The Nation Newspaper

Tag: economic

  • Enugu’s quest for economic diversification

    It is public knowledge that agriculture was the mainstay of the country’s economy before the discovery of oil in Nigeria. Since the discovery of oil, Nigerians and successive governments played down agricultural activities to the detriment of the nation’s economy.

    It is shameful that a country like Malaysia touted to have taken palm-nuts from Nigeria so many years ago is today the world’s major producer of palm oil. For several years of oil boom, Nigerians over-depended on imported food items to survive, with little or no manufactured exports in return. Also government’s policies on imported food items were neither here nor there, considering that it was never protective and supportive of local production.

    Successive governments at all levels had consistently paid lip service to diversification of the country’s economy before now.  They usually rush to Abuja on monthly basis to collect handouts called monthly federation allocation. This was the practice in government’s circle and corridors of power since the discovery of oil in the Niger-Delta region until recently when the global price of crude oil suddenly crashed.

    With the unprecedented crash and the renewed militancy in the Niger-Delta, the country’s economy is in dire straits. The only way to revive and sustain the economy is through diversification into agriculture and other sectors. If there is any appropriate time for our leaders to put on their thinking caps, it is now.

    So far, only a few states are taking concrete steps to diversify their states’ economy in line with the federal government’s economic diversification agenda. Enugu State is one, not just through policy statement, but by implementing policies and actions that will sustain the agenda. Its first step to demonstrate a commitment in that direction was during its International Investment Summit which held from April 12-14.

    At the summit, agricultural processing was one of the major identified 10 key sectors that the governor, IfeanyiUgwuanyi presented to the investors.    The agri-business players and investors at the summit were presented with the ample opportunity to explore options at developing the agricultural sector in the state through Public Private Partnerships, as well as privatisation and commercialization of government agriculture enterprises.  The summit and its major theme were indicative of the importance the state government attaches to revival and development of agriculture in the state. The plenary, held under the theme; Agribusiness as a Viable Business Platform, had in attendance international investors, agribusiness players, exporters and players from within and outside the shores of Nigeria. Speakers commended the government’s effort, embraced the agricultural potentials of the state and expressed readiness to partner with the government in developing the sector.

    The governor made it clear that his government was seeking to commercialise agriculture in the state as part of its development plan for the sector.  It was discovered that major crops that are viable in the state which offered potentials for investment and commercialisation include; palm oil, rice, cassava, cashew, vegetable fruits, and livestock production.

    Subsequent to the summit, the governor has apportioned 750 hectares of arable land across the state for commercial agriculture. The communities that benefitted include Ogbeke – 50 hectares, Oduma–50 hectares, Ogulogu– 100 hectares, Akpugo-Eze – 50, Owo– 50 hectares and Nnewe–100 hectares.

    Others are Ikem – 50 hectares, Agkuibeje –50 hectares, Oghu–50 hectares, EhaAmufu –100 hectares, Obimo– 50 hectares and Amangunze –50 hectares.

    Contractors have commenced work diligently to clear the lands, after which the land would be segmented into three-hectare plots for allocation to youths and women to undertake commercial agriculture in the state.

    In addition, the government has packaged soft loan for the would-be-beneficiaries of the programme, and purchased 20 tractors with complete sets of implements for each of the tractors at the total cost of N175.3 million.

    The tractors are to be given to young agricultural/engineering graduates to render tractor-hiring services to farmers, especially those farmers at the arable planting areas where commercial agriculture is being practiced, on a cost recovery basis for sustainability. The beneficiaries will be required to pay back the subsidised cost of the tractors and its implements over a period of six years.

    To ensure that the farm produce from these earmarked farms could be easily transported to the urban areas for sale, the state government constructed some major roads leading to these farms and other rural areas. This can be seen in the ongoing dualisation of Opi/Nsukka road, Achalla road, Orba road and other roads in Enugu North zone.  It is of note that the zone, which is made up of 80 percent agrarian communities has the agricultural and human potentials of feeding the South-east zone and beyond if given the necessary support.

    But unfortunately, these potentials have not been harnessed by successive governments in the state and national levels due to poor agricultural policies, high revenue from crude oil, resulting in neglect of the zone for too long. With the crash in crude oil price and governments anxiety to diversify the economy by reviving the agriculture, Enugu State government may have taken the lead by its concrete plan and efforts so far.

    The governor’s focus and pragmatic policies in that direction has not deterred or prevented government from attending to other state obligations like road construction, payment of workers’ salaries among others. Obviously, the Ugwuanyi administration understands the potentials of huge investment in the agricultural sector.   With that foundation, it should not be surprising if, in the years ahead, the state competes favourably with states like Benue, Nassarawa and Taraba in food production.

    Instead of relying solely on the month federation allocation to run the state as has always been the case, governors should take a cue from what their Enugu counterpart has done so far in the area of agriculture. Every state in the country is blessed with vast arable lands that have been left unused and unattended because of the availability of the crude oil proceeds. The advantage of what Enugu government is doing in the agricultural sector is that even if crude oil price rebounds in future, the state will have enough funds to develop other sectors of the economy.

     

    • Ugwuoda, a development expert wrote from Agani, Enugu State.

  • ‘Decentralisation key to economic recovery’

    The School of Management and Business Studies of the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) has held its 5th International Conference with the theme: Globalisation: The lesson Nigeria can learn from China’s success in global market.

    The lead speaker, Dr Austin Nweze of Pan-Atlantic University, urged the Federal Government to decentralise the economy to give the nation a hope for recovery.

    He said:  “If we have to learn from China, we must build the nation afresh and design good policies that will enhance industrialisation. To achieve this, a cluster of industries should be built around the community; we should not only diversify the economy, but decentralised the economy. You don’t have to come to Lagos before you engage in business, but you can establish your business anywhere in the country. Our education system also needs to be restructured before we can achieve China’s type of economic upswing.”

    LASPOTECH Rector, Mr Samuel Sogunro, said the important lesson to learn from China’s approach that yielded success was reforms carried out by institutions. He said Nigeria needed to identify key institutions that could boost the economy.

    Sogunro said: “The important lesson to draw from this approach to effect needed change is institutional reform. This requires that we first get them tested in a particular sector, rather than forcing it on the nation without measuring its capability for economic recovery.”

  • Housing ‘hit by economic realities’

    The real estate sector has been badly hit by current economic realities as several houses have been built without tenants to rent them. Tenants, who were meeting their rental obligations have resorted to either moving out of their apartments or defaulting in payment.

    Two experts, who spoke in Lagos at the weekend lamented that the downturn in the economy has taken its toll on the sector.

    A former President of the Nigeria Institution of Estate Surveyors & Valuers (NIESV), Mr. Bode Adediji and Vice Chairman, NIESV Lagos Branch, Mr. Orimalade Olurogba said the sector is facing hard times. They are, however, optimistic that the real estate market would witness a rebound.

    Mr. Adediji stressed the need to imbibe change in all aspects of governance to achieve inclusive growth.

    He said: “Landlords have exotic houses, but with no effective demand from tenants; with the series of retrenchments in the banking, oil and information technology (IT) sectors, which were the toast of landlords as tenants, landlords have become the first casualties with high rental defaults.”

    The former NIESV chief criticised the nation’s housing policy model, maintaining that it is unsustainable.

    He urged the government to embrace backward integration in such a way that local raw materials are used to produce made-in-Nigeria houses. He frowned at a situation where houses are built with little or no local content thereby growing other economies at the detriment of the local economy.

    He said government should take a second look at the numerous researches made by research institutions which could improve the housing sector.

    According to him, as a result of lack of patronage of locally available building materials, the number of housing gap, which at the last count was 17 million units, increased at the detriment of the low and  middle class. He sought a policy that will encourage government to patronise locally fabricated building materials to serve as example for the public. He noted that it would be hypocritical for the government to preach “buy made-in -Nigeria goods’ when it is not showing the way.

    Mr. Olurogba said 80 per cent of all properties under his management now had defaulting tenants who were previously meeting their obligations. He lamented that some sectors, including oil and gas that were hitherto known to offer job security has been the worst hit by the downturn.

    He said: “What is most worrisome about it is that the sectors, which were termed to be secure, such as the oil and gas industry, are now the jobs that are most insecure.

    “A lot of people are being retrenched; the high end or the upper middle class people working in oil companies and who live Victoria Garden City and Lekki Phase 1 and other areas whose rentals are up to N4million and above are struggling.

    “Some are even moving to cheaper accommodation; the ‘ideal and choice tenants’ that most landlords look forward to occupying their properties are currently defaulting because of the uncertainties in the economy.”

  • NLC plans home-grown economic strategies

    NLC plans home-grown economic strategies

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is to engage the service of some of the best economists in the country to develop home grown economic policies that will lead to the economic development of the country rather than rely on such policies from the World Bank and the IMF.

    The President of the Congress, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, who spoke in Abuja, said developed countries, such as Singapore, were able to move from the fourth world to the first world because they were able to come up with home-grown policies to drive their economy.

    Wabba said one of the major problem confronting third world countries today is the over reliance on the neo-liberal policies from the Brenton Wood Institutes, pointing out that the consequences of such policies can be seen in Argentina and other countries.

    He announced that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which is an affiliate of the NLC, has agreed to give the congress ten of the best economists  to engage policy issues and come up with policy options.

    He said: “At the centre of our problem is also policy issues, one of which is our over reliance on the Brenton Wood institutes where the neo-liberal policies which our founding fathers have fought are resurfacing. We see in France our counterparts there on the streets because neo-liberal policies don’t know race or countries.

    “They are on the streets because the interest of the workers in France is being undermined through legislation. Therefore, we must continue to be vigilant, especially in issues of policies because anytime IMF and World Bank come calling, they come to say, implement our policies. Where has these policies taken us?

    “Can we in quick succession forget the consequences of SAP? SAP came to devalue our Naira and that was the first time devaluation took place in Nigeria. I think what we need as a change is good leadership. Thank God we have a leadership now that is focused.

    “What we need is also policy engagement. We need policies that are not proscribed by external forces. We need to have a team of Economist that should be able to work through what we need as a country outside the prescription of the World Bank and IMF and work through the policies.

    “I am sure that Nigerians will be ready to follow and even make sacrifices. Not a situation where IMF will come and say remove all subsidies and devalue our currency. No countries in the world have survived with those prescriptions.

    “Even the Singapore we are talking about today, they were able to look at their I house challenges, come up with workable solution and with good leadership, they were able to achieve. The same applies with countries that have excelled. We have seen the consequences of IMF prescription on Argentina and other countries.

    “No country in Africa today is stable either economically, socially because of insecurity  and many other crisis and they will use any means to try and destabilize those countries.

    “From East Africa to North Africa and even to where we are in Nigeria today, where does our youths get arms to engage the government and engage all of us? We must realize this theory that is being imposed. Nobody has monopoly of ideas. Ideas can be shared and it can come from the people. That is what labour is doing is doing.

    “I want to inform all of us that we are going to do engagement in two fronts. ASUU, as an affiliate of NLC has agreed to give us the ten best Economists to engage policy issues and come up with policy options.

    “We must also support the action of workers. That is why it is important for TUC and NLC to champion the fight against corruption and good governance. From the information we have, part of the problem we have had is because of corruption. Therefore, it will take all of us working together to be able to change those policy issues.

  • ‘MSMEs are vital tools for economic transformation’

    ‘MSMEs are vital tools for economic transformation’

    Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Rotimi Ogunleye, in this interview with Group Business Editor SIMEON EBULU,  argues for the positioning of the Medium Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) considering their strategic roles in economic growth. This, Ogunleye said, was why the government held a trade fair to showcase MSMEs’potential.  

    Earlier this month, the Medium Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) fair was held in Lagos. How important was this fair for the MSMEs sub-sector of the economy?

    The importance and rationale for the fair was to give the MSME platform the opportunity to exhibit their goods; this is to help open up opportunities for the sub-sector, and invariably help eliminate the issue of a mono product economy that we have. We have come to realise that Nigerian economy has to be diversified. Because of my experience and many years of study, I know that MSME sub-sector is a vital tool for economic transformation and development. So, we came up with this idea that the MSME should be given a platform to display their goods so that people could see them and by that, they could be assured of patronage. In Lagos alone, we have over three million MSMEs. Governor Akinwunmi Ambode gave us the approval to go ahead and we decided to hold the fair for them between May 3 and 8, this year, to display what they are producing.

    Can you say that you have achieved your objective of organising the fair?

    Many of the operators in the sub-sector were happy that the fair held; over 125 people came to participate in the fair to exhibit their products. If not for the space, they would have been more than that and we could have recorded thousands of them at the fair. That is why our governor said that the second edition should be done in a bigger space. The patronage and the response was very encouraging and it shows that operators in this sub-sector were waiting for the opportunity to expose their goods to the public. One thing about this event is that we really partnered with some private sector operators such as the online e-commerce operators, who gave incentive to the SMEs by listing their products on their e-mall platform. This means that, we have achieved what we set out to achieve from the fair.

    The visibility of operators and their accessibility to the market matters a lot, including patronage. Quite a lot of them told us during the fair about the benefits they got in terms of visibility from the people that came to the fair. This is because many of them did not know before that one could produce good soap from carrot that one could bath with. They did not also know that one could recycle used sachet water nylon into very good nylon bag that could be used as containers. They all saw those things at the fair and they were very happy.

    How much was paid by participants to  showcase their products at the fair?

    We did not charge any amount. It was free. Many people came at the latter end of the fair. The ministry is meant to assist them to access market and draw patronage from people. So, if the fair is able to do these for them, it will boost their business and make them to sell their product. Many of them made a lot of contacts for sale and supply of goods. I am sure, with this, they will produce more and get market accessibility so that they could employ more hands. That is our aim and that is why we did not charge participants any money for putting up a stand at the exhibition ground.

    When will the next edition hold?

    The next one will come towards the last quarter of this year. From the response we got from this first one and the calls we received, we have seen that many people are really interested in the fair. People were happy that we came up with this viable option. We expect greater participation in the next one coming up later this year.

    A lot of business deals were done and that is what we set out to achieve. By this, many of our countrymen will be able to patronise many of locally produced goods. This will, in effect, lead to reduction of our import dependent attitude because our tilt towards foreign goods and foreign items has been the bane of this economy. This has subjected our currency, the naira, to a lot of downward pressure, thereby making it to fall ceaselessly against the dollar. If we look inwards and embrace backward integration by using our locally made goods, this pressure could be reduced drastically. Also by patronising the SME operators, they will be able to produce for exports and this will lead to a win-win situation for the country.

    What are the policies being put in place by your ministry to assist the SMEs that participated in the fair?

    I have told you about the platform provided by Konga-the e-commerce operator that listed them on its platform. This is to make it possible for any interested party to see their products and make order. From us in government, we have incentives for the operators such as the N25 billion soft loan facility packaged to assist the SMEs. Out of this, N6.25 billion will be put in the care of the board of trustees yearly for the SMEs to access at three per cent interest rate, and it is the cheapest you can get anywhere.

    We have also spoken to a number of financial institutions for conventional bank loans. They have their own excuses because they have the minimum rediscount rate (now monetary policy rate) at 11 per cent. They will add their own margin which does not allow them to come below the MPR rate. But we have also spoken with the Bank of Industry (BoI) because they have five per cent interest rate which we have encouraged the SMEs to look out for. Incidentally, BOI was also at the seminar to display their products. Their forms were available and they attended to people at the fair. I equally know that at the level of CBN, there is a pool of fund for the SMEs. Conventional banks should look at this in conjunction with the CBN so that we give loans to the SMEs at a lower rate. We should not use the market rate for the SMEs because if we want to grow the economy and diversify it, we must develop the SME. The fair done by the Lagos State has shown clearly that the Nigerian creative spirit is high. Our people have the creative ability to produce most goods locally. The skill could be low because of lack of fund. This could have enabled them to produce on a larger scale. Financial institutions should assist the SMEs.

    I was reading a story recently that there was SME intervention fund in CBN that was grossly under-utilised. Why should that be when we have a lot of SMEs looking for funds to develop products? If we want to assist the SME, we must make sure that interest rate on their loans is not more than five per cent. That is why Lagos State has used the benchmark of three per cent interest rate for the SMEs and I believe that appropriate policy should be put in place to allow interest rate come down for the SMEs like what is being done by the Lagos State government. Gone are the days when people used to say that SMEs will only collect money to marry wives. Now, that mindset should be dismissed and we should do away with that prejudices. SME operators are serious minded people and they have shown that at the last Lagos fair.

  • Amosun: economic challenge temporary sacrifice

    Amosun: economic challenge temporary sacrifice

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun has advised Nigerians to see the biting economic challenge as a temporary sacrifice required to “fast-track national” growth.

    The governor, who made this known in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, in his speech to mark this year’s Democracy Day, said the event was an avenue for Nigerians to once again, reminisce on the past, the present and also take stock of their stewardship.

    According to him, the stock-taking would help Ogun State and the country to map out new and better strategies for the future.

    Amosun urged the people to be steadfast in the resolve to move both the state and the country forward amid challenges of dwindling revenue and increasing needs of the citizens.

    “We must remain unwavering in our resolve to move Ogun State forward in the face of all challenges, most especially as the effect of the dwindling allocation from the Federation Account has continued to bite harder.

    “It is also important that we realise that whatever the inconvenience we go through now, in the course of fast- tracking our national development and the fulfillment of the “Mission to Rebuild” our dear state, is just temporary.

    “We must, therefore, continue to give support to the Federal Government ably led by President Muhammadu Buhari at the centre, as he has promised to walk his talk and together we can make our country great again,” he said.

    The governor noted the invaluable contributions of the state’s workforce, whom he said, have been reliable and supportive of his administration in the past five years.

    Acknowledging that more growth has taken place since he began the second term of his administration, Amosun said his first tenure was a display of a dogged determination and commitment to rebuild the state.

    He said his administration has continued to sustain the drive to attract investors, adding that about 100 industries have berthed in the state.

  • Ending price fixing, the making of economic sense

    Ending price fixing, the making of economic sense

    All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu examines the relationship between putting an end to price fixing and economic sense

    To construct the right building sometimes means we have to tear down the wrong one  standing in our way. Our economic development hinges in equal measure on saying good bye to debilitating and corrupted old practices as it does on embracing efficient, wealth creating new ones.

    As political progressives, we are anchored by a healthy and strong regard for the positive role government must assume in ensuring fair play and the just allocation of wealth and benefits within our political economy. We understand that the so called free market is not always fair.  This is the major reason that we advocate  a comprehensive policy of economic development projects coupled with social programs. These development projects will build the infrastructure and create jobs that were beyond the ability and rationale of our private sector to do. The social programs will bring succor to those the dynamics of the free market would have otherwise left behind.

    Yet, as progressives we must be pragmatic and not allow ourselves to become blinded by or render ourselves subservient to ideological bias. Ideology is meant to serve us, not us to serve it.  As such, we must recognize that there are certain things the workings of the market perform better over the longer arc of time than government may perform. Establishing the most efficient price for what is essentially an economic commodity is one such thing better left to the interplay of supply and demand. While short-term exigencies may at times call for government action to stabilize markets and prices, government’s long-term determination of such economic prices, although initiated with the finest intentions, often contorts into something ugly and callous. It tends to transmute into corruption, waste and distorted pricing signals that cost the economy more than they benefit the people.

    Against this background, we must assess the recent decision to allow the workings of supply and demand to determine the price of fuel. Most of us have called this process one of deregulation.  This is an inaccuracy that should be promptly corrected. This decision should end arbitrary government price fixing. By ending this price fixing, government regulation of this market will not be eliminated. It will simply change from its emphasis on maintaining a subsidized price to ensuring that the market remains free and devoid of collusion so that sufficient supply is available at a defensible and affordable albeit higher than subsidy price. Government must still monitor this market to ensure against unjust enrichment that comes from attempts at price fixing.

    Understandably the new pricing decision elicited mixed reactions from a cross section of Nigerians. This is understandable in view of the fact that the fuel subsidy had been with us for such a long period that it seemed integral to our political and economic life. However, we should not lament the departure of something just because of its longevity particularly when that very policy had ceased to serve us long ago.

    The decision to end the subsidy was hard but it was also inevitable. It had distorted into a system where wrongdoers benefited at the expense of the innocent. The bogus supplier was paid for supplying nothing while you sweated in long lines for fuel that was never there.  The smuggler secreted fuel across the border while our economy crossed the border into fuel scarcity. As the price stayed fixed at a low level, investors were apprehensive about fixing existing or building new refineries. Our petrochemical industry remained unfertilized because potential investors could not decipher how they could make a decent return under such a pricing regime. Because of these imbalances, we were forced to export hard currency and many jobs to purchase fuel and other products abroad.

    While the price of fuel was cheap in paper, these were the hidden costs that made the subsidy regime an expensive and heavy yoke the nation could ill continue. With dwindling revenue from oil due to the slump in global oil prices and a dwindling forex reserve, the country could no longer live in denial.

    President Buhari after carefully weighing the options decided to do what is right. In an act of courage he removed the oil subsidy thereby freeing the downstream component of this strategic sector of the economy from the distortions of price fixing.

    However, this decision was not to be a step toward conservative austerity as practiced by the former government. That government simply wanted to end the program that they may prove obedient to neoliberal economic doctrines. They offered no programs of valid compensation to the people. Instead, they instigated a policy of monumental fraud known as Sure-P. However, the only thing sure about it was that its architects would siphon the public’s funds to fatten their own wallets. They wanted to save money (for themselves) yet expend the people for no good reason at all.

    The Buhari government took a vastly different approach. Given the inefficiencies inherent in the pricing regime, this administration asked the fundamental question: could this money be better spent to help the most vulnerable of our people. For it was also recognized that the pricing regime was a regressive feature. Its benefit went disproportionately to the well off who needed no such help. Better to use the sums to more directly and exclusively assist poor and working class Nigerians.

    Thus, President Buhari followed through with a 500 billon fund to support a social safety program and empower the poor and needy. Five million School children will be fed for 200 days. Other plans of funding social infrastructure, education, transportation, health and other critical areas needing attention. What the President did is about the future of our country and that of the next generation.

    With regard to our petroleum sector, The President’s decision constitutes a major step toward removing the nightmare of fuel importation and its attendant hardships especially to our foreign reserve condition. It was the right choice to make. The club of fuel importers had become a parasite and a drain on our economy. With this decision the exploitation by marketers, the unchecked smuggling, mismanagement, lost of productive man hours with people waiting in fuel queues, traffic congestion and health hazards associated with black market and other desperate practices will steadily pass away.

    For almost 3 decades we have entertained distortions in the downstream sector by operating an opaque system susceptible to manipulation and structured in a way that allowed a few people to gain mightily from the system and feed fat on the misery and frustration of millions of Nigerians.

    The oil sector became unattractive to both local and foreign investors.  Government price pricing was a disincentive.  Our oil refineries became epileptic and later comatose. But now investment in the sector will open to all. Instead of fighting this measure,  opposing segments of organized labor should consider collective investment in refineries.  Such investment will enrich membership and give them a direct interest in the success of refineries crucial to our national growth.

    As it now stands, while we were paying on the front end a low price for fuel when it could be gotten, we were being asked to pay too high a price in hidden and indirect  costs for such malpractice to continue. Not every cost is defined by what comes out of your pocket. There are times when the greatest cost is the failure to receive a benefit otherwise due.

    It is time to come to grips with the hard facts of the price fixing. It cuts and bleeds the economy in ways more numerous and deeper than those it heals.

    Moreover, there are vastly better ways to spend the same money and materially improve the wellbeing of millions of our people. This government did not withdraw the subsidy in order to save them but spend the people. It is transferring the funds to better spend them and better save the people.

    Nothing in this world is perfect but this decision is a just and correct one aimed at bolstering the economy while better caring for those the system has unfairly treated. I can find little fault in the new policy taken and the reasons for it. When all is placed in the balance, the scales now better tip in favor of better economy and future because of the decision so wisely made.

  • CITN’s annual tax confab to focus on economic devt

    CITN’s annual tax confab to focus on economic devt

    The President/Chairman of Council, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), Dr. Olateju Somorin has said this year’s institute’s annual tax conference will focus on ways of growing the economy and maintaining effective fiscal policy.

    Speaking ahead of the conference holding in Abuja next week with the theme: “Fiscal Challenges and opportunities of the Nigerian Economy,” Somorin said Nigeria’s economic activity had always been concentrated in the oil and gas sector.

    She said the uncertainties about the oil price looming very large on the global scene is translating to a daunting fiscal challenge for the government.

    She said the manufacturing sub-sectors have not been spared as they have not been capable of meeting local demand or compete on the global export market, having been weakened by the rising scarcity of the forex, the absence of domestic cargo rail transportation in particular and disruptions in energy supply in general.

    “Having considered all these challenges, it became imperatively clear that there is need for the Institute to use the platform of the 18th Annual Tax Conference to address and attempt to proffer empirical solutions to these challenges,” she said.

    She said Nigeria has grown to a level that it does not need to wait for any organisation or country to assist in solving its fiscal and monetary challenges.

    “Doing this would not only amount to exposing our government as a weakling with no direction, but would impact negatively on the country and the people. We align with President Mohammadu Buhari when he said his administration will enforce greater fiscal discipline, probity and accountability in all revenue generating agencies of the Federal Government, adding that government would take deliberate steps to enforce regulations that would stop financial leakages in generating more revenue to mitigate the effect of dwindling oil prices on the Nigerian economy,” she said.

  • Don charts route to economic progress

    Head of Economics Department, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof Ndubisi Nwokoma, has advised the government to relinquish some control and give room to private sector to allow the economy to grow.

    He spoke during the UNILAG Chapter of the Nigerian Economics Students’ Association’s (NESA’s) economic discourse at the Julius Berger auditorium.

    Speaking on the theme: Unleashing the true potential of Nigerian economy, Nwokoma lamented the  policy frame work of the Federal Government, tagging it “a kind of command and control structure which fixes prices for what it has no control of,” which he said was wrong.

    He said: “The policy of foreign exchange is not to defend the Naira as a flag, rather, to look at what the market can sustain.”

    Nwokoma also said the continuing fuel scarcity was a result of government’s inability to allow the country to follow basic economic principles.

    “The government cannot do everything. It needs to monitor the commodity, allow the private sector to come to play and let people carry out their own economic activities. Government should allow the private sector to come into play for the country to move forward.  Developing countries that have done well did so through the private sector. Government should not stagnate the economy by trying to control the price of everything, but should follow basic principles and there will be a difference,” he said.

    Managing Director of Peer Grid Solutions Limited, Mr Osuagwu Ezeukwu, noted that the government must commit to the development of human resource to unleash Nigeria’s true potential.

    He urged the government to focus more on human capital development, noting that lack of it was responsible for more foreigners coming to Nigeria at the detriment of Nigerians.

  • Nigeria’s problems temporary, says Osinbajo

    Nigeria’s problems temporary, says Osinbajo

    Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Saturday restated the resolve of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to instituting a new culture of probity and accountability in governance.

    He declared that it is now a new day in Aso Rock.

    Osinbajo spoke at The Platform, a public engagement forum organized by the Covenant Church led by Pastor Poju Oyemade.

    The theme was ‘What do we have in our hands, tapping into dead capital’.

    The Vice President, in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, said: “Nearly a year on, there are many problems and many have asked where is the change? Is this the change we voted for? Even some fifth columnists in our midst have suggested bring back corruption.

    “The government of President Muhammadu Buhari is completely and irrevocably committed to change.

    “We believe that though it may not be easy, though the early signs may be confusing and sometimes discouraging, there has never been a better opportunity than now to turn the country in the direction of success.

    “Today we have the best opportunity in decades for profound change. It is an opportunity in a generation. A revolution whose time has come!

    “Everything around us tells us that the moment is now! Can this change happen? Yes it can! Yes it must! What do you have in your hands to make it happen? We have a country that is tired of corruption, tired of leadership without values, tired of an economy that is neither designed to accommodate enterprise, nor to create opportunity and wealth for the majority. ” He said

    He said that the “new day in Aso Rock” is that of a Presidency that is committed to ensuring a departure from the past culture of corruption and profligacy in government.

    Osinbajo said: “The government of President Muhammadu Buhari is completely and irrevocably committed to the Change promised Nigerians

    “We have a leadership, a leader that is ready to challenge the rotten system, one that has said he is ready to kill corruption rather let corruption kill us.”

    “We believe that though it may not be easy, though the early signs may be confusing and sometimes discouraging, there has never been a better opportunity than now to turn the country in the direction of success, ” he added

    He told the gathering mainly comprising of youths that the Federal Government was not unaware of the nation’s challenges and that the youths must believe the problems facing the nation in the area of power, availability of petroleum products, infrastructure and agriculture are surmountable and resolvable.

    Osinbajo also told them of the determination of the Federal Government to leverage technology under a number of initiatives he unveiled intended to create the enabling environment that would stimulate youth entrepreneurship and innovation.

    “The key to change and our future prosperity lies in innovation and is critical to our development,” He said

    Informing the forum of the Buhari presidency’s plan for technology and innovation, he said that government would be establishing an Innovation Fund this year which would deploy significant resources for the aim of creating opportunities to the youth to access fund for innovation and entrepreneurship.

    He highlighted other plans as follows:
    – Establishment of technology innovation hubs across the country; 2 super hubs ( in Lagos and Abuja) and 6 regional hubs in the six geo-political zones in partnership some major technology companies;
    – 65,000 young Nigerians to be trained in hardware and software services and in animation;
    – to create a reservoir in technology capacity that can be exported annually abroad like the case of India;
    – on June 23, 2016, Federal Government would launch a Presidential Technology Innovation Initiative targeted at 50 Nigerians engaged in innovative start-ups to be mentored by major technology innovation companies
    – bursary award to 100,000 STEM undergraduates developing their interest in programming, robotic and animation technology, in addition to deploying technology in the training of the 500,000 teachers that are expected to be employed under the social investment of government this year,
    – VP’s Office to institute a literary prize in poetry and short stories during independence anniversary to encourage field of humanity/arts

    Prof. Osinbajo also used the occasion to implore millions of youths in the country to join the vanguard for change under “a New Tribe of Nigerians” saying “we must not blink, no shaking until we turn this country around.”

    The Vice President also commended the conveners of the platform, Pastor Poju Oyemade and his team for their tenacity and unwavering belief in the nation’s development.

    He noted that “the Platform has through the years become a foremost opportunities for ideas and intellectual innovations in Nigeria.”