₦airaland Forum

I am not sure what Wole Soyinka is saying here. I don't think he understands the legal implications of what was proposed unless he's talking of something different. Re the brouhaha over Yerima, I made the following post at the time:

I may have missed something here: S29(4) of the 1999 Nigerian constitution provides that for the purpose of renouncing citizenship, a woman who's married may be deemed to be of full age. This provision has been in force since the enactment of the '99 constitution and was not recently introduced.

What Yerima opposed was a proposal to delete the provision. The deletion attempt having failed, we are restored to the status quo. Nothing has changed so why the hysteria? I may be mistaken but Nigeria has marriage laws that prescribe the age for which one can get married. One has to be legally married, including meeting the statutory marital age, before S29(4) can be invoked. If there is no statutory marital age, the National Assembly can still pass one by a simple majority,the Yerima rejectionists are obviously outnumbered on this issue. Am I missing something here?

https://www.nairaland.com/1365250/senators-voted-legalise-underage-marriage/10#16907448

The more recent bill proposed by Ms Anyanwu increased the punishment applicable to having sex with a girl below 11. It didn't say that one can have sex with a girl above that age. There's a lot of falsehoods that seem to fly around in Nigeria and which poisons debate. Sadly, even the highly educated and accomplished are not immune to the sensationalism.

Another point I thought needs to be raised is that this idea that Buhari could not nominate ministers because of delayed handover notes is illogical. There is simply no reason why you have to wait for the GEJ administration's report before you can decide who your ministers or SGF should be. I have heard some bizarre pro-Government propaganda in my lifetime but this one is up there in the echelons of the most inane.

More to the point, is Buhari's perceived slowness down to GEJ or simply his way of working? Here is the New York Times in January 1984:

By CLIFFORD D. MAY
Published: January 19, 1984

LAGOS, Nigeria, Jan. 18— Nigeria's new leader, Maj. Gen. Mohammed Buhari, swore in the members of his Cabinet today, warning them that the ruling Supreme Military Council ''will keep a keen and watchful eye on your performance, your style of life and general public conduct while in office.''

He said the new administration, which came to power after the overthrow of the civilian Government of President Shehu Shagari on Dec. 31, ''will not tolerate fraud, indiscipline, corruption, squandermania, misuse and abuse of public office for self or group aggrandizement and other vices which characterize the civilian administration of the past four years.''

Of the 18 ministers named, only 7 are career military men. The proportion surprised some Western diplomats here but essentially accorded with statements by Mr. Buhari in an interview on Tuesday in which he said ''only a small number'' of military officers would be named to top political posts.

Apparently responding to criticism in the Nigerian press over the pace of decision-making under the new military regime, Mr. Buhari said that ''the appointment of ministers has taken us some time because we had to undertake a deep search for competent Nigerians of proven integrity, a high sense of discipline, public probity and transparent honesty.''

http://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/19/world/cabinet-in-nigeria-installed-with-a-warning.html

Is it silly to expect Buhari to nominate a cabinet more than 2 weeks after his inauguration? His supporters seem to think so and suggest that any idea that Buhari should have nominated a cabinet is unreasonable. But here is Buhari a few weeks ago at an event in which he was represented by Dr Fayemi:

3. A cabinet will be announced very quickly, within one week of inauguration; anyone with a whiff of corruption or other tainting will not be on the cabinet; GMB’s body language will reflect zero tolerance for corruption.

http://newsheadline.com.ng/blog/2015/04/15/summary-of-buharis-policies-as-outlined-by-dr-kayode-fayemi-director-of-policies-for-apc-while-representing-gen-buhari-at-lbs-breakfast-meeting/

See same here:http://dailypost.ng/2015/04/15/buhari-to-announce-his-ministers-one-week-after-may-29-inauguration/

This is excellent and goes a long way towards sustaining the new regime's credibility. There is no political advantage in protecting Sylva anyway.

Rawani:
These acts of desperation will not save the rabble-rousers. It's quite clear the Presidency is backing Gbaja, and it would be a poor observation of the federal character principle if Lawan emerges as Senate President, and the office of the speaker also goes to the North.

Gbaja it is.

Are you implying that the "federal character principle" cannot be observed without the appointment of a crook as speaker? Do you guys actually have any shame left in that country?

When Nigerians are described as a people of Olympian dishonesty, we get defensive. This is a country where Kashamu got elected to the Senate, one of the top contenders for Senate president, Saraki, has a corruption case hanging around his neck and our next Speaker is a man suspended from legal practice because of ethical violations.

In other words, our chief lawmakers are reprobates who would be far removed from the public eye in more civilised settings. No doubt, you will find lots of willing defenders of these rogues including the self-declared "change" agents.

Jorussia:
my brother, don't be myopic and chauvinistic, the success or failure of this administration will affect you.I urge you to stop wishing this administration failure,because you are a Nigerian first,before being a PDP/GEJ supporter.

You are a schmuck. I am neither a GEJ nor a PDP supporter. I regard GEJ/PMB and APC/PDP as 2 sides of the same coin. The success of PMB is not dependent on overlooking glaring failures to meet promises only made weeks ago.

Why not address the specific merits of the issue at hand? Buhari via his representative made unsolicited promises to appoint a cabinet within a week of inauguration. He has failed to do so and yet when the failure to abide by the promise is raised, Buhari fanboys, forgetting that the promise was ever made, claim that any suggestion that Buhari ought to nominate ministers already is completely unreasonable. It is this sort of blind loyalty and defence of the indefensible that makes you Buhari fanboys indistinguishable from GEJ's supporters.

Jorussia:
Thank God that it was fayemi and not pmb who said that ministers will be announced after one week of inauguration. Is fayemi now our president?

The article says clearly that Dr Fayemi was there to represent Buhari. If Dr Fayemi misrepresented Buhari's views, why didn't Buhari disavow the promises made in that speech? You people are not ashamed of your attempts to distort reality.

Jorussia:
Appoint ministers to be screened by the 8th senate that has been inaugurated inside your parlour abi?My guy just be reasonable abeg

This is what I find hilarious about Nigerians. The sheer brazenness with which reality is distorted and logic is contorted. Think of it, according to this popular post, it had received at least 92 likes by the time of my post, it is utterly unreasonable to expect Buhari to nominate ministers as the Senate has not been inaugurated. But here is Buhari speaking only a few weeks ago, through Dr Fayemi who is on this trip:

3. A cabinet will be announced very quickly, within one week of inauguration; anyone with a whiff of corruption or other tainting will not be on the cabinet; GMB’s body language will reflect zero tolerance for corruption.

http://newsheadline.com.ng/blog/2015/04/15/summary-of-buharis-policies-as-outlined-by-dr-kayode-fayemi-director-of-policies-for-apc-while-representing-gen-buhari-at-lbs-breakfast-meeting/

See same here:http://dailypost.ng/2015/04/15/buhari-to-announce-his-ministers-one-week-after-may-29-inauguration/

So just like that, expecting Buhari to do what he promised only a few weeks ago is the height of unreasonableness.

I see this trope of the irrationality of expecting ministers to be nominated within one week of Buhari's inauguration being deployed to explain away the lack of ministerial nominees. But this only illustrates that Nigerian political discourse matches the stereotype of Nigerians as a shamelessly mendacious people. It was only a few weeks ago that Buhari was represented at an event by Dr Kayode Fayemi where the following was said:

3. A cabinet will be announced very quickly, within one week of inauguration; anyone with a whiff of corruption or other tainting will not be on the cabinet; GMB’s body language will reflect zero tolerance for corruption.

http://newsheadline.com.ng/blog/2015/04/15/summary-of-buharis-policies-as-outlined-by-dr-kayode-fayemi-director-of-policies-for-apc-while-representing-gen-buhari-at-lbs-breakfast-meeting/

See same here:http://dailypost.ng/2015/04/15/buhari-to-announce-his-ministers-one-week-after-may-29-inauguration/

The bill does not permit sex with a 12 year old. It simply increases the punishment for rapists who violate girls under a certain age. Sex with a 12 year old is still a crime. When white people call us black people stup.id, we get angry but the comprehension skills exhibited amongst Nigerians leave one wondering whether there is some truth to it.

otipoju:
As to appointment of Ministers and advisers and new service chiefs?

Is there not a due process that has to be followed? The last I checked , those he intends to appoint have to be screened by the senate who have not yet convened their inaugural sitting. So do you expect Buhari to put the cart before the horse?

He has his list and in order not to heat up the polity or be unduly influenced, he has kept it close to his chest and will present it when the NEW senate sits.

You make it sound as if the nomination of ministers requires the National Assembly to convene and is inconceivable more than one week after Buhari's inauguration. Here is Dr Kayode Fayemi speaking just a few weeks ago:

3. A cabinet will be announced very quickly, within one week of inauguration; anyone with a whiff of corruption or other tainting will not be on the cabinet; GMB’s body language will reflect zero tolerance for corruption.

http://newsheadline.com.ng/blog/2015/04/15/summary-of-buharis-policies-as-outlined-by-dr-kayode-fayemi-director-of-policies-for-apc-while-representing-gen-buhari-at-lbs-breakfast-meeting/

See same here: http://dailypost.ng/2015/04/15/buhari-to-announce-his-ministers-one-week-after-may-29-inauguration/

The marketers behaviour is normal reaction to uncertainty. Without any clarity as to whether fuel subsidy will be paid in future, it makes sense to wait and see.

omonnakoda:
You have not backed up your opinion with evidence. It all depends on the terms of the loan. Like I pointed out with figures over the last 4 years and indeed longer exchange rates have been stable and we re borrowing at 13% now if you get a dollar denominated loan whether or not it is cheaper depends on ; the interest rate,your dollar revenue and or the performance of the dollar. It is not an absolute given as you are trying to suggest. Certainly taking the last 10 years or so for reference. Borrowing 91 day paper at 13% in naira is a lot more expensive than World Bank loans in dollars at under 5%
As a matter of fact there was a period in 2006-2008 when the dollar headed south 1

It is not true that a fall in exchange rate works in your favour you will simply have to pay more to borrow locally as is ALREADY HAPPENING. Those who lend to the government are not stupid.They employ very smart actuaries to work for them.

Which of my opinions is unsubstantiated: that inflation erodes the value of Nigerian Naira debt? That Naira depreciation works in our favour as revenue is denominated in dollars? Take the latter, you keep saying that exchange rate depreciation will bring about higher bond yields, that is not necessarily true. 10-year FGN bonds issued in February 2012 had a yield at issue of circa 16%

A new 10-year bond with a volume N35 billion was issued at an interest rate of 16.39 per cent.

http://www.africainvestor.com/article.asp?id=9941.In May 2015 when we have all adopted an apocalyptic tone and Naira has fallen significantly, certainly by comparison to February 2012:

The 10-year bond fetched a yield of 13.48 percent against 14.22 percent last month

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/14/nigeria-treasuries-bonds-idUSL5N0Y51WO20150514

What is assumed away in your posts is that the relatively lower yields associated with foreign loans would have remained the same if we had sourced more of our loans from abroad. The reality is that the higher our external debt stock, the more likely yields will go up. This simplistic and static comparison of foreign yields to domestic yields is what led us to stock up on foreign debt in the 70s and 80s culminating in SAP when we couldn't pay it back because of the collapse in oil revenue. This paper points it out succintly:

For instance, Nigeria’s external debt in 1960 was about $150 million; however, beginning in the year 1978, the situation changed. Nigeria, atthe lure of the international financial centers, started to borrow huge sums from privatesources at floating rates and with shorter-term maturities. The 1978 “jumbo loan” alone wasestimated at some US $1 billion. By 1982, the value of Nigeria’s external indebtedness wasUS $18.631 billion, which represented over 160% of Nigeria’s gross domestic product(GDP) for that year. The situation precipitated a debt-crisis that progressively worsened over time. By 1986, Nigeria had to adopt a World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF)sponsored Structural Adjustment Program (SAP), with a view to revamping the economy andmaking the country better-able to service her debt

http://www.academia.edu/3178377/THE_IMPACT_OF_EXTERNAL_DEBT_ON_ECONOMIC_GROWTH_A_COMPARATIVE_STUDY_OF_NIGERIA_AND_SOUTH_AFRICA

Another thing I have noticed is that your argument presupposes that nothing changes from May 29. This is not what we have been told as we have been led to believe that GEJ is stealing all our money, including $20bn in an 18 month period. If theft is on the scale of what has been alleged, surely Nigeria's future borrowing needs will decline significantly from May 29 and with it our debt burden, including future bond yields. No be so?

omonnakoda:
Firstly what is the cost of borrowing domestically? well over 13% so it is not cheap and the market will demand higher rates as exchange rates crash

Secondly the government is wholly inefficient at extracting revenues locally and so the main way of servicing local debts is from oil revenues earned in dollars and then monetized to local currency. Since this is 90% then we can say 90% of local debt is effectively serviced with dollar revenues

Interest rates were stable around 13% for the last 4 years but with the exchange rate crash will rise steadily

Servicing local debt does not stop and is more expensive than the international one so any benefit is illusory. Imagine paying 13% of $40 billion annually just to SERVICE local debt while the principal remains unchanged

I agree it's not cheap but the position would be even worse had we, as the National Assembly suggested to NOI, taken on more external debt. Naira would have depreciated quicker due to the burden of servicing dollar denominated debts.

A fall in exchange rates works in our favour as I have already pointed out as our revenue is mainly dollar denominated. Further, a fall in exchange rates which translates to higher domestic inflation inflates away the real value of Naira denominated debt. At 9% annual inflation, a 100 billion Naira 10 year bond would be, if my maths is correct, 42 billion Naira in real terms when the principal is due in 10 years time

I completely disagree with your suggestion that borrowing in a foreign currency would be more serviceable than borrowing in Naira. You will be hard pressed to find examples of a sovereign issuer in its own currency that has had a crisis arising from its debt. We just barely escaped our external debt burden in the mid-2000s after having to endure SAP in the 80s because of it. We need to learn from our history.

PassingShot:
I do not have much problem with high domestic debts even though it shouldn't be a thing of joy as it is a reflection of bad economic management. $9.7 billion dollars in external loan also should not be a huge source of concern ONLY if such money was used for infrastructural development. Again we have to look at the amount we spend in servicing these debts year in year out.

Funny enough, the example you gave in your 2013 post is not lending credence to your postulation that huge debt is not bad especially when one considers the fact that the exchange rate of naira to dollar has not been favourable; which means an increase in what we need to service the debts as well as in the debt value itself.

I agree with you that debt, whether domestic or external, only makes sense if it is used for infrastructural development. What I was alluding to when stating that huge domestic debt is not as bad as people make out is that Naira denominated debt is easier to manage than dollar/Euro denominated debt.

Most of our debt is denominated in Naira, currency depreciation works in our favour! If you borrow in 2013 160bn Naira, at exchange rates of $1 to 160 Naira, you would need $1bn to pay off the nominal principal. When the currency depreciates to 200 Naira to $1, you need $800m. Remember that much of our revenue is dollar denominated oil revenue. If the debt is denominated in dollar, the reverse would be the case. Which is what I was arguing in that 2013 thread where the National Assembly had asked NOI why our borrowing was largely domestic and not external. Again, NOI has been vindicated.

This is not to argue that Naira denominated debt is okay but that if you have to borrow at all, you better borrow in your own currency than in someonelse's currency. Yes, our domestic debt is disgraceful given what it was used for but it is no where as bad as people are making it out to be.

PassingShot:
I indicated I might be wrong on the debt left by OBJ. Besides, what OBJ left as external debt is "negligible" compared to what we have accumulated despite unprecedented earnings from oil during GEJ's regime.



I meant to refer to what OBJ left as foreign reserves and not ECA. Apologies for that.

This article may interest you. http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/my-sojourn-into-the-excess-crude-account/140508/

External debt has gone up from circa $3.5bn to circa $9.5bn of which circa $3bn is attributable to state governments. I don't think $9bn of external debt is anything but negligible.

I note your comment re OBJ and foreign reserves/ECA. Just as an aside, I am one of those who thinks that OBJ, at least in the 2nd term, was the best President we ever had. Or put another way, he is the least bad of all the atrocious presidents we have had including the incoming Buhari. Having said that, you can't deny that NOI was central to getting that external debt reduction deal done.

GEJ and Yar'Adua because both were weak and needed to hold on to power submitted to Governors' wishes to dip into the ECA and gave civil servants and other public sector workers jumbo pay rises. It is for that reason that we have had high recurrent expenditure and states/FGN are struggling to pay workers now that oil prices have collapsed.

kjhova:
Actually OBJ did clear much of our $36B external debt in his time but didn't do much on the domestic front. He also built our external reserves up above the $40B mark which led to improved ratings for the country by international agencies. He did his best & it was good for us.

GEJ & NOI have worsened our domestic debt which have left many government contractors broke & moribund. The external debt has also increased marginally in their time leading to our reduced ratings. However NOI still does what she does best, spewing stats at us to confuse us!

Debt to GDP ratio of 1.5% sounds good until you figure out dat your debt is real while yur GDP is only statistical work. For example, Nigeria's GDP grew over double to $500B in one night just by MOF rebasing of the calculation!! Debt to revenue ratio of 22% is atrocious for a country bedevilled with poor infrastructure, high recurrent expenditure, endemic corruption & opaque financials!

How did this people get their PHDs?? My God!!

You can always tell when someone is being tendentious by the inconsistency resulting from their attempt to contort logic. You note that OBJ reduced our external debt, who was the Finance Minister who negotiated that debt reduction? Oddly, the Finance Minister is not credited for the reduction of external debt but is of course to blame for its, and the domestic debt's, increase.

I will make a point I made in December 2013 (I just looked through my post history, surprisingly it was made to PassingShot!). High domestic debt is not good but it is hardly as damaging as people think. This is because the debt is denominated in Naira, which the Govt of Nigeria produces. This is distinct from external debt which gets worse with exchange rate depreciation. Here is an extract from my December 2013 post:

The pitfalls of external debts should be obvious. It was external debt that birthed SAP and culminated in the erosion of living standards in the 80s which is unprecedented in the country's history. The main problem with external debt is the exchange rate risk as follows:

Supposing you borrow $10bn in 2007, assuming an exchange rate of N100 to $1, giving a debt of N1 trillion when converted to Naira. If exchange rates move against you, say it now takes N160 to buy $1, you suddenly have a debt of 1.6 trillion Naira. Many underestimate how exchange rates can deteriorate quickly. In the 70s to the 80s and I stand to be corrected, we went from 60 Kobo to $1 to in excess 2 Naira to $1 pretty rapidly, that would amount to a multiplication of the debt burden by more than a factor of 3. The funny thing is that the bigger your external debt burden, the quicker the deterioration in exchange rates because money has to leave the country to service the debt. Imagine what that does to the inflation rate and the living standards of Nigerians as much of what we consume is imported. High inflation brings about high interest rates which dampens the supply of credit to the private sector. The negative spiral is relentless and we have witnessed it before.

https://www.nairaland.com/1563336/must-read-reps-50-questions/2#20372749

PassingShot:
Liar!

As at the time OBJ was leaving office, Nigeria didn't have external debts (I stand to be corrected if wrong) and Yar'Adua left over $40 billion in ECA which sadly is now $2 billion.

NOI is the next worst thing to befall Nigeria after GEJ.

Make una take am easy with the mendacity You have made 2 claims of fact, neither of which is correct and both of which you could have ascertained for yourself:

1) OBJ left no external debt -

Following the successful Paris Club debt deal and the exit from the London Club debts, the external debt stock dropped to US$3,544.49 million in 2006 from US$35.94 billion in 2004 and stood at $3,654.21 as at December 31, 2007

See page 5 of source here:[url]http://www.dmo.gov.ng/recent/NATIONAL%20DEBT%20MANAGEMENT%20FRAMEWORK%20%282008-2012%29.pdf[/url]

2) Yar'Adua left over $40bn in the ECA -

At the inception of his government, President Jonathan Goodluck inherited about $7 billion in the Excess Crude Account. The excess crude account stood at over $20 billion when Yar'Adua took over in 2007 but his administration regularly dipped into the account. Relatively high oil price meant the money in the ECA remained at $20.1 billion at the end of 2008. The account has a balance of $20 billion as at January 2009. By December 2009, Former President Umaru Yar’adua had reduced the Account to $7.8 billion.

http://www.elombah.com/index.php/articles/daniel-elombah/3918-now-that-president-jonathan-has-decimated-the-excess-crude-account-v15-3918

Both GEJ and Yar'Adua are to blame for the deterioration of our financial position because of their public sector wage increases. In the internet age, there is no excuse for such a blatant disregard of facts.

texazzpete:
Can you point out where I claimed NOI was 'useless'? Or even commented about her Yale award?

Since when did insisting she takes responsibility for some bad choices in her tenure become an absolute statement that she' s 'useless'?

Don't be disingenous. Your first contribution to this thread was to categorise her as a fiend. A fiend is a demonic or evil person. It would follow that if she belongs to a category of monstrous evildoers, that she's useless. Or do you use words carelessly without any actual regard for the real meaning?

Yale is giving okonjo iweala an honorary doctorate. Sanusi won awards where he was ranked against other central bank governors. Stop pretending you don't know which of the two is more indicative of relative performance.

This is absolute drivel. She was awarded an honorary doctorate by a prestigious institution for, inter alia, the performance of her role as a minister. I presume you have read the citation. If she receives accolades for her work as a minster a la Sanusi, you cannot logically be scurrilous of her performance whilst praising Sanusi to high heavens given your use of foreign accolade as a decisive metric.

Sanusi's banker of the year award places him in the same category as Soludo who I am sure you hold in high regard:

The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Charles Soludo, has been named the African and Global Central Bank Governor of the Year 2005 by 'The Banker' magazine. The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Charles Soludo, has been named the African and Global Central Bank Governor of the Year 2005 by 'The Banker' magazine.

http://www.centralbanking.com/central-banking/news/1420998/nigeria-soludo-central-banker

texazzpete:
Sanusi that has been honored everywhere for his work as CBN Governor?

This is how Nigerians contradict themselves. Sanusi's success as CBN Governor can be judged by the accolades he's received from abroad, but NOI who has received accolades too(Yale is arguably more prestigious than the Banker magazine) is useless.

notoriousbabe:
OBASANJO & YAR'ADUA LEFT NO DEBT FOR NIGERIA BUT RATHER LEFT HUGE SUMS OF MONEY AS NATIONAL RESERVE FOR NIGERIA.
JONATHAN (WHO IS NIGERIA'S GREATEST MISTAKE) BECAME PRESIDENT ON MAY 2010 AND BY MAY 2015, IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT JONATHAN HAS INCURRED A DEBT OF $60 BILLION U.S DOLLARS FOR NIGERIA.

You need to take it easy with the rank dishonesty

As at 31st December 2007, Nigeria’s total public debt stood at US$22,229.88 million (Figure 4.1)
which indicates an increase from US$17,349.69 million in 2006

[url]http://www.dmo.gov.ng/recent/NATIONAL%20DEBT%20MANAGEMENT%20FRAMEWORK%20%282008-2012%29.pdf[/url] Please check out page 16 of the PDF link

socialmediaman:
I

Ok apologies i was quoted out of context, that wasn't my intention. My purpose was to highlight that as an economic expert of the government, there are 2 ways to criticize government's decision, one is by proposing an alternative solution, the second is by outright criticism. For instance, government's recurrent gulps most of the state's budget, but the government wouldnt find it easy to relieve people of their jobs without a solution for them out there, but as the economic coodinator, you should be able to come up with a solution, let's say, how about relieving these people while using the money saved to loan them to set up business on their own... Just an instance, I'm actually trying to find out whose fault was that of recurrent expenditure budget, if it's not hers then it must be the president's and also other chief economic players like ex-CBN governor

The recurrent expenditure is largely made up of personnel costs (wages/pensions). Nigeria's political reality means that announcing to public sector workers that you are going to cut their salaries or sack a third of them for instance is political suicide. I take issues with NOI's decision to serve in an administration led by an inept President. It was GEJ that ramped up public sector wages to bribe the electorate in the run up to the 2011 presidential elections:

The extension of the jumbo increase to other public servants as opposed to the core civil servants, THISDAY learnt, has shot the entire wage bill to N267. 4 billion.

President Jonathan had on May 1, 2010 promised to implement a new salary package for workers.
The new wage bill, which is said to be effective from July 1, 2010, shows an increase of N233,034,129,947 or 777 percentage increase from the present N34,388,156,375, which the Federal Government spends on core civil servants annually.
The wage bill is contained in a letter sent to the Minister of Finance Olusegun Aganga and Head of Service Steve Oronsaye by President Jonathan.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/jonathan-extends-pay-rise-to-military-police/83428/

Once wages are set, it's politically impossible to reduce them. In a slightly different context, economists call this the sticky wage theory http://uneasymoney.com/2014/02/06/why-are-wages-sticky/. The other alternative is to sack workers but can NOI sack workers in ministries other than the Finance Ministry and was that politically possible? I don't think that was a viable option.

If you offer to cut a person's job in return for a loan, how many people would trade the certainty of a salary for the uncertainty of a business venture funded by money that they will have to repay? The loan has to be large enough to compensate for the risk of business failure. Given that the vast majority of businesses fail, most loans won't be repaid so Nigeria would incur huge fiscal costs which defeats the purpose of relieving the workers of their jobs in the first place.

socialmediaman:
The write up didn't claim she wanted to deplete the excess crude account, remember the previous government before GEJ's established the account to be more project based than shared between states, but on pressure from states, the government decided to share it, that was seen a decision error coming from an expert. In business, you cannot claim to have made success when your decisions didn't result in success.

You made a specific claim that she shared the excess revenues against advice but that claim is misleading and disingenous because it conveys the impression that she wanted the account depleted. No one railed repeatedly against depleting the account more than she did so the depletion of the account, contrary to her advice, hardly counts against her. She didn't decide to deplete the account, she was compelled to as you cannot maintain the account without the support of the Governors and the President. If we had done what she advocated, we won't be in this position.

I agree most of the criticism of NOI is exaggerated and stems from, depending on the critic, economic illiteracy and ethnic animus. She is, however, guilty by association in the sense that by being a principal player in a corrupt and inept Government, she cannot simply wash her hands off some of the Government's failings. I think she operates under a misguided sense of patriotism nut Nigeria is no place for patriotism.

socialmediaman:
I think the above highlighted is where she gets most of her blame from. Most people believe the government has not managed her resources well, the government has continued over 4 years now to run a recurrent expenditure based budget with less than 50% implementation on the average. Organizations like the NPA and Customs fall under her jurisdiction but these organizations have been tainted with high level corruption.
With crude oil above $100 a barrel, almost double the budgeted cap, Nigerians expect to have savings and more foreign reserve. Against the advise of previous government and experts, she shared the excess crude account with the states until 2013 when they last got money from that source, with the revenue which should go into that account unaccounted as at 2015
@sweetguy25

The above criticisms are disingenous as it is belied by reality. Please, when was NOI ever against building up the excess crude account? It's incredibly hilarious to claim that NOI was the one who wanted it depleted whilst others gave her advice to increase it.

ABUJA – Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, yesterday raised alarm over the depletion of the Excess Crude Account, which stands at a mere $ 3.6 billion.

Speaking at the first civil society forum organized by her ministry to acquaint civil society groups with the Jonathan transformational agenda, Okonjo-Iweala also appealed to state governors challenging the constitutionality of the Sovereign Wealth Fund to have a re-think, noting that the Fund is critical to national survival given Nigeria’s mono-economic status.

According to her, the nation could go broke in the next few years if it does not initiate savings from oil proceeds while lamenting that the Excess Crude account which has depleted to $3.6bn cannot sustain the nation in the event of an economic crisis.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/04/okonjo-iweala-raises-alarm-over-depleting-excess-crude-account/#sthash.ZtXi5GPl.dpuf

Should the price of oil drop we have no question. The $3.6bn in the excess crude account is not enough to sustain Nigeria for any period of time. Now that the price of oil is high we should be happy but because the quantity we produce as a country has dropped, we are not selling expected quantities so not much money is coming in. We are selling below budgeted quantities”.

She also disclosed that the Sovereign Wealth Fund which was created from the excess crude account could have been launched with more than $1bn but for stiff opposition from state governors who only sanctioned its creation with a capital of $1bn.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/04/okonjo-iweala-raises-alarm-over-depleting-excess-crude-account/#sthash.ZtXi5GPl.dpuf

She warned Nigerians but Nigerians won't listen.

It's such an imbecilic idea, I thought it was written by a PDP propagandist to discredit Tinubu.

It's funny money printing is being suggested when we have been led to believe that $20bn was stolen in 18 month period. If it is true that such a level of theft is being undertaken, one would think that a change of regime would make this hitherto stolen money available for the Govt. Why is it being suggested we go the Zimbabwe route and print money?

Printing money only makes sense in a deflationary environment. If you artificially increase the supply of Naira, you reduce its value. This devalues the currency and increases inflation.

Just because money printing is going on in the West does not mean Nigeria can cope with money printing.

From Osun Defender's perspective, they generated a lot of hits from a fabricated story. For many white people, these stories reinforce their prejudices of black people and this is why they readily jumped on the story despite its discredited source. Everyone got what they want.

There is nothing in the report about him being the best graduating student in Japan as a whole. Nigerians and exaggeration are twin brothers.

This story made me chuckle. A British man of Nigerian descent refused to go to toilet for 21 days whilst in police custody due to drugs he ingested.

A drug dealer who hid a stash of cocaine up his bottom did not go to the toilet for three weeks in an unusual stand off with police.

David Akande managed to hold out for a staggering 21 days after he was arrested by police who were convinced he had drugs stashed on him when they stopped him in October last year.

Akande, 26, was taken into custody but refused to co-operate with a full body search so officers watched him day in, day out in the hope he would reveal his haul.

Despite showing remarkable perseverance,Kent Police used powers to extend custody well beyond the usual period allowed, and eventually their patience was rewarded when 24 wraps were recovered.

[url]http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/drug-dealer-snubs-toilet-three-5639965 [/url]

If you google "Buhari restaurant" you will see that there are a few in Asia.