Nigeria’s geopolitical intelligence platform, SBM Intelligence says the ongoing suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria by the Federal Government is ill-advised and serves as a sinister plot of the government to enforce social media regulations through the backdoor.
SBM claims this in a Monday report titled ‘Through the back door: Nigeria’s Twitter ban and the regulation of social media by other means’.
“There are general concerns with allowing this Twitter ban to stay indefinitely. On a wider scale, it could be a leeway for the government to expand the ban to not just other social media platforms but to shutting down the entire cyber space,” it said.
The Federal Government had on Saturday morning, effected the Twitter ban after it was triggered that the micro-blogging site deleted a controversial tweet by the President Muhammadu Buhari.
The tweet referenced the Biafran war of 1967-1970 that led to loss of millions of lives.
“Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand,” Mr Buhari said in a tweet that stirred outrage and was widely reported by Nigerians on social media.
However, the SBM, in its expose of the current suspension of the Twitter operations argued that Nigeria stands to lose more than it gains with the ongoing enforcement and the mooted internet shutdown would cost more than two arms and a leg in resources – $134 million (N51.1 billion) per day.
Lai Mohammed’s romance with regulation
The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed was tasked with making the announcement of the ban. For many who have followed the minister’s lust for social media regulation, making the announcement would have been a big moment in his ministerial career.
The SBM report outlined moments where the Minister had made calls for a social media regulation since 2015 without any success.
“In February 2017, Lai Mohammed started ringing the alarm about Nigeria being under what he called ‘the siege of disinformation and fake news’, and laid the blame squarely on social media for the spread of this disinformation and fake news,” the report said.
“This was quickly followed by a recommendation of the National Council on Information (NCI) headed by the minister and made up of federal and state-level policymakers on information.
“Since then, Mr Mohammed has continued to decry the spread of hate speech and fake news, and called for the regulation of social media, including expressing his support for two bills before the Senate on regulating social media and curbing hate speech.”
The legality of the Twitter ban
A lot of questions have trailed the suspension of Twitter activities but a core question that the government has shied away from providing clear answers is the legality of the ban.
For an action to be made a crime, it has to be backed by any known law, policy, regulation
or administrative directive (which requires the approval of the Federal Executive Council) or an Executive Order from the President.
Apart from the directive being a statement of an administrative minister, the Federal Government did not make an effort to go through the right channel before criminalising tweeting for both individuals and corporates.
“In the 2013 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Maideribe vs Federal Government, the then CJN Mahmud Mohammed in his lead judgement also leaned on Section 36(8), which says: “No person shall be held to be guilty of a criminal offence on account of any act or omission that did not, at the time it took place, constitute such an offence, and no penalty shall be imposed for
any criminal offence heavier than the penalty in force at the time the offence was committed”.
The economics of the Twitter ban
Twitter as a social medium has transcended the purview of just human to human engagements and has become a critical commercial convergence for Small Scale and Medium Scale businesses. It has become a place where many businesses come to promote their goods and services and take orders.
Hence, while Twitter is taking a blow from reduced patronage, millions of Nigerians are taking the heat and wondering how long their business can hold on to with reduced access to their commercial centre.
According to Paradigm Initiative a digital advocacy organisation, for every hour Nigerians are denied access to Twitter, Nigeria loses an estimated $250,600 that is about N103,385,030 per hour and an estimated $2.18bn daily
“Exactly 24 hours ago, the government of Nigeria announced the suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria. Since then, the country has lost N2,177,089,051 ($6,014,390) based on the cost of Shutdown Tool. The loss continues at a rate of N90,712,044 ($250,600) every hour,” it said on Saturday.
According to a tool by Netblocks that measures the impact of total or partial internet shutdowns for many countries, the cost of this Twitter ban is over $6 million (N2.4 billion) every single
day.
These are huge cost to bear in a thriving economy but when one considers Nigeria is in a dire stage and still yet to recover from an economy ravaged by COVID-19 and one struggling under the weight of low growth, high inflation and high unemployment, that is a level of economic activity the country simply cannot afford to lose.
Another enormous challenge outlined in the report is how the wrong message it sends to investors.
“There are also the problems it poses for additional investment into the country. Interestingly, we have already seen the first example of this with Twitter deciding to set up shop in Ghana instead of Nigeria. That move generated widespread debate in mid-April of this year when it was announced. In its statement, Twitter stated that Ghana is “a champion for democracy, a supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet”.
“It is disheartening that the company has been proven right not quite two months later.
As a result, the jobs and investment that would typically follow the establishment of such a presence in Nigeria, has been lost.
“Moreover, other global tech companies who want to establish or deepen their presence in Africa are now more likely to look to Ghana rather than Nigeria.”
The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations draw has been postponed due to Covid-19, the Confederation of African Football confirmed on Monday.
The draw was initially planned for 25 June 2021 in Yaounde.
A CAF official said the delay of the ceremony to an undecided date was due to “logistical reasons related to Covid-19”.
Already 31 countries have qualified for the next year’s tournament in Cameroon.
One team still remains to qualify between Benin and Sierra Leone after their match was rescheduled for this month.
The seeded draw will create six groups of four teams with the winners and runners-up in each plus the four best third-place sides advancing to the knockout second round.
Among the 23 countries who have qualified are defending champions Algeria, hosts Cameroon and record seven-time title-holders Egypt.
Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia and Zimbabwe have also secured places.
The last place will be filled by Sierra Leone or Benin, who meet between June 12-14 after a dispute over coronavirus tests prevented the qualifier from taking place last March.
Benin refused to play in Freetown because five of their stars were barred having tested positive for Covid-19 in tests conducted by Sierra Leone medical officials.
All five tested negative for the illness before travelling to Freetown and when they returned to their clubs in Europe.
The Cup of Nations was originally set for January and February this year only to be postponed because of the pandemic.
The Coalition of Nasarawa State health professionals Association (CNSHPA) has commenced an indefinite strike action to press home its demands for better welfare.
Spokesperson of CNSHPA who doubles as Chairman, Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria, Mr. Kyari Caleb disclosed while briefing newsmen in Lafia the State Capital.
He noted that the decision to embark on the strike was agreed upon by members in a meeting held by the Association.
Caleb noted that some of their demands include, lack of promotions among members since 2011, failure on implementation of N30, 000 minimum wage for its members, and lack of annual increment among others.
The spokesperson said that the coalition had exercised so much patience in its demands, ‘’but we’re pushed to the wall.’’
He said that in June 2020, the union had embarked on a strike over the same issues, but it had to suspend the strike after persuasion by the government.
The Chairman stressed that after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the government promised to begin implementation of their demands immediately, but unfortunately up till now the government had reneged in its promise since 2020.
He noted that members of the association in all tertiary health facilities in the state had withdrawn their services with effect from Monday, June 7, 2021, till further notice.
Caleb said that members would continue to stay at home until the government does the needful.
The Head of Service of Nasarawa state, Mr. Nicholas Aboki had in a media briefing on Friday, June 4, appealed to the unions to suspend their planned strike action, adding that the government was working hard to improve their welfare.
The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan says the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, which has been 20 years in making, will be passed before the end of June 2021.
Lawan said this on Monday at the opening of the 2021 Nigeria International Petroleum Summit, NIPS, in Abuja. He also announced that the joint committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives are almost concluding the writing of its report.
He acknowledged that though the plan was to have the PIB passed by the end of May, more needed to be done to ensure that the concerns of all stakeholders were adequately and fairly considered.
“We want to be very fair in listening to everyone but one different approach that has been able to bring us where we are today in the PIB processing is that we decided right from the beginning that the solo effort in 2007/2008 by the then Executive Arm of government by bringing to the National Assembly the PIB, which at the of the day the National Assembly could not pass”. he said.
“In our legislative agenda for 2019-2023 in the 9th Assembly we decided that we must have a better way. Neither the solo effort of the Executive nor the solo effort of the legislature could deliver the PIB, we better have a cooperative approach where the National Assembly will work with the administration to conceive the Bill through very rigorous consultation and the end of the day we narrowed down our differences and areas of potential conflicts.” he noted.
“I think we have been able to achieve that significantly. The speed and commitment the National Assembly has shown in working on the PIB and reaching where we are today show that we have chosen the right path.
“As I speak, our joint committee of both Senate and the House on the PIB are about to conclude writing the report which will be submitted to both chambers of the National Assembly. Our expectation is that we will pass the PIB within this month of June by the grace of God”.
Earlier, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila assured operators and stakeholders that the PIB as presently conceived is not intended to drive anyone out of business, noting that rather the National Assembly is working to promote operation in the sector.
According to him, “We are expected to encourage business whether foreign or local or community-based. But as competing interests juggle and try to elbow each other out, it is the role of the National Assembly to look for a balancing act, bearing in mind that the most important interest for us is that national interest and it is that our national interest that we have that we will look at while considering other competing interests to strike a very delicate balance in this industry”.
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has waded in on the current suspension of Twitter operations by the Federal Government last Friday.
Speaking in an interview with Arise TV on Monday, Mr Sanwo-Olu suggested that the Federal Government may have held a meeting and sought understanding with Twitter if the social media giant had an office in Nigeria.
He added that Twitter may have signed “some underlining agreement on the rules of engagement and I am not sure that is happening here,” suggesting perhaps Twitter should have rules by which it operates in the country.
He also suggested both sides (Twitter and the Government) should come together to resolve the issues rather than allow it to continue to degenerate to the detriment of Twitter-loving Nigerians and the economy. Sanwo-Olu also alluded that rather than being a ban what the government had done was suspend Twitter operations in Nigeria.
“On both sides, there are issues that can be resolved between Twitter and the Government and I think what they’ve done is not a ban but a suspension like they said, so in the period of suspension let us sit down…we need to have that conversation with them,” Sanwo-Olu stated.
When asked to make a judgement on the Federal Government reactive action of suspending the ban, the Governor threaded a balanced perspective of the ongoing division saying that he does not have the same information and responsibility as the President.
“Regarding the specifics around Twitter, I cannot sit down here with all of the responsibilities that I have and flay the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He might have had a prognosis and security information that I do not have. I cannot begin to say that was it done is right or wrong” he said.
The Federal Government announced on Friday it was suspending Twitter’s operations in the country. The move comes after Twitter deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari for breaching the site’s rules.
The National Broadcasting Commission has directed all broadcast stations in the country to suspend the patronage of Twitter with immediate effect.
The NBC said the decision followed the suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria by the Federal Government over the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining the corporate existence of Nigeria.
The Commission directed the broadcast stations to “de-install Twitter handles and desist from using Twitter as a source (UGC) of information gathering for News and programmes presentation especially phone-in.”
The acting Director-General of the NBC, Prof. Armstrong Idachaba, issued the directive in a statement on Monday titled: “Suspend Twitter handles.”
He said, “Consequent on the suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria by the Federal Government over the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining the corporate existence of Nigeria, the National Broadcasting Commission directs all Broadcasting Stations in Nigeria to suspend the patronage of Twitter immediately.
“In Compliance to the above directive, Broadcasting Stations are hereby advised to de-install Twitter handles and desist from using Twitter as a source (UGC) of information gathering for News and programmes Presentation especially phone-in.
“Section 2(1) r of the NBC Act entrusts the Commission with responsibility to ensure strict adherence to the national laws, rules and regulations. Also, Section 3.11.2 of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code provides that “the broadcaster shall ensure that law enforcement is upheld at all times in a matter depicting that law and order are socially superior to or more desirable than crime and anarchy.
“Attention is also drawn to section 5.6.3 of The Code which requires Broadcasters to be mindful of materials that may cause disaffection, incite to panic or rift in the society in the use of a user generated content (UGC).
“Note that it will be unpatriotic for any broadcaster in Nigeria to continue to patronise the suspended Twitter as a source of its information therefore strict compliance is enjoined.”
The Federal Government has summoned the envoys of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and the European Union in Nigeria over their recent comments on the suspension of microblogging site Twitter in the West African Country.
This was contained in an invitation to journalists issued on Monday morning by the Crisis Monitoring and Public Communications Division of the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
“I am directed to inform that following the recent ban on Twitter by the Federal Government and Press Statement issued by some Heads of Diplomatic Missions Accredited to Nigeria on the subject matter, the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency, Geoffrey Onyeama has invited the affected Ambassadors to a meeting today at 12 noon.
“The venue is Minister’s Conference Room, 8th Floor.
“You are here invited to cover the Meeting. Thanks for your usual cooperation,” the invite read.
Earlier in a joint statement on Saturday, Canada, EU, UK, US, and the Republic of Ireland had commented that banning systems of expression is not the way forward. “We strongly support the fundamental human right of free expression and access to information as a pillar of democracy in Nigeria as around the world and these rights apply online as well as offline.” their statement had partly read.
On May 31, 2017, Lagos radio presenter Nelly Kalu was in the middle of a conversation on Nigeria Info 99.3FM with a geopolitical analyst when a call came to the station’s general manager. He was to shut down the show immediately and kick both people off their air unceremoniously.
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Shortly thereafter, a letter from the Nigerian Broadcast Commission (NBC) arrived with a N5 million fine and a threat to seize the station’s license. Her crime? Her decision to discuss a historical event from the Nigerian civil war – the Asaba Massacre – on the 50th anniversary of said event did not go down well with someone in Abuja. Overnight, from being one of the most beloved voices on radio, Nelly found herself out of a job and out in the cold.
Nobody knew it yet, but this incident was the first shot fired in anger in what would be later unveiled as a full fledged war against the journalism and media space in Nigeria. If this war were compared to the First World War, Nelly Kalu was Archduke Franz Ferdinand – the first domino to fall, triggering a sequence of events with dire implications for media freedom and democracy in Nigeria. Bombardment by the Nigerian government’s Luftwaffe would follow shortly.
Nigerian Journalism in the Crosshairs: A Timeline
A year after the Nigeria Info FM saga, the crackdown on Nigeria’s media began in earnest. Enter Jaafar Jaafar, a print journalist and publisher of Daily Nigerian. In October of that year, Jaafar published a series of secretly-recorded videos showing Kano State governor Abdullahi Ganduje personally receiving USD cash bribes and stuffing the banknotes into his babanriga.
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The response to the videos was swift and unmistakable. Instead of Ganduje, the person repeatedly summoned to report to the police was Jaafar. Ganduje meanwhile won his reelection and thus maintained his legal immunity, while insisting that the videos were fake and threatening to “deal with” Jaafar. In February 2019, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) confirmed that the videos were in fact authentic, but this made no difference.
Jaafar in the meantime, began receiving threats against his life and his family’s safety. In April 2021, he was again invited for questioning by the Nigeria Police Force, this time accused of “defaming the Inspector-General of Police.” In fact, he had never written anything critical either about the immediate past IGP Mohammed Adamu, or his successor Usman Alkali.
Eventually in May 2021, Jaafar fled to the UK with his wife and children.
While Jaafar was dealing with his situation in Kano, another Nigerian governor was preparing his own assault on the media. Residents in the Challenge area of Ibadan, Oyo State woke up on August 19, 2018 to find bulldozers and payloaders destroying the building housing Fresh FM 105.9. Acting on orders of Oyo State governor Abiola Ajimobi, the bulldozers partially demolished the building, allegedly for a violation of structural standards. In fact just a few weeks before, the Oyo State Government had sent Fresh FM a letter demanding retraction of a story detailing corruption allegations within Ajimobi’s administration.
Fresh facts unfolded on why Yinka Ayefele's music house was demolished today by Oyo government. Ajimobi is the new version of Bashorun Ga. pic.twitter.com/mTJwHd7mJb
Interestingly, while the Oyo State Government at a press conference gave its reason for the demolition as a construction code violation, it also claimed in court that it knew nothing about the demolition, when sued by Fresh FM owner Yinka Ayefele.
A few months later in May 2019, a journalist and entrepreneur in Port Harcourt went missing. Steven Kefason, who was known for writing about the violence facing religious and ethnic minority groups in Southern Kaduna was arrested 805KM away from his home in Southern Kaduna by officials from the State Investigation Bureau of the Kaduna State police. Command. He would go on to spend 162 days on remand at Kaduna Prison, charged with insulting persons and institutions, injurious falsehood, inciting disturbance, defamation, and cyberstalking among other charges.
In July 2019, Pelumi Onifade, an NYSC intern with Channels Television was shot dead by police while covering a protest organised by the Islamic movement of Nigeria in Abuja. 6 months later in January 2020, Alex Ogbu, a correspondent for the news magazine RegentAfrica Times was found dead with a bullet hole on the back of his head.
The Nigeria Police Force then claimed that he died after falling and hitting his head on a stone. Astonishingly, Ogbu’s body was then swiftly embalmed without his family’s knowledge or permission before they were even allowed to see it.
Enter Pelumi Onifade, a young journalist working for online television channel Gboah TV on October 24, 2020 in the aftermath of the #EndSARS protests. Onifade was covering an attempted break-in at a COVID-19 palliative warehouse in Agege, Lagos when police officers with the Lagos State Task Force charged the crowd with machetes and live bullet rounds, injuring Onifade in the process.
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As confirmed by his colleague who was present with him, he was wearing his plainly visible press jacket emblazoned with the name and logo of his organisation. Despite this and his obvious state of weakness after sustaining the bullet wound, the police officers forced Onifade into the van under the guise of arresting “hoodlums.” Onifade’s body was discovered on October 30 at a mortuary in Ikorodu, and the Nigeria Police Force continues to evade all attempts to identify the killer and bring them to justice.
Reacting to Onifade’s murder, Nigerian youth activist and human rights advocate Rinu Oduala had this to say:
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On January 26, 2021, access to news website People’s Gazette was blocked off by MTN and Glo, Nigeria’s 2 largest mobile networks, reportedly on orders from the Presidency. On April 21, 2021, following a series of stories exposing the background of Nigeria’s terror-linked Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, People’s Gazette was directly cyberattacked.
Dear Readers,
We are currently under a massive cyberattack that has forced our website offline. Our web infrastructure managers are working to ward off the intrusion and get our servers back up again.
You may experience intermittent disruption during the restore process.
On January 28, 2021, it was revealed that Abuja-based investigative journalist Isine Ibanga, who was covering the massacres in Southern Kaduna at the time, had gone into hiding. Ibanga revealed that several sources who spoke to him in the course of his investigation had turned up dead, and he suspected that his phones were being used to spy on him.
Nigeria’s State Strategy for Strangling Journalism
The strategy for throttling the media in Nigeria and compromising the integrity of journalism uses 4 key pillars to achieve this goal. The first pillar is physical interception and supply chain disruption for physical newspapers and publications. According to a study carried out by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in 2019, Nigeria has the dubious honour of being one of a small number of territories where authorities physically obstruct newspaper delivery so as to stop people from accessing critical information.
This list of countries includes the likes of Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nicaragua and Sudan. Specifically, newspaper distribution vehicles delivering editions to vendors and depots are targeted. From a government point of view, such disruption is critical because for many Nigerians, particularly in the older demographic and the “free reader” subculture, physical newspapers and broadcast media still remain their primary news sources ahead of internet platforms.
The second pillar the Nigerian state now uses to disrupt journalism is infrastructure disruption or demolition, specifically calculated to make journalism as difficult as possible. The aforementioned examples of People’s Gazette and Fresh FM fall under this category. NewswireNGR has also fallen victim to this on multiple occasions, notably in March 2020 when a cyberattack briefly took the website offline following a critical story about the Nigerian government’s faulty response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Most notably this strategy extends beyond formal news media and intersects with social media now, which was exemplified by the events of October 20, 2020 when the Nigerian government carried out a premeditated massacre of unarmed protesters at the Lekki Toll Plaza in Lagos after removing CCTV cameras and turning off the lights. Just prior to the shooting, fibre optic cable infrastructure providing high speed internet access to the area was specifically dug up and sabotaged, resulting in severe internet outages and slow connections which impeded livestreams and slowed evidence collection. Mobile network providers under the aegis of ALTON later released a statement distancing themselves from the “fibre cuts,” effectively implicating the state and federal government.
The third pillar of the Nigerian state strategy to muzzle the media is to abduct journalists or force them into hiding or exile, which creates a chilling effect around weighty stories. The aforementioned examples of Steven Kefason and Jaafar Jaafar, as well as that of Agba Jalingo illustrate this point. Jailed for over 5 months from August 2019 to January 2020, Jalingo was charged with Cybercrime and Terrorism following his investigative work focusing on Cross River State governor Ben Ayade.
The NBC’s hounding of Nelly Kalu also fits into this picture, as it created a self-censorship effect around the Asaba Massacre – a historical event that is not actually illegal in any way to discuss in the public domain. In November 2019, the writer of this article was also forced into exile outside the country, and continues to receive overt and subtle threats regularly.
The last and perhaps most important pillar of the Nigerian government’s push toward a thoroughly controlled press is use of legislation and regulatory codes as blunt force instruments. Where the now-iced Social Media Bill was not able to force through certain changes such as reduced accountability from the Executive to the Judiciary and process-free control over internet access and usage permissions, these elements were once again present in the proposed Infectious Diseases Act 2020.
A NewswireNGR deep dive into the proposed bill led to a public outcry, which led to a public hearing. This eventually led to the bill being shelved, but not before House Spokesperson Benjamin Kalu furiously attacked the analysis on national television while admitting that he had not read it.
Hi @BenKaluTweets, I see you read my deep dive into the plagiarised draft Infectious Diseases Act and this was your reaction a few minutes ago on @sunriseCTV.
It appears you are not not aware that it is a house of representatives, not a house of emperors, so let me educate you. pic.twitter.com/U8dMQPKwbc
The clauses eventually found their way into the NBC 6th Code amendment of 2020, which has been repeatedly deployed to fine and censor television and radio stations for putting on critical content since then. In so doing, the Nigerian government has shrunk press freedoms to a historic low not seen at any other time since the return of democracy in 1999.
CPA and RSF Sums Up The State of Nigerian Media Freedom
Africa Research Associate at the Committee for Protection of Journalists (CPJ) Jonathan Rozen
“From repeated arrests and physical attacks by security forces, to surveillance and efforts to censor reporting published online, the free press in Nigeria remains under attack. Unfortunately, there seems to be a dearth of political will to stop this trend. Holding accountable those responsible for abuses is one way for authorities to signal seriousness about improving conditions; another is to reform the country’s laws to ensure journalism is not criminalized. As has been demonstrated in the past, solidarity among journalists can be a powerful tool to push for these and other changes.”
Nigeria is down 5 places from 115 in 2020 to 120 in 2021 on World Press Freedom Index. Contextualising this ranking and delivering a stinging verdict about press freedom in Nigeria, a statement from Reporters Without Borders reads as follows:
“Nigeria is now one of West Africa’s most dangerous and difficult countries for journalists, who are often spied on, attacked, arbitrarily arrested or even killed. The campaign for the elections in which President Muhammadu Buhari obtained another term in February 2019 was marked by an unprecedented level of disinformation, especially on social media.
The all-powerful regional governors are often the media’s most determined persecutors and act with complete impunity. In 2018, one governor had part of the premises of a radio station razed after a series of reports criticising his handling of local affairs. Online freedom is restricted by a 2015 cyber-crime law that is widely used to arrest and prosecute journalists and bloggers in an arbitrary manner.
Three journalists have been shot dead while covering Islamic Movement in Nigeria protests since July 2019 without any proper investigation to identify those responsible. The police are often the direct beneficiaries of impunity and were blamed for the death of a young trainee journalist after arresting him in October 2020. The major street protests in 2020 were accompanied by violence against the media.
Several news organisations were torched and many reporters were attacked. With more than 100 independent newspapers, Africa’s most populous nation enjoys real media pluralism but covering stories involving politics, terrorism, financial embezzlement by the powerful or conflicts between communities is very problematic. This was seen yet again in 2020, when an investigative reporter was threatened and several of his sources died or were killed after he investigated massacres in the northern state of Kaduna.”
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced the increase of foreign exchange (forex) allocations to banks to meet the requests of customers, particularly travellers, seeking forex for travel allowances, payment of tuition and medical fees, among other invisibles.
The announcement was made on Sunday after the warning by the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, at a weekend meeting with managing directors of Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), cautioning them to desist from denying customers, particularly travellers, the opportunity to purchase forex for Personal Travel Allowance (PTA), Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), tuition fees, and medical payments as well as Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) transactions or for the repatriation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) proceeds.
Confirming the discussions at the meeting of bank chiefs, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department at the CBN, Mr. Osita Nwanisobi, said in a note that the CBN remained committed to ensuring liquidity in the forex market to meet genuine and legitimate demands of customers.
He added: “The CBN agreed to increase the amount allocated to banks for travellers, Small and Medium Enterprises among others. The banks also agreed to operate something akin to foreign exchange imprest account such that the coffers of banks will be replenished so long as they retire the initial amounts to the satisfaction of the CBN.”
Nwanisobi allayed fears of a forex shortage and urged members of the public seeking to purchase foreign exchange for PTA, BTA, payment of tuition fees or medical fees to do so from their banks.
“We wish to assure members of the public that the CBN shall continue to monitor market developments and is committed to ensuring an efficient FX market for all legitimate users,” he said.
He, however, advised customers to approach their customer service representatives of their designated banks should they encounter challenges, adding that they could escalate complaints to the CBN via the bank’s toll-free line: 07002255226 or send an email to [email protected] if their requests are not met.
Emefiele had last week reiterated the bank’s commitment to ensuring steady availability of foreign exchange for manufacturers.
Emefiele had also urged banks as well as Nigerians to strive to end environmental pollution and ensure sustenance of banking principles.
A new legislation titled ‘Bank Employees, Etc., (Declaration of Assets)(Amendment) Bill 2021’ seeks to prevent staff members of banks and other financial institutions from operating accounts outside the shores of Nigeria.
The bill may also mandate their spouses and children to declare their assets when it becomes law.
The bill, sponsored by the lawmaker representing Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Kajola/Iwajowa Federal constituency in Oyo State, Mr Shina Peller, proposed the series of amendments to the Declaration of Assets) Act CAP. B1 Laws of the federation of Nigeria 2004.
Section 1 of the Act is to be amended by deleting the existing subsections and inserting new ones that read, “(1) Every employee of a bank shall, immediately after assuming duty and, thereafter, at the determination of his (or her) employment, and in the case of a serving banker, within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the Declaration of Assets form from the appropriate authority or at such other intervals as the President or the appropriate authority may specify, make a full disclosure of his (or her) properties, assets and liabilities, and those of his (or her) spouse or unmarried children under the age of 18 years.
“(2) For the purpose of this section, a transfer or secondment from one bank to another shall be treated as a new employment.”
The bill is also seeking amendment to Section 5 by inserting new subsections that prohibits foreign accounts for bank workers.
“(a) A bank employee shall not maintain or operate a personal bank account in any country outside Nigeria.
“(b) Any complaint that a bank employee has committed a breach of or has not complied with the provisions of this Act shall be made to the Central Bank of Nigeria or the appropriate regulatory body in the case of employees of other Financial Institutions.”
Section 12 of the Act is to be amended by deleting the existing provisions and replacing them with, “(1) The President may direct by an instrument published in the Federal Gazette that the provisions of this Act be applied to other financial institutions. (2) Where the President directs as provided in Subsection 1 of this section, the Act shall apply subject to such textual modification as may be necessary for its execution.” the proposed bill stated.
The Onion Producers and Marketers Association of Nigeria has threatened to stop the supply of onions down to the South from June 7, 2021.
The group said it would carry out the threat if the government fails to compensate its members who have suffered losses in recent times following attacks in some parts of the country.
President of the association, Aliyu Umar, while speaking to journalists at a press briefing on Sunday in Sokoto State, explained that the government under a committee led by the Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello had promised to compensate their members, many of whom suffered huge losses in Abia, Imo and Oyo States during the #EndSARS and Shasha market crisis.
However, according to him, the promise has not been kept and the members have reportedly lost over 4 billion naira.
“We are calling on the state and Federal Government to restore law and order in the state, and we are calling on the good people of the southern part of Nigeria to live with the Hausa community in peace as we are only there for our lawful businesses,” Umar said.
“We also call on state governments to collaborate with fed govt to set up a committee to investigate the incident that led to the loss of lives and property of the Onion Association members.
“Furthermore, if the government fails to adhere to what we are saying, we are shutting the supply of onion to the entire south by Monday the 7th of June 2021.” he stated.
