The Nation Newspaper

Tag: costs

  • Fuel import costs $15b yearly

    Nigeria is spending about $15billion yearly on fuel importation, the  Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru, has said.

    A statement titled: Green Field Refinery Initiative yesterday quoted Baru as saying the country spends between $12billion to $15billion yearly to reduce the deficit in daily domestic fuel consumption in the country.

    He said the Nigeria’s resort to fuel importation became imperative in order to improve supply and avert scarcity.

    He said the development poses serious threats to the government’s dwindling revenue, if left unchecked.

    According to him, the country’s dwindling fortune was caused by the fall in the international prices of crude oil , adding that the Federal Government is investing in additional refinery capacity alongside private investors, who have demonstrated their readiness to hold some equities in the project.

    Baru said: ‘’To reduce the huge cost expended in importing fuel into the country, especially the money that is being spent in reducing deficit in the supply of the product, the government is investing in refinery capacity, alongside companies that are holding some equities in the refinery project.  “Through this means, the government would be able to meet the country’s gasoline consumption  of 36million litres per day and 10 million litres of kerosene per day.”

    He said government is trying to establish three refineries with approximately 400-550 million barrels per day (bpd) in Lagos, Bayelsa and Kogi states, in order to boost fuel processing in the country.

    Baru said the issue of location, configuration and shareholding structure of the refineries would be determined by the government and the private investors, adding that the refineries  would be market oriented and profit motivated.

    He said the government is in the vanguard of promoting new refineries in order to increase in-country crude oil refinery capacity and further help private investors  to perform in the face of technical and financial challenges facing them.

    Baru said the refineries will boast of state-of-the-art facilities, as well as provide high percentage of white petroleum products. He stressed that the refineries would operate as import substitution plants  that would be supplying refined products to consumers in the domestic market.

    ‘’In addition, the refineries would be exporting to regional and international markets, with a view to make more money.  This means that the refineries are going to play across borders, a development that would enable them to earn  foreign exchange,’’ he added.

    He said the idea would enable Nigeria to become fuel hub in  West Africa ,  which  according to him, boasts of 18 countries, 290 million population and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $340bilion.

    He said the establishment of new refineries would enable Nigeria to become self sufficiency, as well as encouraging economic growth.

    The refineries, Baru said, would have a multiplier effects on the economy because they would provide direct and indirect jobs for the people.

  • $2.5b Eurobond: Raising cheaper funds, cutting debt service costs

    $2.5b Eurobond: Raising cheaper funds, cutting debt service costs

    The Federal Government has valued its offering of $2.5 billion dual series Eurobond Note, comprising a $1.25 billion 12-year series and a $1.25 billion 20-year series, at the rates of 7.143 per cent and 7.696 per cent. The offering is expected to close on February 23, subject to the satisfaction of various customary closing conditions and the proceeds used to refinance domestic debts. COLLINS NWEZE writes that the Eurobond offer – Nigeria’s fifth issuance – would assist the country in achieving an optimal mix between domestic and international debts. It will, besides, reduce debt service cost.

    Since its first bite at the benefits of foreign capital in 2011, Nigeria has remained a regular patron of the International Capital Market (ICM).

    Besides coming at an attractive interest rate, borrowing from the ICM emboldens the domestic economy and offers opportunity for private companies to source funds from global investors.

    The recent announcement by the Federal Government to raise $2.5 billion via Eurobond to refinance domestic debts and reduce its soaring debt service costs has been seized as another opportunity for global investors.

    The issuance of the Eurobond was part of the public debt management strategy carefully-crafted by the Debt Management Office (DMO) to acess the ICM to diversify the country’s source of funding its developmental programmes as well as introduce the country into the highly disciplined international funds markets.

    It all started in January 2011 when Nigeria made its debut in the ICM through the issuance of $500 million 10-year Eurobond. Since then, the confidence of investors in Nigeria’s bond has been on the increase. Most of the funds previously generated were used to upgrade power infrastructure, which the country badly needs for its economic growth and development.

    The DMO has been advising government on terms and conditions of loans, restructuring and refinancing while maintaining a complete and accurate database of all government borrowings among other roles.

    It was therefore a welcome development when the Federal Government after consulting with global investors last week, announced that it has priced its offering of $2.5 billion aggregate principal amount of dual series notes under its Global Medium Term Note Programme. The notes comprise a $1.25 billion 12-year series and a $1.25 billion 20-year series.

    The 12-year series will bear interest at a rate of 7.143 per cent. The 20-year series will bear interest at a rate of 7.696 per cent, and, in each case, will be repayable with a bullet repayment of the principal on maturity. The offering is expected to close on or about February 23, 2018, subject to the satisfaction of various customary closing conditions.

    According to the DMO Director-General, Ms. Patience Oniha, the Federal Government intends to use the proceeds of the notes for the refinancing of domestic debt. The notes represent the country’s fifth Eurobond issuance, following issuances in 2011, 2013 and two last year.

    Ms. Oniha said the offering has already attracted significant interest from leading global institutional investors with a peak order book of over $11.5 billion.  When issued, the notes will be admitted to the official list of the United Kingdom Listing Authority and available to trade on the London Stock Exchange’s regulated market.

    According to the DMO chief, Nigeria may apply for the notes to be eligible for trading and listed on the Nigerian FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

    She said: “With the successful pricing of our fifth Eurobond, Nigeria’s status as an Issuer of Eurobonds with a strong and diverse investor base has been further consolidated.  This time, Nigeria has priced a new 12-year bond at a yield of 7.143 per cent and a 20-year bond at a yield of 7.696 per cent, both of which are consistent in price with our existing portfolio.

    “I am particularly pleased that the issuance will enable us to refinance a portion of our existing domestic debt portfolio, with external debt at considerably lower cost.

    “The impact of the process has already led to a reduction in the cost of domestic borrowing. And so, a double benefit for the cost of our broader debt portfolio. Lower domestic rates will also benefit corporate borrowers.”

    Speaking on the offer, Finance Minister Mrs. Kemi Adeosun said the pricing was determined following a series of short meetings and conference calls with investors.

    According to her, Nigeria is focused on reducing the cost of our debt portfolio and ensuring we have the optimal mix between domestic and international debt.

    Ms. Oniha said: “The proceeds of the issuance, which would supplement the issuances we completed in 2017, will be used to re-finance domestic debt, which is high cost and short term, with lower-cost international debt, with a longer tenure. We will have a range of Eurobonds in issue, encompassing 5-year, 10-year, 12-year, 15-year, 20- year and 30-year bonds, giving investors a full basket of options to participate in.”

     

    Nigeria’s foray into ICM

    The government has sold dollar bonds twice – the first was in 2011 when it raised $500 million through Eurobonds and subsequent two issuances in 2013 when it raised $1 billion of five and 10-year debts to finance budget deficits.

    The country has constantly enjoyed good patronage from international investors. For instance, $1 billion Eurobond offer held in February 2017 was oversubscribed by nearly 800 per cent.  The $1 billion Eurobond was issued at 7.875 per cent yield and 15-year tenor to support infrastructural developments in road, railway and power. The oversubscription surprised not a few pundits. The offer, which comes at $200,000 denominations and multiples of $1,000 denominations, will mature on February 15, 2032, with Citigroup Global Markets Limited and Standard Chartered Bank. Stanbic IBTC Capital is the Financial Adviser.

    A currencies’ analyst at Ecobank Nigeria, Olakunle Ezun, said the oversubscription of the bond reflected continued confidence in the country’s economic prospects despite exchange and inflation rates challenges.

    Ezun said fund managers dominated the allocation of the bond with United States (U.S) investors accounting for most of the demand.

    He said: “For some of us that believe in Nigeria, people think that we are joking. Despite the inflation and exchange rate worries, Nigeria was still able to get a good bargain. It gives me the hope that the economy will soon rebound.”

    Explaining how overdependence on crude oil has robbed the country of many opportunities, he said: “All we need to do is just diversify the economy from crude oil. If we had used the oil revenues efficiently, we should not be importing fuel and the savings from that alone will lift the economy speedily.”

    Ezun said that with an estimated 190 million population and good demographics, Nigeria remains a savvy investors’ destination.

    Former Keystone Bank Executive Director Richard Obire, said the risk of investing in the country was still low, and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Company (OPEC) and non-OPEC countries have been co-operating to moderate the prices of crude oil.

    The DMO said Nigeria’s low debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio meant that the country can borrow more to fund its budget, infrastructure and other essential projects that will stimulate the economy and create jobs.

    The floating of the Eurobond is part of the planned Federal Government’s Medium Term Note (FGMTN) Programme (2016 to 2018) and it is expected to help the government bridge deficit in this year’s budget.

    The Director-General of West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), Prof. Akpan Ekpo, explained that budgetary allocations alone may not be enough to finance the country’s infrastructure deficit.

    He said: “With the current political will to tackle corruption and the desire to find a solution to the infrastructure problem in the country, there is need to channel fresh investments into power supply, roads, the railway and other social amenities.”

    To him, the continued slide in government revenues, its plan to provide tangible assets like housing, power (electricity), transport, education, communication, and technology, may be hampered by paucity of funds. Hence, the need to borrow from the global capital markets to fund key projects.

    Other analysts urged the government to focus more on external borrowing, and less on local borrowing, insisting that the foreign debt is cheaper. Describing borrowing as not a bad idea, they advised that borrowed funds must be used for infrastructure and raise the competiveness of the economy.

    They stressed the need for adequate monitoring to ensure that borrowed funds were deployed to projects they were meant for.

     

    Eurobond issuances

    Nigeria is not alone in the Eurobond race. Many African countries have successfully raised cash from the ICM. This issuance of Eurobonds has gained momentum in recent years as countries seek to lock in favourable rates from the market.

    For Nigeria, the successful issuances of three Nigerian Sovereign Eurobonds in the ICM, one in 2011 and two in 2013 – have opened the window for the private sector to raise the required foreign currency funds.

    Local banks and other companies are now able to fund long-term real sector projects in agriculture, manufacturing, housing, mineral exploration and processing, infrastructure for diversified and sustainable economic growth towards employment generation and poverty reduction.

    Afrinvest West Africa Limited Managing Director Ike Chioke said contrary to the sell-offs recorded in the local bond market the previous week, sentiment was bullish last week as yields trended 12 basis points lower Week-on-Week to an average of 13.8 per cent across tenors at market close on Friday on the back of improved investor appetite. The rate at the local bond market is therefore far higher than the rates at the ICM.

    Chioke said the government announced the pricing of its $2.5 billion dual tranche Eurobond offering to complete the $5.5 billion external debt programme approved by the National Assembly last year.

    He said the pricing was largely successful as both instruments offered (12-year and 20-year series) drew impressive buying interest from leading global institutional investors with a peak order book of over $11.5 billion.

    The Afrinvest chied said the proceeds from the Eurobond issuance would be used to refinance relatively expensive short-term domestic borrowings as the government plans to achieve an optimal mix of domestic and foreign debt and reduce overall debt servicing cost.

    Chioke said the impact of the debt refinancing, coupled with declining inflation rate and stability in forex rate, is anticipated to continue to anchor yield expectation lower in the near term and reduce crowding out of private sector borrowers.

     

    DMO’s perspectives

    Investors, hungry for higher returns in a low interest rate environment, reckon that Nigeria’s benign debt levels, recovering foreign exchange reserves and a potential yield above seven per cent, as reasons for investing in the country.

    Ms. Oniha attributed the success to foreign investors’ appetite for Federal Government’s instruments.

    The DMO chief, who oversaw the successful issuance of the country’s first Sovereign Sukuk of N100 billion, gave further details.

    She said: “The DMO had for several years raised funds for the government largely in the domestic market through Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Bonds and Nigerian Treasury Bills (TBs), and to a limited extent, from external sources mainly the multilaterals.”

    She explained that while this had a beneficial effect of developing the domestic debt capital market, the government became the dominant issuer to the extent that it has been regularly accused of crowding out the private sector.

    Ms. Oniha said: “The outcome was obviously not intentional, but to remedy the situation. The DMO deemed it fit to shift some of the borrowing activities to the international financial markets.

    “This is also in line with its debt management strategy of achieving a portfolio mix of 60 per cent domestic and 40 per cent external. Through the strategy, the share of domestic debt has been brought down from over 85 per cent to 77 per cent as at September last year.”

    Speaking on the benefits expected from borrowings, she said: “The DMO’s role in financing budget deficits as provided in Annual Appropriation Acts (AAA), are to support budget implementation and the attainment of the government’s economic targets”.

    She said the fresh borrowings from the ICM will not, in any way, worsen the nation’s debt burden.

    She said: “I want to re-assure Nigerians that the government’s borrowings are pre-approved by the executive and legislative arms of government and are used to finance various activities of the government as appropriated.

    “These layers of approvals ensure that the borrowings are both necessary and scrutinised before the DMO embarks on actual borrowing.

    “The increasing focus by the current administration of using borrowed funds for infrastructural development is a step in the right direction”.

    She further explained that as borrowing is deployed to infrastructure to promote economic growth, the benefits of job creation and increased production among benefits are good for all Nigerians.

    “Interestingly, government’s revenue is now being given proper attention. The measures to increase revenues are already yielding some results, and as this trajectory continues, the need for borrowing is expected to reduce while debt service will become an increasingly smaller portion of revenue,” the DMO chief said.

  • Rising transportation costs hurt farmers, food processors

    Rising transportation costs hurt farmers, food processors

     Agriculture, like other sectors of the economy, is dependent on transportation to move people and produce from one point to another.Transportation is also needed to receive supplies and materials for use on the farm. But, high freighting cost is having a significant impact on farmers, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Farmers and food producers are raising the alarm that the cost of moving produce is   getting higher.

    The increase in trucking costs is being blamed on some factors such as unavailability of trucks, bad roads  and  high  fuel costs.

    For instance, in Iseyin, Oyo State, a cassava production belt, the cost of moving 30 tons of cassava has moved to N15,000, from N10,000 two years ago.

    It was learnt the situation is of major concern for consumers and produce growers.

    This has pushed up operating costs for farmers, who would then pass the additional costs  to consumers.

    Expressing concern, the  country coordinator, African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) Cassava Mechanisation and Agro-processing Project (CAMAP), Mr. Ayodele Omowunmi, said farmers in Igunrin Village, Iseyin, are finding it costly to  move their  cassava to The Allied Atlantic Distilleries Ltd (AADL) at Igbesa in Ogun State where their  tubers can be processed to ethanol.

    AATF is an international  programme working with smallholder and commercial farmers from Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara and Kogi states, to deploy machines to assist them in improving the cassava value chain.

    AADL is the first and largest cassava-based ethanol producing plant in Africa. It has an installed capacity of  10 million litres  of ethanol per year and requires 240 tons of cassava daily at an average of 10 tons per hour.

    He  said CAMAP facilitated the partnership between the farmers and the company to ensure steady daily supply of cassava to meet up with the requirement.

    He urged the government to assist farmers through the provision of adequate vehicles to transport cassava from the farm to promote the growth of the business.

    The Chief  Executive, Natural Nutrient Limited, Sola Adeniyi,  said  rising freight costs as a reason for lower profit margins with more pain as  vehicles break and higher diesel prices make it even more expensive to transport farm produce to the market .

    Adeniyi  said high transportation costs hurt profits, preventing them from taking advantage of lower commodity prices.

    According to him, the benefits that should trickle down to the farmers are locked down by high cost of transportation, which eats into their profits.

    The National Publicity Secretary, National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN),Anga Sotonye, said most of the agro commodities containers coming into the ports are not attended to in time thereby affecting timely shipments.

    According to him, it is one thing to aggregate agro exports for onward movement to the ports, but moving goods through the road to the port is the bigger challenge.

    He urged the government to tackle the situation on Apapa port access road, adding that its conditions are an obstacle.

    Sotonye complained that the ports have recorded slow turn around times.

    He said the road users were fed up with delays that have stretched for several  days.

    The  Group Managing Director,  Niji Group, Kola Adeniji, said there are  challenges facing food supply chain.

    According to him, things are becoming stretched across food supply chain and current logistics thinking is no longer fit for purpose.

    He explained that the transport infrastructure that are dilapidating is bringing challenges to food manufacturers and logistics companies.

    Meanwhile, the  Oyo State Executive Council said it has approved the rehabilitation of the 65km Moniya-Ojutaye-Iseyin Road for the sum  N6,952,565,074.97.It said the project is expected to be completed in 18 months.

    The Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Toye Arulogun, said the 65km road had been awarded to M/S Oladiran Engineering and Trade Nigeria Limited, explaining that the contractor was picked after careful evaluation of both technical and financial responsiveness by the state Consultants on Road Projects under the leadership of Reyog International Nigeria Limited.

    He pointed out that 30 per cent of the contract sum will be paid to the contractor as advance payment subject to the provision of an open-ended advance payment guarantee from a reputable bank.

    Arulogun maintained that the road will boost both intra and intercity transport links, improve trade, drastically reduce intercity transport connection, encourage trade and investment as well as to generally bring about better socio-economic development to the citizenry.

    He noted that this is in line with the Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s philosophy to decongest traffic at all entrances and exits to the state as part of the massive infrastructural development going on in the state.

  • Wanting a child at all costs (9)

    Wanting a child at all costs (9)

    Wherever there is water, the impact will be felt. And three special gifts will  be given in a day. The water will counter any negative feeling from any evil one intent on preventing joy about to come.

    We stared at one another baffled.  Alhaja looked at me and I in turn  looked at Muda. Surprises galore.

    Nobody said anything until we approached the gate of the house.

    “Mama Oje kii paro,” Muda said with confidence. ”She will never say what she did not see, and she even stressed that it was told to her three months ago. And this was the third month of the  pregnancy! God has the solution to all these mysteries.”

    Muda talked as he blared the car horn to let our security guard know that we had returned.

    The events of the period soon passed and I started to come to terms with the fact that I had unfinished business with Prophet Concobilo via my friend Bukola.

    The pregnancy will naturally become public knowledge as my mother-in-law said, but the shock that my bulging belly will cause Bukola while hers remain flat like that of a hungry tortoise is what I cannot imagine.

    “I need to put my plans in order fast,” I said aloud one morning while sitting by the pool eating a mango.

    I started by getting in contact with a nephew at the Journalist Center in Ilorin who told me where to get core investigators and paid agents that can unravel any mystery anywhere in the world.

    I then told my husband that he should give me a week off to travel to  Lagos with Bukola for some shopping. He initially said no, but I told him that I needed to move around as a form of exercise for the baby’s health. He agreed.

    In Lagos, we met a vibrant journalist that my nephew told me to link up with. Friendly and jovial, Musa can also be a very serious man, especially in getting details. He liked to discuss politics and sports.

    I had already put the machinery in motion before alerting Bukola to the idea that it was time to teach Concobilo a lesson.

    Musa fetched us a woman in the Ojuelegba area of Lagos who once worked with Interpol. She was neither tall nor short, but dark-skinned and eloquent.  She wore a very nicely cut ankara.

    “Musa is a comrade, and he has told me all you need. You don’t need to stress yourself,” she said with a smile that exposed her white and black gum. The dimples in her cheeks added to her beauty.

    Regina, as she is called, told me her Plan A and B. We opted for A.

    She requested half payment but I gave her the money in full. “You can have all the payment. Something tells me you will never disappoint us. Please don’t harm the ‘goatee’. I don’t want to have any sin on my neck.”

    “Let him die, if death comes to him willingly or accidentally. I don’t care, said Bukola.”

    I had feigned that Concobilo’s victim lived in Gongola, and I knew that Bukola’s utterances suggest otherwise. “Why are you so agitated? After all, you don’t know the lady that Concobilo offended.”

    This jolted her back to reality. She needed to be careful. In all the drama, I didn’t tell anyone that it happened to my friend or a Yoruba woman. My story was that it happened to a Liberian who came to Nigeria after the war and the pastor capitalised on her humility and innocence.

    A week after we returned to Ilorin, the phone rang and Regina told us to watch the Network news at 9:00 p.m. All efforts to make her give a reason failed.

    Like obedient children, Bukola and I sat in my room with eyes glued to the television. There, with Kongba-kongba oju (eyes wide open, like that of a crocodile) was pastor, prophet and self-acclaimed messenger of God, Concobilo.

    He had handcuffs on his hands and legs. He look so haggard. His beard appeared dirty even as we realised that we were watching it on the tube! His garment was half-torn and a multitude of marks lined his face.

    “Owo ti ba man yii o,” I said of the man’s fate as Nemesis caught up with him. I giggled like a child who had just learnt that she would travel with her grandmother to the city shortly.

    “Mo wish ki won na pa. It is sad that they didn’t beat him to death,” Bukola said in anger.

    His sin? Attempted rape of one of his new church members.

    Thank heavens my husband was not at home. I had encouraged him to go to the club with Jasper, Bukola’s husband.

    Then I got the call from Regina. I hid my number and took Bukola by the left hand to the back of the house. I spoke with Regina for more than one hour. We were all eager to know if she set her trap.

    It was a well planned job. If I were a king, an Oba, I would confer a title on Regina. And if I were a University don, Regina had already passed without an exam. If I were a politician, without any election, she don win oooo! Na brain work. She is a genius!

    I looked to the sky to know exactly where God’s face and ears were. Without any drumbeat, I burst into a song and Bukola joined me:

    “Armed robber, you don die

    Busybody, you don die

    My enemy, you don roast,

    Inside fire, you don roast

    Fire , fire, fire , fireeeeeeee!”

    We shook our bums as we sang and danced, like teenage schoolgirls. No one seemed to know what made us so happy.

    Her narration:

    ( to be continued)

  • Wanting a child at all costs (6)

    Wanting a child at all costs (6)

    I know Bukola when she is truly sorry or playing pranks. Her plea was genuine. I held her close and told her not to worry.

    “We will need to find a way to teach the bastard a lesson, and you should promise me that nobody will hear what has happened to you except the two of us.”

    “I promise.”

    “And promise me that you will go into the kitchen and eat like a hungry jackal.”

    “I will.”

    The following day, we visited a medical doctor who treated her and cleaned her womb. I didn’t want the egg of that bustard to stay in her womb or grow. Though she was not pregnant, who knows what will happen? What if she suddenly gets pregnant and the in-laws say she should come and swear? What if the useless Concobilo turns up one day to claim a child he never dreamt of? It is better to be careful again.

    The doctor did all that we wanted. And I kept all plans for revenge to myself, away from even the victim until a few days to the D-day.

    I cajoled Bukola to go to the Whispering Palms resort in Badagry that I originally planned to visit for a rest before she stopped my plan. I didn’t want the ticket to be useless. I told her husband about it and they both happily visited. I knew they would surely enjoy the place, a cool and serene environment with access to natural food, air and vegetation. They could easily sleep by the beach or take a walk at any time. It would help them bond more.

    Bukola needed the reprieve after her ordeal. Or what do you suggest, dear reader?

    My mother-in-law, Alhaja Agba, came visiting and the house was filled to the brim. Alhaja is no governor but she is always with an entourage.

    “Welcome, ma,” we chorused at her emergence from the motor vehicle.

    “You are all appreciated too,” Alhaja replied while walking majestically like a queen. “It has been a long time that I came here. Many things have changed.”

    Pointing to Sanyeri, our chief driver, she said to him in a mixture of Yoruba and English: ”Iyawo e nko, and the children, I hope they are fine.” She didn’t wait for an answer before turning to another person.

    “Amope, how are you? Bonjour. Or I didn’t say it well? I used to travel to Cotonou in those days. Your boss was so tiny then. I would carry him on my laps and co-passengers would be mimicking him. He would want to buy anything he saw, ranging from puff-puff, fried chicken and candy to soap!

    “I am happy to see you all,” she said as she entered the large sitting room. She came with four members of the family and two friends.

    I was in the kitchen to dish out the food because Alhaja Agba would not want the maid to serve her. She thought they would not cater to her taste.

    I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to look and saw that it was Alhaja Agba.

    “Mama, what do you want, or I am too slow in attending to you and others?” I asked.

    “No, my daughter. There was something unusual about you when I entered.”

    “Unusual?”

    “Yes.”

    “Was I rude to you or …“

    “No, my daughter.”

    I knew Alhaja too well to understand her use of language. If she was annoyed, she would not call you her ‘daughter’. I was sure that I had not offended her at all. What was it? We both didn’t know.

    “You look so beautiful and robust,” she said, looking at me.

    I was a bit hysterical as I bore the food in a tray for an excuse to slip off her hook.

    “The food can wait,” she said. “We are not hungry as such. What cream are you using?”

    “Shea Butter, of course. I have not changed it.”

    “Are you sure?”

    “Dead sure, ma.”

    “Are you eating too much nowadays? You look well-fed and more robust.”

    “Mama, are you saying I have not been eating well before now?”

    “Na you sabi o. Did I say you were not being fed well? Were you not like a stick of broom when we went to pay your dowry?”

    “Alhaja Agba …”

    “Alhaja kekere …”

    We both burst into laughter.

    That is Alhaja for you. She always sees something to talk about. Even when you wear some cloth, she would be the one to say it was good or not. We had often told her to go and join the Secret Service. Maybe she can use her talent there.

    “Because of you, I won’t go today. Though my friends can go.”

    “So, you were planning to go before?”

    “Yes.”

    “You don’t mean it o. With all the preparation we have done for you and your entourage.”

    “Entourage indeed.”

    The entourage, as I always called them, departed eventually. Then my mother-in-law knocked on our door. I looked at the bedside clock. The time was 8:22 p.m. What did she want? Had she any news for us? Was anyone rude to her? Was there any indigent student in need of financial aid? I wracked my brain for answer.

    “Come in, ma,” I answered.

    “Don’t come in o, we are asleep,” my husband said.

    “Muda, o o serious. You are not serious at all. Was it because I knocked on the door? Don’t worry, next time, I will just enter without any apology,” she said amidst smiles as she sat on the rug.

    “Mama, come and sit on the bed …” I pleaded in amusement.

    “Where do you expect me to sit, if not on the floor. You want your husband to query me again?”

    “Yes o, I will query you. Are you not my old wife?” Muda said.

    “Old wife? Can you hear your husband? N gbo, am I old? Say the truth o, don’t cover your husband.”

    “First of all: ‘our husband’, Mama. Secondly, you are not too old; only that you are just 78.”

    “You are saying indirectly that I am old niyen o. Anyway, I rest my case. To my husband, I am still an eaglet. I will pay you back when next the two of you come visiting. You will sit in my garage and not the sitting room.”

    “Thank God it is the garage, and visitors coming in will be sent back by us. Nobody would be allowed into the major sitting room,” Muda quipped.

    “Can you hear that, my daughter? Anyway, I have come to your room to investigate.”

    “Investigate what?”

    “Investigate what we don’t know and what we both know,” Alhaja Agba said.

    “OK. We are waiting. Are you starting from the wardrobe?”

    “I said the word ‘investigate’, not ‘search’. You need to come for a week’s lecture in my house,” Alhaja Agba  responded.

    We were now ready to hear her out.

    Clearing her throat in the way that former President Olusegun Obasanjo used to while about to make a serious comment, she said a very short prayer. “We need prayer in all we do. This is my reason for the short prayer. I think my daughter is pregnant!”

    There was pin-drop silence in the room.

    “Pregnant?” Muda and I chorused.

    “Yes, the last time she came to meet me at Oja’ba, I suspected she was pregnant but I wasn’t sure. But when I came yesterday, I was dead sure.”

    “Dead sure Alhaja  Agba?” I asked.

    “Capital YES my daughter’

    “That will be too lovely oo” Muda said with amazement.

    “When last did you see your menstrual period?” Alhaja Agba asked

    That question jolted me to the fact that I have not even used or bought sanitary pad in the last there months. But I have resigned myself to fate or have put all those  anxiety of seeing blood or not to the dogs  that I did not remember that I have not menstruated for months.

    “I can’t remember using sanitary pads recently”’

    “O ti loyun! ,You are pregnant. Your body has changed. You look more robust just like I told you in the kitchen in the noon”

    “But we are both living here and I don’t know’

    Muda said.

    “You are a first timer and you are still an embryo in the field of baby making. Now, salute the great investigator”

    “You are a real investigator Alhaja” Muda said

    In all this, I was too shocked to say anything. I want to be sure. It was just like listening to those Nollywood artistes on the screen.

    “We will go to the hospital tomorrow and confirm it. Make sure your first early urine should be kept in a bottle my dear” Alhaja said   holding me as I was President Obama.

    “Yes Ma, I will do so” I assured her.

    “ Alhaji Muda, make sure you don’t trouble her. Let her rest and if possible sing lullaby to her, to lure her to sleep. Make sure you keep this to only the three of us for now. The pregnancy will announce itself at the appropriate time. Se e ti gbo?

    ”We understand M

    “O daaro o”

    “Ka sun un re ma”

    Muda and I couldn’t sleep in the night. The anxiety for the day to brake was paramount to all of us. It was like the  story of a monkey kingdom. They went to Olodumare the creator for an antidote to turn them into full blown human beings. They were asked to carry a pot of oil to a certain place for seven days. They obeyed  and were dancing inste of walking fast; but at the wee of the seventh day, they opened the pot and rub the oil on their faces and buttocks. They should have waited to use it all on their bodies. Till today, monkeys have faces and buttocks like that of human beings. They are still blaming themselves till tomorrow.

    I don’t want mine to be so. Alhaja said I should be fully asleep till the next day; though I cannot sleep, but I wouldn’t want any anxiety to abort my baby before seeing the Doctor

    “Did I say my baby?”, yes my baby ooo!

    ”Many will be shocked and gifts will pour  in if this should become a reality. God please let this be real.” I soliloquized.

    It also dawned on me that I have never really prayed fervently in the last one year as I used to do. Today, I prayed for almost 1hour talking to my creator to make it real. I don’t mind any sex, be it a male or female. Even Albino, what I want is just for the baby to cry wun-en-wun-en. Ah! Ah!! Dem go her am, dem go kno say mama na mother. Do I post the picture of my tummy on the Facebook? Do I go to the public health center and join the mothers there to sing? Do I go to the Media and tell them my story? Oh! Oh! Oh! Many ideas are cropping up and I don’t know which one to choose from. Anyway, make I siddon dey look for now.

    The next day was like  an eternity for the three of us. We sauntered into the private section of Prof. /Dr. Oladimeji Sallam’s hiospital.

    He is the founder of Gansul hospital. Sallam went on a scholarship study to Israel and upon completion of his Medical course got a job at the Peace Keeping Commission headquarters. He later came home to establish Sallam Hospital which is the biggest in in Kwara State.

    “Sallam allekum Professor mi atata, baba Titilola,baba Olukemi” Alhaja led us as we entered

    “ Alhaja, ma sallam. Ile n ko o? What of Alhaji Agba” The Prof. responded bending down a bit to show courtesy to Alhaja Agba.

    Beckoning to Muda and me “My children, how are you all.  Let us go inside. Alhaja, gently Ma” He said as he led us to the private section of the big hospital. It’s a very beautiful place. I have heard people saying they will prefer to fall sick and be admitted here in order to feel the beauty of the environment. I was only there once when Alhaja was going to Mecca and  she needed some medical documents from her file.

    Handing over the bottle containing the urine to him, he told us that he will be back in a moment.

  • Wanting a child at all costs (5)

    Wanting a child at all costs (5)

    LIKE I told you last week that her voice was hoarse on fear making me to sense she was either crying over her problems again or she was in a sort of danger; I was right, she was in a pot of hot pepper soup.

    I went to bring her in after my husband had gone to his place of work. I instructed my housemaid not to allow any visitor into our inner siting room until I say otherwise.

    Bukola sat down looking so distraught. I beckoned on her to tell me what was amiss, rather than speak, she continued to wail like a wailler.

    I was getting a bit uneasy. Uneasy….? I just don’t know what to call it. I was irritated, worried, etc. I was getting angrier now.

    “If you are not ready to let me into your problems, why did you call upon me with a fray voice on phone?” I broke the session

    No answer.

    I went into the kitchen and placed a bottle of cold water in her front, maybe she needed such to talk.

    No movement except weeping.

    “Alright, when you know you are in a weeping competition, why did you allow me to bring you here in order to have enough privacy over your matter?

    Mum was the answer!

    “ Alright, this is the last time I will ask from you, open up now or get out of my sight. I have enough things to do. Or is it when people start coming in that you will talk? I beg una, make you talk now or close your mouth forever”

    As I got up to leave out of annoyance, Bukola got up and held me like a lost child who just saw her parent for a long time. Initially, I was too annoyed to reciprocate. But when I saw the genuine way she held on to me, I was moved. We started crying together. Later, I cleaned my yes and gave her the handkerchief to do same.

    “It is ok; I know you are pained but talk to me.

    “It is….. It is….” She opened her mouth to talk.

    “It is what”? Ba mi soro, talk to me please”

    “I will talk” she burst out again.

    It dawned on me that I needed to be patient with her or force the words out of her mouthy with tactics.

    ”It is what my dear, be brave. Have you forgotten the day we went out and confronted with the local masquerade who wanted to cane us and you used ogboju to outsmart him? Were you not the one that saved Carolina Igbo from the wrath of Professor Bedy, the randy lecturer. Bendy was our lecturer in the university. His real name was Gansul, but because of his lusty appetite for anything in skirt, we named him Prof. Bedy.

    Immediately I said this, her face lit up and what came out was like a killing stone.

    “It was Pastor Coconbilo…..”’ she started.

    “I am listening, what happened to him?”

    “ He … he….”

    “He did what. Is he dead? She o tikuni?”

    No answer again as she looked away shifting our eyeballs from meeting each other.

    “His he asking for more money or you want me to follow you again?”

    Not that I was ready to follow her really, but at this stage of her discomfort, I was ready to do anything to please her.

    “No, not more money. The man touched me…..”’

    “Touched you?

    “How”

    “He touched me…..”

    “Is it with anointing or what”?

    “He touched my breast…..” She burst out weeping again.

    “Don’t say it again”’

    “Let me say it”

    I hit my head in Papa Ajasco-like manner. I was confused and nothing but confusion. I have been watching Papa Ajasco for more than three decades, but it never dawned on me that his o- jigbi-jigbi act can one day be mimicked by me.

    “Then tell me everything, no matter how awful, how irritating or annoying. You know we are one and we will always be. Just calm down and tell me. I am your MuhammedAlli now”.

    She was happy and she opened the table water and drank some from it straight from the bottle.

    “ Coconbilo touched my breast and later made love to me………”

    I cut her short.

    “ He made love to whom”?

    “Me , of course!”

    I screamed in total disbelief. The screaming was so much that my housekeeper and the gardener ran inside.

    “ Alhaja, e pariwo gannanioo, kilode?

    “I am sorry for drawing your attention with my noise. You can go back to your duty, we were just talking about one of our classmates” I cooked up a story to let them go.

    “How did it happen? Just tell me everything without me asking you. I want total information. This will guide me on what to do and how to plan it. You hear me”?

    “Yes, I do”

    “Oya, go ahead”

    “It was during my third visit to him that he told me there is a way out. He told me not to tell my husband and that majority of those who go home with babies will not tell anybody the truth. What he always do is to make love to those women who are eager to get baby at all costs. He called me into his inner room for prayer and in the process, he touched my breasts; which I was opposed to.

    “I ran out of the room. But to my surprise, the second day, rather than leave and come back to my base. I went in to him for the prayer. He touched my breast again. The rest was that he slept with me…….”

    She started crying again. At this juncture, I was so enraged that I have no mercy for the  messenger and sender again. I was annoyed with Bukola for being too desperate to have a child at all cost and I was annoyed with that goat-like bearded man for taking advantage of an innocent lady.

    “You better finish the story on time before I lose my temper” I told her without any emotion.

    “That was how we started and continued for four times”

    “Four times? Ah !ah! You have ruined Nigeria!” I told her bluntly.

    “I don’t really know what came over me. Was it because I was desperate? Was I hypnotized? Was it that it came from a man I never know about? I am confused my friend. The bottomline is that my husband must never know and I feel like committing suicide ”

    “You are nothing but a big fool. You are the real fool they are talking about. Why did you wait until now to tell me? What if you have been used for another thing or the man fully turned you into his wife? Anyway, you would have given the Media enough headlines to sell their market”

    Turning to her “ clean your misty eye and let’s look for a way out. It can happen to anyone but you should try to be more careful next time”

    “Are you sure you have forgiven my foolish act? She asked pleadingly.

  • Costs impede agric competitiveness, says group

    High transportation costs are impacting on the competitiveness of the agricultural sector, the President, Federation of Agricultural Commodity Associations, Dr. Victor Iyama, has said.

    In an interview, he said many farmers were facing difficulties in moving their produce from the farm gate to the market.

    He said the impact of the fuel price hike had been significant, including a surge in commodity prices and high transportation costs.

    According to him, fuel prices were transmitted to produce prices via transportation costs.

    Fuel prices are significant in determining the difference between market and farm gate produce prices.

    According to him, there was need for intervention to reduce the cost of transport, adding that farmers faced problems which affected their  contributions to the economy and in creating more jobs.

    He urged the government to  create local transportation and distribution corridors.

    He said the implementation of private-public partnerships (PPPs) and joint ventures were critical in the sector and that farmers needed to be supported to produce on a large scale and feed the local manufacturing and processes sectors.

    Nigeria’s huge agricultural potential, he noted, holds the promise of covering much of the nutrition needs, but that the country is hampered by lack of infrastructure.

  • Wanting a child at all costs (3)

    THE party was over and time to go home. Nobody was in a hurry to go, even the clerics! You can’t come to our family party and want to leave in a hurry. What do you want that we don’t have? Just tell me and let’s look at it. But at last, nature forced all to disperse.
    Muda held my hand as we went to Alhaja’s flat to bid her good night.
    “So, you are following your husband home, you don’t even care to spend the night with me?” That was my mother in law.
    She was already in her night wear. It cannot really be called a night gown. It was more an apparel which she has chosen to be a night gown.
    “ Mama, e ma binu ma, I will try to come and spend few days with you. You know Muda is planning to travel to Abuja. It will be an opportunity for me to come and be your little baby again” I told her pleadingly.
    “ I know it is not your wish to go home but that of your husband,” Alhaja threw a punch
    “ Don’t mention my name o, when did I tell her to follow me home? Can’t she decide on her own?’ Muda said like a little child trying to shift blame on another child.
    “ Ko si purobileemu ( no problem). Just make sure you all go home straight. Don’t branch anywhere to greet anybody or buying ice cream at any eatery. It is a command” She said without looking at us.
    “ Yes ma” . We all chorused at the same time.
    We didn’t bother to go into other apartments as we went to the large family garage for our cars. I mounted my SUV while Bayo too did same.
    By the time we got home. We were too tired to even watch the late night news on Channels Televison. Muda told Sanyeri to inform the gate man to firmly lock the major entrance.
    We had a qiuck shower and slept off. It was at the wee hours of the next morning we sat down on the bed discussing about the events at the Wolimat ceremony. Who danced well and who did not. We mimicked some people and we later got up fully to prepare for the day.
    Like I told you that of all our friends, it was Bukola and I that were still looking for the fruit o the womb. Bukola was an Information analyst. We met at the university and we retained the friendship out of the institution. She is also close to me. Her husband is from Moba-land which is the most closest clan to Ilorin, my husband’s clan. My mother in-law saw in her a good daughter. And she also felt same to Alhaja Agba. The relationship was so close that Alhaja will not buy me a gift without buying for Bukola too.
    One day, I was in Alhaja Agba’s house when another friend of ours lecturing at the University of Ilorin came to inform me that Bukola refused to eat for two days because of her inability to have a child or do I say children?
    Alhaja overheard all the discussion because she was lying on the couch. Immediately, she ordered that we should not call her on the phone, but go to meet her straight before harming herself.
    We all went. Thank God for the wisdom of the elder. Thank God for obeying Alhaja. We would have forgotten about Bukoka by now.
    We met here and her husband and a few close relations of her. Jasper, her husband narrated how she refused to eat , her constant visits to spiritualists and all the tests showing both of them are medically fit to have children.
    To worsen her case, Bukola was at the Bar Beach a week earlier wanting to jump into the beach; that was why the husband said they should come to Ilorin where the two families can watch over her .
    Alhaja was blunt in her approach to her. Rather than begging and cajoling her as she used to do in the past, Alhaja did not and this is unusual because she calls her my daughter since she came to know her through me.
    “ Can you count the hair strands on your head? Did your coming to the world your parents doing? Do you have authority over your life? Does your husband or you have machine to make babies? You better tread softly in order not to end up in fraudster’s hand. You better sit right in order not to become a vegetable. You want to have stroke? Or high blood pressure? Eh eh eh? Talk to me now”
    Alhaja was not done with her . After scolding her, she moved to her and held her hand like a doctor feeling the purse of a patient.
    “ The world is changing and society is decaying today . In those days, nobody will think of committing suicide because of inability to have a child. We all know the importance of child bearing in our society. But the issue is that we are for each other. If one says you don’t have a child yet, let him or her come out to give you if she is God. Eni to bimo, omo lo maa sin, eni ti ko bimo, omo lo maa sin. Ewo laburo fe para e. It is God that provides children and we will all be buried by children when we die; biologically or not. And this is why a close-knit family is a plus to us Africans. The joint sharing attitude. I call you my daughter. That is why I am here. Do we need to wait for your biological mother to travel all the way from Ghana to console you? No, it is unAfrican. We are for each other.
    “ But come to think of it, how old are you? Who says you cannot still produce children?”. You children of nowadays… Infact, I don’t know what to say again.
    “Bring out her food and let me eat with her. Nobody should plead with her; except if she wants me to abandon my house for her own. And remember that I don’t eat foreign food. Do you have the bones to pound yam? Can you make tuwo to my taste? I dislike soft amala.
    “Common, wipe out those tears, they make me have malaria”.
    These were what Alhaja told her . She immediately ate. Everybody was amazed. Because nobody, I say nobody was able to console her before then.
    There is no doubt that we are both looking for children to call our own, but we all know that we are medically alright. I later told her to thread softly. Not that I don’t have my lowest period, when I think of such an issue, but I have learnt that whatever will be, will be.
    Bukola’s husband was one of most trusted men on earth. My husband is a man of his words, yet he is not up to Bukola’s husband when it comes to the grading of loyalty. What else does she want? My husband likes merriments. He likes mixing with his large family members. But in order to make Bukola happy, this man has dedicated all his attention to my friend; even when family, colleagues and friends mock him. I reminded her.
    We all went away. A week later, Bukola told me of a white garment Pastor who has a direct link with God Almighty.
    “My friend, I have good news for you? Bukola sounded very elated on phone.
    “Good news”?
    “Yes, capital YES oo.”
    “I am all ears.”
    “Promise me you will not tell anybody yet….”

  • On proposals for cutting costs in diplomatic service

    On proposals for cutting costs in diplomatic service

    I was saddened by the report in this newspaper last Friday about the deplorable state of the ‘Nigeria House’ in New York, as well as the poor condition of its staff. The report claimed that some of the diplomatic staff had not been paid for up to four months. While I was Ambassador at the UN (1981-84) I was involved in the early stages of the plans for the development of the property which was intended to bring the Nigerian Mission at the UN and our Consulate General in New York together under one roof, instead of two rented properties. The property was intended to save costs and was developed after I left New York in 1984. I have visited it a couple of times since then. It is a magnificent building of which Nigeria should be proud. But over the years I could see that lack of maintenance of the property has made it less alluring. Its neglect, like many other Nigerian diplomatic missions abroad, is due largely to lack of adequate funding, not really due to lack of funds. The following is an article by me, first published in my column in this paper in September, 2015, that sought to address the problem of inadequate funding for the Foreign Service. It is being published again unedited as I believe it addressed some of the critical problems of funding in the Nigerian diplomatic service.

    One of the main challenges facing President Muhammadu Buhari is the urgent need to reduce the overall cost of public administration in the country. This has soared over the years. There is a national consensus that the bureaucracy at all levels of government has become too large, and that a reduction in its size and cost has become imperative. The current sharp decline in oil revenues, which have fallen this year alone by over 60 per cent, leaves the governments of the federation with no other choice but to begin to think seriously about how these much needed cuts in the cost of public administration can be achieved. President Buhari is well aware of this challenge and has alluded to it publicly several times. But he has not yet taken any practical or concrete steps to address this lingering problem. It is a difficult and painful task which requires great care and circumspection particularly at a time of mass unemployment. It will adversely affect the diplomatic service as well.

    There were recent media reports that while being briefed by the Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Lulu, President Buhari expressed his concerns about the large number of Nigeria’s diplomatic missions abroad, and the huge number of its overall diplomatic staff. Ambassador Lulu told the press that the President informed him that he intended doing something to reduce the number of our foreign missions. It is also possible that the overall staffing of the Foreign Ministry itself will form part of the review being proposed. But so far he has done nothing about this.

    There is no doubt that the number of Nigerian diplomatic missions abroad has increased significantly in recent years. At independendence in 1960 Nigeria had less than a dozen diplomatic missions, mainly in Africa and Western Europe. In 1964, when I entered the diplomatic service this increased to about 25, largely in response to the need to have diplomatic representation particularly in the newly independent African countries. By 1976 the number of our diplomatic missions increased to 65. The civil war had ended and the need was felt for more missions to be opened abroad. From 1970 to 1976, over 100 new Foreign Service Officers (FSO) were recruited to staff both the expanded Foreign Ministry and the new diplomatic missions abroad. The surge in oil revenues made the increase in the number of missions and diplomatic staff possible and sustainable.

    Today, we have 119 diplomatic missions abroad and it is becoming increasingly clear that, in our present dire financial situation, it is going to be financially difficult to sustain such a large number of diplomatic missions and staff. In 1964, the overall cost of our total diplomatic establishment, at home and abroad, was only 33 million pounds sterling. Since then, the cost of running both the MFA and our diplomatic missions has continued to rise inexorably. According to an official document issued by the MFA in 2012, by 2006, total MFA budget appropriation was N25.2b, of which over N20.2b, or 81 per cent, was spent on running our foreign missions. In 2011, budget appropriation for the MFA had increased to over N40b, with our foreign missions still accounting for over 81 per cent of the overall cost. This is where the major operating cost of the MFA is incurred. Average annual personnel cost of the MFA is less than N4b. Huge as these figures may appear to be, they account for an average of only 1 per cent of the total federal budget. In fact, it was only in 2007 that budgetary allocations to the Foreign Service reached 1.34 per cent of the budget of the federal government.

    Two issues arise from this analysis. First, is the state spending more on its foreign representation than other public agencies? Relative to other agencies of the federal government, can we really say that the cost of running the Foreign Service, with its enormous global responsibilities, is too much? It is by no means clear that is the case, except that most of the cost incurred in running the Foreign Service and our diplomatic missions abroad is in foreign currencies. It is this that leads the public and the government to demand a reduction in appropriations to the MFA. For example defence and national security take an average of 15 per cent of the budget annually, education about 7 per cent, home administration over 12 per cent. So, in real and comparative terms, the overall cost to the nation of its Foreign Service is not as high as it seems. The second issue regarding costs is where the cuts, if necessary, are to be made. Is it in the cost of personnel or the number and size of our diplomatic missions abroad? I raise these questions because previous efforts to cut the cost of running the Foreign Service have on the whole focused on the senior staff of the MFA rather than on the large number of our foreign missions which account for over 80 per cent of the overall cost of running the Foreign Service. As a matter of fact in 1976 and 1984 when there were purges in the Foreign Service, more diplomatic missions were opened after. This showed that the purges were political and not motivated by any demonstrable need for cost reduction. Only a few years ago, a new diplomatic mission was opened in Juba, South Sudan, and our embassies in Caracas, Belgrade, the Vatican and Prague, which had been previously closed, were all reopened. Even the MFA complained officially about these inconsistencies in the manner our missions are opened, only to be closed later for lack of funding.

    The fact of the matter, often ignored by the government and the public, is that some of Nigeria’s diplomatic missions were opened to accommodate failed politicians and political hacks who demand diplomatic postings as compensation from the government. And non-career ambassadors cost more to maintain than career ambassadors. Of Nigeria’s 119 diplomatic missions, about 60 have non-career ambassadors. But only a handful of these can be said to have what it takes to be a good ambassador. Many of them go abroad to serve themselves and not the nation. A few years ago when I visited Argentina and called on our embassy in Buenos Aires, I met a junior staff there who told me the political Ambassador had been absent from his post for over six months. Again when I served in Ankara, Turkey, in 1975, with concurrent accreditation to Iran, I could not understand the reason for our having a diplomatic mission in Ankara at the time. Subsequently, I learnt that the two missions were opened to accommodate Brigadier Kurubo, a former head of the Air Force. When I went to Teheran to present my letters, I discovered that Kurubo was not even known in the Foreign Ministry. Our Mission in Teheran was being run by a junior attaché who had not been paid for six months. I duly recommended that one of the two embassies be closed as our residual interest there in those days did not warrant us opening full-fledged embassies there. In fact, in disgust, I requested a posting back to Lagos after only a year in Ankara.

    Many critics of our foreign representation have pointed out to the lack of resources in running our missions abroad. This is, in fact, the critical issue. For lack of funds most of our missions cannot be run properly and professionally. The Foreign Service is costly and cannot be run on shoe strings as is the case now. For instance, total MFA budget in 2009 was only US$306 million. That year, South Africa’s budget for its Foreign Ministry was US $702 million, nearly twice that of Nigeria. In 2010, while Nigeria’s Foreign Service budget fell to $232 million, South Africa’s was US$634. In 2012 our MFA budget was only US$317 million, while that of South Africa was US$720 million. Yet, South Africa’s GDP is only a third of Nigeria’s. As acknowledged by the MFA publication of 2012 , ‘Our diplomatic missions continue to suffer needless and painful embarrassments arising from  disconnection of utility services, ejection of staff from rented apartments, ejection of children from schools for failure to pay school fees and arrears of salaries of the diplomatic and other staff’. In 1989, after verification, the federal government settled an accumulated debt of $100m in our diplomatic missions. In 2005 a similar exercise took place with the missions being bailed out again. From the huge financial scandal of the Jonathan federal PDP government in which over $20b was simply diverted to private pockets, can we seriously say that our country cannot afford to run a decent and well funded diplomatic service? The MFA was not involved in any of these financial scandals. Less well endowed African countries fund their diplomatic missions better than ours.

    It is up to the government to determine how many diplomatic missions our country should have. A preponderant number of these diplomatic missions are in Africa, our primary area of strategic and political interest. It will be difficult to close any of them. The number and size of our diplomatic missions should reflect the government’s foreign policy objectives and strategies. Nigeria’s global responsibilities and obligations have continued to increase. Yet, in our present challenging financial situation, with oil revenue falling steadily, and the  GDP growth rate projected to decline this year to roughly 2.5 per cent, it is obvious that something concrete and urgent must be done to reduce the cost of governance. As far as MFA is concerned it is now inevitable, though regrettable, that the number of our foreign missions could be reduced. But it is going to be a difficult exercise. We have over 125 foreign diplomatic missions in Abuja. Exchange of embassies and ambassadors is reciprocal. Foreign countries from which we withdraw our embassies will not take kindly to it. They will almost certainly retaliate by closing their own diplomatic missions here too. The idea of ‘smart’ embassies proposed by the Foreign Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, is useful. It involves running the embassies with fewer staff. But this will not lead to much savings. Instead, it will create many more inefficient Nigerian embassies abroad.

      In conclusion, I have to say that we need to consider the fact that the total expenditure of the 125 foreign diplomatic missions in Nigeria is probably higher than the total cost of running our 119 missions abroad. In other words, the total cost of running our missions abroad is far less than what foreign diplomatic missions spend in Nigeria. That should be food for thought.

  • Power accounts for 60% of costs, says UACN chief

    Managing Director, Gossy Natural Spring Water, a subsidiary of UACN, Mrs. Folake Oshinyemi has decried the huge cost electricity takes in the total cost of operation of manufacturers.

    She lamented that the firm spends between 40 and 60 per cent of its total costs on power generation, noting that it has impacted on the cost of the finished products.

    She said: “It’s ridiculous that the government wants us to pay for what we cannot claim to have used in a whole year. In the last one year, we have generated our own power in our factory in Ikogosi, Ekiti State.”

    Oshinyemi, who spoke to The Nation, regretted that Nigerians have been compelled to become a mini-local government as they now provide all their infrastruc-tural needs, such as roads, water, electricity and others.

    “Here, we generate our power, tar our roads and are made to pay taxes and levies; now they are increasing tariffs for power that is not supplied to us. The government should, therefore, ensure that the electricity distribution companies (DisCos) and the generation companies (GenCos) are effectively supported to ensure adequate power supply,” she added.

    On the effect of the foreign exchange policy, she said: “The forex policy has deeply affected our operations, but the truth is that as a nation, we badly managed our economy and our natural resources, especially oil. As we all know, the components of Gossy bottled water and the sachet water are all by-products of petrochemical products.

    “Unfortunately, we import resins which are a by-product of the petrochemical industry and whenever the cost of dollar is up, it affects us as manufacturers. Everything we use, apart from the water itself is imported, a serious country desirous of growing her economy cannot continue like this.

    “We are made to pay all manner of taxes; we pay company income tax, education tax, including withholding tax. In addition we are made to pay VAT (value added tax) on the materials that we use in making the water. In our local community where we function, our company is made to pay environmental premises levy.