Maybe, Tinubu is the owner of the private jet self. As in, he is paying his company to use his personal jet for government duties. There is a need to uncover who owns the private jet the government hired.

ednut1:
going forward people should be encouraged to have fewer children. Why have 5 children inside of his hardship

Unfortunately, your idea does not work. In the 80’s, Babangida set a limit of 4 children but it did not work.

Reducing the influence of RELIGION in a country has shown correlations with reduced BIRTH RATES. Spain is much more religious than Britain, Germany, and even Italy, and it has higher birth rates than its neighboring countries.

Increasing access to QUALITY BASIC EDUCATION has also shown correlations with reduced BIRTH RATES. This has being observed in many countries such as Japan, China, Germany, etc. it is believed that the birth rate in Egypt is about to fall drastically over the next generation for this very reason. Two (2) possible explanations are that when women start having children when the women are younger, they tend to have more children. The second reason is that educated women tend to be career driven, so they tend not to prioritize children bearing.

Only precise Government policies can achieve population control. This takes planing and costs money. IMHO, In our democratic journey, Nigeria has had only one competent and good intentioned government and that was the Olusegun Obasanjo administration. What we lack is quality leadership.

ednut1:
We also need to reduce our population drastically

Any suggestion for how this can be achieved

nairalanda1:


They can do that because both countries allow their power sector set the prices that the power sector wants. Egypt had a subsidy in place, but it was removed several years ago.

Also, SA has a diversie generation portfolio...not just gas, they have nuclear and hydro. Even then, SA Is having blackouts right now.

Nigeria's problem (And I am not here to excuse APC, attack PDP or whatever, thank you ) boils down to the fact that the government sets prices for the power sector, meaning they cannot make sufficent profits to fix things. Then the power sector is owed billions by government (some 1.3 trillion naira ), and the general public (greater than that)...simply because people do not pay their bills, and excuse it. Including your government too. And when the government sets a bad example, the people follow.

Add the fact that since the late 1970's, the government has been expanding power supply to everywhere in Nigeria...with the result that the grid got overloaded (until 2019, there had been no new investment in the grid since the 1970's)...and damaged. Part of why we have blackouts ad grid collapses.

At the end, decades of making power cheaper for the people, means the sector cannot fund or fix itself or raise enough money to do so. People not paying their bills makes it worse. The gas companies refuse to supply gas to discos because of nearly 2 tr in debts.

But anytime people point out the lack of a cost reflective tarrif, NIgerians abuse and shout at them. Well, all I will say is, you won't run your business well if government set your prices.

Ivory Coast used to have similar problems as we did, until 1993, when they privatised power, and allowed a cost reflective tarrif to be charged. And here they are.

The problem I have with your comments is that you always leave out crucial details. You write a lot of facts but then you purposely omit important details.

Yesterday, you wrote a comment about the Dutch disease (aka resource curse). You failed to mention that the solution is to set up an excess crude account( sovereign wealth fund), and manage it properly. You failed to state that it was Nigeria’s mismanagement of its excess crude account that led to all the economic issues.

Today, you are commenting on electricity and gas prices, yet you have left out two important points.

First of all, gas prices have only risen because of the fall in the value of the Naira. That is, gas prices have risen because of the Nigerian government’s incompetence in managing our excess crude account.

Secondly, Nigeria is a gas giant. The Nigerian people own the gas resources which is managed on their behalf by the government.

Story time.
Imagine Germany was a gas giant but the German government failed to manage its currency leading to Germans not being able to afford to pay for gas at the international price. Do you think Germany would export its gas to neighboring countries while leaving its masses in darkness?

nairalanda1:


I am fighting for both. At the end more money which can be used for subsidies for those who really need them

Removing subsidies has taking Nigeria backwards by several decades. There is nothing positive about it.
Taxing richer Nigerians and imports would have stabilized the Naira and reduced the subsidy paid on energy. This is the point I kept trying to make to you last year.

Story time
Around 2014, the British pound was under pressure to be devalued. If the government allowed the pound to lose value, energy prices would have risen and a major economic crisis would have occurred. Britain is a developed country and has little inequality, so the government raised taxes on plastic bags. This policy not only reduced the pressure on the pound, but also reduced the environmental impact of plastic bags.

In 2022, Britain faced similar pressures on the pound. They quickly fired their prime minister and announced huge cuts in government jobs. Cuts in government jobs have a similar effect to raising effective taxes.

nairalanda1:


We also tax a lower proportion of our gdp as well. Too low in fact.

If you know we tax lower than other countries, why are you fighting for the removal of subsidies as opposed to raising taxes? The two policies are vastly different?

Nairalanda1, please take a look at the charts posted by Lavor234. Take time to look at the third chart specifically. It contradicts everything you believe in. It shows Nigeria spends a lower proportion of its GDP on subsidies. It also proves that subsidies aren’t the reason why our petroleum and power sectors have collapsed.

We are all still learning and we should all want the best for Nigeria. We may have different opinions but facts should be sacrosanct.

nairalanda1:
Things like power supply cost money

Right now discos made a profit of 1 trillion and owe the gass man 1.7 trillion

So if they use their profit to pay the gas man, they would still owe money.

Anyways..

My fine friend, I do not want to argue. Please, who is the gas man? Is the gas man the federal government or some mysterious organization?

I always wonder, do countries export their needed resources or do they export the excess after local consumption. Why is it only African nations that exports its mineral resources for income. Every other nation uses resources to produce goods. Even the countries buying our natural gas are still using it for production.

Tinubu is probably trying to get an IMF loan. This is the only plausible explanation for all these policies. The problem with taking that loan is that the money will still be stolen.

Nigeria needs a radical leader, a person who understands that Nigeria is extremely rich in resources and that such resources must be used to industrialize the country. Selling raw materials for government revenue as opposed to taxing productivity is highly stupid.

mrvitalis:
I blame GEJ for wast our excess crude account with out results .........
.......no man can say i cant blame him .........


for this alone i think we should try another person

THIS IS WHY THE NAIRA IS 1500 TODAY. Obasanjo and Yaradua saved money when crude oil prices were low. they set up a tradition of consuming less than you earn.

Jonathan consumed the $21 billion that was saved by his predecessors and did not save any money when oil prices were high. He also expanded the size of the civil service making it impossible to run the government without firing workers or taking loans.

Buhari foolishly refused to fire workers and cut down the cost of governance. He chose to borrow to fund the government. He grew the excess crude account to $2 billion from the $500 million Jonathan left it at. Unfortunately, he stole the$2 billion that was saved.

this is the story of how we got here...

Tellmeastory


INDIA: population -1.4 billion, Power Production- 1715 TWh, power production/ population(%) - 122.5

PAKISTAN: population -230 million, Power Production 150 TWh power production/ population(%) - 65.2 (4 times Nigeria)

LEBANON: population -6 million, Power Production 21 TWh power production/ population(%) - 350

SRI LANKA: population -22 million, Power Production 16 TWh power production/ population(%) - 72.7 ( 5 times Nigeria)

SOUTH AFRICA: population -59 million, Power Production 191 TWh power production/ population(%) - 323.7

GHANA: population -33 million, Power Production 21 TWh power production/ population(%) - 63.6 (4 times Nigeria)

NIGERIA: population -213 million, Power Production 31 TWh power production/ population(%) - 14.5

Cote D'Ivoire: population -27 million, Power Production 11TWh power production/ population(%) - 40.7 (about 3 times Nigeria)

From these figures, Nigeria has the lowest amount of power produced for its population among the countries analysed. Cote D'Ivoire is the closest country to Nigeria, yet it has about 3 times the power person Nigeria has.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_electricity_production

omohayek:

Of what relevance is your minimum wage to the cost of producing refined petroleum, shipping it half-way across the world, and then storing it in expensive containers? The refining and the shipping are done on the international market in US Dollars, and the storage facilities are constructed using materials also paid for in USD. Even if your minimum wage was zero, these harsh realities would still remain, and the costs of getting that refined petroleum to you would still have to be covered in full.

It's the height of stupidity to think how much you personally earn can dictate the prices of things you want - such illogical ranting only speaks to the overblown sense of entitlement you and so many other Nigerians suffer from.

Who is responsible for the collapse in the value of the Naira? The government or the people?

The collapse of the value of the Naira has increased poverty and inequality in Nigeria. This should be obvious to you. So once more, who should be held responsible for the collapse of the Naira?

nairalanda1:


The problem has nothing to do with obi or religion or tribalism and everything to do with the power sector not earning enough due to

Tarrifs not being cost reflective
Power theft due to meter bypass, people not paying, illegal connections

At the end, there isn't enough cash for the gas person and the result is the gas person stops supplying gas until they see the money

Result blackout.

When Sam Amadi was the NERC boss, he came up with the MYTO plan to gradually raise the price of electricity to make it cost reflective.

However, the value of the Naira kept falling necessitating higher and higher targets to achieve cost reflective tariffs.

This is the main issue. The Naira keeps losing value. Wages have remained stagnant. There has been GDP growth, but wealth inequality has widened.

Raising prices to infinity will not solve any problem. A strategy to stabilize the value of the Naira is necessary.

Such a strategy will include cutting the costs of governance, increasing the government’s revenues, re-establishing an excess crude account (sovereign wealth fund), and spurring the velocity of money to ensure continued growth.

Other issues.
The man who ran for president under SDP is quite intelligent, and has the most understanding of what is going on in Nigeria. His name is Adewole Adebayo.

I believe that the government’s plan to implement the oronsanye report may be the reason why TUC pulled out of the protest. Most MDA’s in Abuja will take roll call today and tomorrow and staff that are absent may be retrenched.

femisplash:

Sam Amadi was one of the top worst Administrators ever. His expertise sounds best only on paper but an absolutely crap in the real sense. What was his achievements?, what were his reforms?. He left the power sector worse than he met it.

The global economy works like a pyramid, the developed countries at the top and the developing countries at the bottom.

A countries exchange rate is affected by both external and internal factors. Take Nigeria as an example. The main Internal factors affecting our exchange rate is the depletion of our excess crude account and our low revenue to GDP ratio. While the main external factors are the US federal reserve raising interest rates and other global conflicts as a result of issues between America and China.

Back to the topic
Commodity prices are about the same in every country, so if Nigeria produces an excess amount of corn, the price of corn doesn’t only get cheaper in Nigeria, but every other country. This is because the excess corn will push prices down in Nigeria which will attract buyers from Neighboring countries. This same logic applies to energy (crude oil and natural gas).

People in developed countries, with their earning high valued incomes, can easily afford higher energy prices. People in poorer countries cannot.

SAM AMADI’s MYTO plan was to gradually raise the tariff Nigerians paid for electricity. This would have removed the subsidies on electricity and boosted investments in our power sector.

SAM AMADI’s plan failed because the GEJ administration wasted the money in the excess crude account saved by Obasanjo and Yaradua, and the GEJ administration also issued Eurobonds.

The devaluation of the Naira has made Nigerians poorer, thus de-industrializing Nigeria.

Professor Sam Amadi is amongst the most knowledgeable Nigerians alive. If the GEJ administration had not wasted our excess crude account, the professors MYTO plan would have worked and Nigeria would have had stable electricity which hopefully would have led to industrialization of Nigeria.

In the ops critic, the op reveals a major problem with the Nigerian mindset. The op claims that Nigeria gave a lot to the professor implying that the professors executive position at NERC was not merited. A society that has no value for merit but prides itself in cronyism and Nepotism, that takes loyalty over competency, is one that is destined for failure.

Nairalanda1
This is why I always tell you that taxation must be focused on the rich.

5 percent of the population is about 10 million people.

500 thousand naira is about $300.

How much do you think you can get from 190 million people who have less than $300 saved in their accounts?

Our GDP is about $450 billion. There is money in Nigeria.

nairalanda1:


Ways and means we're one of the ways subsidy was funded under bubu

See the article here https://guardian.ng/sunday-magazine/newsfeature/reflections-on-fuel-subsidy-regime/

Very informative. Ways and means makes an appearance in one of the paragraphs

Note that I don't deny government printed money. It's one of the ways they messed up our economy, but it is not the major route they paid for subsidy.

I don't appreciate being called a liar by the way.

Sorry for my rude comment.

My main point is that the government is lying to Nigerians by claiming that the devaluation of the naira is as a result of the money printed by the CBN. If Nigeria’s economy wasn’t already terrible before COVID, the money printed would have had no effect on the value of the naira.

Chummynoni:
23trillion? That is huge.

huge is relative. In terms of our GDP only 10 percent was printed. The UK printed out 20% of its GDP in response to COVID-19 yet the pound isn’t falling against the naira. The US printed out 22% of its GDP and the dollar isn’t falling against the naira.

All countries printed out money in response to the global shutdown. There was no movement so countries were not buying crude oil. Nigeria needed to pay its civil servants to ensure that money trickled down to everyone else. That money had to be printed and nations all across the world took similar actions. Why Nigerians are suffering is because Tinubu has refused to raise the minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage will cause the further devaluation of the Naira. This is a necessary evil to reduce the pain of the nation. Tinubu needs to raise taxes on the rich and reduce government spending. He is not interested in doing this as it will affect the elite. Tinubu prefers to punish the masses for the sins of the elite. TINUBU IS THE MOST WICKED PRESIDENT NIGERIA HAS EVER HAD.

nairalanda1:
FYI that's one of the ways government over the years funded subsides

Stop lying!

Nigeria printed out about 10 per cent [/b]of its GDP, and the [b]UK printed out 30 per cent [/b]of its GDP. The [b]United States printed out about 22 per cent of its GDP.

All this money was printed because of the COVID-19 global shutdown. no one was buying crude oil and the price of crude fell to $-38 for a few hours. Nigeria had to print money like every other nation on earth. the government is looking for a scapegoat and is starting to sound foolish.

nairalanda1:


Yep, all true, but as you can see, the fact that debt is eating up our income is also what is causing exchange rate and inflation issues.

I blame this, as I have said here many times, on failure to diversify. And getting back to diversification is going to take a long time, so we are stuck here for now. (And this government is not doing anything about it).

We are not the masters of our destiny anymore...and it is due to overdependence on oil

The debt is not what is making the naira lose its value. Tinubu could have actually borrowed more money to defend the naira. He chose not to and his decision is what has crippled the naira. He had a false belief that Buhari’s policies chased away foreign investors. The truth is that the collapse in oil prices in 2014 was what made foreign capital to flee from Nigeria.

Nigeria has one of the lowest debt to GDPs on earth. Our problem is with government revenues since Nigeria runs a rentier economy. The government needs to tax the people it has made insanely rich.

Ps
COVID 19 made almost every country on earth to print money to keep their economies moving. When countries take coordinated actions such as this, currency fluctuations do not happen, since currencies are relative to each other.

The government should increase taxes on the very rich to improve its debt to revenue. Our tax to gdp is abysmally low and Nigeria is a very unequal country.

nairalanda1:


For now, the problem is that we cannot even afford subsidy or the bloated national assembly or presidency budgets.

Our debt servicing was at May 29 , 2023 eating up 90 percent or more of our revenue. Part of that was due to subsidies.

At some point, we have to accept we have been living a fake life, and we don't have the money again for goodies...unless we either raise tax to gdp or pray that oil rises to 140 dollars per barrel...which is not going to happen.

We are in a bad state. Yes, APC caused it, because when oil prices were low, they did not diversify, but borrowed and borrowed, until they could borrow no more.

Even if you increase the price of fuel, you still have to deal with the exchange rate, inflation, insecurity, education for our youth, increase exports and decrease imports. These are the bigger issues.

If the government only increases the price of fuel and doesn’t start working on other issues, the price of fuel will still rise again and there will be a need to further increase prices

You truly need to stop focusing on subsidies as this is not what is crippling Nigeria. You have had a lot of conversations with different nairaland members. It should be obvious to you that our exchange rate is the main issue. I explained to you that the average price of a gallon of fuel in the United States is the same today as it was in 2006. The price of fuel only went down and then returned back to its historic highs. I have also explained to you that the spending of the excess crude account savings expanding the economy and created the need for outsized budgets. This is the main culprit of our issues. Other oil mono economies are not suffering what Nigeria is going through because the saved their money and did not over expand their economies. Growth needs to be gradual and sustainable.

Your focus should be on increasing exports, reducing imports, reducing inequalities and educating the future generations of Nigerians. Any other discussion would not lead to any productive conversation or outcome.

nairalanda1:
As it says in the title

(Note...this is a message not all would like. If you quote me to call me stupid, a slowpoke, a cornfused fellow, or any other form of abuse, it would be reported to the moderators. I did not abuse you, so show some courtesy. It does not mean you cannot disagree with me, just be polite about it. And I will be polite).

So..

As many have said here, we should cut the jumbo salaries of politicans. They won't get any argument from me, because I myself think so too. Our politicans are paid too much money, and often times collect too much money and too many new cars for nothing.

Meanwhile we are a poor nation, a broke nation, with most of our income going to debt service, after years of APC misrule. Basically, APC, instead of diversifying the economy and raising tax to gdp in response to oil price being too low....borrowed and borrowed to pay for everyhting. I also still have not forgiven THEM for opposing GEJ's subsidy removal...note that I did not and have never supported PDP...but that subsidy removal of 2012 was our last chance, and we blew it thanks to mass mobilization.



But, if we cut salaries could we pay for subsides with the money


1. Let's look at expenses for 2022

National Assembly budget : 134 billion naira

Villa, the villa at Aso ROck : 40.2 billion

Consitutency projects :100 billion

And now fuel subsidy money for 2022....4 trillion naira. or 10 billion dollars.

Now if we add up all the budgets for NA, Aso rock villa and constituencies...we get 274 billion naira, which does not even come up to one quarter of what Nigeria spent on subsidy in 2022.

2. Let's look at 2023

NA Budget 228 billion naira
VIlla budget : 21.1 billion naira
Constituency projects: 10 billion (est).
New cars : 76 Billion naira

Subsidy costs for 2023: 3.4 trillion to June 2023

How many people benefit from the National Assembly budget versus the number of people that benefit from the subsidy. Oil profits is for all Nigerians and not a select few.

If the CBN (ways and means) does not purchase any bonds, we will be safe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSYwQrH6kjA?si=9gmrsnKDabCr1Uao




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLsV8eD-DfM?si=vYclHX-2Gao7sKOc

Confusion everywhere!!!

nairalanda1:


No. I won't. You will.mock me and try to annoy me.

And i am too old for that kind of thing.



Good afternoon.

I will never mock you and I apologize for ever mocking you. Please, as a Nigerian who loves his country, cover the Obasanjo tenure in your analysis. It will go a long way in adding value to all of us on Nairaland.

nairalanda1:


It is because you are only interested in calling me an apc supporter instead of discussing with me, that i do not want to answer you.

And even now you were abusive in your first sentence.

I don't discuss with people who want to mock me. It's not productive

Good afternoon

Just try to be fair and balanced that’s all I am requesting. Focus on Obasanjo’s tenure too

nairalanda1:


You can find that out.

If you’re not a paid propagandist and are actually trying to educate and improve Nigeria, you’ll be fair and balanced with your analysis. You always focus on failures making them the standard when we have evidence of success in Obasanjo. The only period in Nigeria’s democracy that the population got wealthier was during Obasanjo’s presidency, even though he earned far less than others who came after him.

nairalanda1:


Want to know something even bad...

IN 2012, oil breakeven was 122 dollars per barrel.

That was why GEJ took loans even then, because the income was not enough from oil, even when 'oil was high'.

The point I am making is simple. We need oil at very high prices to pay for all our needs...that is where my comment below comes in

But the question is, what price do we need it at.




THe bolded refers to our fiscal breakeven for those years. That plus the 122 dollars breakeven price at 2012.

The other prices show that oil was low

What I am saying is simple. Oil has never been as high as we wanted it, even during the good old days of GEJ and Yaradua. The only time we had oil favour us was in 2008, when oil was at 145 dollars per barrel...way above any breakeven.

Now, APC Knew that, but preferred to take loans to cover the difference between our fiscal breakeven and actual oil prices, which could be as wide as 100 dollars....at times in 2016, and 2020-1. That is why we are in debt...and why right now 90% of our income goes to debt coverage.


Read my comment again. I am showing you how APC Has failed, you don't see it.

Please, make Obasanjo’s tenure the focus of your analysis. GEJ was incompetent and corrupt. Buhari was old and incompetent and Tinubu is old, incompetent and corrupt, so tell us how Obasanjo was able to manage Nigeria’s economy.

Jamestown123:
You dey talk like mumu. Talking like you know everything. Calling people stupid because you think you knows what you are talking about, but alas, you are the stupid one here. Vietnam dong for instance, is useless, 1 dollar is 24,500 dong. But still, Vietnam is 64% cheaper than the united states. You think is because of exchange rate things are getting harder and harder? Well that's because that is what they want you to believe. I won't argue more with you, because it might seems like a waste.

What matters most to all countries is standard of living and not just exchange rate. The basic calculation for standard of living is gdp per capita (ppp) but this doesn’t reflect inequalities.

Countries like South Korea and Vietnam have gdp per capitals of $34,997.78 and $13,461, whereas Nigeria’s is $4,963.16.
What this implies is that the average Vietnamese is 2.7, and the average South Korean is 7.05 richer than the average Nigerian.