The Nation Newspaper

Tag: stability

  • Ibe Kachukwu: Working round the clock to ensure stability in the oil sector

    The survival of Nigeria as a sovereign nation – state is largely dependent on the petroleum sub – sector as she derives her revenue majorly from crude oil exports.

    Indeed, Nigeria is a mono – culture economy whose economic lifeline is basically predicated on the exploration and exportation of its black gold, popularly referred to as crude oil. As it stands, the most critical national infrastructure of Nigeria are pipelines that have been designed to ensure and guarantee uninterrupted supply of crude oil to various refineries across the country.

    Overtime, particularly during the Obasanjo, Yar’Adua and Jonathan administrations, there has been a consistent threat to oil and gas installations in the country arising from the activities of Niger Delta Militants who have been advocating for resource control and other criminal elements who engage in malicious vandalism of the nation’s oil assets in furtherance of their illegal bunkering business.

    However, the advent of the present administration under the dynamic leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari has ushered in a new dawn in the petroleum sub-sector of the Nigerian economy.

    The appointment and subsequent assumption of office by Dr. Ibe Kachukwu as Nigeria’s Minister of State (Petroleum) has turned-out to be the magic wand needed for the stability and effective sustenance of crude oil production in the country.

    If the truth must be told, President Muhammadu Buhari deserves commendation for the meritorious appointment of Dr. Ibe Kachukwu. Mr. President, in his determination to ensure that round pegs are put in round holes, was not in anyway swayed by sentiments or emotions in assigning the petroleum portfolio to Kachukwu.

    So far, the comprehensive reforms undertaken by Dr. Ibe Kachukwu in repositioning the petroleum sector has been very far reaching and producing the desired results to the extent that there is steady and continuous production of crude oil in our refineries and supplies to the various outlets has been very smooth.

    Under the watch of Dr. Ibe Kachukwu, the oil and gas sector, particularly the NNPC is beginning to live up to its mandate of producing fuel for local consumption and export to the international market – for the economic survival of the Nigerian Nation.

    To every discerning mind and keen watchers of the of the petroleum sector, the speed at which Kachukwu is going about delivering on his responsibility does not live any one in doubt that he is well focused and has a clear vision of changing the ugly narratives associated with the production and supply of petroleum products to a new order of efficiency and sustainability of the gains achieved thus far.

    At the global scene, the influence and connections of Kachukwu has brought the much desired respect and regard to Nigeria among the comity of nations. Right now, he is a strong personality to be reckoned with in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Nations (OPEC).

    A cursory analysis of the performance of ministers in the federal executive council point in one direction: that is, Dr. Ibe Kachukwu is unarguably, ranked as one of the best performing ministers under the Buhari-led administration.

    As for the NNPC (Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation), the solid foundation laid by Kachukwu when he held forte as the Group Managing Director (GMD) has taken the organization to the next level of utmost efficiency, accountability and profitability.

    It is to the credit of Kachukwu that after 6 years of the comatose state of the nation’s crude oil pipelines, it took his bold intervention for the Federal Government to engage the professional expertise of an indigenous oil and gas outfit to successfully remediate, repair and maintain and provide security services on the Bonny to Port-Harcourt and Excravos to Warri pipeline segments.

    It would be recalled that before now, it cost the nation a huge chunk of its hard-earned resources to sustain the engagement of marine vessels to transport crude oil to the refineries; more so, when there was a sharp drop in the price of oil at the international market which adversely affected accruable revenue to the federation account.

    At the moment, there has been seamless and continuous pumping of crude oil through the aforementioned pipelines. The only interruption till date has been the criminal activities of some faceless militant groups, including the illegal bunkering activities being undertaken by oil thieves and other economic saboteurs.

    For many Nigerians, Dr. Ibe Kachukwu should be applauded for the unpopular but plausible decision he took for the partial removal of fuel subsidy sometimes in 2016. This was one painful reality that Nigerians never wanted to experience, but today, the Nigerian people are happier for it as they can now drive into any petrol station of their choice with ease and get products without stress or having to wait endlessly on queues to be served.

    It is heartwarming to note that at present, the build-up of tension and hostilities in the Niger Delta Region is beginning to give way for constructive dialogue. This cheering news can only be attributed to the untiring efforts of Dr. Kachukwu to ensure that there is sustainable peace and stability in the Niger Delta which is very vital to the production of crude oil – both for local consumption and export to the international market.

    The confidence and peace – building initiatives embarked upon by the federal government through the engagement of relevant stakeholders in the Niger Delta and the recent visits of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to the creeks and other Niger Delta communities has gone a long way of providing a formidable platform for the federal government and concerned interests to sit down on the round table to discuss all the issues arising. Without doubt, this is a noble idea of the Buhari’s Administration facilitated by Dr. Ibe Kachukwu.

    Indeed, to the glory of God, Dr. Ibe Kachukwu is working, the petroleum sector is becoming more efficient, while Nigeria is moving towards economic progress and prosperity – for all and sundry.

    •This article was written by Justus Odoigbe of the Joint Professionals Training and

  • NLNG boosts supply of cooking gas for market stability

    NLNG boosts supply of cooking gas for market stability

    The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) has increased the supply of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), commonly called cooking gas, to ensure market stability and reduce the commodity’s price.

    NLNG General Manager, External Relations, Kudo Eresia-Eke, said the commodity’s availibility   would bring down price and also enhance energy security. “Energy is important to Nigerians and the economy. Bringing stability to the product Nigerians use is important to us as a company. We are passionate about what concerns Nigerians,” he noted.

    Eresia-Eke noted that the price of the product has started coming down and assured that with more supplies the price will further drop. A survey by The Nation also confirmed that the price has gone down by N500 and more, per a 12.5 kg, depending on the area of purchase. In some LPG filling plants in Ikeja, a 12.5kg cylinder sells for N4,500 or less as against N5,000. In some NNPC retail outlets, however, a 12.5kg cylinder still goes for N4,800.

    Nevertheless, Eresia-Eke said NLNG has chartered a vessel dedicated to bringing the product from its Bonny Island plant in Rivers State to terminals in Lagos until it floods the market with the product.

    The chartered vessel, Gaz Providence, has the capacity of 13,126.6 metric tons, which equals 1,000,040 of 12.5kg cooking gas cylinders. “The vessels discharged in January and could have done more if not for delays at the terminals in Lagos,” the NLNG spokesman said.

    He continued: “The delays to vessel discharges at the receiving facilities (terminals) in Apapa, Lagos, is as a result of its multi-use nature with berthing priority accorded to vessels discharging other oil products such as petrol, kerosene and diesel.

    “For instance, NLNG’s dedicated LPG vessel was unable to discharge LPG at Apapa port between December 29, 2016 and second weekend in January 2017 due to jetty unavailability. This was what resulted in the temporary product shortages in the market and consequent high price.

    “We are, however, glad that the media took the opportunity of the scarcity period to stress the need for the provision of enabling facilities such as landing jetties in other parts of the country like Port Harcourt and Calabar, among others, to support NLNG’s commitment to supply of LPG to domestic market.”

    Eresia-Eke noted that on their part as a company, they are also working with relevant stakeholders to eliminate bottlenecks and improve operational efficiencies to ensure product availability and help correct market price distortions.

    He stressed that while NLNG was committed to the supply of LPG, it was instructive to note that the issue of pricing was based on an international price index plus 50 per cent of the shipping cost of delivering the product to receiving facilities in Apapa, Lagos. That price was invoiced in naira at the prevailing official interbank exchange rates.

    “The reality is that LPG is produced and consumed locally, but like crude oil, it is an internationally traded commodity with an international price benchmark that is open to global demand and supply pressures.

    “NLNG has, however, over the years, made efforts to soften the impact of price variations by subsidising the cost of transporting about 40 per cent of total domestic market share, which it supplies from its production facility on Bonny Island and increased supply from 250,000mt to 350,000mt,” he added.

  • Political stability in Africa and Middle East

    Recently, US Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump said he admires Saddam Husain the late president of Iraq who was judicially lynched by the successor Shiite government of Iraq during the American occupation of the country. People were aghast at his comment. He also said he sees no reason for America to be an eternal enemy of Russia and that even if the USA does not like Russia, it should cooperate with Russia to defeat ISIL (Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant) and that the USA fought along with the brutal dictator Joseph Stalin during the Second World War to defeat the axis powers of Japan and Germany. One may disagree violently with Trump on almost everything but in this particular instances cited, I can see some sense in his usual madness.  I am convinced that the likes of Saddam Husain maintained some kind of peace in the Middle East in spite of the brutality of his regime. Even though he came from the minority Sunni population and treated all opposition Shiite or Sunni with brutality, he ensured that there was peace which was what the generally apolitical ordinary people of Iraq wanted. The mistake people in the West made was wanting to graft democracy on a traditionally autocratic conservative Arab environment.

    When people in the West were hailing the so called Arab Spring, I had the sneaky feeling that things will not turn out well. This was when I listened to the ambassador of Syria to the UN sometime in 2010 at the plenary of the UN General Assembly pleading for understanding of his country’s problem. He had argued that Syria was a delicately balanced country of Alawites, (Shiite) Sunnis, Christians, Kurds, Armenians and Aramaics and that backing Sunnis who want to overthrow the Bashar -al-Asad regime would bring all sorts of external forces and complications which will not augur well for the future of Syria and the Middle East. After more than a decade of warfare and a whole country with an old civilization destroyed, there has neither been democracy nor peace in Syria; rather a murderous group calling itself a caliphate has emerged bridging the frontiers of Iraq and Syria and imposing its draconian rule and will on a helpless and hapless people leading to the largest migration of a destabilizing horde of people since the end of the Second World War. But for the tenacity of the Sharifian dynasty in Morocco and the FLN government led by the old and infirm Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Algeria who were able to resist the forces of the dissidents particularly FIS (Front Islamique de Salut), the so-called Arab Spring would have engulfed the whole of the Maghreb. The situation in Libya was unfortunately not the same for several reasons. NATO wanted Muamar al Ghadafi to be removed from power because of what was considered as his dangerous ambitions in the past especially wanting to develop nuclear and chemical weapons on the other side of the Mediterranean which Europe considers a European lake. Even though he had given up the ambition, he was never trusted. So when the occasion for his removal presented itself, NATO was not going to allow it to slip from its hand. Their forces instigated a local rebellion which it joined to murder without trial an incumbent head of state. But what has replaced the years of stability in Libya is chaos and the take-over of part of the country by forces pledging allegiance to the Caliphate. The situation in Libya is like the case of Humpty Dumpty and everybody is waiting for which forces will secure the vast country of Libya. Whatever anybody may say about Ghadafi, he secured the country for decades after the overthrow of King Idris -al-Sannusi . Egypt is back in the hands of the military after the initial hoopla of getting rid of President Mubarak. He was replaced by Mohammad Morsi for about a year before he was overthrown by General Muhammad -al-Sisi. It appears that the Egyptians would rather have stability than some wooly democracy or chaotic rule by the Islamic brotherhood of Morsi. The effendiyyah in Egypt is just too sophisticated for that. It is only in Tunisia where the Arab Spring has brought in some form of constitutional regime albeit under an 82 year old president! Yemen is in turmoil and the Saudi army is there fighting a proxy war with Iran that is backing the Houthis who are Shiites. Oman and the other Gulf States including Saudi Arabia are maintaining some precarious peace with their Shiite subjects cowed down by overwhelming Sunni forces. Iran continues to pose existential challenge to the gulf Arab states and even far afield to Sunni domination or threatened domination in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. Egypt which could have provided Sunni counterweight to Iran is held down by a collapsed economy and terrorist challenge in the Sinai. The chaos in North Africa and Middle East has reverberation in Africa where the Al Qaida in the Maghreb and West Africa, Boko haram in Nigeria, Niger and the Cameroon and al Shabbab in Somalia and Kenya constitute variants of the same Middle East Islamic terrorism. The direct effect of this is the proliferation of weapons of precision that are fuelling insurgency all over Africa.

    One common denominator to the Middle East and Africa is their sit-tight presidents in Museveni’s Uganda, Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, Bashar’s Sudan   Paul Kagame’s Rwanda and other dictators in the inter-lacustrine state of Burundi as well as virtually all the Francophone states of the two Congos , Central African Republic and the Spanish  speaking Equatorial Guinea. Even the new state of Southern Sudan is torn by ethnic war because of the sit-tight syndrome. While this goes on, there is neither growth nor development of the economy. On top of this is the rising population of young people who have no hope of employment. Even countries like Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia and Tanzania to mention a few are also afflicted by unimpressive economic performance and joblessness of their ballooning youthful population. This a time bomb in both Africa and the Middle East. The situation is so bad that young people are ready to die crossing to Europe by leaky dinghies and boats across the Mediterranean Sea.

    What is to be done? It seems to me that Africa has largely accepted that the democratic way is the way forward. There may be debate about what style of democracy. It is obvious that the western model may have to be modified to suit the peculiar condition of each African state.  This is not the same as supporting any bastardized democratic contraption called home grown democracy which is a euphemism for dictatorship. The market-driven economic prescriptions of the West may not work because of paucity of foreign and local investors. The state would have to intervene through direct investment by state corporations side by side with private investors like it happened in South Korea. The enforced orthodoxy of market economy will have to give way to practical solution that would also generate employment for the teeming masses of the people.

    But as for the Middle East and North Africa, democracy may not work there for long time to come. The Middle East will only survive if a way is found to satisfy its young people who are suffering from unemployment. This problem would worsen with the decline in the price of gas and oil which will make it impossible for the gulf countries to continue to bribe young people with generous perks because sooner or later they will run out of cash. The future of the almost 350million Arabs is uncertain unless realistic solution is found to the economic and political conditions of those countries. There will also have to be reconciliation between Iran and the Arab states as well as between Sunni and Shiite sectarian traditions in Islam. Finally the question of war and peace with Israel must be resolved by accepting the existence of two states, Israel and Palestine, in old Palestine. Inability to solve this problem may drive Arab youth to extremist tendencies which would not augur well for peace in the Middle East an absence of which could pose a threat to global peace.

  • AMCON and Nigeria’s financial stability

    Resilience is one word that best describes the Nigeria’s economy in the face of the turbulence it is undergoing. As acknowledged by economists, Nigeria is experiencing triple, simultaneous, shocks—economic, political and social. The sluggish economic growth, which exacerbates the other two shocks, is mainly attributed to a slowdown in economic activity which has been adversely impacted by the inadequate supply of foreign exchange aggravated by falling price of oil, the nation’s main foreign exchange earner accounting for about 75% of its export revenue.

    Despite the recession, which has pushed the country down to the third largest economy in Africa, Nigeria is still forging ahead. A renewed effort at non-oil revenue collection is helping to reduce fiscal vulnerability caused by oil price shocks. The revenue from the non-oil sector is propping the country in the meantime.

    The reforms pursued by the Buhari administration have the potential to lay a foundation for renewed growth. These include: enforcement of the single treasury account (TSA) to block financial leakages; renewed efforts at enforcement of tax compliance; increasing the ratio of capital to recurrent expenditure to 30:70 and continuous support for agencies saddled with the responsibility of stabilizing the financial system such as Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) are fast yielding results.

    Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun recently disclosed that TSA has significantly witnessed an increase to N3.3 trillion in May, while noting that the finance ministry had continuously discovered revenue platforms that had escaped its net. These include shipping levies, airport landing charges and visa fees, amongst others. On the other hand, the Federal Government received N2.2 trillion from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) between June 2015 and May 2016.

    AMCON, which was set up because of the global financial crisis of 2008/2009, has contributed a lot in stabilizing the economy from the time it was set up, through acquiring the Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) of some of the distressed banks in Nigeria, providing financial accommodation to others thereby engendering financial stability in the banking system.

    Established in 2010, AMCON came to stabilize the banking system from systemic collapse after going through well-conceived structural reforms, which involved bank consolidations, recapitalization and managerial changes at some banks, and portfolio clean-ups. These reforms provided a solution to the banking crisis that Nigeria experienced few years ago and eventually the soundness in the banking sector was restored.

    Its objective include assisting eligible financial institutions to efficiently dispose of eligible bank assets; efficiently manage and dispose of eligible bank assets acquired by it; and obtaining the best achievable financial returns on eligible bank assets or other assets acquired by it.

    In an unprecedented move, AMCON acquired about 13,774 Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) worth N3.6 trillion from 22 commercial banks and thus saved the banking system, while its provision of financial accommodation of N2.2billion protected about N4.7trillion of depositors’ funds and interbank takings as well as saved approximately 14,000 jobs.

    Today AMCON is pursuing the recovery of these assets. This, it is doing vigorously as it is well into its sixth out of 10 year mandate period.

    The MD/CEO Ahmad Kuru, in a recent interview with Economic Confidential magazine, clarified the issue of AMCON’s lifespan pointing out that “AMCON is not set up to perpetually bail out financial institutions. AMCON has a sunset period. He said. “When AMCON was set up, it was supposed to be there for only ten years!”

    But from the good work that AMCON is doing, an extension is a possibility.

    So far AMCON has settled over 56 percent of the total N3.7 trillion (about N.072 trillion) bad debts it had to manage from various individuals, groups and organisations in the country. According to Kuru, AMCON has in this process helped a lot of businesses bounce back and on the path of recovery. “We don’t want any business to suffer because of their debts. We are not out to kill businesses but to encourage them to grow by following the global best practices in debt reconciliations and settlements. Our desire is to recover the money for the nation through painless processes” he told Economic Confidential.

    In addition to returning the much needed cash to Federal Government, AMCON is also building confidence in our financial system, although, Kuru says “there should not be an institution to anticipate failure.” Indeed, the idea of AMCON as stabilizing and re-vitalizing tool established to revive the financial system has paid off and has changed the mindset of bad debtors that they can get away with depositors’ funds. This alone is reassuring to our investors and other bank clients.

    The aggregate results of efforts such as that of AMCON will surely improve our business environment, which the World Bank’s “Doing Business Report” portrayed as not encouraging investment and competitiveness in our industrial sector. The 2016 report ranked Nigeria as 169th out of 189 countries. This is one point improvement over last year when Nigeria was placed 170th out 189. The improvements were mainly in the areas of protecting minority investors and registering property.

    Add the result of AMCON and other agencies managing our macro economy to the massive injection of money announced by the Federal Government towards improving infrastructure with a view to stimulating the economy. Two weeks ago, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo revealed that the Federal Government planned to spend N100 billion ($312.50 mil­lion) on capital projects in the com­ing days as part of the 2016 budget. The VP also said government capital spending so far has reached N332 billion. These moves will surely enhance people’s productivity and reflate the economy.

    Surely, the Federal Government and its agencies such as AMCON are serious in rekindling our growth. The faith Nigerians have shown in the Buhari administration thus far lies in the commitment and sincerity shown by the administration to take Nigeria out of the woods. The commitment of our professionals in various fields working to salvage our situation and bounce back is highly commendable. That’s why the news coming out of agencies such as AMCON is reassuring Nigerians that we can be the change we desire.

     

    • Hassan is a financial systems analyst.

  • UMA seeks economic stability

    The University of Lagos Muslim Alumni has urged Muslims to use the sallah period to pray for political and economic stability in the country.

    UMA President Alhaji Akeeb Olushola Oladokun said there was need for improved collaboration between all arms and tiers of government for the present administration to deliver on its campaign promises to Nigerians.

    He stressed the need for President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to accord more priority to cushion the effects of hardship faced by the people especially the high cost of consumables and other items in the market.

    Oladokun said no doubt the President means well for the country with the ongoing anti-corruption crusade, urging him to ensure that his policies and programmes have direct impact on socio-economic well being of Nigerians.

    On the continued attacks on oil and gas facilities by the Niger Delta Avengers, the UMA President urged the Federal government to apply stick and carrot approach in ending the onslaught.

     

  • Stability, continuity key in anti-terror war, says Osinbajo

    Stability, continuity key in anti-terror war, says Osinbajo

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has identified continuity in governance and political stability in the West African subregion as an important element in the fight against Boko Haram and insurgency.

    He spoke at the weekend in Niamey, Niger Republic capital, at the inauguration of President Issoufou Mahamadou for second term in office.

    Osinbajo described the re-election of the Nigerien leader as significant for the sub regional coalition against insurgents and terrorists.

    A statement by Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity Laolu Akande, quoted Osinbajo as saying: “As you know, Niger is an important partner, and also an important ally in the war against terrorism and we are good neighbours.”

    He described Mahamadou’s investiture as of great significance because “first Nigeria understands President Issoufou well. He is an old hand and Nigeria has worked well with him as a partner.

    “So, his re-election brings continuity and is good for the fight against Boko Haram and the insurgency in general.” He added

    Osinbajo who represented President Muhammadu Buhari at the ceremony also said Nigeria holds the Nigerien President in high esteem.

    “He is an old friend of President Buhari who is abroad attending the nuclear security summit in Washington, USA, which is why he could not attend this event.” He added

    He said that the Nigerien President’s inauguration is also an opportunity to honour a strong ally and “to reinforce all our important diplomatic and military ties.”

    In his inauguration address, President Mahamadou noted that current worries regarding insecurity is global, transcending boundaries.

    He reiterated Niger’s renewed commitment to join forces with Nigeria and other neighbours to fight insurgency at the subregional level.

    The Nigerien President explained that defeating Boko Haram has several benefits particularly for economic integration in the region stating that it ‘ will facilitate trade between Niger and Nigeria’.

    About 52, countries witnessed the ceremony including nine West African presidents.

    Many Nigerian dignitaries also witnessed the inauguration including APC National leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and governors especially from North’s states.

  • NIA to sustain stability, growth through micro insurance

    The Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA) has embarked on closer interaction with the  informal sector to ensure stability and growth for businesses, its Director-General, Sunday Thomas, has said.

    He made this known while speaking at the conference/fair in Lagos. The event had market women, traders, artisans and non-governmental organisations (NGO) in attendance.

    He said that insurance is a viable tool for mitigating losses among the less privileged.

    He noted that the conference/fair is their first ever on Micro Insurance subsector and also their first deliberate effort to reach out to the informal sector of our economy.

    He stressed that the insurance industry regulator, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has sets out the framework, road map, market and regulatory strategic directions for the operation of micro insurance in Nigeria.

    He said: “This conference is put together by the Micro Insurance committee of the Nigeria’s Insurers Association. Our aim is to bring together all stakeholders concerned with micro insurance in Nigeria with the overall objective of ensuring that both the demand side and the supply side of micro insurance are in sync together.

    “It is also meant to create awareness for our member’s micro insurance products for informal sector of the economy. It is common knowledge that insurance culture is very low among the informal sector and it would take deliberate effort like this to win the confidence of this sector.

    “The country diagnostic study says less than 1 per cent of the adult population in Nigeria have access to a voluntary insurance policy.  Nigeria is among the least countries in terms of insurance contribution to GDP which is around 0.72 per cent.”

    He said the sector is regarded as “a grossly untapped opportunity” because we have not yet appealed to the informal sector which constitute over 80 per cent of the Nigerian population.

    “For the NIA, the obvious way forward is to through closer interaction with this sector, intensive capacity building and greater expertise in micro insurance, providing unique micro insurance services, development of people friendly products, and improved innovative distributive system.”

    “Micro insurance is targeted at the informal sector and the low income masses. It is the most veritable too for mitigating losses from unexpected accidents and disasters.  Low income groups are invariably exposed to innumerable risks. Micro insurance works on the phenomenon of risk transfer mechanism characterized by low premiums and low coverage limits.

    “As an industry we will continually seek for opportunities to court the friendship of this sector. For us the future of our industry most probably lies in what we do with this sector and how they the sector accepts our products and services. We are optimistic that the relationship we are starting today will continue to blossom and get stronger”, he noted.

  • Groups back CBN on naira stability

    Coalition of Civil Society Groups yesterday threw their weight behind the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) new policies towards stabilising the nation’s currency.

    They said the development aimed at boosting the economy, would also promote local production ?of commodities mostly imported into the country.

    President of the CSOGs, Comrade Etuk Bassey, who spoke on behalf of the coalition during a briefing yesterday in Abuja lauded the policies including the restriction of cash deposit of dollars.

    He decried the huge importation which according to him has gradually degraded the nation’s economy.

    Bassey said: “Given the fact that our major source of foreign exchange earnings has reduced drastically, we must commend efforts by the CBN to conserve our foreign reserves by preventing excessive imports of items like rice, eggs, private jets, and toothpicks, which are either luxurious or can be produced in Nigeria.

    “By this action, the CBN is indirectly creating a huge opportunity for Nigerians to begin to look inward to produce these items here at home, thereby creating jobs for our teeming youths.

    By allowing the importation of items like rice from Thailand, eggs from South Africa, beef from Zambia, furniture from Italy and textiles from china, we are simply importing poverty into Nigeria and exporting jobs to these countries.

    ”And this is the reason every well-meaning Nigerian should support the efforts of the CBN, particularly in this difficult time of low oil prices”.

    1The groups emphasised that the restriction of cash deposits of dollars is a constructive step by the CBN towards stability of the Naira.

    “The recent restriction on cash deposits of dollars is another positive step that must be commended. Notwithstanding the presence of our local currency, some individuals and business still prefer to demand dollars as a means of payment for businesses done here in Nigeria.

    “The recent admission by many banks of huge volumes of dollars in cash in their vaults also raises questions on how these funds were obtained by bank customers. These huge cash deposits of dollars reinforce a recent international? report that ranks Nigeria high on movement of illicit funds.

    “We therefore call on the CBN, along with relevant agencies, to trace the source of these huge cash deposits, in order to ensure that we do not have cases of money laundering or terrorism financing in our banking system,” Bassey added.

    However, ?the coalition noted temporary discomforts the CBN policies and initiatives might cause but urged the people to bear sacrifices that are for the ultimate good of the nation.

     

  • Corruption, stability and accountability

    As  the anti  Corruption train  of Nigeria’s  President  Muhammadu   Buhari  gathers  steam, there  is no doubt that it is going to be an uphill  task and that those  who  know  they  are   neck  deep in the  murky and dubious game of using public  money  to feather  their  own  nests  and   coffers  are  bound  to  desperately   look  for a way  to escape their looming nemesis. Given  the   announced volume  and billions  of dollars  and  naira  stacked  away,  the Federal   government  must expect to traverse  a very rough road  in tracking these  fraudsters and  should   be on the look out for distractions and  diversionary tactics from  high  and low places in its quest to clean  our  Augean  stable  in  the life of this   Buhari  Administration.

    Today  we  shall  envisage such diversionary tactics  and the danger they  pose  to our political  stability as a nation and stress  the need  to surmount such  ploys  in order  to make accountability and transparency the bench mark  public  finance  and  socio –economic  and  political  system  in   our nation. The  first  of such   salvo  has been fired from  the religious sector by the  Catholic  Bishop of Sokoto Rev  Kukah  who  reportedly said that the  Buhari Administration should  concentrate on  governance  rather than probing past governments. That  is an unexpected  statement and in  bad taste coming from a Catholic priest  and  Bishop. I  wonder  what someone  like Anthony  Okogie  the  retired   Catholic  Archbishop of  Lagos and  a fiery  anti corruption crusader even during  our  military  regimes who  constantly  spoke  out against corruption, stealing of public funds  and military dictatorship,  would say  to  that.  Obviously  Bishop  Kukah  misjudged the public  mood  and should retract  his extravagant  and annoying  warning at this particular  time. He  probably  needs  to refresh his knowledge of  Liberation  theology especially in  Latin  America  where priests  like  him led the fight to bridge  the gap between  the rich  and poor which  our anti  corruption charge is all  about. In  addition  he should read  about the present Pope  Francis and his love for the poor and needy  which  Kukah’s  call on  governance  seem  to ignore. Surely  governance  does  not entail  a blind eye  to dishonesty  and theft and  a priest  should  know that. I think  Kukah should read  what the Emir  of Kano Mallam  Muhammadu  Sanusi II  said that government should plug all avenues  to leak  our  revenues  and he knew  what  he was saying because he  was  the Governor  of  the CBN.  In  addition  to that he is the religious  leader of Muslims  in  Kano  and was brave enough to speak  out against  Boko  Haram who bombed his mosque in the palace in  Kano   consequently. However  that  has not deterred him  in any way because he knows  a true leader must  stand up and be counted against anti  social and corrupt  practices if he is to lead correctly as he should  by  example and not  foot dragging and dithering in guiding  the polity  aright which Kuka’s warning entailed.

    Undoubtedly  the present  administration has  three main issues it must tackle if only  for the fact that the issues will  not  go away unless they are tackled head on  and defeated. The  first  is the anti  corruption battle  which  has already  started. The second  is the annihilation  of  Boko  Haram on which the President  gave the Chief of Defence and  Service Chiefs three months to achieve  when  he decorated them  with the Vice  President in Abuja this week. The  third  is  the relationship  with the legislature which is bound to get tough and testy  especially with the Senate  over  the forged rules the Police  have confirmed in the last  leadership elections in the  Senate. Let  me now comment    serially  on these  three  issues  of  great  public concern and  interest.

    The  fact  is that Nigerians  voted  for the present president  because  they were fed  up with the  corruption that was the hallmark  of the defeated Jonathan Administration. President Buhari  has a zero level  tolerance  for corruption and is a man of integrity as attested even by the American  President Barak  Obama who said  as much during Buhari’s  last  visit  to  the US. It  is gratifying to know that in spite  of taunts on the speed  of his administration  he has kept  to his goal  and road  map  on fighting  and  routing corruption in Nigeria. That  is clearly  visible  from  the actions and  utterances  of the new  helmsman at NNPC. It is also  palpable   from the president’s  personal  observation  that when he was Oil  Minister he used  to  get the  Executive  Council  approval  for his estacode  on official foreign trips  before  leaving  on such  journeys. So  you  can imagine how he felt when the US told him and his entourage  that a Nigerian Minister in the last  regime had over $6bn in his or  her   private account as reported  in the media  during  the US trip. Surely  the war  against  corruption  is  a war  that must  be won  by this  administration.

    Similarly  the insurgency  of  Boko  Haram must  be crushed  by  November  as the President  demanded and  I think the military  is in a right frame  of mind to deliver this time  around. It  is nice to know  that the military tribunals of our soldiers  for  cowardice  has been halted on the orders  of the president. How  can  soldiers  lacking equipment be tried   for cowardice when  at  long  last their  boss on  his  retirement admitted  he led an  army  that lacked  funds  and equipment? I expect  the new  Service  Chiefs  to shore up the spirit de corps  amongst  the commanders and officer cadre fighting  the insurgency  and the officers  in turn  should  make the welfare of their troops a priority  as advised  by the Commander-in-Chief, so  that  Boko  Haram can  be  sent  packing before  the end of the year as the president  has directed.

    Thirdly the President should  be careful  in enlisting the help  of the legislature  in fighting  corruption. This  is because  of the saying  that those  who  live  in glass  houses  should  not throw stones. The  Senate  especially  must  purge itself of the corruption of forgery of election rules which the Police is fighting rightly  to a logical  conclusion – which should  be the prosecution for criminality of those involved in the forgery. Which  means  that the legitimacy  of the present senate leadership  is  suspect. In  fighting corruption those  come  to equity  must come  with  clean  hands and the Senate  and its leadership  cannot  be an exception. In  our  practice  of separation  of powers under  the presidential system the legislature  can use its powers to delay approval  of appointments, budget and expenditure but even that prospect should  not be allowed to get in the way  of getting rid or minimizing corruption in our political  system as the present administration is  bent  on doing.

    Undoubtedly the war on corruption will  tax the mettle  of our present leaders but they  should be resolute  and focused  because they are  doing the right thing and it is never too late to get stolen money back. The  government  must  however be vigilant and be on the lookout for those who  want to derail the anti corruption brigade such that it does not reach its goal of sanitizing our system of governance  and free our economy from the killing and debilitating cancer of corruption. The  targets of the anti corruption war  have  huge means to pervert the law and even make an ass of it as we shall  soon see. What is important is that the government should never waver  in its resolve and the sky is the limit in  achieving success and bringing those  who loot  public  funds to  book  once and for all as a deterrence   to potential  and real crooks  in our corridors  of power.

  • IEI Board chair pledges stability

    The Interim Board of the International Energy Insurance (IEI) Plc has pledged to bring stability to the organisation and make it stronger.

    This Board took over, following the intervention of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) after the dissolution of the former board.

    Its Chairman, Mohammed Ahmad, who assumed duties about three weeks ago, said the new board would ensure that the firm competes effectively and meets its obligations.

    To this end, he said the board has embarked on the restructuring of the company’s operations, improving its relationship with brokers as well as investment amortisation.

    Speaking during a Broker’s forum  by the company in Lagos, he said the company is healthy and can meet its obligations.

    He said: “The intervention of NAICOM is to protect policyholders, investors and other stakeholder’s interests.

    “Regulatory intervention was to ensure that individual interest does not destroy the institution, particularly that there were squabbles amongst board members.”

    He said NAICOM’s intervention does not amount to stress on the company, and that it is for the interest of the industry to avoid laying a bad precedence.

    Ahmad, who has many years of experience as a regulator across the financial services industry including CBN, NDIC and Pensions where he retired as pioneer Director-General of Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), said: “We are not here to close IEI, but to ensure that actions of the board does not undermine the institution.

    “We gave you license not because of the money you paid but because you have promised to exhibit good character, integrity and good corporate governance. We are not here to stay long, but to finish our assignment within the specified time of first six months.’’

    He assured the brokers that the company would look at the outstanding claims and pay soon.

    At the event, the firm’s online Marine Cargo product, aimed at assisting importers, was unveiled.