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Naira to trade at N410/$1 as CBN adopts NAFEX rate

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Naira to trade at N410/$1 as CBN adopts NAFEX rate

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has officially adopted the Nigerian autonomous foreign exchange (NAFEX) rate — weakening the naira by 8 percent to N410.25/$1 according to new information on the apex bank’s website.


The bank has also updated its website to reflect the new rate.

This means that the nation’s official exchange rate will be determined by NAFEX rate or the importer and exporter (I&E) FX window.


The CBN had introduced the I&E window in 2017 to improve foreign exchange market mechanisms, deepen market liquidity, and ensure prompt execution and settlement of all FX transactions.

The NAFEX window is a market trading segment for investors, exporters and end-users that allows FX trades to be made at a market-determined rate.

Nigeria operates multiple exchange rate windows ranging from the I&E (NAFEX) window where forex is traded between exporters, investors, and purchasers of forex, the SMEIS window where forex is sold to importers, and the BDC window which is where forex is sold to retailers.

The World Bank had urged the government to unify its various windows before the $1.5 billion budget support loan to Nigeria is disbursed.

The International Monetary fund (IMF) has also advised the Nigerian government to fast track the unification of the exchange rates to achieve desired economic growth.

Opinion: But does Malami even budge? Your guess is as good as mine!

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Opinion: But does Malami even budge? Your guess is as good as mine!

By Obiaruko Christie Ndukwe



The conversation elicited since the Asaba declaration of the Southern Governors of Nigeria is still ongoing but not with the unexpected clap back from different groups and individuals.

Since the decision by the Governors to ban the much controversial Open Grazing, there has been a round of applause for the once regarded docile leaders, cutting across party lines, ethnicity, and religion.

After a successful meeting hosted by the Delta State Governor in the wake of the rising insecurity in the country, trickling from the North and gradually spreading to the South, there has been a disturbing disquiet from
their Northern counterparts, suggesting that they may have thrown their weight behind the Governors’ decisions. It could also be that the Governors of the Northern States may be studying the communique issued by their Southern counterparts to ascertain the pros and cons as they affect a section of their subjects who may be affected by the proposed ban on Open Grazing otherwise known as Herding.

Nigerians were again rattled by the comments of the highly revered Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami who happens to adorn the silk of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria-a feat not easily achieved by many in the
legal profession.

Malami, during a Television show tried hard to explain the difficult legal hurdles the Governors would face in implementing the law against Open Grazing. The man who has been fingered as President’s point man since the
demise of Abba Kyari, former Chief of Staff, chose to trivialize the issues at stake by comparing Open Grazing to the sale of Spare Parts, a business largely owned by Southerners particularly the South East people. This is
the crux of the matter which has not only drawn attacks against the Attorney General of the Federation from different flanks but has pitched him against very many Nigerians including the leadership of the Nigerian Senate.

But does Malami even budge? Your guess is as good as mine!

The man has not only enjoyed unfettered access to the President where his colleagues and other privileged Nigerians have failed. He chose to speak when he ought to be taking notes on rumblings from all sides, if any,
process them and come out with a position on how to help the Governors get the backing of the law. Malami deliberately chose to forget these Governors would not have embarked on such a meeting if they were not under intense pressure to stem the ugly tide of insecurity, of which they are not even exempt of being attacked, as it was in the case of the Imo Governor, Hope Uzodinma.

Though the Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu who also is a distinguished Senior Advocate of Nigeria with many successes in his kitty before his venture into politics has responded appropriately, and on behalf
of every discerning mind in the country, it is expedient that I lend my voice in condemning the unfortunate comment made by Malami, while I align myself completely with the position of Akeredolu.

For those who may not be conversant with the issues or who have chosen to play politics of party, either for or against, this matter goes beyond such inclinations as the nation seeks an end to the problems associated with
insecurity.

Herdsmen and Farmers clash are as old as history of human existence. While it may not be completely resolved, it is important that we continue to explore options and new ways to combat and reduce the tension generated by
these ancient clashes that have recently escalated into killings of human lives and  destruction of properties.

No doubt, the primitive but lucrative business of Herding or Open Grazing belongs to a particular ethnic group, Fulanis, found in the Northern side of Nigeria and stretches into West Africa and the Sahel region in Africa.

Much as they are known to be Herdsmen, there is no doubt that it has afforded a minority group as this the opportunity to access other parts of the country while walking their economic animals in search of green
pastures.

They were not relatively known to attack natives apart from farmers who must jealously guide their crops from the invading herds of cattle.

But in the recent past years, these Herdsmen have become preys and willing tools for a desperate, organized clique of terrorists, local or international.

The battle for the soul of Nigeria’s economy by insurgents aided by locals has taken a new turn with reports of armed herders marauding not just the farmlands but the forests in the Southern States.

While I do not have to go into the legal implications of the ban on Open Grazing its merits and demerits, it is important to remind the Attorney General that the reason for the decision by the Governors of the South was
borne out of the need to obliterate the threats of insecurity that is fast eroding our country, forcing a daily rise in the cost of food items as farmers can no longer go to their farms for fear of being killed or kidnapped for ransom by unknown herdsmen, popularly profiled as Fulani Herdsmen. The business of Open Grazing has been hijacked by invaders who may likely be working for the international terror group known as ISIS and now, ISWAP.

The Governors were elected not just to construct roads and bridges but to also protect the lives and properties of their people, and this they have suddenly risen in unison to do!

It is amusing and the same time repulsive that the one who ought to give life to the approach of the Governors is busy playing to the gallery by a nonsensical analogy. When has the business of spare parts for automobile become dangerous to human lives and properties?

Of course, if by any chance it happens to be used as an undercover by rampaging insurgents to promote an evil agenda, such as is the case today, the ban on Spare Parts sale will not even come from a regional government
but from the central government, as we know. It is becoming very difficult to defend highly placed Government officials as they daily exhibit a cantanrkerous, flippant and bitter divisive tendencies, simply because they are shadowed by immunity or ties with the powers that be.

Those elected or appointed to serve must see beyond parochial attitudes, devoid of religion or ethnicity, if truly they believe in the unity of the country instead of becoming self serving.

It is despicable for the Attorney General of the Federation to try to confirm the fears of a section of Nigerians at home and in the diaspora, that the Buhari-led Government is neck deep into the so-called “fulanization” agenda. By taking sides against a noble and timely decision by elected Chief Executives, not minding that some do not deserve the office, it calls to question the intent and purpose of some of those appointed to serve in Government.

While I have never been an ethnic or religious bigot, I make do to remind Malami that the “F” in his office represents not what his heart revealed in that interview. It is Attorney General of the Federation and not Attorney General of the Fulanis. He should be reminded even as we do not expect any punishment from the President for such a myopic, careless and fiendish comment.



^—————————————–

*Written by Obiaruko Christie Ndukwe, a publisher and columnist based in
Port Harcourt*

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“We should scrap this Constitution,” – Professor Itse Sagay says

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“We should scrap this Constitution,” – Professor Itse Sagay says

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Professor Itse Sagay has recommended for the Nigeria’s 1999 constitution to be scrapped – he made the assertion when he appeared on Politics Today on Monday.

“But what we really need is a clear departure from what we have. what we have now is a unitary constitution parading itself as a federal constitution.”

Sagay stated, “If we can have a process which will be towards having a new Constitution, it will be better. Until we have it, we can manage with what the National Assembly is doing but certainly, it is far from satisfactory but may result in an improvement of what we have now.

He believes the 1963 Republican Constitution addresses everything that is being agitated for in the country and can help halt the turmoil that has rocked the nation.

“If we had that, with amendments here and there to make it accommodate states rather than regions which we used to have, I think all these agitations will die down and everybody will be happy,” he added.

Sagay, who is also the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), noted the report of the Nasir El-Rufai led All Progressives Congress (APC) Committee on Restructuring.

He stated that the committee came up with an excellent report, stressing the need to look at the content of the documents and implement them.

The senior advocate was, however, of the opinion that it would be better to implement the report in a totally new Constitution, rather than amending the existing one which would involve lots of amendments.

He explained that the move by the APC to set up such a committee in the first instance was indicative that President Muhammadu Buhari was in favour of federalism and devolution of powers.

The PACAC chairman, however, said, “I am personally disappointed that that excellent document is being allowed to gather dust and I think the leaders of the party should now bring it out and go to the President and say, we should now make a move to implement what we ourselves commissioned and have approved because that is what the whole country wants now.”

“I only knew about Ibadan and Awolowo; the region controlled my life from A-Z and everything worked perfectly, beautifully, happily. That is what we are missing. We just have to go back to that otherwise Nigeria will not enjoy stability,” he said.

Opinion: The Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami appears to be unaware

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Opinion: The Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami appears to be unaware



By Aloy Ejimakor


Days ago, Abubakar Malami (SAN), the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) granted an interview to Channels Television in which he faulted Southern Governors’ ban on open grazing. The AGF is wrong; Southern Governors are right, and here’s why:
Before one can graze, he must be a cattle rearer or a herdsman. The herdsman would have to enter another person’s land. If the herdsman is grazing on his own land, it does not implicate any legal, safety or economic issues because the land belongs to him. But when he goes upon another man’s land to graze without permission or some leave and license, he commits trespass, civil and criminal trespass to boot.

Conversely, there is no written law in Nigeria that permits herders to enter into another man’s land without the owner’s permission. Not even the Nigerian Constitution cited Malami. The part of the Constitution he relied
on allows freedom of movement of persons, not animals, whether goats, pigs or cattle. And such freedom must be exercised in a peaceable and legal manner, not by force, not by trespass, not by terror.

Most people think that trespass is only a civil wrong in which you go to a civil court to claim monetary damages and have the trespasser expelled from your property through a civil court order. It is much more than that.
In Northern Nigeria where the Attorney-General and these herdsmen hail from, Section 342 of the Penal Code (applicable to Northern Nigeria) provides that ‘Whoever enters into or upon property in the possession of
another with intent to commit an offence or to intimidate, insult or annoy a person in possession of that property, or, having lawfully entered into or upon that property, unlawfully remains there with intent thereby to intimidate, insult or annoy such person or with intent to commit an offence, is said to commit criminal trespass’.

Open grazing intimidates, insults and annoys. And in this era, it terrorizes, kills and destroys properties. What more do you need before understanding that it’s a crime in all its ramifications.

Criminal trespass is punishable by arrest, arraignment, prosecution and imprisonment. Again, this is northern Nigeria where these herders hail from. There are other laws of Nigeria that border on assault, manslaughter,
murder, malicious destruction of property, disorderly conduct, breach of the peace and laws on land use that are violated whenever herdsmen graze without permission and oftentimes with violence.

So, without any new law banning open grazing, Southern Governors can assert their authority under these extant laws, including particularly under Section 1 of the Land Use Act, which provides that “Subject to the provisions of this Act, all land comprised in the territory of each State in the Federation are hereby vested in the Governor of that State … ”.


Additionally, AGF Malami appears to be unaware of the highly celebrated 1969 ruling by Justice Adewale Thompson. That the ruling was never set aside or varied makes it part of the laws of Nigeria when it comes to open
grazing. It’s pertinent to state that the ruling was made in the context of the ‘farmer-herder conflict’ of that era. That is what we used to have then. What we have now is ‘herder-terrorism’ that requires new measures
that should more drastic than the purports of that ruling.


In the ruling, Adewale’s court heard that it is the custom of the Fulani to move cattle from place to place and graze openly. The judge ruled that if that is the custom, it is a bad one because it is against public policy; that the custom has the tendency to lead to breach of law and order and unconscionable destruction of another’s property. You might add that, in this day and age, it has gone from mere destruction of property to destruction of lives.

That judgment is sound because it is consistent with the common law of Nigeria that says that any custom that is against public policy shall be set aside. A custom is not cast in stone. Nigerian laws only allow good
customs. Bad customs like killing of twins are no longer allowed. In the same vein, bad customs like open grazing that destroys properties and human lives should be banned.


That something is a custom does not automatically make it legal. Therefore, that open grazing is customary to the Fulani does not make it legal or permissible, especially if it comes with the prospects of criminal trespass
or terror. And in comparison to the spare parts dealers Malami mentioned, he forgot that they rent their shops and they conduct their business sans trespass, violence, rape and terror.


Further, as a Northerner and a high-ranking government official with access to intelligence, AGF Malami should not pretend that he doesn’t know that a significant number of these herdsmen are foreigners. Some notable Northern
leaders (including the Presidency) have publicly confirmed as such. On this score, did AGF Malami consider what happens to Nigeria’s sovereignty when he argued that banning open grazing is unconstitutional? Is he suggesting
that foreigners now have more constitutional rights than Nigerians, especially Southern Nigerians?

Not just that, these foreign herdsmen come into Nigeria with a swag to graze on Nigerian lands without permission and they are ever prepared to kill their host if he dares resist such brazen criminal trespass. And the federal government does nothing to check it. But once the herders get in trouble, such as now with Southern Governors, the same federal government jumps to their defense, as AGF Malami just did.


That’s unfair because you are stoking a situation where States (especially Southern States) will be propelled to resort to self-help, which is exactly what Southern Governors have done by banning open grazing.


_______________________________________

Ejimakor, a lawyer wrote in from Alaigbo.
—
Aloy Ejimakor, Esquire
Managing Partner
ADULBERT LEGAL SERVICES
11 Ukpo Close, Garki
Abuja FCT, Nigeria
+234 803 265 1660 [email protected]

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Omei Bongos-Ikwue: Soft drinks are killing Nigerians

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Omei Bongos-Ikwue: Soft drinks are killing Nigerians

BY Omei Bongos-Ikwue

Nigeria is facing a “silent epidemic”. Amid the din of more alluring health issues, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer are making a steady entrance, accounting
for 29 percent of deaths in the country, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The increased marketing and consumption of ultra-processed foods, including sugar-sweetened beverages (like soft
drinks), has fuelled the rising cases of NCDs. Each year, more than 38 million litres of soft drinks are sold in Nigeria, putting the country in the precarious position of the world’s 4th highest soft drink consumer, as
reported by Euromonitor.

Nigerians often opt for soft drinks over other alternatives because they are accessible and affordable
. Consuming one “soft drink” a day is a choice that lies within the means of the average Nigerian. However, the real costs of consuming soft drinks are not visible on supermarket price tags. The real costs emerge in the form of the health and economic burdens they impose. A 2010 study found that drinking one to two sugar-sweetened beverages a day increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 26%. Like those found in soft drinks, liquid sugars are easily absorbed by the liver and can lead to high blood pressure and inflammation. Obesity, particularly abdominal obesity, is linked to consuming soft drinks and is a risk factor for many NCDs. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic emphasises the urgent need to address obesity. People with obesity are more likely to suffer complications from COVID-19 and face a greater risk of dying from the disease. Long associated with wealth and “good living”, obesity has now crossed the dividing line between rich and poor, putting everyone at risk of chronic illness. The only difference is that the urban poor lack the financial resources to manage these long-term diseases, unlike the wealthy.

It is no surprise that health advocates are calling for a tax on soft drinks. A tax can spare ordinary Nigerians the burdensome costs of treating lifelong illness. By discouraging soft drinks purchase and consumption, a tax will offer the most significant health gains to low-income Nigerians. Over 4 million Nigerians are living with diabetes; diabetes patients in Nigeria spend a staggering $4.5 billion each year on treatment.


According to the WHO, 22 percent of deaths among people aged 30 to 50 are due to NCDs. The years of productivity lost to premature NCD-related deaths is an economic blow that should sound a warning bell to the nation’s policymakers. Nigerians – policymakers and consumers alike – need to come to terms with the incalculable damage that soft drinks inflict on public health. The government should provide incentives to reduce consumption and encourage alternatives that will improve health.

The soft drink industry has always made improbable promises in its advertising, flashing misleading images to insinuate that every sip delivers “happiness”. Consequently, many Nigerians are oblivious to the harms of consuming one or more soft drinks a day. Even children get soft drinks in their daily lunch packs – a practice that paves the way to childhood obesity and leads young children to prefer their sugary taste
over plain water. Since 1993, under the interim national government of Ernest Shonekan, big industry players like Coca Cola have benefited from tax exemptions in Nigeria. Not many then were aware of the harmful effects of soft drinks like alcoholic beverages and tobacco products. Today, there is ample evidence to show that soft drinks are as dangerous. Far from being punitive, a tax would promote the public good that soft drinks companies profess to pursue. The application of this tax could provide tangible relief for the millions of Nigerians living with  Type 2 diabetes  and other NCDs.

The government has a shared responsibility to promote good health outcomes by formulating policies that protect society and create an environment where healthy choices win the day. Countries like Mexico and South Africa
have implemented healthy food policies that are leading people to spurn sugar-sweetened beverages and choose healthier options. Recent findings from South Africa, which implemented an 11% levy on sugar-sweetened beverages, indicate a reduction in consumption after implementing the levy. Policies like these engender healthy choices and subsequently slow down incidence rates of NCDs. A tax
on sugar-sweetened beverages can reduce soft drink consumption and result in better health outcomes while providing funds to relieve the NCD burden. It’s time for policies that promote healthier societies.

_________________________

Omei Bongos-Ikwue is a public health professional with 11 years experience working on global health challenges with expertise in social and behavioural change communications and formative research for qualitative gathering. Omei has a Masters in Public Health from the George Washington University.

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Just In: Another Police Station attacked and burned in Enugu, about 5 persons feared dead

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Just In: Another Police Station attacked and burned in Enugu, about 5 persons feared dead

The Iwollo Oghe Police station in Ezeagu local government of Enugu state has been attacked and razed by yet to be identified gunmen.

NewsWireNGR gathered that the station was attacked in the early hours of Tuesday and about five persons including police personnel were feared to have been killed in the attack.

NewsWireNGR also learned that the Enugu State Police Command headquarters have been briefed and are enroute to the station for an on the sport assessment of the damages and casualties.

Details later..

Adebayo Raphael: Stop calling ESN a terrorist Group

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Adebayo Raphael: Stop calling ESN a terrorist Group


 
On 30 May 2016, about one thousand women, men and children peacefully marching to commemorate the killing of roughly 2million Biafrans between 1967-1970 by Nigerian security forces (the army and police) were on the receiving end of a terrible, inhumane terrorist blitzkrieg by Nigerian Security Forces; under the malefic orders of the Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Armed Forces General Buhari, Nigeria’s current president.

 
On that day and the day before it, a report by Amnesty International confirms that no less than sixty of those peaceful Biafran commemorators were shot and killed, and at least seventy of them injured as a result of the attacks on those two days alone. Among those who died, the report narrates, was a man who had phoned his wife minutes before the bullet lodged in his abdomen was followed by merciless gunshots from Nigerian soldiers to ensure his coup de grâce. His wife was still on the phone when the Nigerian army brutally ended his life. Six others in that army truck were simply extrajudicially killed. The 2016 report by Amnesty International estimates that at least one hundred and fifty pro-Biafra activists were slaughtered by Nigerian security forces between August 2015 and August 2016. 

 
To understand the weight of that massacre, we can take a quick look at England and Wales – where the number of fatal shootings during contact with the police between 2007 and 2018 was twenty-four in all. That’s six times the number of Biafran activists killed by Nigerian security forces in two days, simply for commemorating those that the Nigerian state has refused to remember.

 
In September 2017, a senseless joint raid by the Nigerian army and police descended upon the palace of the traditional ruler of Afaraukwu, Eze Israel Kanu – also Nnamdi Kanu’s father, killed five people and injured about thirty in the process. Those who have not forgotten the video clips that emerged online from that incident would recall how dishevelled the military and police left the place, allegedly in search of Kanu, who would later lose his mother to the shock she suffered from that invasion. At the time, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) was simply a non-violent secessionist group with a leader perceived by many as a demagogue.

 
Again to understand the weight of that incident, let’s return to the UK where Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, has told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that another referendum on Scotland’s secession from the UK is a matter of “when – not if”. Nobody – neither Britain’s Prime Minister nor Queen Elizabeth II – has ordered the invasion of her home or the traumatization of her parents. That is a society where mad people are not in leadership positions as we have them in Nigeria.

 
When Buhari exhausted his list of fabrications for the deliberate killings and human rights violations of IPOB members, he then went berserk and proscribed the group, designating it a terrorist organization whilst at the same time, more or less patting the actual terrorists – Fulani herders, on the back as “bandits” who deserved reintegration into the society. When Pythons were dancing in the South East, no reptile was dancing in the North West and North Central — yet herders were raping and killing innocent civilians mindlessly. This background, though non-exhaustive, is necessary for us to understand how the Eastern Security Network (ESN) came to be.

 
According to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the IPOB, what led to the creation of the ESN were the endless incursions of Fulani herders, the indiscriminate raping of women and destruction of farmlands in the name of grazing in the South East and South-South; yet one cannot but recognize that there had always been enough reasons to create an ESN as a self-defence mechanism for IPOB members.

 
The sovereignty of a state does not and cannot legitimize its wanton use of violence against its own people. Peace is not a zero-sum pledge; it’s a commitment that involves more than one party. Buhari is not interested in peace and conflict resolution, except when it is about his Fulani tribe. If he were, he would have followed that path instead of unprovoked violence against IPOB.

 
The emergence of the ESN became necessary the day Buhari declared war on IPOB and none on Fulani herders. ESN is not the terrorist here – it kills no innocent civilians; the only terrorist in this snafu is the Nigerian state led by Buhari. Every action that Buhari takes as Nigerian president imposes a moral responsibility on us as citizens of Nigeria. Buhari has no justification for his aerial and ground raids on innocent civilians living in the South East under the guise of ending the ESN. Our duty as citizens is to let the state know whenever it goes wrong or diverges from the social contract that legitimized its emergence.

 
No Nigerian signed a contract of human rights violations and enforced disappearances; unprovoked killings of hundreds of Shia Muslims and burial in mass graves; unlawful detention and unscrupulous raids on homes of judges, activists and government critics; the wanton killings of EndSARS protesters; or other such nefarious things Buhari has done as president of Nigeria — so it makes no sense, that a group impelled to emerge for the survival of its democratically-guaranteed interest is called a terrorist, but the real terrorist gets to hide behind the veil of sovereignty.

 
The Nigeria that Buhari desperately desires is one in which all Nigerians practice fatalism. The day we all become fatalists in the face of the mighty oppression and injustice happening under Buhari’s regime is the day we stop being free. The news mediums reporting ESN as a terrorist group are doing a great disservice to the Nigerian people: they are imposing on Nigerians a state of subservience to a terrorist state; they are reporting injustice with the language of an oppressive state; telling Nigerians to be weak, that defying oppression and injustice by the state means terrorism; they are telling Nigerians to not be free, that freedom means being targeted and killed by the Nigerian state. But I reject that. We cannot be free and not be free.



______________________________

Adebayo Raphael is a Writer and Human Rights Activist. He can be reached via [email protected].

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Residents panic as petrol tanker explodes in Egbeda, Lagos

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Residents panic as petrol tanker explodes in Egbeda, Lagos

A tanker conveying 45,000 litres of petrol on Tuesday morning crashed and exploded at Banire/Ejigbadero bus stop in Egbeda.

Ibrahim Farinloye, acting Zonal Coordinator, South-West Zonal Office, NEMA, confirmed the incident in Lagos.

Mr Farinloye said NEMA received an alert at 12.20 a.m. that the tanker that was said to have loaded at Abule Ado in Amuwo Odofin local government area had exploded, causing panic among residents area.

“No life was lost or property destroyed,” said Mr Farinloye. “However, the tanker with no registration number is still half-filled with PMS and across the major highway.

He added, “The Police Disaster Management Unit and Gowon Estate Police Station have apprehended the driver of the truck and his motor boy (assistant).”

Mr Farinloye further stated that efforts were ongoing to decant and transfer the content to another tanker before the authorities could open the road for traffic.

He, therefore, advised motorists to use alternate routes from the Banire roundabout to Egbeda roundabout.

Mr Farinloye added that NEMA and other agencies, including the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency Response Unit and Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, were on the ground to ensure safety and free traffic flow.

(NAN)

Opinion: Why is this acclaimed population advantage not transformed into high yielding productivity

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Opinion: Why is this acclaimed population advantage not transformed into high yielding productivity

Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State recently made the following proud statement; “Kano has a population triple or four times some states, therefore, should be given a higher consideration in terms of employment. We have 44 local government areas. We have 484 wards, 24 members of the House of Representatives, and 40 members of the state assembly. None of the states in Nigeria has such a structure. In fact, we are the biggest democracy in Nigeria”. Wow!

Some questions; why is this acclaimed population advantage not being transformed into high yielding productivity through human capital development? So it is just a dependent number? Is Nigeria a beggars’democracy? Who is fooling who?

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo once said that “Nigeria is a country perpetually potentially great, almost permanently in crisis, regularly threatened with disintegration, prolongingly plundered and mismanaged, forever talking about democracy but retreating from democracy”. He knows what he was saying with his wealth of experience from serving the nation at highest level twice, first as a Military Head of State and second as a democratically elected President.

A parasitic system whereby the only contribution a section of the country makes is projecting a large population does not augur well. There is no need quibbling about the simple fact that Nigeria at present is sustained by oil and gas revenue accruing from Southern part of the country. In terms of trade, major foreign earnings of the country come from the south. The only thing the Northern part of the country brings to the table is human population based on fraudulent claims. By this population prebendal political paradigm, Nigerian democracy hangs on what the North decides through periodic general elections. It portends that nothing will change in the country until the status quo is reconsidered.

A brief history of how the country was plunged into present the day-to-day festering political cul-de-sac reveals that “the so-called Nigeria created in 1914 was a complete fraud. It was created not in the interest of Nigeria or Nigerians but in the interest of the British. And what were the structures created? The structures created were as follows: Northern Nigeria was to represent England; Western Nigeria like Wales; Eastern Nigeria was to be like Scotland. In the British structure, England has permanent majority in the House of Commons. There was no way Wales can ever dominate England, neither can Scotland dominate England. But they are very shrewd. They would allow a Scottish man to become PM. They would allow a Welsh man to become PM in London but the fact remains that the actual power is rested in England. That was what Lugard created in Nigeria, a permanent majority for the North. The population figure is also a fraud”. Perhaps, no other person than Chief Richard Akinjide, SAN, a former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation would have made the revelation above. He was actively involved in early days of the country’s politics.  

The present day agitations from different sections of the country are nothing but manifestations of people coming to recognition of the inherent fraud in the prevailing political arrangement. If only there is wisdom and modesty in leadership, much of the recurring problems would have been curtailed long ago.

A forced union is an aberration, an unsuitable relationship. Is there a person who is willing and capable to give answer to the following questions?
(1) Who is afraid of a Nigeria based on a thorough acknowledgement and true reflection of our diversity in every affairs of governance? It requires using wisdom to balance political appointments, revenue allocation and distribution of resources.
(2) Who is afraid of a Nigeria administered on the bases of economic contributory capacity of each section of the country? This entails resource control and devolution
of powers to justify federalism. 
(3) Who is afraid of a Nigeria practicing parliamentary system of government? This was how the country started from the independence era. It still works well in Britain, Germany, South Africa, Canada, India, Israel, Australia and many other countries. Will this not save costs, curtail wastages, reduce political bottlenecks, delays in policy execution and brigandage at the various levels of governance?
(4) Who is afraid of a Nigeria allowing each constituent parts of the country to manage its own internal security?

If we refuse and fail to embrace the opportunities being presented now to have a genuine national discourse, without any no go areas, all talks about democracy, one-man-one-vote, national unity, will amount to an exercise in futility.

“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.” – Abraham Lincoln

For a long time, the National Population Commission has been part of this unwholesome practice through claims of not being able to conduct national census due to lack of funds, sabotage, and external frustration. Ideally, a census should be done every 10 years, but it appears difficult to sustain mainly because it is not considered a priority in an economy like Nigeria. The timing requires political will and proclamation by the president.

As noted by Richard Akinjide, “Nigeria is the only zone whereby you go from the coast to the north, the population increases and you come from the north to the coast, the population decreases. Well, geographers, anthropologists and population experts, draw your conclusion” All previous censuses in Nigeria were conducted in an environment fraught with political interference. This was because there was an incentive to inflate population figures. 

It is relevant to underscore the sensitive and strategic issues at stake here this; National Population, National Identity, Voter Population and eventual Electoral Results. These invariably form the bases for delineation of electoral constituencies, distribution of resources, allocation of various government positions, political patronages and more. The institutions that oversee and address all these and more, are being headed by Nigerians from a particular region of the country, in brazen negation and breach of Section 14(3) (4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as Amended), which provides that: 

  1. The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few State or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.  
  2. The composition of the Government of a State, a local government council, or any of the agencies of such Government or council, and the conduct of the affairs of the Government or council or such agencies shall be carried out in such manner as to recognize the diversity of the people within its area of authority and the need to promote a sense of belonging and loyalty among all the people of the Federation.

Furthermore, the level of impudence and impunity being exhibited by the Buhari/APC Administration is only emboldened by the fact that using population democracy, no useful change can be made provided that northern Nigeria gives strong backing to the bad governance going on. The type of representative democracy required in Nigeria is very far from what Buhari/APC rule has shown and continues to show Nigerians. The PDP was struggling during its 16 year rule at the center, but some Nigerians thought there was need for change and manipulated many other Nigerians into believing and expecting change. The change being witnessed now is backwardness at its gross level. It has demonstrated that a winner-takes-all form of presidential system does not benefit a diverse country like Nigeria.

How and why it happens that Oil Resources in one part of the country is being managed by people from another part, needs to be addressed. How and why it happens that the major viable sea ports in the south are being managed by people from the north need to be addressed. How and why it happens that major borders for economic activities are in the south, but being controlled by people from the north need to be addressed. These are some of the sundry troubling issues depicting the pathetic state of our polity.

This bogus nature of our democracy will continue to rear its ugly head in form of vociferous agitations for ‘restructuring, true federalism, secession, self-determination, referendum,’ until there is a radical change. Today’s Nigeria only pretends to be a democracy whereas it harbors a fraud, ailing and begging for healing. By the time it becomes readily apparent to everyone that a significant national existential challenge has arisen, solving it may be extremely expensive, especially given the amplitude to which vested interests will by then have entrenched themselves in implacable opposition to change. Peaceful change is always preferable to violent change: prevention is better than cure. May wisdom prevail!

I pause here, using the following words of a leading wise scholar, Hilary French, saying “a man who tried to hold back a flood with a pail would probably be considered more of a crank than a saint, even by those he was trying to help”

Chukwuma Onyekwelu, a Legal Practitioner and Communications Consultant writes from Abuja.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @Chuma_Onyekwelu

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Economy: Currency in circulation drops by N10billion

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Economy: Currency in circulation drops by N10billion

A Central Bank statistic released on Monday has shown that currency in circulation dropped by N10billion from N2.81trillion as of the end of March to N2.8trillion as of the end of April.

According to the figures from the CBN, the figure dropped by N50bn in February from N2.83tn as of January to N2.78tn as of the end of February. It had earlier dropped by N70bn in January from N2.9tn as of December 2020.

According to the CBN, currency in circulation rose from N2.5tn as of the end of October to N2.66tn in November.

The CBN defined currency in circulation as currency outside the vaults of the apex bank; that is, all legal tender currency in the hands of the general public and in the vaults of the Deposit Money Banks.

The CBN stated that it employed the “accounting/statistical/withdrawals & deposits approach” to compute the currency in circulation in Nigeria. This approach involved tracking the movements in currency in circulation on a transaction by transaction basis.

That is, for every withdrawal made by a Deposit Money Bank at one of CBN’s branches, an increase in CIC was recorded, and for every deposit made by a DMB at one of CBN’s branches, a decrease in CIC was recorded.

The transactions were all recorded in the CBN’s CIC account, and the balance on the account at any point in time represented the country’s currency in circulation.

According to the apex bank, analysis of the currency in circulation showed that a large and increasing proportion of the Nigerian currency outside the commercial banking system was held by the general public who hoard a lot of the new banknotes.

The CBN also disclosed that broad money supply (M3) declined in January 2021 due, largely, to the fall in net domestic assets of depository corporations, which more than offset the growth in net foreign assets.

As a result of the growth in net foreign assets of the CBN which outweighed the decline in that of other depository corporations, it stated, net foreign assets of the banking system grew by 1.3 per cent to N7.22tn at the end of January, compared with the growth of 20 per cent at the end of December 2020.

Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka to relocate after kidnapping incident

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Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka to relocate after kidnapping incident

The management of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka in Kaduna State has concluded plans to temporarily relocate the institution.

Dr Usman Muhammad, who is the Provost of the college, announced this on Monday in Kaduna while addressing reporters in the company of top management staff of the school, as well as the students and their parents.

He noted they would move the institution to a temporary place where normal academic activities would continue until further notice.

Muhammad explained that the decision became necessary because the present location of the college in Igabi Local Government Area of the state was no longer safe at the moment.

He gave an assurance that the management would provide vehicles for easy transportation of the students amid tight security.

As a way of compensation, he also announced that they had waived the school fees of the 37 students who were kidnapped by bandits for the courses they were pursuing at the college.

NewsWireNGR had reported how bandits invaded the school in March and kidnapped 37 students – an incident that led to the subsequent closure of the school.

The Kidnappers eventually released the students in three batches in a space of one month – five on April 5, five on April 8, and 29 on March 5.

‘Your mandate is stolen, you can’t speak for Yoruba Nation’ – Oodua group tells Tinubu, South-West Governors

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‘Your mandate is stolen, you can’t speak for Yoruba Nation’ – Oodua group tells Tinubu, South-West Governors

Apapo O’odua Koya, (AOKOYA) a coalition of several pan Yoruba groups, has reacted to the meeting held by the APC National Chairman, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and some APC South West leaders to denounce the secessionist calls of the Yoruba Nation agitators.

The leaders, who met in Lagos on Sunday, said they were not in support of the ethnic group’s break away from Nigeria.

At the meeting, the APC leaders expressed their “strong opposition to separatist agitations and hate speeches. While urging those indulging in such to desist forthwith, they renewed their belief in the unity, stability and sustainability of the country.”

AOKOYA in a statement signed by its official, Col Abimbola Sowumi (rtd) late on Monday, said the Governors of the South West States cannot in all sense of responsibility speak for the over 80 million Yoruba people all over the world.

According to the statement, “the resolution of the Governors promotes the destructive and parasitic interests of Fulani hegemony that is bent on vanishing the Yoruba Nation.”

“It is appalling that the Governors who claim to be representing Yoruba people made this empty and anti-people resolution in the Month of May, exactly 34 years after the death of Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

The Governors did consult the people they govern before claiming to speak for the same people.
Not even members of their Houses of Assembly were contacted. They spoke for themselves and not for Yoruba Nation” the statement read.

The group said the Governors and their family members enjoy police escort and in their tinted cars, will never appreciate the irreversible momentum of the clamour for Oduduwa Republic.


AOKOYA said since 1999, about 20 years, all the six South West Governors put together have not been able to achieve what Chief Awolowo achieved in seven years.


“There is no industry established by any one of them since 1999 that employs up to 500 people except in their private business set up with public funds but for private profit.


None of the states has a common cassava or vegetable farm. All they do is to prepare budgets every year with insignificant impact on the masses.”


AOKOYA said the Governors sustain their rule through force, bribery and disbursement of crumbs to loyalists adding that ‘none of them can walk on the streets without heavy police protection the way other democratic leaders like the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo or the Governors of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria, (UPN) walked on the streets in their dominion.

“The governors bought their votes. They did not secure legitimate votes of the Yoruba people.


Every vote obtained was through brazen corruption. Every vote was bought with cash between N2000 to N5000. It shows how their mandate was secure through fraud and day light robbery”, Sowumi said.


He added that none of the state governors scored 20 percent of the registered voters in their states whereas, not a single one enjoy the mandate of 10 percent of the population in their states.


“You are men of the trashbin of history. You will soon be irrelevant in the history of Yoruba people as you have chosen to stand against the popular will of your own people’ he further stated.

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