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  • Nigeria’s, others’ mobile economy hit $150b

    Nigeria’s and other African mobile economy rose to over $150 billion last year. This is equivalent to 8.6 per cent of the region’s gross domestic product (GDP). It is forecast to generate almost $185 billion (9.1 per cent of GDP) by 2023, a new report by telecoms industry group, Global System for Mobile Communication Association (GSMA) has shown.

    The report, titled:  The Mobile Economy, Sub-Saharan Africa 2019, also said sub-Saharan Africa will remain the world’s fastest-growing mobile region over the coming years as millions of young African consumers become mobile users for the first time. It revealed that more than 160 million new unique mobile subscribers will be added across the region by 2025, bringing the total to 623 million, representing around half of the region’s population, up from 456 million (44 per cent) last year. Subscriber additions will be concentrated in high-growth markets such as Nigeria and Ethiopia, the report said.

    Commenting on the report, GSMA Head, sub-Saharan Africa, Akinwale Goodluck, said: “A new generation of youthful ‘digital natives’ across sub-Saharan Africa are set to fuel customer growth and drive adoption of new mobile services that are empowering lives and transforming businesses.

    “With mobile technology at the heart of sub-Saharan Africa’s digital journey, it is essential for policymakers in the region to implement policies and best practices that ensure sustainable growth in the mobile industry, and enable the transition to next-generation mobile networks.”

    The 2019 Sub-Saharan Africa edition of the GSMA’s Mobile Economy report series is being published at the ‘Mobile 360 – Africa’ event being held this week in Kigali, Rwanda. The new report also showed that  around 239 million people, equivalent to 23 per cent of the region’s population, use the mobile internet on a regular basis.

    It also showed that smartphones accounted for 39 per cent of mobile connections  in sub-Saharan Africa in 2018, forecast to increase to two-thirds of connections by 2025.

    “3G will overtake 2G to become the leading mobile technology in sub-Saharan Africa this year.

    “4G will account for almost one in four connections by 2025. However, 4G uptake is being dampened in some markets by the high cost of 4G devices and delays in assigning 4G spectrum. The region’s mobile operators are increasing investment in their networks and are expected to spend $60 billion (capex) on network infrastructure and services between 2018 and 2025 – almost a fifth of this total being invested in new 5G networks.

    “Sub-Saharan Africa’s mobile ecosystem supports around 3.5 million jobs, directly and indirectly, and last year contributed almost $15.6 billion to the funding of the public

  • Nigeria’s growth not enough to create jobs, says IMF

    …Experts fret over impending of global financial crisis

     

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that Nigeria’s projected growth may not be enough to create jobs for the country’s growing population.

    The IMF in its World Economic Outlook 2018 noted that “Nigeria’s projected economic growth in the sub-Sahara Africa from 3.1 percent this year to 3.8 percent in 2019 is not enough to create the needed jobs for the growing population of the region.”

    This projected growth the fund further cautioned may not be enough for the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals, “if the trend remains for a while.”

    The three leading economies of the continent, Nigeria, South Africa and Angola were projected “to witness sluggish growth in 2019 and beyond. While Nigeria will grow from 1.9 per cent in 2018 to 2.3 percent in 2019, South Africa and Angola are projected to move from 0.8 to 1.4 and -0.1 to 3.1 per cents respectively.”

    IMF’s chief economist and director of research Maurice Obstfeld, told journalists that “what affects the three major economies affect the whole continent as majority of the countries relies on their trajectories.”

    He admitted that the continent “will witness growth next year but the growing number of working class coupled with less jobs opportunities, huge public debts and poor infrastructure present a challenge in achieving the developmental goals of the United Nations.”

    Milesi Ferretti, Deputy Director Research said while presenting the report that “the continent could do much better once these economies are on the a more solid footings, particularly South Africa and Nigeria because they are really large and affect a number of countries in their neighbourhood.”

    On the global ratings, IMF cut its global growth forecasts as a result of the trade tensions between the U.S. and trading partners. The Outlook said the global economy is expected to grow at 3.7 percent this year and next year — down 0.2 percentage points from an earlier forecast, as the trade war started to hit economic activity worldwide.

    “We are concerned about the downturn in economic growth,” noted Jubilee USA Executive Director Eric LeCompte. As a finance expert, LeCompte has tracked IMF meetings for nearly 10 years and is attending the meetings in Bali. “The report reminds us that inequality remains a serious problem and we still are not safe from financial crisis” he warned.

    “We are seeing a growing debt crisis in many developing economies,” stated LeCompte who also serves on United Nation expert groups that focuses on economic issues. “At the same time, we see risky and speculative behavior on the rise. We know that risky behavior and unsustainable debt is a recipe for financial crisis.”

    The IMF issues the report ahead of the Annual IMF and World Bank meetings where world leaders, finance ministers and nongovernmental organizations will gather this week in Bali, Indonesia.

  • Oil output dips on Nigeria’s, Venezuela’s outages

    The oil output of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) fell to a 13-month low in May due to  Nigerian outages, declining Venezuelan production, and strong compliance with a supply-cutting deal, it was learnt yesterday.

    OPEC pumped 32.00 million barrels per day (bpd) in May, the survey found, down 70,000 bpd from April’s revised figure. The May total is the lowest since April 2017, according to Reuters surveys.

    OPEC is reducing output by about 1.2 million bpd as part of a deal with Russia and other non-OPEC producers to get rid of excess supply. The deal began in January 2017 and, in theory, runs until the end of 2018.

    With the supply glut largely cleared and oil topping $80 a barrel this month for the first time since 2014, OPEC and Russia are now shifting policy and discussing pumping more, although analysts expect any boost to be cautious.

    “OPEC’s bias to err on the side of tightening remains intact,” said Konstantinos Venetis, senior economist at TS Lombard. “Easing the restrictions just means that its ‘line in the sand’ moves slightly back.”

    For now though, adherence by producers in the deal to agreed levels remains strong. Compliance slipped to 163 percent of agreed cuts in May from 166 percent in April, the survey found, meaning they are still cutting far more than agreed.

    The biggest decrease in supply came from Nigeria due to unplanned outages. Royal Dutch Shell’s Nigerian venture declared force majeure on Bonny Light crude exports, while loadings of   another crude, Forcados, are facing delays.

    The second-biggest decline came from Venezuela, where the oil industry is starved of funds because of economic crisis. Output dropped to 1.45 million bpd in May, the survey found, a new long-term low.

    Production in Libya, which remains unstable due to unrest, edged lower because AGOCO, an eastern Libyan producer, had to curb output as unusually hot weather led to power problems.

    Iranian output, expected to decline as the U.S. re-imposition of sanctions discourages companies from buying the country’s oil, edged lower in May but there was no evidence yet of a sizeable drop, sources in the survey said.

    OPEC’s two largest producers, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, both pumped slightly more in May but not enough to offset the declines elsewhere.

    Saudi Arabia’s output edged up due to more crude being used in domestic power plants, sources in the survey said, but remained below the kingdom’s OPEC target.

    Iraq, the second-largest, pumped more because of an increase in exports from the south, the outlet for most of the country’s crude, following a decline in April.

    Output in the country holding the OPEC presidency this year, the United Arab Emirates, was steady in May as it continues to show higher compliance than in 2017, sources close to the matter said. Kuwait also maintained full compliance.

    Nigeria and Libya were originally exempt from cutting supply because their output had been curbed by conflict and unrest. For 2018, both told OPEC that output would not exceed 2017 levels.

    OPEC has an implied production target for 2018 of 32.73 million bpd, based on cutbacks detailed in late 2016 and taking into account changes of membership since, plus Nigeria and Libya’s expectations of 2018 output.

    According to the survey, OPEC pumped about 730,000 bpd below this implied target in May, not least because of the decline in Venezuela and a similar involuntary drop in Angola, where the survey found output was flat in May.

    The Reuters survey is based on shipping data provided by external sources, Thomson Reuters flows data and information provided by sources at oil companies, OPEC and consulting firms.

  • World Bank: Nigeria’s, others’ GDP will rise to 3.1%

    Sub-Saharan Africa is on course for economic growth of 3.1 per cent this year, the World Bank said yesterday. This is marginally slower than it previously forecast but faster than last year’s, thanks to rising commodity prices.

    By 2020, growth in the region should pick up to 3.7 per cent, it added.

    Sub-Saharan African economies were hit hard by a crash in commodity prices which slowed growth, slashed government revenues and weakened several of the continent’s currencies.

    Growth was 1.5 per cent in 2016, the lowest in more than two decades, before rising to an estimated 2.6 per cent last year.

    “While Nigeria, South Africa and Angola are expected to see a gradual pick-up in growth, economic expansion will continue at a solid pace in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), and strengthen in most of East Africa,” the bank said in its Africa’s Pulse report for April.

    “These forecasts are predicated on the expectations that oil and metals prices will remain stable, expansion in global trade will stay robust, and external financial market conditions will continue to be supportive.”

    In January, the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects report forecast that growth in sub-Saharan Africa would rise to 3.2 per cent this year.

    Nigeria, South Africa and Angola make up about 60 per cent of sub-Saharan Africa’s annual GDP.

    The bank said Nigeria was experiencing a recovery in oil output but hurdles in non-oil industries and services would be a drag on activity.

    “In Angola, the revisions reflect the expectation that a more efficient foreign exchange allocation system, increased availability of foreign exchange due to higher oil prices, rising natural gas production, and improved business sentiment would help support the rebound in economic activity.

  • ‘Nigeria’s oil output, others to hit 12m bpd’

    Daily oil production from African countries, including Nigeria, has been projected to reach 12 million barrels per day (bpd) in the next few years. The  current output is about 10 million bpd,.

    African Petroleum Producing Organisation (APPO), formerly African Petroleum Producing Association (APPA), Executive Secretary His Excellency, Mahaman Laouan Gaya, spoke of the projection at a summit in Abuja.

    He noted that African producers should have a common platform in terms of policy initiatives and strategy to gain the deserved relevance in the comity of global oil producers.

    He advised African oil producers to come together to  surmount the global oil and gas challenges and reap the benefits from the petroleum value chain, while also working in partnership with stakeholders in the industry.

    Gaya said: “Petroleum exploration started in late 19th Century in America, Asia and the Middle East, but crude oil production started in Africa in  the late 1950s and early 1960s. However, more than 50 years later, less than 20 African countries are petroleum producers, producing about 10 million barrels per day. In the few years to come the production is estimated to reach 12 million bpd.

    “If Africa should be considered as one producer, for sure our continent will challenge Saudi Arabia, United States of America and Russia. This is the reason Africa must have a common response to global oil and gas challenge. This will measure and determine the place of Africa in the petroleum geopolitics. Africa is the future of the world oil and gas industry.”

    He continued: “Petroleum is one of the key catalysts of African development. In some African countries, oil and gas represent more than 70 per cent of the national income. Global oil and gas challenge is an audacious one that should be tackled by African producers.

    “From APPO’s point of view, African petroleum producers are better positioned to create maximum leverage from their resources and government when they adopt a common platform for oil and gas policy initiatives and development strategy. Accordingly, Africa’s drive to grow to the global petroleum challenges can be achieved through regional cooperation in all the petroleum value chain, contribute to the understanding of energy situation and policies of Africa and other nations, which will make a better energy mix, assist African net oil importing countries to meet their energy needs.”

    Gaya emphasised the need for such cooperation, noting the importance of enhancing the levels of cooperation among all concerned parties including energy producers and consumers, owners of advanced technology, financial institutions and policy makers to promote benefits and mutual interests of achieving partnerships based on unified targets and objectives.

    APPO was created in 1987 in Lagos to serve as a platform for African petroleum producing countries to co-operate, collaborate and share knowledge and competences. It has  18 members – Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, South Africa, Libya, Mauritania, Niger and Sudan.

  • Kukah: new movement no solution to Nigeria’s problems

    Kukah: new movement no solution to Nigeria’s problems

    Outspoken Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Dr. Hassan Kukah, yesterday warned that the proliferation of political coalitions in the country  will not in any way provide a solution to Nigeria’s problems.

    “Each time you have problem with your wife, you go and marry another wife; how many wives are you going to marry?” he asked rhetorically at a press conference in Abuja.

    The press briefing was to herald  a public lecture, “How to make democracy work for Africa,” organized by The Kukah Centre.

    Ghanaian President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is scheduled to deliver the key note address at the lecture.

    Kukah spoke 48 hours after associates of former President Olusegun Obasanjo launched his latest pet project, Coalition for Nigeria.

    Obasanjo  formally joined the group at a ceremony in Abeokuta on Thursday and said it was a popular movement of Nigerians, irrespective of their political affiliations, to propel the country forward.

    He mooted the idea last week in a statement in which he asked President Muhammadu Buhari to jettison any plan to seek reelection next year.

    However, Kukah wondered yesterday why some powerful personalities in the country will continue to select political office seekers and literally compel Nigerians to vote for them.

    “When they fall out with the person they helped to win election, they expect us to follow the same way,” he said.

    The Catholic bishop also warned those turning a blind eye to the security challenges in  the country to wake up and resist the temptation of taking  the patience of the military for granted.

    Nigerians, according to him, have been patient for long and have also witnessed the patience of the military for 18 years.

    “We as Nigerians should not take the patience of the military for granted,” he said.

    He said that the overwhelming presence of the military personnel in parts of the country is a sign that the country is not democratizing.

    He added that it has also shown that the presence of the military personnel is not necessarily the panacea for insecurity.

    Bishop Kukah noted that it is obvious that Nigerians are far more divided now than they were before the 2015 general elections, pointing out that there has to be Nigeria before anybody could be  its president.

    He said that the issues that surrounded the 2015 election including hate speech, were still very much around in  the country.

    He said: “I go to Sokoto with my big cross. I don’t feel insecure. A lot of Muslim youths carry my bag, I don’t see them as Muslim youths. The truth of the matter is that our country is in big trouble.”

    He said that insecurity should not be viewed from the religious, ethnic or regional prism in order not to miss the real issue.

    According to him, the more attention is focused on the religious, ethnic or regional issues, the more the salient and fundamental issues are taken away.

    Bishop Kukah said that Nigerians should begin to appreciate the fact that democracy is all about interrogation of the elected representatives.

    Bishop Kukah said that Nigerians should decide to take their destiny in their hands and stop being neither hot nor cold.

  • Ekwueme dedicated his life to promoting Nigeria‘s interest, says envoy

    Ekwueme dedicated his life to promoting Nigeria‘s interest, says envoy

    Nigeria‘s High Commissioner to South Africa, Ambassador Ahmed Musa Ibeto, has said that former Vice President, the late Dr. Alex Ekwueme, dedicated his life to promote the interest of Nigeria.

    Ibeto made the assertion in a special tribute to Ekwueme, who died on November 19 last year..

    The envoy said  the former vice president was a politician par excellence.

    “Chief Alex Ekwueme was indeed a great icon and national figure, who strived at all, times to dedicate his life to the promotion of Nigeria’s interest.

    He was a politician par excellence in deeds and character, who built his political career on integrity and selfless service to his fatherland,” he said.

    Ibeto said  as the first-elected Vice President of Nigeria between 1979 and 1983, Ekwueme brought life into the mainstream of the nation‘s politics and recorded remarkable achievements in building a prosperous Nigeria.

    “ He was such an intelligent, humane and humble man, who was full of life even at his age,” he said.

    The envoy said that the former vice president was an erudite scholar who bagged degrees in different fields such as Architecture, Urban Planning, Sociology, History, Philosophy and Law from several Universities.

    “ Such a feat can only be attained by a man with very high clout and burning passion for knowledge, like Late Alex Ekwueme, Ibeto said.

    The high commissioner said that on the international scene, Ekwueme was well recognised.

    “He was a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Council of Elders.

    He also headed several Observer Missions on election monitoring in several African countries and was a recipient of national awards of other African countries apart from Nigeria.

    Until his demise, he was a stabilizing factor in Nigerian politics and continued to participate actively in the Nigerian project,” he said.

    The envoy said that Ekwueme was endeared to many of his admirers for his intellectual prowess, principle of one Nigeria, integrity and hard work.

    According to him, the former vice president will be remembered for his contributions to nation-building, a functional and effective governance structure for Nigeria.

    “ The Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and many of his admirers will indeed miss this great national icon,” Ibeto said.

  • Taraba can meet Nigeria’s annual rice demand— Gov. Ishaku

    Taraba can meet Nigeria’s annual rice demand— Gov. Ishaku

    Gov. Darius Ishaku of Taraba on Monday said that the state had the potential to produce 10million tonnes of rice, the annual demand of the country, with adequate financing and availability of modern equipment.

    Ishaku said this in Ardo-kola at a stakeholders’ meeting of the PDP’s delegates representing Jalingo and Ardo-kola.

    He said areas like: Karim-lamido, Gassol, Ardo-kola, Lau, Ibi, Wukari, Takum, among others, had fertile lands suitable for growing large quantities of rice.

    The governor noted that lack of sufficient funds had undermined the capacity of the state’s rice farmers to produce at an optimum level.

    Ishaku, however, said the state government was determined to support farmers in the state with farm inputs and improved seeds to increase their productivity.

    He said that Dominion Farms, owned by a Kenyan investor in Gassol, had been given six months to commence buying of paddy rice from out-growers for processing.

    The governor announced that the state government had bought hybrid seeds of Bennie seeds, soya beans and cassava and it would soon distribute them to its farmers.

    “Recently, there is a high demand of bennie seeds in our markets; though, I do not know what they are doing with it. We have acquired its improved seed.

    “We have also acquired hybrid seeds of soya beans and of course, cassava, because I will soon revive our cassava processing plant.

    “When that is done, it will bring the total companies I revived to five out of the 25 companies that were in comatose when I took over,’’ Ishaku said.

    The governor said he was in Ardo-kola to thank the people for massively voting for him in 2015.

    “The best time to appreciate that support is now; since I have won all the post-election suits instituted by my opponents,’’ he said.

    Also speaking, the state PDP Chairman, Mr Victor Bala, noted that loyalty to party decisions was critical to the growth of party politics.

    Bala urged council area chapters of the party that could not garner adequate support for the party in 2015 election, to “sit up’’ as the 2019 general elections were approaching.

    “Politics is like an investment. If you invest a little, do not expect high dividends at the end of the day, ‘’ he said.

  • Nigeria’s participation in Amputee Nation’s Cup uncertain

    Pius Asaba, a member of the Amputee Football Federation for Africa (AFFA), has expressed doubts about Nigeria’s participation in the 2017 Cup of African Nations for Amputee Football (CANAF).

    Asaba told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos that the Nigeria Amputee Football Federation (NAFF) had yet to pay its affiliation fees from 2014 to 2017.

    The former NAFF Secretary-General noted that NAFF was affiliated to AFFA, the official governing body of amputee football in Africa, and organisers of the biennial football tournament.

    “NAFF has an issue with AFFA as a result of inability to maintain its annual financial obligation for about four years now. This is affecting its participation.

    “This year, CANAF is coming up, and there is no way NAFF can take part in the football tournament without clearing the backlog.

    “This lingering problem has affected the development of the sport; it has pushed some amputee footballers to try their hands in other para sports,” Asaba said.

    He added that the federation was expected to pay an additional amount for failure to pay the affiliation fee in time.

    According to him, letters of reminder about the debt have been sent to NAFF through the Nigeria Paralympics Committee (NPC) – the parent body of physically challenged sports.

    “I hope a prompt action will be taken to pay up the outstanding amount.

    “The NPC is responsible for all disable sports. It is aware of NAFF’s debt to AFFA and promised to pay but, according to it, insufficient fund is causing the delay,’’ he told NAN.

    The official said that the organisers of the tournament had yet to decide on the dates for the competition proposed to be hosted by Ghana.

    NAN reports Nigeria’s team occupied the 4th position in CANAF 2013, having lost 3-1 to Ghana in a penalty shoot-out in a quarter final match in Nairobi.

  • Is this Nigeria’s end-time!

    What is what a foreigner, a journalist who has travelled intensively in Africa and has written a very incisive book on Africa, wrote about Nigeria. He devotes a chapter to Nigeria in his book, and he titles that chapter with the staggering announcement, “Look out world: Nigeria!” – as if he is warning the whole world to watch out for a dangerousrolling explosive called Nigeria, a dangerous rolling explosive that could detonate at any time and without warning.

    Well, the journalist who authored that book is only one person, no matter how informed hemay be – and we Nigerians have a right to sneer at what he says about our country. But, not so fast, because here now comes another voice shouting about the danger that Nigeria poses for its component peoples, its citizens, its continent, and its world. This other voiceis much bigger and much more authoritative than that of any one journalist, indeed much bigger and more authoritative than the voices of all the journalists of the world put together. It is the voice of the United Nations Organization (UNO), the apex gathering house of all the countries of the world. Only a few days ago, the UNO issued an alarm on Nigeria.

    The UNO issued the alarm in its usual periodic report on countries of the world, the report known as the Common Country Analysis (CCA). The report describes Nigeria as a “deeply divided” country “on the basis of the plurality of the ethnic, religious and regional identities that have tended to define the country’s existence”. The report notes that for decades, different sections of Nigeria have, from time to time, cried out about being marginalized, or being short-changed, or being dominated, or being oppressed, or being threatened, or even being targeted for elimination. Painting a gloomy picture for Nigeria’s economic and social development, and noting that most of Nigeria’s development and socio-economic indices record far below acceptable standards, the report points out that the source of Nigeria’s problems are constraints on economic growth, constraints on social development, and general lack of good governance.

    The report then adds, “Nigeria is one of the poorest and most unequal countries in the world, with over 80 million or 64% of her population living below poverty line…Poverty and hunger have remained high… and these cut across the six geopolitical zones, with prevalence ranging from approximately 46.9 per cent in the South-west to 74.3 per cent in the North-west and Northeast.  Nigeria’s economy is currently in a recession and it is estimated that government revenues have fallen by as much as 33 per cent, which has further resulted in the contraction of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 0.36 per cent in the first three months of 2016…The vulnerable macroeconomic environment in Nigeria is affecting investors’ confidence in the domestic economy”.

    The report also adds that “Nigeria faces humanitarian and emergency crisis of considerable proportions fuelled by a combination of factors” including natural forces like climate change, recurring droughts and recurring floods, political factors such as inter-communal conflicts and violence and insurgency, and various factors of poor governance including heavy handed actions by security forces in their combating of crime and insurgency. Other factors are massive unemployment among Nigerian youths (with 42% of the youths unemployed), and widespread cases of physical and sexual violence against women and girls. The overall consequence, says the report, is “systematic and chronic internal displacement that has given rise to different humanitarian crises that include the most egregious and dehumanizing human rights abuses”.

    In another report published about the same time by the United Nations Regional Humanitarian Coordinator, Toby Lanzer, the growing humanitarian crisis in the Nigerian North-east is rated to be at the same level as humanitarian crises in war-torn regions across the world. Talking about the humanitarian crisis in Borno, Toby Lanzer is reported to have said, “Having worked in Darfur, Chechnya and South Sudan, this is about as bad as it gets”. In yetanother report, the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has warned the world that if help does not come quickly, 49,000 children will die in the Nigerian North-east.

    Hmm! These conditions don’t look or sound ordinary or containableany more. And all around every one of us wherever we live, things are less and less ordinary or containable from day to day. Beggars – healthy bodied beggars – everywhere. Teeming millions of youthful and agile petty vendors clogging the streets of our main cities and scrambling desperately and dangerously across street roads, mostly in attempts to make sales that don’t happen. Countless daily reports of unbelievably daring robberies, daylight highway hold-ups, and other more serious crimes. Widespread kidnapping for ransom. Organizations (including some owned by pastors) snatching children for sale. Parentsoffering their children for sale, or selling their children for pennies. Prophecies of “harvest of suicides” and widespread reports of shocking suicides by young men and women, reports not infrequently displaying pictures of bodies dangling from trees. Widespread reports of cultists dispensing rituals that promise money and that use human blood or human body parts in the rituals, and, consequently, widespread reports of men, women and children vanishing mysteriously. A massof citizens rendered so hopeless, so desperate, and so unable to afford loyalty to anybody or anything, that they are no longer suitable to be employed by any business enterprise and put in charge of anything of value, and among whom brother can no longer trust brother with anything of value. A whole nationsunk and sinking down a bottomless void, or rushing in chaos through a dark night that promises no morning.

    As most Nigerians can see, the omens are not looking good at all for our country. We Nigerians have no earthly succour to look up to any more. In tentative hope some months ago, we cast our votes for a man who promised to be a president of change. Now, after months of his silence over critical issues affecting all our lives, and after months of his stubborn refusal to look at the changes that most Nigerians are clamouring for in hope, we are learning that change may never come through him – in fact, we are learning that needed change may be impossible to get in the context of Nigeria. Very many Nigerians who grew up loving Nigeria and believing in Nigeria are now being compelled to admit that, all things told, Nigeria is really an unrealistic and unsustainable idea, and that it is time to begin again theserious search for the path for bringing progress, prosperity and pride back to the lives of our nationalities and our people.