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Tag: bankrupt

  • ‘Nigeria would have gone bankrupt under PDP’

    ‘Nigeria would have gone bankrupt under PDP’

    The Chairman of Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC), Otunba Henry Ajomale, fielded questions from reporters recently on a wide range of national issues, including killings by herdsmen, the performance of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration in the last two and half years and the propriety or otherwise of President Buhari contesting next year’s presidential election. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI was there.

    What is your reaction to the recent killings by Fulani herdsmen?

    It is very sad and very unfortunate. The killings have become a national tragedy. But, I believe that the situation will soon be brought under control, as President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered security agencies to go after those behind it. To underscore how serious the matter is, the President has ordered the Inspector General of Police to relocate to Benue State. I am however baffled and worried about the upsurge in the killings; after all Fulani herdsmen and their host communities all over the country have been living together in harmony for decades without rancour. This is why I support the argument by some Nigerians that these killings are being carried out by some foreigners who are intent on wreaking havoc on innocent Nigerians. There were even recent security reports that these killings are being carried out by some members of the dreaded ISIS terrorist groups who had infiltrated the country. There have also been claims that it is Boko Haram insurgents that are carrying out the attacks. Meanwhile, many Nigerians are pointing accusing fingers at Fulani herdsmen with some even saying these Fulani herdsmen are carrying out the attacks because President Buhari, a fellow Fulani man, is the President.

    But, I don’t support those making this argument. Buhari has never condoned any killings. How many herdsmen have enough money to purchase sophisticated arms that the killers are using?

    Critics have accused President Buhari of not taking the necessary action to deal with the menace. What’s your take on that?

    It is very unfair to make President Buhari a scapegoat over these killings. These killings have been taking place before Buhari assumed office. The killings took place when Obasanjo was there; it took place when Yar’Adua was there and it took place during the time of former President Goodluck Jonathan. I believe some Nigerians are just being mischievous, especially PDP members and their apologists. They are just looking for a way to get back at Buhari, because of the ongoing anti-corruption war, which has affected many their members. It is corruption fighting back. When somebody even now sneezes or coughs, it is Buhari. It is these looters and enemies of the anti-corruption war that are behind the smear campaign against Buhari.

    The President has ordered security agencies to secure the affected areas to prevent further destruction of properties and loss of lives. Since he assumed office, Buhari has been trying his best to tackle various socio-economic challenges facing Nigeria. But, some Nigerians are not comfortable with his anti-corruption war and this is why some of them are deliberately destroying the man’s name – this is why they are trying to demonise him. But, Buhari and the APC will not be distracted by the antics of these disgruntled elements, because the President and the APC have a mission to fulfill. The APC is on a rescue mission; because the 16 years of PDP’s rule were years of waste. They were years of the locust.

    But, the PDP has been boasting, saying that things were not this bad when the party was in power. How do you react to that?

    It is unfortunate that PDP members still have the courage to be speaking in public. Was it not under the yoke and burden of 16 years of the PDP that Nigeria almost became bankrupt? Nigeria would have by now become a failed state, if the PDP had won the 2015 election. Under Jonathan and the PDP, things became so terrible for Nigeria. While millions of Nigerians were hungry, looters were having a field day and security was nothing to write home about. Unlike now when Nigerians are more secured, Boko Haram was having a field day during Jonathan’s era; bombings became a daily occurrence. It became so worst to the extent that Boko Haram suicide bombers bombed Police Force Headquarters in Abuja; they bombed the United Nations office, also in Abuja. At a point, Boko Haram suicide bombers almost stormed Aso Rock. No Nigerian was safe. It is unfortunate that these PDP leaders talking now and some Nigerians have short memory. There is no basis for comparison between the APC and the PDP at all. Was it not under Jonathan’s watch that almost 300 Chibok girls were abducted?

    Jonathan and his PDP government at that time became so ineffective to the extent that Jonathan was described clueless. Look at the profligacy of the PDP and Jonathan’s administration. During that period, crude oil was selling for over 100 dollars per barrel and Nigeria was making a lot of money, but the PDP government under Jonathan wasted the billions of dollars got from the oil boom of that era. Looters were having a swell time under Jonathan’s nose, and at a point he became so confused that he as the President didn’t know the difference between stealing and corruption. Nigeria would have collapsed, if the situation had continued.

    Critics say things are getting worse under the APC. What’s your candid assessment of the Buhari government?

    It is only mischievous persons that will claim that Nigeria has not changed for the better under the APC. Under the administration, security has improved. People can now sleep with two eyes closed. Before the fear of Boko Haram was the beginning of wisdom. In Abuja, Kaduna, Kano and some other major northern cities, then the fear of Boko Haram was all pervading, but Buhari’s government has been able to degrade Boko Haram and major parts of the country are now safe from Boko Haram attacks.

    Now accountability and probity is the order of the day, unlike the previous era when looters were having a field day. With the introduction of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), financial sanity had been restored and all loopholes and avenues for looting have been blocked. Between 2010 and 2015, when Jonathan and the PDP were in government, the total revenue remitted to government coffers by JAMB was N51 million, whereas under Buhari’s administration, within just a year, JAMB remitted N7.8 billion to the coffers of the Federal Government. Is the difference not then clear between the APC and the PDP? Buhari has also introduced agricultural revolution and today rice is being cultivated on a large scale across the country.

    Some Nigerians are of the view that Buhari should not seek re-election, based on his performance…

    For us in the APC, those talking about 2019 are distracting Buhari. The President is working. He is seriously working to fix Nigeria.

  • Bankrupt states

    •How we can avoid the catastrophe of failed states

    Keen analysts must have reckoned it would be a difficult time ahead as Nigeria’s mono-economic structure went into default about two years ago: crude oil prices suddenly went on a downward spiral. But not many would have envisaged that it would reach such catastrophic level when component states of the federation would become insolvent to the level of bankruptcy.

    An economic intelligence magazine – Economic Confidential, reported last week that 15 out of 36 states appear to be on the verge of bankruptcy. It also noted rather poignantly, that the ability of states to generate revenues internally is so weak to the point that Lagos State generates more revenues than 32 states put together.

    While Lagos generated N268 billion in 2015, 32 other states could only muster N257 billion. Only Rivers, Delta, Ogun, Edo, Enugu, Oyo, Anambra, Akwa Ibom and Kano states had what may be described as sustainable Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) last year. Some cases are rather dire: Yobe reported N2.2 billion IGR while it got a total of N57.4 billion from the federation account in 2015; Zamfara made N2.7 billion; Ekiti made N3.2 billion and Borno N3.5 billion.

    The outlook is uglier viewed in terms of percentage of states’ IGR against federal allocation. It would mean that at least 15 states would fail the instant federal allocation is withdrawn as their IGR is far less than 10 percent of the revenues from the Federal Government.

    It is indeed a rather telling situation, if not scary. The report from Economic Confidential portentous as it is if subjected to critical analysis, the bottom line is how to avoid the looming catastrophe of multiple failed states. This indeed is the challenge for the Federal Government and all Nigerians of goodwill.

    We proffer a few remedies: First, every state government that seeks to survive these times must learn a trick or two from the Lagos State model. Yes, it may be argued that Lagos is a peculiar economy buoyed by providential geography; but the fact of it is that geography is only half the story.

    Before the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as Governor of Lagos State, the state’s revenue was as meagre and lacklustre as any other state’s. Tinubu it was who changed the game and remodelled the template of revenue mobilisation and collection in the state. Since then succeeding helmsmen in Lagos have built on it.

    Apart from adopting modern methods of collecting state revenues as introduced by Tinubu in Lagos, transparency and accountability are key to harnessing any state’s maximum possible revenues. For instance, it is implausible that Borno, caught in the throes of vicious terrorism war and social upheaval is posting more IGR than many states even in the south. Another odd scenario is one in which an oil producing state reports less revenues than non-oil states. In other words, accountability is key; therefore, states must institute collection processes that capture revenues accurately and eliminate leakages at all levels.

    Most importantly, there is no alternative to running even a state like a business enterprise, subjecting every fiscal decision to technical efficiency and opportunity costs. It is a misplacement of priorities for any state government to embark on such huge capital project like building an airport or superhighway in a state where there are hardly any industries functioning.

    There must be a carefully planned effort by governments in all the states to unleash the potentials inherent in all parts of the country. We must always remind ourselves that many countries around the world still earn the bulk of their national revenues from such agricultural produce like cocoa, cotton, palm oil, rubber, and groundnuts, among various others. All these are richly available and cultivable in parts of the country.

    It is still not late to avert what seems like an impending doom. Leaders, especially governors, must resolve to do things differently. 

  • ‘Nigeria has been technically bankrupt since 1980’

    ‘Nigeria has been technically bankrupt since 1980’

    Prof Ademola Ariyo, is a professor of Economics and Head of Department of Economics at the University of Ibadan. He has also served as Commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning in old Oyo State (1986-90) and Special Adviser to the Minister of Finance (1993). In this interview with Oseheye Okwuofu, he talks about the economy, budgets and other national issues.

    What is your assessment of the 2016 budget?

    Well, I think it’s like a hamper; a basket containing so many good, bad, not too ugly, and whatever, but I am generally happy about the re-orientation of the budget more towards the people. It appears we are now talking of people-centred rather than people – oriented.

    There is a difference between the two. If a budget is people-centred, then it is bottom up, and you want people to feel the impact directly. That is different from people-oriented. You can always justify throwing money into the river on behalf of the people.

    So, that element of people-centredness is the whole essence of budgeting. A credible and legitimate budget starts and ends with the people. So, to that extent, I think this government has started well.

    Do you think the capital expenditure of 30 percent as contained in the budget is good for a country like Nigeria?

    I think it’s a right thing and a mark of a re-orientation towards capital budget in the belief that if properly implemented it will help build the national capacity to produce and provide facilities for the needs of the people especially infrastructure. My concern is that there are so many illusions that are affecting the nation because of some arguments here and there. You know, we have so many high strip economies all over the place. First of all there is no universal benchmark on the proportion between capital and recurrent expenditure because of the structure of each economy. For example, in Nigeria everything depends on the government, so you can be arguing for more on recurrent and less on capital and whatever have you. In other societies it is private sector driven, so that type of economy can have up to 80 percent recurrent and the growth will still be very significant but the important thing is that there must be infrastucture, what we call the facilitators of development. The second aspect has to do with the problem of the value of capital expenditure. Research has shown that capital expenditure has not been contributing to growth in Nigeria. About three, four, five studies using different methods came to the same conclusions.

    Increasing the vote to capital expenditure is not necessarily beneficial unless there is deficiency in the process, part of which is corruption, government is fighting tooth and nail, and I hope it’s pursued to a logical conclusion. But then there is a gestation period. Corruption is so endemic, in fact, if we can declare a whole year as a year of cleansing corruption without spending one naira, I won’t mind that. So, what I’m saying is that well it sounds nice, but it is still a gamble based on historical value of per capital expenditure to the nation.

    Don’t you see the 2016 budget as a ploy to mortgage the nation?

    Well, I think there is serious danger ahead. By that I mean this issue of borrowing to support government. Historical antecedents do not support going headlong into further indebtedness. You see, in Nigeria over the years, borrowing had not had any long term positive impact on the economy. Unfortunately, most of these loans were being used for what we call project support. They were not used for projects that will generate money to repay itself. In fact, one would have seen the possible correlation between debts and growth using classical method. In many cases they are negative. And the reason is very simple. Our debt profile is not sustainable. In fact, research has shown that Nigeria has become technically bankrupt since 1980. And to that extent, the rates of growth of our debt servicing obligations have been higher than the rate of the growth of the GDP. Secondly, there is a problem in the kind of advice being given to the government. The so called debt GDP ratio, you can’t generalise it because of the structure and whatever considerations for a country. Even now, I have heard some people saying you can borrow up to 40 per cent ratio. I feel like crying for the country, what type of country is that? And there is element of distortion and reality of facts, comparing debts and GDP. All the models I’m aware of, will not talk about you paying your debt from GDP but from your revenue because you are relating your standard value of your future debt obligation against your future value flows. So, a more defensible and realistic measure of debt should be the ratio of debt to your revenue profile because you are repaying debt from revenue and not from GDP. It’s like in a private establishment; they compare your overall ability to the total value of your sales. Yes, that doesn’t make sense. They can only relate it to your cash flows, because I heard them saying if you borrow more, it will now come to two point something GDP, and then to fourteen point something. I think it’s a ruse. So, I think there is a serious problem there. I agree to the idea of taking in more capital flows.

    One should not go again for capital budget support. Secondly, there are other sources of funding capital projects like Public Private Partnership (PPP). Why don’t we go for that or contractor financing that will be repayable from the proceeds of those particular projects.

    So, these are the type of options I thought the government should have considered very well. But going headlong with this huge loan in one particular year… I believe the government should be very careful otherwise the nation will be worse off in the long run.

    Sir, Nigeria is in this present mess because of the over dependence on crude oil. In spite of the huge opportunities to diversify, the past governments failed to do so, what do you think is actually wrong?

    Well, I don’t think the government needs new advice, except to let the government know that the chicken has come home to roost. We have been saying this for a long time and because of oil, the country’s economy has been suffering from what we call the Dutch disease, because we are getting cheap money from oil which we don’t work for, then you paralysed all the other areas. In fact, it has so many connotations. One, the oil has technically neutralised the people and has disenfranchised them because the government can ignore the people and still have money to spend. The Awolowo era we are talking about that time no government will ever go into budgeting without talking to farmers because that is the source of the revenue they are spending. But who does the government want to speak to now? They have the international oil companies, just roll out the oil, get some money, spend and go back.  It is a pity we have to learn in a very hard way because unfortunately we are not the only oil producing economy. Look at Saudi Arabia, look at Norway. I remembered when there was oil price surge in 1979 that was when Saudi Arabia started diversifying. We started squandering our own, we said we have so much money, we didn’t know how to spend it wisely. But I think the honeymoon is over, what we have refused to do in normal process, we just have to do it in a very hard way now. There is no oil money to rely upon. Even, I know the rate of drop in price was very sharp, so there might be some movements up and down, but I doubt if we can ever have the type of boom we had for almost 15 years with oil price soaring to $110 per barrel.  That arose because of wars and crisis from other countries that could not join the oil market. There was even information that Iran has struck a deal on the nuclear weapon, and see what happened to oil prices because they can now join the market. In fact, Iran is even ready to sell its oil for five dollars because it needs the money. Now, Libya is sorting out itself. The different factions are now reconciling and of course, Libya will soon join the market. So, if we refused to do the right thing to make a change, change will change us involuntarily. We don’t need any sermonising. It’s better we streamline our ways.

    The recurrent expenditure of N4.2 trillion in this year’s budget has fallen under criticism. What is your opinion?

    Well, it depends on the composition because I know that last year it was not as high as this and I’m not sure if there is any dramatic change in the elements. My point is that these intervention programmes which are geared towards the people, recruiting more teachers, school feeding and so on are those that added to the recurrent expenditure. To that extent, I think they are part of the structure and focus on poverty alleviation programme and human capacity development. If well spent, I think they are productive recurrent because they will enhance the quality of national output in the medium to long term, incidentally, I remembered that this issue of school feeding was one of the issues that were comprehensively debated during Vision 2010 and is still consistent with the provisions of the constitution. They’re supposed to manage the economy in the best interest of the people especially the vulnerable groups. So, I don’t have much problem with that. The idea of recruiting teachers is also a vital principle to me it makes sense because education is the incontrovertible input into national development. For example, last time I went to South Korea I was dazed, a country that has been sentenced to penury after the Second World War, they have recovered.

    So, I struggled to see, to know the genesis, they started from the reform of their education sector, both formal and non- formal, and this is what has propelled them to where they are now. So, I don’t know, starting with teachers, in terms of portfolio of activities, a well structured education sector reform, I don’t know whether that should have been the first thing to come before the others, I don’t know, but that the government recognises that there is need for teachers is commendable. Having done that this year, they should now be looking for other complementary activities that will make education a tool for development rather than being a mere consumer good the way it is now because what we have now is that people are looking for certificates to get to public offices and start taking public money.  That is the mind of so many people and that is the danger here. Our education is not yet for development but for destructive consumption. I don’t know the other components but like I said, even beyond that one, if it is well spent research has shown that the recurrent expenditure has been oiling the existing fiscal capacity that we have even for the little production we are able to make internally, not the huge capital expenditure. So, it depends on the management and the structure of the recurrent expenditure. There is what we call re-current capital expenditure in Nigeria. Normally, in a normal society, whatever work done on a road, ideally it should serve between not less than ten years before you start repairing, but right now, by the time they are handing over, the roads have collapsed, even some collapsed during construction. There are some roads that stood throughout for the past 30 years. That is what I’m saying, roads that will outlive the financial year. I think there is a country where by law any road constructed must last not less than 25 years. But what do we have in Nigeria?  But I think the issue of debt serving is also a problem and with our so called advisers who were saying we have to borrow more. We have about N115billion that we want to spend on debt serving. How much do we get from what we borrowed? The only ones that I think that are defensible are servicing of staff as long as they are on your payroll. You also must provide for what we call working overhead. You don’t pay them salaries without providing the means for them to work. There is what we call consolidated revenue fund charges that are part of administration. Generally, what makes the government to work very well, okay, those are pardonable but if there are severance allowances there and there, and all these training that are not geared towards any productive activity. Even, the issue of duplication, like the issue of monetisation, they will be claiming allowances in their pay slip and they are also getting direct allocation from the government. I don’t know whether that is part of overhead. So, like I said one has to look at the content. We are still having the lingering effect of electoral promises, but when the reality dawns on us we will now go back gradually.

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has remained at our back door and many Nigerians are not comfortable with them because of what they considered as ‘their stringent conditions’. Do you really think the IMF means well for Nigeria?

    Well, I will be surprised if the IMF does not mean well for any country. You see, there is a couple of question. Do we really mean well for ourselves? That is the important thing. Are we the only nation the IMF has been talking to? They’ve been talking to China, they’ve been talking to South Korea, they’ve been talking to Singapore on consultation but they have been moving ahead. Inherently IMF has its own policy framework and objective sign onto by all the member nations. You can only question them if they have not been operating according to the approved guidelines. But in our own case what do we actually need? We must determine what we actually need for IMF to come or not to come. So, that is the crux of the matter.  IMF will do its normal work, it’s now left to us to decide to take or reject. You have the right to reject. They won’t impose anything on you. The only thing I know is that in those days the IMF will not come to a country unless that nation is in Intensive Care Unit financially. So, it depends on whether they have more information than we have or they are here to warn us to steer out of Intensive Care Unit. The IMF chief said she did come to discuss any support but to tell us that we have to be careful about corruption; we have to be careful about our fiscal profile. To me, that is instructive enough. Even, if IMF were to be a devil, there is an adage that says blessed are those that want to fool you but woe be tie those that allow themselves to be fooled. We must know what we want. It is only when they said we want to force it on you as a nation that we will start blaming the IMF. And one of the things that I see to be a blessing to this nation is this issue of the size of our budget. I was reading here and there…the government has adopted zero-based budget and all that, I chuckled because some of the other things to see beyond the deep knowledge of the word of the value of the zero-based budget…in a nutshell, zero-based budgeting wants you to prioritise in relation to defined objectives. But you cannot define your objectives in the absence of a national plan which we don’t have. It is when you have national plan that you have what we call programme. Each plan has its own set of programmes. From each programme, you now have a set of activities. So that describes what we call clustered budgeting before you now come back to zero-based budget. So you can rank that project in terms of its multiplied effect towards achieving your objectives.

    But where is our plan? The absence of the plan, budgeting becomes a license to squander and that is what we have seen now. All these ‘Dasukigate’ and whatever gate, they are part of it; you just spend money. But because we cannot relate the expenditure to some specific target that the money was supposed to achieve. How are you basing your revenue projection at much more above the ruling market price? No, it is the other way round. You must be conservative. If you cannot have a pauper like the tax rule we had, it will be foolhardy to budgeting well above. You don’t invest on the average; work on the worst case scenario; plan for the worst and hope for the best. So instead of looking at this jumbo budget, the government can engage what we call flexible budget. So, if the revenue went up beyond your projection, you will now go back to the inventory of projects and move ahead. But you based your projection on $38 per barrel, I don’t know it could go back to that this year and you rely on incentive borrowing. I doubt if the projects will be reasonably implemented. That is my personal area of concern. So these are the issues I want government to look at but like I said, all we need to do is to sit and be much more realistic.

    You mentioned that you would have loved it if a whole year is devoted to fighting corruption because of its endemic nature. That has been the concern of the common man on the street but the problem is where are all the recovered money from some peopleý going into?

    Well, I strongly believe that this government will notý degenerate to that terrible level. It is a total violation of the appropriation act. Secondly, if that money were to come on board, they should be targeted at specific activities, preferably this issue of poverty alleviation in a more structured way. People will directly feel the impact and it goes a long way. And they can deploy it strictly to properly manage infrastructural facilities. Look at how much can be spent on power, look at Benin-Ore road, they are all recurring decimals. So what I have seen is that those recovered money should be earmarked for special projects that will be properly managed. Then we can get value there from. I just hope this government can make an enduring difference on the nation. I believe the government has started; expectations are very high but in addition to just recovering stolen money, my concern is what happens after Buhari. He did it in 1984 and 1985, the succeeding government blew everything. In addition to recovering everything recoverable, they should be focused on proactive strategies. It is like water is leaking out and people are mopping out the leakages, why don’t you go to source of leakage and block? The national budgetary plan has been totally vandalised. You need institutional building; and then you must have a means of making sure that whatever amount was received is properly accounted for, whatever amount claimed to have been expended must be traceable.

  • Stuck with post-dated cheques

    BANKRUPT! Yes, that aptly describes the state that Veronica is in at the moment. She owes some of her creditors and they have given her deadlines to repay the debts. The only assets she could boast of are three post-dated cheques in her drawer, but they just wouldn’t be useful now.

    Like her financial status, her emotions are also tottering on the brink.

    “I was abandoned by men that I really loved. They all ran away when I needed them most. Now, some of them are back just to tell me that they are sorry and that I am the bride they wished they had. They are all married and I am still single, left with emotional promissory notes in the ‘dream’ bank. They actually ran away with ladies from rich families, who had more money and better jobs.”

    In banking, a post-dated cheque is a cheque written by the drawer (payer) for a date in future. It just can’t be cashed or deposited before the date written on it. Of course it is filled with material (emotional) promises, suggestive of a better future, but you just cannot make use of it.

    So, who needs a post-dated cheque that’s gathering dust in the drawer? These cheques are frequently used by customers (lovebirds) who take out payday loans. You buy (love) now and pay later. Sometimes, it could be a guarantee that the loan (love invested) would be paid back. The big question here is when it would be paid back, a matter of time though.

    Sometimes, this can also be uncertain. What if the account that you want to draw from goes red? Sadly, if this should be the case, no matter the number of emotional cheques in your custody, you just can’t draw from them and it can be really frustrating. There is a deliberate payment delay that is synonymous with uncertainty.

    A recent study by researchers found that the more a couple fights about money, the more likely they are to split. In fact, couples who disagree about finances once a week are more than 30% more likely to divorce than couples who disagree about money a few times each month. Even couples who do not end up in divorce court cite their finances as a source of relationship strife. Conversely, the way you and your spouse save, spend, earn and invest can actually be points of bonding and affection if approached in the right way.

    It is, therefore, important to manage your money as a team to ensure that you have a stronger, more fulfilling relationship. Understanding your partner’s spending habits will also help you get to know each other better? Think that the eyes are a mirror to one’s soul? Finances may be an even better bet. Each of our saving and spending habits is a reflection of who we are, how we grew up and our general perception of life.

    Delegating money tasks is another way to build trust and improve communication. While it is common for money to be a source of suspicion and resentment in relationships, it can also be a tool cementing the bonds of your relationship.

    This reminds you of the song, ‘Aint Nothing Goin but the rent’ by Gwen Guthrie, the American singer, songwriter and pianist who stole the show in the mid 80s. Naturally, the song took lovebirds to reality zone, talking about the materialistic side of love. ‘You’ve got to have a j-o-b if you want to be with me/No Romance without finance.’ The song which was also sampled by numerous dance and hip hop artists is referenced in Eddy Murphy’s monologue, ‘No Romance without finance’.

    An example of emotions gone blank, lost in the affectionate vault happened a few weeks back with Madonna and her ex-husband, Guy Ritchie.

    Interestingly, Guy Ritchie just had a lavish wedding ceremony and you would have expected that he wouldn’t want to ‘upset’ his new bride scrolling back to the emotional events of the past.

    Obviously, he had a post-dated cheque that needed to be cashed and so Rocco’s 15th birthday could not be ignored. It was a low-key affair but you wonder how low-key an affair it can be when Madonna was there.

    A short video clip showed Madonna, her former husband, their other son, David, presenting Rocco with a huge cake as they sing ‘Happy Birthday’

    together in love.

    Madonna also posted a cute picture of herself and Rocco as a baby, captioning it “15 years have gone by too quickly!! Happy birthday Son!” That was not all. They were actually reunited for one night only.

    Divorced seven years ago – and there’s been a few digs from both sides since they separated in 2008 –  but Guy Ritchie and Madonna put their differences behind them to celebrate their son Rocco’s 15th birthday as a one big happy-ish family.

    Sadly, neither Madonna nor Guy has had many good things to say about their eight years together. Earlier this year, the queen of pop spoke candidly about how she felt trapped in her marriage. She told The Sun: “There were times when I felt incarcerated. I wasn’t really allowed to be myself.”

    However, the positive side of the emotional story is that they managed to bury the hatchet for this big occasion.

  • States may go bankrupt this year, says commissioner

    States may go bankrupt this year, says commissioner

    Many states may run into financial crisis this year, should the revenue accruable to the federation account suffer depletion like last year, Niger State Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Kpako Bello, has predicted.

    The commissioner, who spoke yesterday in Minna, the state capital, during the media highlight of the state 2014 budget presided over by Commissioner for Economic Planning, Alhaji Yahaya Dansalau, said some states may find it difficult to pick their bills.

    Citing the Niger State example, the Commissioner said with 82.4 per cent of the state’s budgetary projection fund from the federation, account allocation “it will be difficult to survive should anything go wrong with the inflow of revenue from the centre”.

    He said aside the 11.3 per cent to be raised from bonds, the state internal generated revenue is 6.3 per cent, which cannot sustain it for one month.

    The Commissioner said many states would be thrown into unprecedented economic crisis as a result of the failure of federal government revenue agencies to remit revenue to the Federation Account FAAC for sharing.

    “The last three months of last year were really turbulent for states because most times, we gathered in Abuja for days without anything to share.”

    He however said the state is puting in place policies aimed at cushioning the effect of any distortion of the revenue flow from the centres, “Last year, we never envisaged the kind of crisis that happened.”

    Bello blamed the drop in the income of the national tresury on “large scale of oil theft”. Thief at point of sale and after sale.

    “We have reasons to believe what Governor of Central Bank Lamido Sanusi Lamido said over some missing money but it’s just that we were not bold enough to come out and support him. The figures may even be more than what he said was missing because oil theft is now carried out from source, at the point of and after sale”.

  • ‘Why companies go bankrupt’

    ‘Why companies go bankrupt’

    The President Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria (BRIPAN), Anthony Idigbe, has attributed business failure among companies largely to lack of foresight and intuitive thinking, especially in risk taking.

    Speaking with The Nation exclusively during the 2nd Annual International Conference of the Association in Lagos the BRIPAN boss, however, cautioned that companies should not be liquidated for business failure.

    He said: “In Nigeria it is assumed that when a business fails it is the fault of the directors. So, there is a kind of punitive approach to dealing with business failure, business has failed not because directors are fraudulent, or they are incompetent, but business failure goes beyond that now globally.”

    Pressed further, he said: “As a result of global financial meltdown a lot of companies, not out of mismanagement that their business were affected and they had to go down, it is just the fact that there are recurring changes or other factors that generated that problem in the business which led to their failure.”

    “If you are producing services or some goods and demand for your good fail it is not because you were inefficient, not because you stole, but you can’t sell it because people are not buying, no money, then you go into insolvency, you should not be punished, you should not be singled out that you committed an offence, adding that liquidation has to be done in a way that you don’t punish people for taking risk”.

    “From analysis liquidation at times punishes because it is not the only option that could have rescued it, possibly that business could have survived adding there is need to have enough provisions to enable a rescue to take place.”