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Tag: recession

  • ‘For Abia, recession is blessing in disguise’

    ‘For Abia, recession is blessing in disguise’

    Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu spoke with reporters in Umuahia, the state capital, on his development programmes, the alleged marginalisation of the Southeast, security, relationship with his successor, and the agitation for the restructuring of the country. Excerpts:

    Why is your administration focusing on the development of Abia?

    For us here in Abia, Aba brings memories that touch very soft nerves. From post-war, there were issues that immediately after the war; it was difficult to rebuild all kinds of infrastructure and Aba incidentally was one of the few cities that accommodated everybody. Many of us have fond memories of Aba and that includes folks from outside Igbo land. Recently, I listened to a radio programme where a Yoruba man was making very strong case for Aba. He lived and grew up here just like my childhood friend Musa, who was born and raised at Hospital Road, Aba. Musa does not know any other town than Aba and same applies to his children who are also here with us as bona fide Aba people.

    Aba is everybody’s city because everything that happens in Aba affects people, not just from the Southeast, but across Nigeria.

    My electioneering campaign focused on what could be done to rebuild Aba as an enabler for rebuilding Abia and even Igbo land. Aba, in terms of geography, is strategically located at the confluence of Southeast and Southsouth Nigeria, as it shares borders with Imo, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, and others. Therefore, whatever affects them, also affects Aba.

    The flux between the cities and the commercial activity, the energy and power that Aba exudes has become a strong anchor or nectar for all kinds of development including with commerce and industry. Aba has at least 15 markets, which are sectionalised according to the needed items. If you want to drive development quickly, you can’t take away Aba, especially in small and medium scale enterprises.

    Aba captured three of the five pillars of development of this administration, hence, the impossibility to ignore Aba.

    The popular saying that if you get Aba right, you get Abia right is apt.

    Moreso, and actually the least important, is that I come from that environment, and I know the huge and enormous potential it brings to bear on the development of not just Abia but of Nigeria.

    If we are thinking of getting out of recession, Aba must be the focus of Nigeria.

    What has been your major challenge as the governor of Abia State in the last two years?

    Lack of belief. Paucity of what I call a prepared human capacity, brought  up and fully enabled for development. By that I mean those ready to catch the vision and run with it. It was a problem getting people to understand that the only way to get a solution to our problems and challenges is to do things differently.

    Distractions from those who don’t understand or have proper diagnosis of the people and their real challenges were also challenging. Those folks misinform our people, manipulate and make our people gullible and they sometimes fall easy prey to their antics. Even without evidence of previous capacity to properly diagnose our challenges and proffer right solutions.

    I look forward to a day when everyone in our state is motivated towards a common agenda, a common good, and a common enterprise because I see government as an enterprise.

    My government is not tailored to a particular agenda but holds a global vision and appeal for the survival and prosperity of our people.

    To what extent are you relating with Southeast governors to deal with the marginalisation of the region?

    For me as a person, the leadership of the Ebonyi State Governor,  Dave Umahi, an engineer, as chairman of Southeast Governors Forum is a focused leadership. He is handling genuine issues around the marginalisation of our people very well but quietly.

    I personally have a strategy to battle the issues of marginalisation by making myself indispensable. It is this attitude that we are trying to also transfer to our people. Work very hard, acquire as much good education as possible and innovate extensively to stay on top and make yourself indispensable to wherever you find yourself.

    Given the state that the PDP is in now, what is the way forward for you and others in the PDP?

    The way forward is to try as much as possible to make your house good. If you have a dirty head, you don’t cut it off, you wash it.

    Is Senator Modu Sheriff your leader?

    The court’s pronouncement is what matters as regards Sheriff. but, I am waiting for the Supreme Court to speak.

    In some states, governments make sure that federal roads are accessible, what are you doing about this, especially with regards to Aba? Secondly, were you distracted by the litigations and how do you feel now that it is over?

    We are doing all, but one of the federal roads leading into Aba. We are doing Aba-Owerri Road, we have mobilized Setraco to fix Port Harcourt Road, and the other one is Aba- Ikot Ekpene Road which the federal government is to handle. We might have issues with the quality of the contractor handling it and the pace of work but we will give them the benefit of doubt.

    But even if the federal government does not reconstruct  Ikot-Ekpene Road in a timely and qualitative manner, we are already constructing two alternative routes to Akwa Ibom from Aba. Just 7kms to Akwa Ibom because we know the area very well and our new roads are through virgin forests.

    Port Harcourt Road is going to be done using concrete pavement. I don’t want people to forget that we pionerred Rigid pavement technology. As far as I know, Abia is also the only state with three Grade A contractors working on her roads concurrently: Arab contractors, Setraco and the Chinese company handling the Osisioma Flyover or interchange.

    On distractions, I am somebody who does not want to wallow in self pity and I rather want to be judged as if nothing happened. If the devil wanted to distract me in any way, he failed woefully.

    I don’t want the devil to get any glory. It is only to the glory of God. Besides, through it all, I didn’t lose the faith of my people. Abians have faith in what we are doing and so, I have every cause to glorify God.

    How are you coping with recession? Also, you are the only governor in the Southeast in good terms with your predecessor. How are you managing the relationship?

    Our response to recession is very simple; promote Made in Aba, local skills and agriculture. One of my greatest achievements is the promotion of Made-in-Aba across the globe.

    As we speak, the Made-in-Aba logo has been officially launched.  Governments pay to be on the CNN, but our case is different because an international organisation that saw what we are doing, saw the need to promote it using CNN and others. This means that our artisans and their creativity are being promoted free of charge.

    People argue about political correctness, instead of economic advantage. We are more focused on doing things that give economic advantage to our people as against being politically correct.

    My predecessor respects me and I also respect him. He doesn’t struggle for space with me. He knows there can only be one governor at a time.

    Because of this, I respect him, one as an elder, two as a senator, and three as a former governor.

    It is a relationship that is based on mutual respect and understanding.

    Igbo youths in particular are disenchanted with the federal Government. What message of hope are you bringing to them? Some Fulani herdsmen still operate on the highways in your state. like your Ekiti counterpart, shouldn’t you have enacted a law to deal with it? And how have you been able to integrate non indigenes in Abia as we have noticed that Abia has the least record of conflict with Fulani herdsmen?

    First, I recognise that there are more Abians in the North, than Ekiti. Whatever action I take must take cognizance of that fact. Abians also add value to wherever they are by employing youths from that place, building structures and generally living peacefully with others. I make bold to state that 60% of Nigerian youths working directly and indirectly through the private sector in Nigeria are employed through the efforts and contributions of our people. It is therefore natural for me to consider all angles in taking decisions. What if there is a reprisal for whatever action we take here, how will that affect our people living outside our state?

    We believe in ensuring the safety of our visitors against all odds. So what we did was to create conflict resolution committees at the local government level, after a critical study of the areas the herders live and visit.

    We have two to three layers of conflict resolution.

    But the major problem with the conflicts is the inability or lack of understanding of local sentiments and the idiosyncrasies of the Hausa/Fulani man, which I understand because I lived in the north for seven years. Our conflict resolution approach is tailored to use this knowledge and solve real and potential conflicts.

    On youth agitation, it is very unfortunate that a part of the nation feels the need to agitate for fairness and equity within the federation. Social mobilisation is very important and even more important than infrastructure. We have not mobilised Nigerians from the centre socially and that is where our leaders have failed.

    Every leader should be a vendor of hope. My strategy in Abia is to focus the minds of our youths on hard work and creativity.

    We are sending 100 people to China for one year to learn how to make shoes. Not because we are not good, but we need to add some icing on our cake. We are using the China Model of technology transfer and standardisation of export products.

    Criminality in Nigeria is occasioned by too much energy and creativity in the youths not finding positive outlets. Let us get it right at the Centre through fairness and equity as well as providing positive outlets for the massive energy of our youths.

    What is your reaction to the recent executive orders by the presidency?

    I commend the Presidency for that. It is very encouraging to our efforts. It is what we have been expecting them to do. But whatever they say or do, it is not complete, until it affects rice, baked beans, salad cream and other imported products that we are consuming daily in Nigeria.

    I am looking forward to when they will stop serving imported rice, baked beans, etc at the FEC meetings and other events around the villa. Since I became Governor, I have been eating local rice and wearing made-in-Aba clothes to support our people.

    What are you doing in the area of education to ensure that Abia remains in the forefront? On attracting investors, what kind of incentives are you giving? What are you doing to sustain a safe environment where business can thrive?

    Our strategy to develop education is through taking cognizance of our foundational issues.

    The problem of education, not only in Abia but Nigeria, is the quality and morale of our primary school teachers. Early child education is as important as tertiary education, if not more important.

    We are partnering with Australian school teachers to go to our schools and help in developing our learning environment, information Communication Technology, classroom management, first aid and how to manage children. They will train our teachers who in turn will become trainers for others.

    We want to ensure that at primary 3, a pupil is able to confidently operate the computer efficiently.

    We would model primary schools to achieve this, as well as embark on advanced teachers training which Is critical to educational capacity building.

    In the next 12 months, there is going to be a revolution in Abia education sector. Our idea of model schools will spring up across the geopolitical zones of the state and the Australians will return to continue the work they are partnering with us to do.

    On incentives for investors, the Abia investment House, which is private sector driven, is for ease of doing business in Abia. It will help investors get all they need to operate in Abia in at most two weeks.

    I have the bulk Cs of O of 9,000 hectares of land, which any interested investor can get in two hours, if he’s interested in as much plots of land as possible. We are ready to give the lands to those who show seriousness in investing in Abia.

    The ‘unitary’ political system in Nigeria is it sustainable?

    No. In the first instance, there should not be any “federal roads”, because there are no federal citizens. Let the funds for fixing of so-called federal roads be given to state governments with monitoring by the relevant federal agency or ministry. Most of what the federal government is doing should be done by the state governments while the federal government concentrate on generating and monitoring guiding policies

    What do you think about the clamour for the restructuring of Nigeria?

    I would say that question has largely been captured in my interaction with you here and whatever I said is my opinion.

    But I believe we should start spending time on the way forward in Nigeria, instead of Federal Government spending too much time on money appropriation.

    For instance, without  recession we won’t be working so hard on Made in Aba, increased agricultural production with over 40,000 palm seedlings and a mushroom industry that can guarantee a minimum of N70,000 daily to an Abia youth. Nigeria needs to tap into the prevailing recession instead of focusing on huge appropriations and issues around sharing of money. If the federal government is serious with tapping into the opportunities presented by this recession they should look towards Aba and focus on using Aba as the model to bring out the best in Nigerians.

  • Recession: Cleric seeks end to hardship

    Recession: Cleric seeks end to hardship

    President Muhammadu Buhari and government officials at state and local government levels should shun religious atters…The Federal Government should curtail the excesses of suspected herdsmen’

    For the Methodist Bishop of Owo Diocese, Rev Solomon Adegbite, this is not the best of times for Nigerians who are bearing the brunt of the current economic recession which the country is experiencing.

    The cleric decried the situation where many frustrated Nigerians attempted to commit suicide as a result of hardship.

    He noted that the suffering was not unconnected with the unruly activities of people in government who have no fear of God.

    Delivering his address at the 29th Diocesan Synod held at Methodist Church Nigeria, Epinmi-Akoko Bishop Adegbite insisted that until people stop their cruel ways of life and also stop persecution of innocent people, especially Christians, the situation may not improve.

    He urged President Muhammadu Buhari and government officials at state and local government levels to shun dabbling into religious matters, even as he advised against religious intolerance.

    On the incessant attacks by suspected herdsmen, the cleric flayed the killings and destruction of farm lands in many parts of the country, urging the Federal Government to curtail the excesses of the herdsmen.

    Bishop Adegbite also expressed the need for the government to engage transparent technocrats to manage the economy of the country in order to bring succour to impoverished Nigerians.

    Besides, he advocated an egalitarian society where every Nigerian will feel equal; stressing that public office should be shared equally among various ethnic groups in the country.

    The Diocesan lay-President, Prof. Theophilus Olawoye urged Methodist leaders to emulate Jesus Christ by not using their positions to subjugate members, adding that their positions are not family hereditary privileges, but a call to the service of humanity.

    According to him, those in leadership positions should be transparent and accountable in their dealings.

    Prof. Olawoye, urged members at local church levels and through the Diocese to enhance the church’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) despite the current economic meltdown.

    Synod delegates from the Diocese witnessed the 29th Annual Synod hosted by the Methodist Church Nigeria, Epinmi-Akoko.

  • Recession: What hope for new banks?

    Recession: What hope for new banks?

    The entrance of two new commercial banks into the nation’s banking sector came as a surprise to many stakeholders due to the current economic situation.  Bukola Aroloye examines the role the new entrants would play in improving the financial industry.

    At a time many financial institutions are finding it difficult to run their operations with many banks laying off their staff, industry watchers have been asking the rationale behind the licensing of the new banks by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    Enter SunTrust Bank and Providus

    The apex bank last year included two new commercial banks, Providus and SunTrust Banks both with divisional licenses in the list of deposit banks in Nigeria. Providus Bank Plc headquartered in Lagos, was granted a commercial banking license with regional authorisation while SunTrust Bank Limited, obtained its license as a regional bank.

    Justification for new banks

    While many people are pondering over the motives behind the formation of the banks by its owners, in spite of the ongoing recession, Mr. Muhammad Jibrin Barde, who is the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of SunTrust Bank, explained the motives behind the bank’s formation and what the bank has to offer in terms of products and services.

    “Our emphasis is on financial technology banking, with the small and medium scale enterprises as our main focus. We want to grow the small and medium scale industry sector,” said Jibrin in New York shortly after he secured the license for the commercial bank.

    His statement pointed to the direction the bank was going which is to provide platform for small business owners to thrive. He emphasised that the growth of any economy depends largely on the survival of the small businesses but laments that the Nigeria existing financial institution has not helped the SMEs to grow.

    He opined that lack of access to finance is one of the factors hindering progress of the small and medium enterprises, adding that the emergence of the bank is to fill that gap.

    “You need to have access to finance and the engine room to the growth of each and every economy is the small and medium enterprises, yet they are without access to finance. I have seen it and lived among them all through my life. We must find an institution that will clearly provide the funding and support of small and medium enterprises. That has always been my passion and this would propel the economic growth of this country, there is no doubt about it,” he said.

    With the existence of established banks such as Access, Zenith, UBA, etc., it is expected the stiff completion posed by these financial institutions will pose a big challenge to the new entrants.

    However, Jubrin said such competition is expected but is confident the bank is ready to compete with the existing ones.

    According to him, technology-driven operation would help the bank to achieve its objectives.

    “Our target is growing the bank’s revenue by N1billion and N30billion in five years. We are projecting a customer base of 10 million using other banking agents and network providers such as Airtel to get to those areas where Sun Trust may be physically restricted to operate as a regional bank, to expand its customer base. We hope that in the next five years, we would be able to achieve a target of ten million customers which is one-third of the current banking industry number,” he said.

    He added: “This is what we are doing. Believe me, it is not rhetoric; someone has to start somewhere and this is what we are doing.”

    Relevance of regional banks

    The emergence of the banks also threw up the issue of the relevance of regional banking system. It also raised the issue of whether banks should jettison the normal standard of opening branches in every part of the country for easy accessibility to customers.

    Jubrin said the bank mode of operation would change the way banking is done in Nigeria.

    “We are part of the tectonic movement in banking, a financial technology based bank with minimum branches. Sun Trust is a regional financial technology based bank with a capital requirement of N10 billion, now in excess of one billon, we are operating with minimum staff with branches in Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt covering the South-South and South-West and of course Abuja where by our license, we are limited to operate physically. Our strategy is very clear, we don’t see us increasing our capital, and there is no need for us to have a big capital that cannot give returns. By implication, we will remain a regional bank for now and what that means is that we cannot physically be in the other regions; we will be everywhere because we are not limited by barriers or by physical location; technology is not limited physically and therefore whether you are in the South-East or in the North, we can easily service you.

    “We were very clear from day one that any institution that thinks the branch banking is at the core of the brand, is not ready for the customer of tomorrow. The customer of today is executing 90 percent of his transactions electronically; talk less of the customer of tomorrow. There will be physical presence of banks and scanty behind the counter activities since nobody wants to deal exclusively with robots, but with constant education of the customer on the science and art of electronic banking, banking will become real fun in the future,” he said.

    In his view, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Providus Bank, Mr. Walter Akpani, said the bank would focus on service excellence, cost savings, speed, transparency and innovation.

    According to him, the lender will leverage technology to beat competition, saying the vision of the bank is to be the number one in service delivery.

    While commending Ambode for the massive infrastructural development in the state and his efforts at enhancing ease of doing business, Akpani said the lender would come up with ideas to boost the state’s Internally-Generated Revenue.

    The lender, according to the CEO, currently employs over 250 workers directly. “However, they are excluded from financial services, what you and I take for granted: carry out a transaction, pay our bills, save money for a rainy day and even borrow on very reasonable terms from banks; the youths don’t have that access and the CBN is trying to ensure that there is financial inclusion, so given all these things together and looking at where the economy is going, where the growth is, we believe that we should target the youths as tomorrow’s beneficiaries of the larger network of electronic banking technology.”

    Mixed reaction greet emergence of new banks

    Reacting to the emergence of the new banks and the effects their presence would have on the financial sector, a financial expert and Managing Director, Cowry Asset Management Limited, Johnson Chukwu, said: “I believe that the new banks saw opportunities in the banking space for service provision, which they think that existing banks may not be effectively servicing. These new entrants in the banking sector may have considered the low to medium income earners as their targets given the type of products they have so far pushed into the market. This customer class neither falls into the high net-worth individuals, which is the target of most big banks nor the very low income bracket, which is the focus of microfinance institutions.”

    He added: “Based on the pronouncements of the management of the new banks, their operational structure and their strong focus on providing services through the electronic medium, one can assume that their targets are the low to medium income relatively educated Nigerians with prospect to grow into high to very high income earners. In effect they are bringing into the market, products tailored to the needs of these low to medium income earners, with features such as convenience, speed, etc.”

    In the area of competition, Chukwu said: “I think that these new banks will try to break into the market by serving the underserved banking community as well as attracting those outside the banking system. This they can do by adopting what the military call flanks attach. For instance a new bank which cannot serve a major merchant such as Dangote could decide to focus its attention on serving the distributors who the big banks are not willing to serve. By providing convenient and efficient service to such distributors, some of the distributors may grow into the big merchants and will remain loyal to the bank. The new banks may also attract the patronage of the some of the merchants whose customers they are serving. I therefore do not think that the new banks will jump into ‘the red ocean’ trying to compete with the big banks for the accounts of the conglomerates and multinationals. They would rather carve a niche for themselves in the market for low to medium income bankable customers.”

    He however is of the view that their emergence does not prove that that economy has improved.          “While the entrance of the new banks may not necessarily prove that the economy is improving, their entry into the banking space is a testimony to the fact that there are still unexplored and unexploited opportunities for provision of banking services in Nigeria. There are also still several pockets of un-served and underserved customers, which these new banks are targeting. Having said this, it is also necessary to acknowledge that the Nigerian economy is on a recovery trajectory, the green shots are quite obvious, such as improving Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), declining inflation rates, improving foreign exchange liquidity, etc.”

    Chukwu also holds the view and very strongly too that the entrance of the new banks means that competition is coming not from traditional competitors hence the existing banks need to map out new strategies to retain some of their customers. They also need to develop defensive products to compete in the market segments where the new banks will be nibbling into their customer base. As for the banking public, it provides them alternatives, which is a critical element in a free market economy.

    The Managing Director, Sofunix Investment Limited, Mr Sola Oni is also on the same page with Chukwu.

    According to him, the coming on board indicates confidence in the economy. “The banking sector is live blood of economic activities. The promoters must have considered the risk and rewards associated with bank.”

    In his own view, Mr. Segun Adeniyi, the Managing Director of Bone Investment, believes the investors must have taken a risk in view of the current economy situation.

    He however hailed the bank for focusing on the small and medium enterprises.

    “Establishing a financial institution at this point in time is a risk because the free money the existing banks used to play with is no longer there. So one might begin to wonder how the new ones would survive. However, with the emphasis on the small business owners who are the backbones of any economy, I believe they will secure the support of the government. With the government paying more attention to small scale industries, I believe the new banks will survive in that sector which other banks are not paying attention to,” he said.

    Ifeoluwa Adebowale, another financial expert added: “Their emergence is a good development. While the existing commercial banks are shying away from assisting the small businesses to grow, it is a good thing that new banks are springing up with the intention of taking over that sector. Many business owners are fed up with high interest rates and lack of access to loans. More so, the world is now driven by technology, Nigerians are no longer interested in visiting branches. Many people want to conduct their transactions at home so I expect the new banks to succeed. It will put the other banks on their toes.”

  • ‘Way out of recession’

    ‘Way out of recession’

    The atmosphere was charged as worshipers thronged the church auditorium, bearing palm fronds and singing praises to God for the opportunity to witness another Passover Feast. It was a gathering of the faithful to celebrate the risen Christ.

    This was followed by a procession from the main auditorium, even as the worshippers stooped to make their heads to touch the earth, in total submission to Almighty God who was in the beginning before the beginning began.

    During the grand finale of the 21-day annual Jesus Passover Feast (Perfection Day) of The Saints Gospel Church of Christ, also known as Hand of Fire, Igando, Lagos, people expressed happiness and hope that the resurrection of Jesus Christ will make all things come anew in their lives.

    The founder and General Overseer of the church, Pastor Jacob Shodeinde, who recounted the journey to the Passover Feast, said it is a mysterious programme ordained by God to deliver people from their problems.

    His words: “After my calling, God ordered me to go on a seven-day marathon and after that, He revealed the ordinances of the Passover Feast to me; it’s an ordinance of old.

    ”Everything started in the Tabernacle of Moses. They used palm fronds during their Passover so we pray with palm fronds to replicate the days of old. Expect that we don’t offer sacrifices with animals because Jesus was offered as a propitiation for our sins. A dead woman came back to life during the Passover Feast after the palm frond was put into her hands.

    “During the triumphant entry, the people laid down palm fronds to honour Jesus Christ as he rode into Jerusalem. It’s part of the mystery of the call.

    “In Nehemiah chapter eight, the people gathered on the street to mark the Passover. That is what we are doing today; bowing to worship the Lord who does wonders, except that we don’t offer sacrifices because Jesus was offered as a sacrifice for us. It is a Biblical mystery which we have been holding on to since 1996. We are celebrating the blood of Christ, which is the mystery of the Passover.”

    The cleric emphasised the significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ to the feast, saying it gives man hope that life will be better, especially at this time of recession. This, he added, was the purpose of the feast–to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus who shed his blood so that man could be free from condemnation and triumph over evil.

    “That is why we gather annually to celebrate the blood through the Passover Feast. The purpose is to deliver the people from their mountainous problems and to gather the candidates of heaven in Mount Zion. That is why testimonies can never cease here because Mount Zion is the house of the Lord.

    “Every Christian must be involved because the blood of Jesus Christ was shed for the whole world and not for a select few. That is why as Christians, we have the hope of life after death and a certainty that our faith is not in vain. We are also freed from every condemnation,” he said.

    Pastor Shodeinde, who credits God for his strength and testimonies recorded during the feast, urged Nigerians to serve Him faithfully and with sincerity of heart as it is the only way out of crisis.

    “My reliance and dependability in the blood of Jesus Christ has been my source of strength. When you have a calling and you abide by all rules guiding the call, be sure God will provide the needed strength. When the challenges came, I cried to God and he assured me I will prevail and today we are rejoicing.

    “If God has performed miracles in people’s lives, they should serve Him wholeheartedly and with sincerity of heart. The answer to Nigeria and Nigerian’s problems is Jesus Christ. He is able to set the country free if everybody surrenders totally to Him and serve Him sincerely,” he added.

    A member of the congregation, Pastor John Adeyemi, said it was through the Passover Feast that man has hope of a greater tomorrow.

    According to him, revelations about generational battles, as well as strategies to fight and win, were revealed to him during the programme.

    “Passover is the feast when I knew about battles existing in my lineage in the last 100 years and these battles were won. Every sorrow is turned to joy and every battle is conquered,” he said.

    Pastor Ayodele Afuwape said the feast is a covenant between God and founder of the ministry, adding that it’s a multi-dimensional calling and an embodiment of so many things.

    “It’s specially created by God and it’s done thrice a year–April, August and December. There is healing, deliverance, victory over the power of the enemy, blessing and recovery.

    “Personally, I’ve experienced healing. My wife developed complications during pregnancy but she was delivered of the baby safely during the feast in 1997.  My sister had fibroid but she received her deliverance during one of the programmes,” Afuwape said.

  • Experts divided over end of recession

    Ordinarily the news that Nigeria will be out of recession in weeks should be cheery news indeed. But that piece of news has generated a lot of heated debates between a cross-section of Nigerians who like the doubting Thomases are not convinced that this is possible in their opinion judging by some indices.

    It would be recalled that the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed and the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Adeyemi Dipeolu had in separate statements indicated that the recession may have bottomed out with the improving trends in several key sectors of the economy.

    But many Nigerians believe this news leaves nothing to cheer about.

    Speaking in an interview with The Nation, Dr. Frank Udemba Jacobs, President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) while admitting that it is unquestionable that 2016 was a very difficult year as economic activities were distorted by severe challenges the most burdensome being the acute shortage of FX, he however said it was rather hasty. “In clear terms that the economy is still in recession even though it’s intensity is waning out.”

    Expatiating, he said: “Noteworthy is the fact that the new CBN forex guideline of February 21, 2017 introduced various interventions in the official FX market that offered some fillip to the manufacturing sector. These interventions have been very efficient in making FX more available and narrowing the exchange rate premium between the official and the parallel markets. This is an important development that will galvanise economic activities and trigger economic growth in 2017 if sustained.”

    Much of the CBN interventions in FX market, he maintained, “Is due to improvement in crude oil production and the attendant FX earnings. I agree that the ongoing engagement of the oil-producing communities of the Niger Delta is very important and should be pursued to a blissful conclusion where interests of all the stakeholders are well taken care of. The Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) is also a good development that will grow the economy in 2017 and beyond if well implemented.”

    On the aggregate however, he said the economy is gradually improving and that the root of recession is beginning to lose its clutches on the economy. “I have a positive feeling that with little adjustments in the current FX policy guidelines of the government, improvement in the ease of doing business performance and effective implementation of the ERGP, the year 2017 will be a better year than 2016.”

    In the view of Johnson Chukwu, Managing Director/CEO, Cowry Asset Management Limited, “Given the trend in the performance of several sectors of the economy in the fourth quarter of 2016, when the contraction in economic activities slowed from 2.4% in Q3 to 1.3% in Q4, one would expect that the country should be out of recession before the end of the current year.”

    Chukwu who expressed confidence in the economy, said this was made partly possible by the change in government approach to the restiveness in the Niger Delta.

    “By making a U-turn from a gunboat strategy to rapprochement, government has been able to diffuse the tension in the region and reduce the spate of militant attacks on oil facilities. This has to a large extent helped in improving the volume of crude export and has possibly turned around in the fortune of the oil and gas sector which contracted by 22% in Q3 2017.”

    While noting that recovery in crude oil prices also helped with the improvement in crude production has spurred an increase in foreign exchange earnings, foreign reserves and dollar liquidity. “With improved dollar liquidity in the economy, several sectors of the economy particularly the manufacturing sector and trade sector may have started receiving a reasonable supply of forex for their recovery and possible growth. In effect, one can reasonable predict that if the current trend is sustained, Nigeria should be out of economic recession by the end of the second quarter of 2017.”

    He however said the delay in the passage of the 2017 budget has foreclosed any positive expectation. “Whatever is the projected benefit of an early passage of the budget is already lost so I do not see how anybody will be factoring that into the possible sources of economic recovery.”

    According to Sola Oni, ?Chief Executive Officer, SOFUNIX Investment and Communications Limited, inflation rate is becoming moderated, external reserve is inching up, quoted companies are turning out higher than expected earnings, tempo of the Niger Delta crisis is becoming low, thus sending signals of improved oil production and sales. These are clear signals of economic recovery. But the key issue is sustainability of these lofty initiatives in the final analysis.”

    For Sewa Wusu, an economic analyst with Sterling Bank Plc, judging by the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) unleashed in the past week, the manufacturing sector in Nigeria has moved from 50 point mark, its came in at about 53.1 point because that measures activities in terms of manufacturing in the country and also non manufacturing.

    “The purchasing managing index (PMI) all over the world is an indication of the health of the economy. Looking at the different countries like China, India, US, Euro zone, Germany they all have PMI result. Nigeria also have PMI result each time you read the gauge or read the direction of this report it’s an indication that activities are either going up or down. The gauge of this report is 50 marks so once there is a reading above 50 marks that clearly states the expansion, but the gauge below 50 is what is called contraction. Nigeria’s report is above 50 which states and indicates that economy is coming out of recession.”

  • PDP chieftain urges Nigerians to accept recession as national problem

    PDP chieftain urges Nigerians to accept recession as national problem

    Alhaji Ahmed Gusau, a former Minister of Solid Minerals, has urged Nigerians to accept the current economic recession in Nigeria as a national problem, which would soon be over.

    Gusau, also a former Deputy Governor in Sokoto State, spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Sokoto on Monday, on the sidelines of the celebration of the 2017 May Day.

    The former Sole Administrator and former Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in the state said, “Government is doing its best and Nigerians should also do their own.

    “President Muhammadu Buhari is also doing his best to take the country out of recession. All hands should be on the deck in this direction,” he said.

    The former deputy governor and currently a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stressed the need for the country to come together to bring about solutions to the problems plaguing the nation.

    Gusau appealed to Nigerians to endure the current hardship, saying that the workers, women and the downtrodden were suffering most.

  • Recession will end in weeks- Lai Mohammed

    Recession will end in weeks- Lai Mohammed

    Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, yesterday assured the biting recession will end in weeks.

    He said Nigeria was gradually moving out of recession.

    Mohammed, represented by the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Bayo Onanuga, made the assertion at the biennial convention of the Nigerian Guild of Editors in Lagos.

    He said that going by a recent statement by the Central Bank Governor, the country would exit recession by the end of June.

    “There have been other pointers for the good news as well. For two consecutive months, the National Bureau of Statistics has also reported a fall in inflation rate.

    “The exchange rate is regaining some sanity.

    “As I said earlier, the worst appears to be over. We are clawing out of the woods of recession in weeks from now, “the minister said.

    Mohammed said that the Buhari administration and collective will of Nigerians had shamed doomsday prediction that our recession could worsen into a depression.

    ” I hope, in our various media, we shall begin to focus more on the positive developments in our economy, the growth in agriculture and mineral development, since the NBS last year, let out the secret that the Nigerian economy recorded a negative growth in the first quarter of 2016, ” he said.

    The minister said that recession was not peculiar to the country.

    He said that the United States of America had experienced 47 recessions, some regressing into depressions.

    “Between 1980 and 2007 alone, the American economy experienced five recessions. The last one in 2007 was caused by the subprime mortgage crisis and led to the collapse of the US housing bubble,” he said.

    Mohammed urged the media to stop the blame game and educate Nigerians on the efforts being made to end recession.

    “Informing the people that the government is working hard to end the recession will go a long way to give hope to the people.

    “After all, it is said that “if you keep hope alive, it will keep you alive,” the minister said.

     

  • Buhari’s economic recovery plan an affront on constitution – Don

    Buhari’s economic recovery plan an affront on constitution – Don

    A university Don and member of the NLC/ASUU Think-Tank on the economy, Prof. Omotoye Olorode Saturday picked holes in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) recently launched by President Muhammadu Buhari saying the policy was subversive and an affront on section II of the Nigerian constitution.

    Speaking at the 2017 Pre- May Day Lecture entitled “Labour Relations in Economic Recession: As Appraisal” jointly organised by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Prof. Olorode said the document was an extension of the assault formally launched on the nation under military dictatorship in the mid-1980s.

    According to him, it is the same policies that have being imposed on the country by neoliberal forces that were replicated in the document which was launched with fanfare by the President, insisting that the document cannot drive the nation’s economic recovery plan.

    He said “from President Shehu Shagari’s austerity measures of the early 1980s to SAP, to vision 2010, 2020 and 20-2020 to today’s 2017 ERGP, the commitment of the ruling class has been to neoliberalism-private sector led economy characterized below and enforced overtime by the same personnel.”

    Citing part of the ERGP document, he said the document was articulated with the understanding that the role of government in the 21st century must evolve from that if being an omnibus provider of citizens’ needs into a force for eliminating the bottlenecks that impede innovations and market based solution.

    Prof, Olorode said the ERGP document was “an unequivocal re-statement of market fundamentalist assault against chapter II of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, an assault formally launched under military dictatorship in the mid-1980s.

    “Nothing in the 2016 Strategic Implementation Plan to which the ERGP referred is new. Consequently, we must reiterate a segment of NLC policy document to show that the class interests of the succession of Nigeria’s ruling class regimes is antagonistic to that if the labouring people.

    “Given the continued neglect of education through underfunding and privatization, the claim of ERGP that the plan recognizes the need to leverage Science, Technology and Innovation and build a knowledge based economy is not just only sheer sloganeering, it is a cruel joke.

    “In any case, there is already a significant quantum of STI on ground in Nigeria to enable us address Nigeria’s most urgent needs in food production, safe and accessible drinking water, transpiration, energy, security, General education, housing, healthcare delivery and amelioration of environmental degradation.

    “It is this neoliberal programmes that the Nigeria ruling class is still peddling with the ERGP and the Nigeria Labour Congress and the entire Labour movement in Nigeria and at the global levels need to combatant in order to outlaw capitalist recession in Nigeria and throughout the world.”

    He insisted that the current war against corruption would not make any meaningful impact “as long as the Nigerian ruling class remains committed to private accumulation under new-liberal ideology which typically locates countries like Nigeria at the periphery of global capitalism.”

    In his remarks, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba lamented various government policies that has continued to impoverish the Nigerian people, adding that government policies has consistently favored employers against the workers and the Nigerian people.

    Wabba said “Today is a day of reflection and a day that we must recognize that no employer of Labour will be so generous to award us what we are demanding for. We have to get it through struggle and this is what we need to reflect on.

    “No politician seek office to actually better the lot of the people because they see politics as an investment. So is the issue of businesses around the world which is to make profit and so, we must continue as watchdog of the society continue to represent the interest of our members and the larger people.

    “No policy will be made that will serve our interest. That is why our duty has a,ways been policy contestation. Policies must be made to address our developmental challenges and address issues of inequality which has continued to be on the increase despite the fact that in the last one decade, global wealth has continue to increase. We create the wealth of every society, but what has been our bargain.

    “Poverty among working class has continued to increase. This year’s May Day calls for us to rededicate ourselves both as members and leaders to our collective struggle and continue to agitate for what is right to our society. There is no way the issue for insecurity will be addressed without addressing the twin issue from poverty and unemployment.”

    Wabba lashed out at former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar for opposing the idea of having uniform salary for workers across the country, adding that if political office holders can earn the same salaries irrespective of the resources available in their states, there was no reason why workers should not earn the same salaries across the country.

    He said: “in any case, we are not even canvassing for the same salary structure. We are talking of minimum and even in the most capitalist societies, you have minimum which is to protect the vulnerable and it cut across both public and private sector so that we don’t leave it to our respective employers to fix what they want.

    “We are saying that we must continue to maintain that minimum whereby no employer should pay below that. Today, even with the law, some employers are still paying below N10000 and that is modern slavery. They will try all means to divide us, but we should not be deterred because a people determined cannot be defeated.”

    President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Bobboi Kaigama said countries all over the world have always rejig their economy to make workers the priority of the state when the country is going through hard times, but lamented that the reverse has always been the case in Nigeria.

    He said: “We know that globally, countries go through tough times and that is when concerted efforts is made by the government to rejig the economy in such a way that workers are made the priority of the state. But in this country, the reverse is the case. As creators of wealth, we are seen as slaves to our slave masters.

    “During this year’s May Day, we intend to show the Nigerian government at all levels our displeasure. In the midst of recession, devaluation of the naira and the high cost of everything, the wage of the Nigerian worker is very constant.

    “We must remember that all the 36 states of the federation, except for the first generation states, all other states that followed through memos made it as their number one guarantee that they can pay workers’ salaries from their internally generated revenue. But the same states are the one reneging in the payment of salaries.

    “We will not stop calling on the governors that their states cannot pay workers’ salaries to resign because we strongly believe that no state in this country that cannot generate revenue internally to pay salaries except the governor is not serious. We are so lazy that we just sit down and wait for federal allocation while making our internally generated revenue our weekend fund.

    “If we continue that way, we will never go anywhere. So, we insist that any state governor that feels they cannot pay workers’ salaries through internally generated revenue should honorably resign because we know that we have the resources.”

     

  • Recession not a crime – Ambode

    Recession not a crime – Ambode

    Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Saturday said that contrary to the view held by most people, recession was not a crime but a period that calls for government at all level to rearrange its expenditure and give more priority to capital expenditure.

    Governor Ambode, who spoke at the opening ceremony of the Biennial Convention of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) held in Ikeja, Lagos with the theme, “A Nation in Recession: Whither the Nigerian Media?” sighted example of the steps the former U.S President, Barak Obama took few years ago to save the ailing American economy, saying that Nigeria must be ready to toll such line.

    The Governor said, “Recession is not a crime, it’s just a notice to say that you rearrange the way you do your public expenditure. That’s what President Obama did. Yes, there was a burst in 2008 and 2009 but he was very bold enough to put public money into General Motors and even the airlines and that is what is missing in this country.

    “You need to increase the capital expenditure to help companies, to help other people and even help the government to get the system out of recession. That’s the only template that works.”

    Governor Ambode said the State stood in the gap for Nigeria during the period of the economic recession, assuring that his administration would continue to show leadership, demonstrate capacity and be relentless in its pursuit of excellence despite the daunting challenges.

    He said the current recessionary climate not only taught some hard lessons but presented a new challenge as well as an opportunity to think outside the box to change Nigeria’s story from “business as usual” to “business unusual”.

    He said with the recession, the rate of unemployment soared as a result of the economic outlook, lay-offs and shut-down of businesses stating that the national unemployment rate rose to 13.9 percent in 2016 from 10.4 percent in 2015; while the unemployment rate in Lagos State increased from 18 percent in 2015 to 27 percent in 2016.

    But the Governor said that his administration took definite steps to arrest the trend, recalling that on assumption of office, he created new ministries while some while realigned in a bid to fashion out ways of creating job opportunities for residents.

    Besides, Governor Ambode said what his administration did in the last two years was to commit huge resources to capital projects, premised on the fact that the nation had no choice but to spend its way out of recession and create platforms that will stimulate job creation and decidedly reflate the economy.

    “Today, with our GDP at US$136billion, Lagos is Africa’s fifth largest economy just because we have been prudent and resilient as well as taking on board the useful opinions and analysis that the vibrant media have ceaselessly provided.,” the Governor said.

    Governor Ambode also said that despite the shortfall of federal transfers occasioned by the dip in oil prices, his administration made conscious decisions to partner with the private sector through Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) to bridge the funding gap to deliver key/strategic infrastructure projects especially the Fourth Mainland Bridge; Oshodi Transport Interchange; Badagry Deep Sea Port; Lekki free trade zone, and Lagos Smart City projects, among others.

    While commending the Guild of Editors for its outstanding accomplishments and contributions to the growth and development of the media and free speech in Nigeria, Governor Ambode tasked the media to live up to its major responsibility of advancing the cause of good governance.

    “Your role in this pursuit of resilience, therefore, is to lend the needed support in bringing our noble efforts to public consciousness. With your vital partnership, we are hopeful that other governments can borrow a leaf from the Lagos Model and translate same in their respective domains to promote good governance to the greater benefit of humanity,” he said.

    He assured that the State Government would not rest on its oars, but would continue to initiate and execute programmes that will make Lagos the investment haven of Africa and the tourism destination of the Continent.

    Earlier, President of the NGE, Mrs. Funke Egbemode, said the Convention afforded members to rub minds and fashion out strategies that would help to stabilise the nation’s economy, but also the media industry in business.

    The event which attracted the who’s who in the Nigeria Media Industry also saw the Guild conduct elections into various offices.

     

     

  • Recession: Don advises FG to review exchange rate policy

    Recession: Don advises FG to review exchange rate policy

    Emeritus Professor of Economics, Ademola Oyejide, has advised the Federal Government to re-examine the current exchange rate policy to help the country manage the economy out of recession.

    Oyejide gave the advice at the 2017 Annual Public Lecture of Nigerian Economic Society on Thursday in Abuja when he spoke on “ Managing Nigerian Economy in and out of Recession’’.

    He, however, advised the Federal Government to adopt the Stable Undervalued Real Exchange Rate (SURER) Policy.

    Oyejide said that the number of foreign exchange windows opened by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) could create uncertainty and confusion in the market.

    NAN reports that the country’s foreign exchange market is run under a Managed Float Policy, initiated by the CBN.

    In recent weeks, the CBN had introduced the Small and Medium Enterprise Forex window as well as the Investors and Exporters forex window.

    It also increased the volume of dollars that a single Bureau de Change could bid for to 40,000 dollars per week from 8,000 dollars.

    This is all in addition to the consistent intervention of over 2 billion dollars since February to genuine customers through the inter-bank market.

    He criticised the CBN’s continuous pumping of foreign exchange into the market, with the hope of boosting and sustaining the value of the Naira.

    He said there was no concrete economic justification for the rigid fixation to maintain a “strong” currency when it does not, in fact, generate a strong and resilient economy.

    Oyejide said other developing countries confronted with similar challenges had used and are using the Stable Undervalued Real Exchange Rate (SURER) Policy.

    He said they used SURER to enhance the global competitiveness of their economies.

    “In this process, they have been able to achieve higher levels of economic transformation in terms of production and trade through enhanced national productivity.

    “In this effect, exchange rate protection helps to counteract the Dutch disease” impact of oil booms by enhancing the profitability of non-oil tradable.

    “It will protect the impact of the oil boom, including agriculture and manufacturing which provide the expansive employment opportunities that oil sector can’t.’’

    Oyejide said that the government should also review the import –substitution industrialisation strategy, which he said had failed for more than 50 years.

    He said that the policy had failed, especially in all important areas of enhancing the economy’s structural transformation.

    “One argument that has been used to maintain this policy is that Nigeria has a large domestic market which can support the policy and, eventually, produce the expected result.

    “However, a country with a large domestic market, competition among firms can force participating firms to acquire the technological capabilities and reach the level of efficiency necessary for them to become globally competitive.

    “But, in Nigeria, over the past 50 years, many firms protected by high tariff barriers and even import prohibition have shown no interest in upgrading their efficiency and capacities.’’

    According to him, practices that boost larger domestic markets than Nigeria, example China, India and Indonesia, suggest that international competitiveness must be the yardstick of the success of any industrial policy.

    He said that the approach to the industrial policy had several elements.

    “It begins with the recognition that government has a responsibility for enhancing economic transformation by supporting private sector firms.

    “But only firms and sectors identified to be potentially competitive globally should receive government support like targeted credit, technology access assistance, as well as subsidies through tariffs and the tax system,’’ the economist said.