IMF’s Doublespeak’ll Make Tinubu’s Hardship Worse

 By Adekunle Adekoya

During the work week ending today, that infamous Bretton Woods institution, the International Monetary Fund, IMF, was in doublespeak regarding the economy of many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and particularly mentioned countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, and my dear country ( I have no other!), Nigeria. 

*Tinubu

Urging Nigeria and the other countries to rethink implementation strategies of the reforms embarked on, the IMF, in its latest Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa report, noted that the countries involved in deep reforms, including Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia and Kenya, may now be experiencing what it called ‘adjustment fatigue’, while some are facing civil resistance.

Stop Blaming IMF, World Bank; Nigeria’s Economic Woes Are Self-Inflicted!

 By Olu Fasan

The International Monetary Fund, IMF, and the World Bank have long struck a raw nationalistic nerve in Nigerians. Romantic patriotism drives the nationalistic urge to reject any perceived IMF/World Bank ‘interference’.

*Tinubu

Several years ago, as a magazine publisher, I interviewed Dr Kalu Idika Kalu, then finance minister under General Ibrahim Babangida’s regime, when he stopped over in London on his way to the IMF/World Bank meeting in Washington. I asked him why Nigerians detested the multilaterals. “I think in Nigeria we’ve tended to be isolationist,” he said. Nigerians, he implied, loathed foreign institutions telling them what to do, even in the face of a self-inflicted crisis.

That Message From The World Bank

 By Sunny Ikhioya

Last week, the Senior Vice President of the World Bank group, Mr Indermit Gill, addressed the Nigerian Economic Summit Group and made profound statements. But what caught the attention of most Nigerians was his statement that: “This is only the beginning. Nigeria will need to stay the course for at least 10 to 15 years to transform its economy and become an engine of growth in Sub-Saharan Africa.” 

Nigerians are asking: why do we need a whole 15 years to get out of the woods? If the leadership does the right thing, can’t we achieve significant progress within a regime circle of four years?

Change Your Ways And Not The Anthem

By Dr Sota Omoigui  

When I wrote my words for the anthem, in 1978, it was my dream for the country to move forward and take its place among the great nations of the world.  But all that potential has been hijacked and degraded by a political leadership that constitutes a criminal enterprise. Many of our people now wonder if we were ready for independence.

The regressive reverting of our anthem to the colonial anthem is a betrayal of our independence. It is a symbol of a political leadership that is clueless and has so lost its way that it goes crawling on its hands and knees back to kiss the ring of its colonial master to adopt its anthem – music and lyrics.

Electricity Tariff Hike As Maltreatment Of Nigerians

 By Adekunle Adekoya

I have zeroed in on electricity in the last few editions of this column because of the anxiety I harbour that our dear country, Nigeria, needs to get it right as soon as possible; before those that have gotten it right transmogrify into behemoths that can swallow us up. I had finished writing the last edition, with the headline: ‘Frequent national grid collapse: Time we took another hard look’, when the Federal Government empowered the electricity sector to announce new tariffs, ostensibly for affluent users, those said to be in Band A.

Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, had earlier in the year hinted of this development when he said that subsidy payments in the electricity sector by the Federal Government is not sustainable. I disagreed with him, because that would mean Nigerians will be paying higher prices for a service that at best, for the majority, remains epileptic. In addition, Nigerians are yet to see any initiative on the part of government that indicates we can expect better, improved services in terms of power supply. 

What Tinubu Must Do To Avert Food Riots In Nigeria

 By Steve Onyeiwu

AS the saying goes, a hungry man is an angry man. He is also a restive and dangerous man. Nigerians are already very angry and weary about the country’s severe economic challenges; the lack of inclusivity in economic development; the high unemployment rate; extreme poverty; infrastructural decay, pervasive insecurity, and a bleak economic future. For many Nigerians, a persistent and steep increase in food prices would be the last straw that jolts them into violent food riots. 

Prof Onyeiwu 

President Bola Tinubu understands the severity of the problem when he declared a state of emergency on food security in July 2023, and the formation of a Presidential Task Force on food insecurity early this month. It would be recalled that Acting President Yemi Osinbajo also set up a similar task force in February 2017. But long-term solutions require much more than the mere setting up of a task force. Nigerians are sick and tired of task forces, special committees, advisory councils, high-level summits, council of experts, technical committees, extraordinary body of thinkers, leaders of thought, etc. They want action and impactful results, not admonitions, regurgitated solutions, and empty promises.

2024: Governments As Our Enemy

 By Ugo Onuoha

A happy new year wish will be in order though it is certainly obvious this will be a thoroughly unhappy and extremely troubling year for a majority of Nigerians. From the 1960s, and especially since the return of democracy [read rule by civilians], governments at all levels, have steadily proved themselves to be enemies of the people. 

At least since 1999, the expectation has been that we will experience government of the people, by the people and for the people. No. That has remained an illusion. What we have had has been government of the rulers, by the rulers and for the rulers. The government as a force for good does not apply in our clime.

Inflation Is The Worst Economic Evil, Yet Tinubu Fuels It!

 By Olu Fasan

The first test of any government is its ability to manage the economy. For without a strong economy, a government can’t improve people’s lives; it can’t generate jobs, reduce poverty or tackle insecurity. Hence, a former British prime minister said: “The economy is the start and end of everything”, and an American political strategist coined the phrase: “It’s the economy, stupid.”

*Tinubu

However, this universal truth eludes Nigeria’s new president, Bola Tinubu. His overall economic orientation, dubbed ‘Tinubunomics’, smacks of economic illiteracy. My focus here is not ‘Tinubunomics’ itself, a subject for another column, but Tinubu’s attitude to inflation, the worst economic evil. 

World Teachers’ Day: Salute To African Teachers

 By Segun Ogunsanya

There is no gainsaying the fact that teachers are crucial to the process of education. In appraising the nexus between teaching and learning, teachers rank highest in importance because they organically facilitate the most critical part of education.

Strictly speaking, the ecosystem, which comprises children, parents, teachers, government, writers, publishers, and now technology innovators,  is brought to life by teachers. They not only facilitate learning, but also provide guidance and inspire learners. Some teachers have been known to exert greater influence on children’s development than some parents.

All The Noise About The Niger Coup

By Sunny Ikhioya

No empire lasts forever. With what is happening now all over the world, it is clear that man has not learned his lessons. Russia is trying to reclaim its former stake in Ukraine, but is finding it very difficult to do so. This has now caused a bitter rivalry between Russia and the rest of Europe, backed by the United States of America.

The rivalry amongst European powers led to the Berlin Conference in 1885, which approved the partitioning of Africa with arbitrary borders that have existed until today. We are not teaching history in our schools today so that corollary assumptions cannot be linked with what is happening in West Africa; but that is the real issue. It is a race for control and dominance over Africa and its resources all over again. 

Unmasking Poverty In Nigeria: The Pains, Deprivation And Remedies

 By Elvis Eromosele

Poverty is a real concern in Nigeria. It permeates the lives of individuals and communities, leaving many trapped in a cycle of deprivation. Poverty is a pervasive issue in Nigeria. It casts its dark shadow over countless lives, leaving individuals and communities starving millions of opportunities for a better future.

Nigeria serves as a poignant case study, a country grappling with the complexities of poverty despite its vast resources. To uncover the true face of poverty in Nigeria is to inspire collective action and foster a society where every Nigerian can thrive.

Growing Poverty In Nigeria

 By Peter Imouokhome

In layman’s terms, poverty is seen as the inadequacy of financial means to sustain a needed standard of living or to afford the necessities of life. Now largely tagged a global phenomenon and a state of emergency, previously, poverty was restricted to defined territories and a people. However, this has now been overly properly dimensioned as it is known that even in developed nations of the world, poverty exists.

Today, the first goal of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals seeks to end poverty in all forms everywhere. There has been a prior understanding of nations of the world in a pact signed under the Heads of Nations in June 1998.

Nigeria: Must We Have This Census Now?

 By Adekunle Adekoya

It is no longer news that the Federal Government has activated plans to conduct a national population and housing census next month. The last time we had a census was March 2006. There is nothing bad in having a census; indeed, a lot of benefits will accrue if we really know how many of us are together in this country.

Historically, the first census was conducted in 1866 and this was followed by Censuses of 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901. However, all these earlier censuses were restricted to Lagos Colony and its environs. The 1871 census marked the beginning of decennial census in Nigeria in line with British tradition of census-taking every 10 years.

Senegal: Strengthening African Independence

 By Obiageli Ezekwesili

I believe there are no coincidences in life. Events are divinely orchestrated. While I am in Senegal, one of the African countries where I feel most comfortable among the many that I have had the opportunity to visit in the course of my professional career, its national Independence Day, celebrated this April 4th, reminds me of how much our continent needs to strengthen and consolidate the gains that its countries have made, through the sweat of their peoples and leaders, over the last 60 years. 

*Ezekwesili 

It is therefore with heartfelt joy that I join millions around the world to express my best wishes for Senegal as it celebrates 63 years of sovereignty and independence. 

Debt Trap And Incoming Administrations

 By Jerome-Mario Chijioke Utomi

It is no longer news that some of the first-term governors-elect will face many months of unpaid workers’ salaries and mounting pension liabilities, as well as agitation for the implementation of the nationally agreed minimum wage, rising inflation, escalating prices of goods and services, and dwindling purchasing power. These incoming governors, about seventeen of them, according to reports will have a difficult time boosting the economies of their individual states because they will take over at least N2.1 trillion in domestic debt and $1.9 billion in foreign debt from their predecessors.

It is equally a common knowledge that in January 2023, Patience Oniha, Director general, Debt Management Office (DMO), while fielding questions from journalists at the public presentation and breakdown of the highlights of the 2023 appropriation act in Abuja, noted that the incoming Federal Government would inherit about N77 trillion as debt by the time President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure ends in May.

Towards A New And Better Nigeria (2): Obi’s ‘No Shishi’ As Political Contract

 By Pieray Awele Odor

I am an OBIdient! I cannot hide my choice or pretend about it. I have told my friends this as we discussed the man who merits to be the next president among the contestants for this highest position in Nigeria and, as Mr. Boris Johnson said, “The best job in the country”; not the best job for me though! I have also told them that what is important is why anyone supports any candidate.

*Obi

This should be the basis for discuss about who should be the next president. I chose to support Mr. Peter Obi because of his four bases for asking Nigerians to vote for him. These are “No shishi”, “Character”, “Track record” and Trust”. This is unique in Nigerian politics! Indeed it is phenomenal! In this piece, as contribution Toward a New and Better Nigeria, I shall discuss “No shishi”.

Buhari Women, Poverty And Budget Padding

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

Two stories broke in the last one week that tend to amplify the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari’s goal of running Nigeria completely aground continues apace even as his administration, on the home stretch, and its vuvuzelas, continue to play the ostrich.

*Farouq and Buhari

First, the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, disclosed on November 17, that 133 million Nigerians are multi-dimensionally poor. That represents about 63 per cent of the estimated population of about 218 million people.

Ordinarily, this information shouldn’t surprise anyone considering that Nigeria had adorned the infamous ‘World Poverty Capital’ badge since 2018. World Bank data had shown since 2016 that four in every ten Nigerians live below the poverty line of $1.9 per day. Two years later, the country was declared world’s poverty capital by the Brookings Institution, knocking off India from the inglorious perch.

How Anambra Diaspora Can Support The Political Process At Home

 By Uche Nworah

A diaspora is a large group of people with similar heritage or homeland, who have since moved out to places all over the world. Diasporas live and work in states, regions or countries different from their country of birth, or homeland. The term has been used also to describe Itinerant Nigerians who are scattered all over the world, either as political or economic migrants.

Wherever they find themselves, Nigerian diaspora have always distinguished themselves in the professions, be it medical, academia, sports, technology, finance, business and other fields. 

In an October 2020 publication by the London-based Financial Times newspaper, quoting from 2017 data from the Migration Policy Institute, it said that, “In the United States of America, Nigerians are the most highly educated of all groups, with 61 per cent holding at least a bachelors degree compared with 31 per cent of the total foreign-born population and 32 per cent of the US-born population”. The report went on to say that, “more than half of Nigerian immigrants (54 per cent) were most likely to occupy management positions, compared with 32 per cent of the total foreign-born population and 39 per cent of the United States-born population”.

Nigeria Is Falling Apart! How Are We Going To Fix It?

 By Joel Popoola

The 2023 election may feel like a long way off, but the battle to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari is already underway.

But who will step into his big shoes?

Just recently, the influential international news agency, Bloomberg, asked the question “is Nigeria falling apart?”

Unfortunately, it’s hard to argue that it isn’t.

*Buhari 

However, the real question is “how are we going to fix it?”

How are we going to fix an economy where unemployment is 33% and inflation is running at 18%?

What are we going to do to improve the lives of the 80 million Nigerians who live on the equivalent of less than $2 a day – a figure the World Bank predicts may rise to 100 million following Covid-19?

How is a nation economically dependent on oil going to face up to a post-oil future?

Killing Nigeria With Senseless Loans

 By Yemi Adebowale

The 2021 federal budget is N13.8 trillion. It has a deficit of N5.6 trillion and this will be funded, largely, through external borrowing. Over 30 per cent of the funds for this budget 2021 will be loans. This is why President Muhammadu Buhari is asking the National Assembly to approve N2.3 trillion ($6.18 billion) external loan to enable him fund part of the 2021 budget. The loan is part of N4.6 trillion federal lawmakers had earlier approved for his government as contained in the 2021 Appropriation Act. About 33 per cent of budget 2021 is set aside for debt servicing. Is this nonsense making sense? 

*Buhari 
This is the level Nigeria has degenerated while binge-borrowing. Budget figures of the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria have become voodoo numbers. They persistently bamboozle Nigerians with humorous numerals. The long and the shot of all these confusing figures is that Nigeria is in serious financial mess compounded by binge-borrowing by the Buhari government. This country parades a long list of creditors – World Bank, African Development Bank, French Development Agency, Islamic Development Bank, China EXIM Bank, China Development Bank, European Investment Bank, European ECA, KFW, IPEX, AFC, India EXIM Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development and the rest of them.