NNPC And Unremitted Billions Of Dollars

 By Jide Oyewusi

If there is a company all Nigerians must focus all their attention on and demand a transparent accountability from if Nigeria is ever going to move forward or make any meaningful progress, it is none other than the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

This is because even before independence, Nigeria’s major foreign exchange earner has been oil and so with the establishment of the NNPC, the company on which the major tripod of nation’s resources stand was born. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) was established on April 1, 1977 and later transformed into a limited liability company in July 2022 following the Petroleum Industry Act of 2021.

Nigerians Caught Between New Tax Regime And High Petrol Cost

 By Adekunle Adekoya

Happy New Year to all Nigerians, especially those who read this newspaper and this column. The year that ended about 48 hours ago was one hell of a year, by way of experience, particularly for those of us in Nigeria. On the political front, it was as interesting as ever, what with shameless defections from opposition parties to the ruling party especially by governors and legislators in opposition-controlled states.

*Tinubu and Shettima 

Economically, it was only towards the end of the year that some relief, however palpable, began to manifest, with the price of rice, which is the staple most consumed by Nigerians, coming down. The downside on the dining table was that the cost of protein — eggs, fish and meat — refused to follow rice in the downward journey, thus posing a stiff challenge to many households, majority of whom just cooked the staples, mainly carbohydrates, without the protein to make the diet meaningful for the body. Nevertheless, we survived that.

Nigeria Made Dangote A Colossus, It Must Now Handle Him Wisely

 By Olu Fasan

Aliko Dangote, the richest man in Africa, is a product of the Nigerian state. By deliberate policy choices, the state made Dangote Nigeria’s foremost oligarch with presidents on speed dial. However, recent rifts between Dangote’s oil refinery and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC, as well as the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, not to mention the raid on his business headquarters by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, suggest that all is not well with the long-running relationship between Dangote and the state. Yet, having turned Dangote into a commercial Leviathan, the state must now wisely recalibrate and manage the relationship.  

*Dangote 

To be clear, Dangote was not born poor. He was born into wealth and became a millionaire very early in life. However, his transition from a millionaire to Africa’s richest man would not have happened without a leg-up from the state, without special favours and preferential treatment from the Nigerian state. To this credit, Dangote himself admits this. Before we come to the refinery saga, let’s tell the fascinating story, as Dangote himself narrated it.

President Tinubu’s Hurdles

 By Sunny Ikhioya

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu became the governor of Lagos State in May 1999, he was boisterous and full of enthusiasm, portraying him in the image of a super man. But it was not long before he was confronted by the reality on ground. This reality encapsulated among others things happening in the streets. Lagos was growing increasingly filthy with wastes and becoming unsafe for people. That was after the exit of his predecessor, the famous Brigadier-General Buba Marwa, whom everyone deemed had performed well. 

*Tinubu 

General Marwa’s success was attributed to two clear strategies: keeping the city safe through the introduction of ‘Operation Sweep'(which later transformed to Rapid Response Squad, RRS, under Tinubu) and clearing Lagos of filth.