of the impact of COVID-19, diminishing incomes of 79 per cent of households in Nigeria.

The National Vice President, North Central of the National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, (NASME), Auwal Bununu Ibrahim, said about 50,000 workers have been sacked in the MSMEs sub-sector of the economy. Ibrahim said over 10,000 MSMEs businesses have collapsed across the country.

COVID-19 financial crisis for women

The pandemic has further worsened the situation in Nigeria, especially for informal workers and the poor because they mostly live on a daily income. This category of people includes street vendors, petty traders, taxi drivers, motorcycle riders, artisans, hairdressers and garbage collectors, among others.

According to the ILO, these informal workers constitute about 60 per cent of the global labour force.

According to the NBS 2010 to 2019 data on unemployment, unemployed Nigerians in 2010 stood at 3.5 million, increased to 21 million in 2018, and by 2019, it had hit 23 million.

On average 18.4 per cent of households in Nigeria, according to the NBS, are headed by female household members like Mrs Philips, who are also sole breadwinners for their immediate and extended families. That share is generally higher in urban areas, 21.4 versus 17.1 per cent in rural areas, with many of them now without incomes due to COVID-19.

“This is no longer only a global health crisis, it is also a major labour market and economic crisis that is having a huge impact on people,” said ILO Director-General Guy Ryder. “In 2008, the world presented a united front to address the consequences of the global financial crisis, and the worst was averted. We need that kind of leadership and resolve now,” he advocates.

The COVID-19 economic crisis has destroyed women’s jobs more than men’s, because it is hitting economic sectors where women are overrepresented in the workforce, like accommodation, food, retail, and manufacturing.

A Covid19 impact monitoring survey carried out by the NBS and involving 1,950 households indicated that since mid-March 79% of households reported that their total income decreased. The highest rate of income depletion was in households whose income was derived from non-farm family business (85%) compared to household farming, livestock or fishing (73%) and wage employment (58%).

The survey revealed that 35-59 % of the households could not afford to buy food staples like yams, rice and beans and also had difficulty in affording soap and cleaning supplies to enable them to adhere to the guidelines to stop the spread of the virus. This is over and above the perennial problem of accessing water for consumption and domestic use particularly in the urban areas.

Dipping into meagre savings like Mrs Philips is doing is one of the coping mechanisms that many of the households surveyed have adopted. According to the households surveyed, 51% said they had reduced their food consumption while 29% were drawing on their savings to survive.

Job loss exacerbates existing inequalities. For women who are single mothers like Mrs Philips, lower-income, or small business owners, losing a source of income can be particularly devastating. Plus, the career and financial consequences are more severe and long-lasting for women than men. For single mothers, the pressure is becoming intense.

The situation that Amara Wilfred, a single mother of one finds herself, is replicated millions of times across Nigeria and the world.

She lost her job as a secretary in April after her employer was forced to cut back on staff due to declining business. Wilfred is desperate to find another job as her landlord has increased her rent.

She said, “It has been God keeping me. Trying to cope has been intense.  I am yet to find a job and I need to start something to pay my bills, especially my rent and food for myself and my baby.”

Unlike Mrs Philips, who has some little savings, Wilfred does not have any savings as her salary was merely enough to pay her rent and meet her other monthly needs.

But the financial impact is only one part of the story

Economist Zaitun Sunusi of the Federal University, Gashau, Yobe State noted that women’s job loss can cause mental disorders, trauma, and frustration because their needs and demands are higher with zero income.

“The income-generating capacity would reduce their expenditure, increase poverty rates and cause a feeling of insecurity among the women who have lost their jobs and this can lead to crime or some of them embracing negative social vices.”

What other countries have done

By March 27, 84 countries had adopted fiscal measures to mitigate the economic effect on households. By June, the number had risen to 195. Most governments increased either the coverage or payout amounts from existing social-protection schemes.

Forty-seven countries have made cash-transfer programmes more flexible by waiving conditions such as the requirement for children to attend school and for women to attend ante- and postnatal appointments, such as in the Philippines. Some, such as Armenia, have provided home delivery of payments for elderly people. And 64 governments have amended unemployment benefits; 49 have adopted paid sick-leave interventions.

So far, only 16 countries have reported new or amended social-protection measures that refer to women. Pakistan, for example, has increased cash transfers to women who are already receiving financial assistance from the state; Algeria has introduced paid leave for women who are pregnant, have chronic diseases or are taking care of children; Togo is providing women with $21 per month, whereas men receive $17. President Faure Gnassingbé specified in April that this was because women are “more directly involved in nurturing the entire household.”

Canada increased its national childcare benefit, which is directed to mothers unless otherwise requested.

These policies recognise the specific and increased burden that COVID-19 is having on women because of social expectations around caring responsibilities, a move which the Nigerian government should adopt.

The NBS COVID-19 Impact Monitoring Report revealed that 13.3 per cent of the respondents got food assistance, 1.8per cent got direct cash transfers with an average amount of N19,961 to each household.

Although the Federal Government introduced several safety nets, it would be best if the policymakers consider attaching conditions to these corporate rescue packers such as workers protection and executive pay caps.

Mrs Philips believes that the government should put in place wage support particularly supporting employers in the private sector. She also suggests a bailout or some form of support for private schools so that teaching staff are not rendered jobless. “This would help the schools pay their staff even if it is half the salaries,” she said.

Care packages and other economic relief packages

The government has introduced several measures to try and mitigate the impact Covid19 is having on vulnerable groups, including women. These interventions include cash transfers to those involved in small and medium scale enterprises.

These economic measures include the implementation of a three-month repayment of MarketMoni, and  FarmerMoni loans while a moratorium for all TraderMoni, funded loans issued by the  Bank of Industry, Bank of  Agriculture and Nigeria

Export-Import Bank. Providing women with cash transfers was more likely to enable the women, particularly those in the informal sector, to continue working and to make their households’ food secure as well as invest more in assets.

The expansion of the social register of the poor from 2.6 million households to 3.6  million households was expected to assist women and other vulnerable groups with funding from the N500 billion COVID 19 Crisis Intervention Fund.

However, the decision to spend most of the resources in this fund to upgrade healthcare facilities and other special public works programs means that women like Wilfred and Mrs Philips cannot expect any assistance any time soon.

Zaitun said women in the informal economy need to be supported to access cash supply or transfer payment for those who have lost their jobs and also the introduction of a one-year tax-free program including reduction of interest to reduce unemployment in organisations.

“Government and organisations need to put women at the centre of their policies. It will support a more rapid economic recovery and help us achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” stated Zaitun.

How women in other climes are coping with job loss

In Texas, Deane Gremmel lost her job in April due to COVID-19 after 32 years working for a data company. However, she said with the casualty of the pandemic and a weak energy market, she was able to weather any downturns.

“I shed a lot of tears,” Gremmel said. “I ate a lot of chocolate ice cream and a lot of cake. I went through a lot of emotions. It was always in the back of my mind, being laid off, I just tried to push it away, but finally, it came to fruition.”

Being the sole provider for her family, Gremmel decided to try something different, although she was a part-time writer before the pandemic, Gremmel decided to become a full-time novelist. She writes four to five pages a day now, publishing under the pen names Chris Pike and Blake O’Connor. Her newest book takes place after a power grid fails in Houston.

With a renewed purpose and new goals, Gremmel is now offering advice to others who lost their jobs during the pandemic. “I experienced a lot of anger, and I know that if anger is channelled correctly, you can do great things. You can accomplish a lot. That’s what I’m doing right now.”

In Nigeria, after losing her job as a Technical Assistant, Blessing Vincent decided to deal with the challenge head-on by investing her last salary into her passion which is selling bridal materials. She had been taking physical classes on making fascinators, hats, bridal bouquets, and make-up before the pandemic and went virtual when it started.  When she was relieved of her job,  she decided that investing in her life-long dream was the way to go.

Due to the stay at home order, Blessing has taken up trainees who come to learn these life skills and since weddings have begun after the lifting of the lock-down, she has been contacted for providing materials for bridal showers and other things needed by brides for their big day.

According to her, a lot of people now want to learn skills as the pandemic has exposed that a lot of jobs are not secured. With schools still shut, “I get trainees who are mostly students coming to learn what I am making. For now, I have five trainees, two are learning make-up, and the other three are learning fascinators and bouquets. I make the fascinators and bouquets and also do makeup, so these are what I teach them. They are catching up very fast and I am very proud of them. They buy all their materials from me and it saves them the cost and scare of going to the market.”

Changing with the tide

Loss of jobs should not be the end of the road for women who have had such encounters this period as there is hope for them to engage in something else, economists have said.

Grace Hezekiah Isa, an economist, of the Department of Economics, Bingham University urged the women to emulate Blessing and find something to do stating that embracing entrepreneurship would help them regain their confidence and improve themselves as they could also become employers of labour.

She said the government needs to do more this period by creating room for the women to learn skills to improve on themselves and make interest free credit facilities for the women to enable them to start their businesses while expressing optimism that there is a possibility of the quick recovery of the economy pending government commitment and intervention.

Sunusi also advised women to explore the digital possibilities and seek jobs online.

For Mrs Philips and Wilfred, they cannot afford the way they are living much longer, especially with the children out of school and feeding is becoming an issue to them.

• This report was supported by the Africa Women Journalism Project (AWJP) in partnership with the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ).