Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has congratulated Nigerians for witnessing the New Year in spite of the hard times and called for collective efforts to end the current recession and grow the economy.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, the Senate President said the nation’s challenges are surmountable “but we need to approach them with unity of purpose, focus and single-mindedness.”
Said he: “It is a thing of joy to celebrate the New Year in an atmosphere of peace and security. For one thing, the people of the North-East and indeed across the country are celebrating without fear of attacks from insurgents or other criminal elements.
“This was made possible by the determination of the present administration to effectively secure the country and ensure peace – which is key for any development to be achieved.
“I believe that working collectively in the New Year, we will be able to right the wrongs of the past and ensure renewed economic, social and political development of our dear country. This is not the time to despair as there are signs that things will get better today in the New Year.
“We must realise that amid our economic challenge lies our greatest opportunity to diversify and be self-reliant as a nation. This we can do by strengthening the capacity of our entrepreneurs to produce, using local content and while we all decide to always buy made in Nigeria goods.
“Even though we are not where we want to be as a nation yet, we must continue to take those steps that will eventually bring us to our envisioned destination as a prosperous and peaceful country,” he said.
Saraki assured that the legislature and the executive would collaborate more closely to advance policies and programmes that would end the economic recession in the New Year.
“Working together, we will fulfill the mandate of the millions of Nigerians that we represent. Success is our only option in these turbulent economic times,” he stated.
Tag: recession
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Saraki urges collective efforts against recession
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How Nigeria can come out of recession
The yuletide season has been rather gloomy as the biggest economy in Africa, Nigeria, remains stuck in a painful recession with no end in sight. The government revenue has fallen by as much as 33 per cent while out of the 36 states, 27 cannot pay salaries of their staff with the state governors constantly reminding everyone that there is no where they can source for funds. Businesses have ceased to expand, there is decline in real income, slow-down of industrial production, high rate of unemployment, salary cuts and job losses have risen, housing prices decline and a big slump in consumer spending. Things are generally getting more and more difficult for the average Nigerian. It has certainly become imperative for the Nigerian government to ameliorate the sufferings of the people and for every Nigerian to understand the implications and adjust our daily economic activities and lifestyle.
According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, a recession is the significant decline in economic activity across the economy, lasting longer than three to four months, normally visible in real gross domestic product (GDP), real income, employment, industrial production and wholesale-retail sales. The GDP of an economy is the monetary value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period. It is a good measure of the economic activity and is a benchmark for government budgeting, income and expenditure, investment inflows in and out of an economy, among others. The private sector also relies on the GDP of a country to determine which areas have robust economic activity by helping them decide where to invest scarce resources.
Many factors contribute to an economy’s fall into a recession, but the major cause is inflation, which is a sustained increase in the general level of prices for goods and services. The low prices of oil, the volatile state of oil production in Nigeria now, bad debts gathered over time has led to lower purchasing power and foreign exchange scarcity. Every naira now buys a smaller percentage of good or service. With the statistics from the World Bank and other economists on Nigeria, one can’t but ponder on how Nigeria got to this sorry state.
As of January 1, the population of Nigeria was estimated to be 184, 635 279 people, projected to reach 189, 559 502 people in 2017. About 40.9 per cent of this population is under 15 years of age while 3.1 per cent are above 65 years, meaning that each working person in Nigeria must provide goods and services for himself or herself and cover expenditure of at least one child or aged person additionally. Nigeria is now rated one of the poorest countries in the world, with over 64 per cent of her population living below poverty line, a country that was once the 30th richest country in the world in the 1970s! Life expectancy is a saddening 47.6 years while the rate of illiteracy and youth unemployment is over 50 and 42 per cent, respectively.
President Muhammadu Buhari, in one of his independence anniversary speech had stated that: “All my adult life, I have always earned a salary and I know what it is like when your salary simply is not enough. In every part of our nation, people are making incredible sacrifices”. No doubt, governing this great nation should not be business as usual. What we need is good governance. Governments that carry out their responsibilities as expected of them. After all, it is government of the people, by the people and for the people. That is why it amuses me when I read that a governor advertises roads constructed in his state, as this act can be likened to a father telling all and sundry that he should be praised for paying his children’s school fees!
It is quite heart-warming to know that Buhari’s administration is fulfilling their promise to fight insurgency and corruption in Nigeria. Though our collective wealth has been recovered from all over the world, it, however, seems to many that the President appears to be carefully picking his battles on whom to probe or not to in the anti-corruption stance, thereby questioning its sincerity. Our legislators are enmeshed in accusations and counter-accusations of corruption day in, day out and profligate behaviour in this administration, which is fast surpassing that of previous administrations. Allowances and pensions of the lawmakers from previous positions and the ridiculous allowances earned are indeed a Mare’s Nest by the government. The anti-corruption stance of this administration can only be achieved through judicious management of the national wealth and implementation of programmes to alleviate poverty. Beyond that, impersonal institutions, ideologies and public policies are fundamental in shaping our political life. Social, economic and political poverty has created frustration, loss of hope, prospects, value for life, compromise and abandonment of moral values because criminals seem to be living best. One would ask, is it a case of lawmakers being the lawbreakers? Where are the sacrifices made for our beloved country, Nigeria?
Trying to win foreign investors into the country is also an impressive idea but that may not be in an environment of political and economic instability. Nigeria is undoubtedly the most attractive country to do business in Africa. With approximately 70 per cent youth population, there is an abundance of human resources. But as at today, Nigeria is fast becoming the most dangerous country to do business in. Inadequate business infrastructure, erratic power, water, telephone and fuel supply, inefficient civil service, inadequate crime control, poor judicial system, inadequate health care and educational system at all levels still plagues the country. The state appears to have relinquished virtually all its functions and obligations as each household now provides their own roads, electricity and water supply, education for their children, security of life and property.
As a way forward, extreme caution should be taken before ideas are promulgated to the public, their implementations and execution. The government should do well to use the participatory development approach as it is appropriate for government to ensure their citizen’s active participation in formulating and implementing projects of which they are meant to be the beneficiaries. The policy of providing jobs for the unemployed without stimulating production is as good as building on a faulty foundation. If production is encouraged in a market as huge as ours, jobs will automatically be created as many of the unemployed are likely to become the job creators once an enabling environment is created.
And for the citizenry, the underlying principle to surviving a recession is to cut back heavily and reduce spending. As the saying goes, “Cut your coat according to your cloth”. We need to spend on what we need and not what we want. Our country’s economic mismanagement and the ensuing intolerable levels of hardship are fast putting an end to our culture of being your brother’s keeper. We demand good governance and restoration of our dignity! It is high time we took responsibility for our country, Nigeria. May 2017 bring forth good tidings of great joy. Happy New Year!
- Dr. Adenubi writes from the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
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‘Recession taking toll on students’
The Lagos State Area Unit of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) has urged the government to maintain education standard despite the current economic downturn.
Its Amir Saheed Ashafa said this in a press conference to announce the Society’s 102nd Islamic Vacation Course (IVC) Camp starting tomorrow at Human Capital Development Centre (HCDC) in Noforija, Lagos. About 6,000 participants are expected to attend the seven-day programme with the theme: In the shade of Islam.
Ashafa said students are the worst hit by the recession, noting the vocational programme was informed by the need to equip the youth with skills that would enable them survive hardship.
He said: “The economic recession taking its toll on students. They are finding it difficult to survive and sustain themselves. Parents are also feeling the hardship and unable to pay their school fees. The teachers are not spared too; meeting up with the daily requirement has been very difficult for them. The government should ensure that the standard of education is not compromised.
“Allowing recession to affect the quality of education from primary to tertiary levels is like digging the grave for innovative minds and entrepreneur.”
Ashafa urged parents and guardians to monitor activities of the children, saying that the recession should not be an excuse to abandon parenting.
He said: “Parents and guardians need to step up the way they monitor their children. One of those things to get them protected and give them the right orientation is allowing them to attend the IVC camp, which is to specifically tackle recession. The shade of Islam is wide. It highlights how humans can be accountable, just and religious without any challenge.
The Amir urged governors to bring out palliative measures to reduce the effect of recession on people.
He praised Lagos and Kebbi government for agricultural partnership that led to the production of cheap rice.
“Other governors should also emulate this beautiful idea and extend it to the education sector. Making live convenient for the students put the country’s future at a comfortable range,” he said.
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Recession: Not business as usual this Christmas
For those in the business of buying and selling, especially during the Yuletide, the lingering economic recession assailing the country has taken the shine off the usual thrills associated with the festivities as the purchasing power of most Nigerians have been adversely affected, reports Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf
For the average Nigerian, this year’s Christmas is one that will never be forgotten in a hurry for reasons which are too numerous to mention. No thanks to the biting economic crunch, not many Nigerians will be able to savour the excitements and merriments that are long accustomed with the festivities.
With many people out of jobs and companies shutting down and unable to pay backlog of salary arrears both at the public and private sectors, Christmas this year is rather bleak and leaves nothing to cheer about.
The devil is in the details
December is regarded as that part of the year when festivities carry the day, against this background, NOIPolls Limited conducted a poll to explore the plans of Nigerians for the 2016 end of year festive season. This poll results release further trends current results with results of the first, second, third and fourth edition conducted in December 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.
NOIPolls Limited is the No1 for country specific polling services in West Africa.
While a flurry of economic activities such as purchasing of travel tickets, food items, clothes etc. are ongoing; Nigerians are mindful of the impact on their finances due to probable rising costs and also as the economy is yet to improve. This is attested to by the majority of Nigerians (77 percent) who anticipate a general increase in the prices of goods and services during this festive season and 51 percent of this proportion who specified food as the item that would mostly increase, as revealed by the latest public opinion poll results released by NOIPolls Limited.
More findings revealed that most Nigerians (62 percent) will be staying at home to relax during the end of year festivities and residents from the North-East zone accounted for the largest proportion (77 percent) of Nigerians in this category. This could be attributed to the economic situation of Nigeria that has further worsened in the third quarter, coupled with the fact that the zone is yet to gain stability due to some pockets of insurgency activities. Therefore, citizens would rather cut down their expenditures and stay at home in order not to incur too much expenses while also trying to stay safe. Also, 20 percent reported that they will be travelling during the period and the South-East zone recorded the largest proportion (28 percent) of the respondents that gave this assertion.
In addition, the poll revealed that the current economic recession facing the country maybe an impediment to the level of satisfaction citizens would enjoy this festive season as most Nigerians (48 percent) pointed out that they will minimise their end of year spending while 35 percent complained that it will increase their end of year spending amongst other effects.
Therefore, the federal government needs to seek more realistic solutions to the economy, especially now that the 2017 Appropriation Bill has been submitted to the National Assembly with about 31 percent of the budget committed to capital expenditure.
These were the key findings from the end of year special poll conducted in the week of December 12th, 2016.
An evaluation of an anticipated general rise in prices during this festive season in comparison with the poll conducted in 2015 revealed that most Nigerians (77 percent) believe that there would be a general rise in prices this festive season. This reflects a 1-point increase and further buttresses the reports by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) about the inflation rate in the country which has hit 18.3 percent in October 2016.
On the contrary, 23 percent said they do not anticipate a general rise in the prices of items during this festive season and during the course of this survey, majority of the respondents in this category based their position on the fact that there is no money in circulation, therefore, buying power among Nigerians has drastically reduced which would in turn force the prices down or remain in the same point.
Subsequently, out of the proportion of Nigerians (77 percent) who admitted to a general rise in prices, (51 percent) reported that they anticipate a general rise in prices of food items and it corroborates a previous report that Naira fall has affected the prices of food commodities in the country.
Other items mentioned are clothes and transportation (22 percent each), fuel (4 percent) and electronics (91 percent).Trend analysis revealed a significant 9-point decrease in the number of Nigerians who anticipated a general rise in food items and a 7-points increase in the proportion of Nigerians who mentioned clothes when these current findings are compared with the poll results conducted in 2015.
In conclusion, this poll has revealed that most Nigerians (62 percent) will be staying at home to relax during the end of year festivities, whereas 20 percent reported that they will be travelling during the period. More findings shows that majority of Nigerians (77 percent) anticipate a general increase in the prices of goods and services in Nigeria during the festive season and 51 percent of this proportion specified food as the item that would mostly increase. As a result of this general increase in prices, 48 percent of Nigerians disclosed that they will minimize their end of year spending while 35 percent complained that it will increase their end of year spending amongst other effects. Finally, the survey also present some sort of harmony and love among the citizens as 23 percent wish peace and prosperity for their fellow citizens.
Survey methods
The opinion poll was conducted in the week of December 12th, 2016. It involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample. 1,000 randomly selected phone-owning Nigerians aged 18 years and above, representing the six geopolitical zones in the country, were interviewed. With a sample of this size, we can say with 95% confidence that the results obtained are statistically precise – within a range of plus or minus 3%.
The status report on the economy by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that this is the third consecutive quarter of 2016 in which the Nigerian economy experienced negative growth.
Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 2.24 percent in the third quarter of 2016, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), confirming that the economy is still in recession.
Soaring prices of food items
According to salespersons who spoke with The Nation in some parts of Lagos metropolis and environs, sales have been very poor this Christmas.
Gazing listlessly into space, Mr. Stanley Nnadi, a trader at Mandilas, Lagos, expressed disappointment that most of the few shoppers who thronged the market haggle endlessly and eventually walk away as they simply find the items too exorbitant to purchase.
“I can’t just seem to find anything to buy in this market. If I knew, I won’t have wasted my time coming here. All the prices have practically gone up 40 per cent! I came here just to buy a few things for myself and my son but I’m not finding things funny at all,” lamented the distraught mother who simply gave her name as Mrs. Adaobi Afam.
The rich also cry
Perhaps most tellingly is the fact that even large corporates and multinationals including banks, oil companies, telcos and other actors in the major commanding heights of the economy are also celebrating the festivities rather ‘miserably.’
One of the visible signs that all is not well at all this Christmas is the absence of the usual fabulous decorations that greets your sights the minute you step into most offices during this period. Random checks conducted by The Nation in some of these companies showed that the Christmas decor were scanty and used rather sparingly where they were used at all.
Checks at some of the corporate headquarters of some companies including banks within Lagos metropolis and environs and even outside the state revealed that most of these companies were marking the season on a very low-key.
A staff in one of the new generation banks who would not be named confided in The Nation that this year the bank drastically cut down its budget spend for PR and gifts because of recession.
“Our bank had a shoestring budget this year for festivities. Unlike before when we shop for hampers, this year it was not part of the plan at all. In fact, we barely managed to gift away some few 5kg bags of rice to some of our partners just to say thank you. That is the least we could do this year. Some companies couldn’t afford to give away anything even to their staff. It’s all due to the lingering recession. Let’s just hope for better luck next year.”
Strategies to woo customers
Expectedly most of the retail stores have had to introduce a number of measures to shore up sales due to the lull in business activities this yuletide.
Speaking with The Nation, John Goldsmith, Head of Marketing at SPAR said: “In as much as sales are yet to peak across our stores nationwide, we remain hopeful that are loyal shoppers will take advantage of our subsidised offers and stick with us.”
SPAR Nigeria, he stressed, “Is committed to the Nigerian project and in the spirit of festivity has come up with the Christmas Bonanza Sale where we have put together exciting bundle offers starting from N2,185 that will suit every household this Christmas. We want to appreciate our loyal customers for their support throughout the year and expect the same kind of gesture in the New Year.”
Speaking with an hotelier, Mr. John Enemona said most hotels are badly hit by the economic recession and have to introduce some innovative ways in order to remain afloat. Part of the measures being adopted by the hotels is drastic price reduction on rates and other charges.
This, he said, has become necessary in view of the biting economic crunch which is seriously taken its toll on the sector.
“We empathise with our customers a lot especially considering the sorry state of the economy generally and that is why we have introduced a lot of incentives for this period. Apart from the normal clearance sales which we do from time to time during which we sell products at rebates and heavy discounts we also unveiled the other measures at this period of time.”
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‘Online shopping thrives despite recession’
Mr. Ayo Benson Olarewaju is the CEO of Mannastores.com, a company that runs an online shopping portal. In this interview with Adeola Ogunlade he speaks on the prospects and challenges of managing an online business during recession. Excerpts:
In what ways has the recession affected the online store business in Nigeria? Are you looking inward and what is the market reaction to your effort at looking inward?
There is this wrong notion in business in that the only way to make sales is through discounting, low pricing, bonanzas and similar gimmicks to make prospects and customers feel they are getting good value. I take the opposite view because providing the best service possible is the only way to retain your customers and also the best way to acquire new prospects through referrers! Having said that, getting the words out there about what you do is important and we do that even more at this difficult time.
As a business consultant and coach I usually guide my clients to look inward rather than focus on external factors especially those you don’t have control over; whatever you focus on is where your energy is directed! There is enormous opportunity at times like this for those who can spot and exploit it. Apple started their fledging computer business in a recession and so many other giants today started during a difficult time therefore our focus should be on internal efficiency, innovation and marketing. Peter Drucker said there are two key tasks in business – Marketing and Innovation; the rest are just costs!
There are a few things we do in online marketing and the response has been incredible and it is due to our years of experience in the business and desire to learn and stay ahead of the new trends in online marketing. One tip I would give today is that when you advertise online, you must measure your result so that you can test each approach to see what works for you and what doesn’t! You do more of what works and abandon the unproductive approach. Targeting is critical to businesses and I have a programme teaching the latest effective approaches right now on my website ayobenson.com and I would give it free of charge to anyone reading this piece and want to learn more – it is called Online Business Success Masterclass (OBSM)! It is a combination of videos, demonstrations, exercises etc. People who actually bought the program achieved 80% to 400% increase in turnover. That is one Christmas gift for entrepreneurs this season. I created the programme for our customers as part of helping them grow their business online and others started asking to pay for it and we obliged them.
As an online portal, what is the business climate like?
The business climate is contracting due to the low oil price in the international market our only major source of income as a country. I always look out for opportunity in this sort of situation because if you look hard enough you will find. I read a book by Henry Ford called ‘My Life and Work’ the opening chapter he talked about enormous opportunity in US and the world at the time! That was one hundred years ago and if you imagine life at the time compared to now, that was really a tough time to live but Ford saw it differently and that’s why he was one of the richest men of his era! There is a saying that ‘when you change the way you look at something, what you look at changes!’ I see opportunities in our current business climate and those with clarity and vision would make the most of it.
Are people still making purchases?
A lot of people are making purchases right now I can tell you. We have an arm of our business helping people buy cars cheaply from UK and US; in the last three months we have got the highest number of orders for cars than we have received for the whole previous nine months. There is a method to customer acquisition that I cannot teach here and as I have said before you must be committed to learning as an entrepreneur to succeed. You must also have the right mindset which is critical to success in life. In my book ‘Goldmine of Your Mind – Your Fast Track to Abundance’ I particularly emphasised this principle. For example a friend who was unemployed for more than four years and he read my book and within three months he raised one hundred thousand pounds for his training business in UK. There is enormous power in people and if we can help them access that power of their mind, there is nothing they set their mind to that they cannot achieve. I made this point strongly when I was interviewed by Channels TV a few weeks ago about the book.
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FG should emulate Prophet Muhammad to end recession, says cleric
The Chief Missioner of Ashajaratu-l-Mubarakak Society (ASMUS), Sheikh Surajudeen Ademola Ojulari aka Ojus has called on the federal government to imbibe the qualities of Prophet Muhammad in its policy making.
Sheikh Surajudeen made the call at Ajumonire Central Mosque, Oshodi, Lagos, during the celebration of Maolud Nabbiy(Prophet Muhammed’s birthday).
The programme was themed, ‘‘Who is Muhammad”.
He said: “ I urge the government to imbibe the attributes of Prophet Muhammad in its policy making for successful leadership. Prophet Muhammad is a leader and he epitomises what a true leader is in different ways.
‘’I enjoin the government to go back to the Hadith and Sunna of Prophet Muhammad in its bid to end recession and curb corruption. The prophet is trustworthy, fatherly, a good leader, patient and a prophet. He was a good leader before he passed away. He was successful on the account that he tenets of his religion as written in the Al- Quran.’’
He added that the importance of celebrating the prophet was based on Allah’s admonition that blessings will come upon anyone that celebrate and bless the name of Prophet Muhammad.
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‘Recession a blessing in disguise’
The recession Nigeria is experiencing has been described as a blessing in disguise.
The Chairman, Agricultural and Agro Allied Group, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Pastor Elliot Adeola, who spoke in Lagos at the end of year event of Perfection Real Estate Investors Cooperative Society, said recession would make the country diversify its economy and depend less on crude oil.
He said agriculture, which was neglected by past administrations, should be embraced to end recession, adding that the country should exploit its mineral resources to boost revenue.
The cooperative President, Mr. Niyi Adeleye, said: “Our object is to create wealth through real estate investment, make home ownership easy to access by members, get involved in mega real estate deals for profit sharing among members, offer special real estate investment opportunities to members and breed real estate investment novices to become holders of real estate investment portfolio towards continuous passive income at retirement or old age.
“We boost the economy by making the people to be self-employed. We create, distribute and redistribute wealth among our investors.
“Shelter is an important human need. Real estate is capital intensive. People need collaboration and networking to survive in the modern world. This is what we have been doing at Perfection Real Estate Investors Cooperative Society since we started operation in 2012.”
There was a raffle draw at the event and investors won items.
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Recession offers opportunities for SMEs’growth, says expert
President of Successedge Exporters Network (SEEN), Mr. Godwin Abiodun Oyefeso, has said economic recession does not mean an end to life. He said it could be a springboard for the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country.
Oyefeso, while delivering a paper entitled: “Economic recession, the power of change in life and opportunities for SMEs in the non-oil export of the economy”, during a conference in Lagos, pointed out that recession could provide a lot of opportunities for businesses.
He admitted that recession could bring feelings of lack, poverty, pain and loss, but it could provide a lot of opportunities for the growth of SMEs.
He explained that most successful companies such as FED EX, Microsoft, CNN, HP started during recessionary periods because their founders identified some opportunities that existed within the period and filled them.
He said: “While we hear so much about how the net worth of billionaires and millionaires are shrinking, there are a lot of millionaires increasing their net worth or being made. This rich people have created a recession profit lifestyle and do more than survive during a recession.
“The key to understanding a recession is that the country’s economy is different from your personal economy. In fact, the recession provides the greatest opportunities for taking your life into your own hands. Just like having a raining season like economic boom and recession.
“The following are strategies one can use to survive in a recession: diversity your income, use other people’s money and do the something, but different.”
According to him, Michael J. Cullen, who revolutionised American life by creating the modern supermarket, left his work in 1930 to start a self-serve supermarket with space for auto mobile parking and within two years, he made about $6 million in revenue.
‘’In Kentucky, United States (US), a good grandfather called Colonel Sanders, started serving chicken at his gas station during the great depression and by 1937, he had expended to 142 seat restaurant due to popular demand.
‘’In October 2008 during the height of financial crises, Warren Bullet bought $5 billion shares in Goldman and $3 billion in General Electric. Following this investment, Buttet made billions of dollars at a 10 per cent premium over his initial investment.’’
Oyefeso added: “If you have funds, this is the time to purchase real estate assets. Rather than copying others, look for what everybody is doing and fill a need and do it differently.
“Start a business with low start-up cost. Coincidently, most survivalist entrepreneurs typically open business in the food industry. Invest or purchase under- valued assets.’’
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Worshippers thank God despite recession
This is not the best of times for Nigerians. The rich and the poor feel the hardship prevalent in the land due to the current economic recession which resulted from fall in oil prices at the international market.
Jobs are hard to come by and some of those in gainful employment are losing their jobs. There is increase in poverty rate; high cases of robbery incidents and among other social vices are on the increase.
While there is no end in sight yet to the economic recession and as Nigerians continue in their lamentation over the country’s economic situation, members of Christ Holy Church (CHC) International, Province III Headquarters, Aba Abia State were preoccupied with preparation for this year’s harvest activities.
They overlooked all the economic misfortune the country is experiencing to seek the face of God in thanksgiving and bazaar in this year’s annual harvest of CHC Aba Superintendence headquarters.
At 11:00 in the morning, the atmosphere was charged when the harvest proper began and lasted till 4:00 p.m. as various groups, families, friends and well-wishers including invited guests took their turns to dance to the altar with their gifts.
According to some of some parishioners, thanksgiving is the only way they can show appreciation to God for His protection throughout the year. No amount of money or item brought before God can quantify the grace and favour that they have enjoyed from God throughout the year.
One of the invited guests said: “I am overwhelmed with what I saw here. Since I have been attending harvests in churches, I have never seen people making thanksgiving the way this people have done. In them you can see joy and happiness. For these people to have come before God with these kinds of gift items means that they made adequate preparation for this day. It shows how much they valued being alive.
“It shows how much thankful they are that God preserved their lives even in the midst of the current economic situation that the country is experiencing. It takes discipline and respect for God for a people such as these to deny themselves pleasures to do what they are doing today.”
The officiating minister, His Eminence, Rt. Rev C.C Obiefuna, Bishop of CHC Province II Headquarters, Nkpokiti Enugu Enugu State in his homily reminded Christians of the need to be thankful to God who have sustained them throughout the year.
Quoting copiously from Psalm 150, Bishop Obiefuna went further to list some of the benefits attached to thanksgiving and urged the parishioners to present their gifts before God with pure heart which he said comes with a lot of blessings.
In an interview, Elder Reginald Umeike, Barrister Donatus Ikpeogu and wife of Province III and Head of Women/Children Department Aba Superintendence, Senior Deaconess Christiana E. Umeh described this year’s edition of the harvest as a success.
According to Ikpeogu and Umeike, the annual thanksgiving day is one of the most important days in the calendar of the church as it provides them with the opportunity to thank God with whatever they have.
However, Deaconess Umeh also called on the people who are yet to imbibe the culture of thanksgiving to do so, even as she expressed hope that the 2017 harvest will be better than this year’s.
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‘Recession taking toll on students’
The Lagos State Area Unit of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) has urged the government to maintain education standard despite the current economic downturn.
Its Amir Saheed Ashafa said this in a press conference to announce the Society’s 102nd Islamic Vacation Course (IVC) Camp starting tomorrow at Human Capital Development Centre (HCDC) in Noforija, Lagos. About 6,000 participants are expected to attend the seven-day programme with the theme: In the shade of Islam.
Ashafa said students are the worst hit by the recession, noting the vocational programme was informed by the need to equip the youth with skills that would enable them survive hardship.
He said: “The economic recession taking its toll on students. They are finding it difficult to survive and sustain themselves. Parents are also feeling the hardship and unable to pay their school fees. The teachers are not spared too; meeting up with the daily requirement has been very difficult for them. The government should ensure that the standard of education is not compromised.
“Allowing recession to affect the quality of education from primary to tertiary levels is like digging the grave for innovative minds and entrepreneur.”
Ashafa urged parents and guardians to monitor activities of the children, saying that the recession should not be an excuse to abandon parenting.
He said: “Parents and guardians need to step up the way they monitor their children. One of those things to get them protected and give them the right orientation is allowing them to attend the IVC camp, which is to specifically tackle recession. The shade of Islam is wide. It highlights how humans can be accountable, just and religious without any challenge.
The Amir urged governors to bring out palliative measures to reduce the effect of recession on people.
He praised Lagos and Kebbi government for agricultural partnership that led to the production of cheap rice.
“Other governors should also emulate this beautiful idea and extend it to the education sector. Making live convenient for the students put the country’s future at a comfortable range,” he said.