₦airaland Forum

Sounds like a pointless law. If you're smart enough to fly through school and start your career early do so. If parents feel their kids are not responsible or ready for college have them take gap year and work job in mean time after highschool.

He further stressed that the current trend of underage high school leavers without any vocational skill had, in part, contributed to high rate of unemployment in the country.

The weak economy is reason and bad policies caused rising unemployment rate. If trade skills are in higher demand encourage students to attend them. Maybe they should be welders, diesel mechanics HVAC techs etc.

“We will work with the National Assembly to ensure that the law is nationally adopted.”

I would oppose this at national level. Let them hold back their kids if it pleases them.

FarahAideed:
Yemi kale has been pressured into dumping that vital stat because it exposes the Buhari govt ..Nigerians are no longer even looking for jobs because they have completely lost hope in the Buhari govt ability to create jobs

That's an interesting graph you have. The only issue using it future is why people are traveling out. Anyway you could also be right about workforce participation rate going down but I dont remember if stat was mentioned. I'll probably add it to requested information if not their already.

helinues:
Same op listed the contacts of the agency incharge.. Why not email or phone them to make the enquiry?

People dont really care for answers and rather complain for catharsis. The best example was how people used to argue blindly about state GDP ranking. People can 5 pages or more but wont send 3 sentence email to NBS who has answer.

Commending the Buhari administration for taking Nigeria to the Next Level, Mr Abe pledged a $300,000 support for Nigeria’s Defence College as well as 12 million Yen for the country’s public health sector.

The good old Japs. It woukd be cool if Nigeria could get illegal fishing under control. It woukd reduce the need for fish imports, reduce prices and spur employment. Funny enough its illegal chinese fishers that cause alot of problems .

grandstar:
The number of gay people is generally about 2-3% of the human population. There was a time when it was reckoned to be 10% but I laugh in Ekiti at that figure

Lol I agree 10% of human population is left handed. Im sure I know more lefties than homosexuals.

madridsta007:
You seemingly are unaware about the absolute Powers of the President in Nigeria's Presidential System of Governance.
Why do you think Buhari has done most of the dictatorial things he has done without going through the NA?

Coming specifically to what you said, the vetting process is a farce yes. Very much so. Even now that the Senate President is Buhari's mobile puppet. Did you watch the screening process, how Mr Lawan shut down Senators who tried to query persons who looked clueless and unfit for ministerial roles?

If it's illegal the nass NASS should restrain him through law or impeach him. Crying Buhari a dictator while literally sitting back and doing nothing is cowardly. The cosigned his stupidity so they're responsible.

The presidential system gives buhari absolute powers interesting. The Senate president isnt s puppet he's just a partisan. He has all the same powers as Saraki had. Nothing has changed.

madridsta007:
You think President Abba Kyari and Buhari are NOT aware?
You lots blaming the process of a thing are the problem. It is not a backgrounds checks problem. It is Buhari and Abba Kyari's decision and the millions of foolish zombies supporting them.

Buhari does NOT care about rules, democracy, decorum, courts, processes, NOTHING. He is an unrefined military man with an unrefined military mindset. When will you lots get this about Emperor Buhari?

Reread first 2 sentences before going on rant. I said the vetting process is a farce. Blaming buhari exclusively and leaving out NASS is dumb. At least if the say no they force him to show his hand. They never got up to reduce powers or threaten impeachment either so they're at fault.

Both Messrs Mukhtar and Obasanjo could not be reached to comment for this story. Their known mobile telephone lines were reported switched off for most of Tuesday and Wednesday morning.

Spokesperson Garba Shehu did not answer or return multiple calls from one of our reporters.

These corrupt old men always switch off phones at convenient times. He should be fired at very least but I do believe he can still be prosecuted. It's doubtful there's an official plea deal. Knowing Buhari he'll just ignore the issue for months on end. Even if he does act this clown will leave country like Maina, Ayodele Oke.

Lol as I said before Nigeria's vetting process is theater. Nobody actually background checks or combs your credentials. Imagine Buhari spent months finding and appointing this fraudster. After getting exposed by Premiums Times multiple times you would think there would be reforms done at SSS but he refuses to learn the lesson. This why the war corruption will end a failure.

General Magashi pleaded for a concession and Mr President left for him $150,000 from the said sum and to remit $400,000 to FGN which he has complied with as evidenced at Annex A, hereby attached,” Mr Mukhtar said.

It's insane how these crooks are allowed to walk free. You caught this clown dead to right but Obasanjo make this idiotic deal. He should be negotiating how he can get single digit jail terms instead of double digits. That would be after he snitches on the team.

As a top army officer holding command position, he abused public trust and was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Realising that he had been boxed into a tight corner, with clear evidence of guilt laid bare before him, the officer sang like a canary as he confessed his thievery of public fund.

Sullen and distraught, he begged authorities, offering to forfeit more than two-thirds of his loot hidden in a secret bank account offshore, those familiar with the matter told PREMIUM TIMES.

He did not want to be prosecuted or publicly humiliated over the matter. His traducers empathised with him, accepted his offer, secretly reprimanded him and allowed him the freedom to enjoy the remainder of his loot in peace.

But that man — Bashir Magashi, a retired army major general — who got away with a slap on the wrist after stealing and shipping abroad not less than $550,000 while in service, has now bounced back, emerging one of the country’s most powerful ministers.

Last Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed him to take charge of the nation’s defence ministry, a government department with the third-highest budgetary spending for 2019 –N159.13 billion.

Mr Magashi, 74, was a former military governor of Sokoto State (1990–1992) and was appointed the commander of the strategic Brigade of Guards in September 1993 ahead of Sani Abacha’s coup in November of that year.

The officer soon became a prominent and trusted member of Mr Abacha’s inner caucus. Members of that administration’s kitchen cabinet were from time to time arbitrarily allowed access to the nation’s coffers. At times, they were illegally allocated crude oil which they sold for hefty amounts of money. Mr Magashi benefitted generously from that arrangement.

After Mr Abacha died in 1998, the officer was appointed commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy, a position he held till 1999 when the new Olusegun Obasanjo administration compulsorily retired all military officers who had served for six or more months in government. Mr Magashi was among those affected by the policy.

Uncovering Mr Magashi’s loot

Shortly after coming to power, the Obasanjo administration rolled out an ambitious anti-corruption programme. Apart from setting up anti-corruption agencies, that government also hired Swiss lawyer, Enrico Monfrini, to help it track and repatriate funds stolen and stashed abroad by Mr Abacha and his collaborators.

PREMIUM TIMES investigation shows that one of the accounts uncovered by Mr Monfrini was a nominee (secret) one held for Mr Magashi at the Jessey, UK, branch of Bank PNP Paribus. The account had $550,000 (about N200million -at N362 to a dollar).

Those familiar with the matter said immediately Mr Obasanjo was briefed by the Swiss lawyer, he directed the then National Security Adviser, Abdullahi Mukhtar, to contact Mr Magashi and other past and serving officials who abused their offices and stashed public funds in foreign banks. They must be compelled to surrender their loots, the then president ordered.

On October 26, 2006, the NSA, via memo NSA/A/225/I/C, updated Mr Obasanjo on the cases of Mr Magashi and four others. “The account (held for Mr Magashi) has a total deposit of $550,000 and it remained intact until it was frozen in 2001,” Mr Mukhtar wrote in his memo.

The then NSA said when confronted, Mr Magashi admitted wrongdoing, saying the money was a proceed of illegal crude oil allocation Mr Abacha made to members of the Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) under his government. The officer was not a registered oil trader at the time. And being a public servant, it was illegal for him to directly engage in private businesses.

President Obasanjo then directed that the entire sum be recovered from the retired general, the then NSA said.

However, “General Magashi pleaded for a concession and Mr President left for him $150,000 from the said sum and to remit $400,000 to FGN which he has complied with as evidenced at Annex A, hereby attached,” Mr Mukhtar said.

Mr Magashi was granted that concession, and no charges were brought against him. It remains unclear why that approach was adopted in handling the matter. Both Messrs Mukhtar and Obasanjo could not be reached to comment for this story. Their known mobile telephone lines were reported switched off for most of Tuesday and Wednesday morning.

The minister declined to comment for this report. He did not respond to multiple calls, text messages, WhatsApp messages and emails requesting his comment.

Is Buhari aware?

It remains unclear Wednesday morning if President Muhammadu Buhari was aware of Mr Magashi’s involvement in the looting of Nigeria during the Abacha regime. Spokesperson Garba Shehu did not answer or return multiple calls from one of our reporters.

But a presidency official, who asked not to be named because he has no permission to grant media interviews, said, “I can tell you that there is no way the president would have ignored that kind of matter to appoint him if he were made aware.”

If true that the president had no knowledge that Mr Magashi once forfeited looted funds, it means the State Security Service, charged with vetting appointees to top government positions, again failed to do its job well.

The SSS had also failed in 2015 to detect that the NYSC certificate presented by former Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, was fake.

It also means that the Nigerian Senate, which holds confirmation hearings for ministerial nominees, did a shoddy job, failing to detect Mr Magashi’s corrupt past.

Source: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/349164-exclusive-this-man-stole-from-nigeria-today-hes-minister-in-buharis-cabinet.html

urahara:
Wallahi , it's just now I'm hearing about DICON.

Their story is a sad one. I have a threads about it.

https://www.nairaland.com/5325642/fg-blames-high-cost-weapons

In the same year, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics estimated that the nation’s housing shortage was about 18 million.

Even if the money was thereinvest I would assume homebuilders would decide to build apartments. Do most young people want to own home or would they rather rent?

urahara:
Why are multiple exchange rates bad ?

It's bad becsuse it causes distortions in the market. People spend money they usually wouldn't in certain areas essentially. The next issue is CBN picks winners and losers in economy instead of letting market decide.

urahara:
Why do you think the ergp failed ?

I'll defer to omohayek on this since he callled it.

It failed because the plan was badly thought out from start. It relied on import substitution and oil price recovery. The government banned certain items making business more expensive to do.

I would also blame monetary policy since inflation and interest rates are high. Not much business can do when money being lent at double digits. I believe the naira overvalued and would be better off floated.

Gentle034:
How do we change this?

The not much that can be done since inflation and interest rates are high. Nobody except the government is dumb enough lend below official inflation rate. If the government can get rates lower that one issue solved. The article mentioned other that I feel are just as important.

There are many factors that are responsible for the housing deficit like the high cost of building materials, high level of poverty, high rate of urbanization, increase in population growth rate, high cost of land and the red tapes involved in land acquisition, among others.

• Most land is untitled and cant be used as collateral. It ends up being dead capital.

• Banks are weary to lend to consumers seeing they cant gauge credit worthiness. Home builders wont invest since it would be risky.

• Im not aware government guarantees for lenders like in USA with FHA loans.

She praised the implementation of the ERGP, describing it as “exemplary” and an amalgamation of the Vision 2020, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and sectoral plans.

It's not mandatory to brown nose. The ERGP has been a failure. Most of the stated goals haven't even been achieved.

The ERGP projected strong GDP growth rate of 4.5% in 2019, a report released this week by NBS shows the economy grew by 2.01% in the first quarter of the year

The ERGP’s bold forecasts are not limited to economic growth as it had also projected Nigeria’s unemployment rate will drop to 12.9% this year. That’s a tall order given, as of the third quarter of 2018, the unemployment rate was nearly double of that figure.

DikeDiMighty:
Nobody has been recorded to be convicted via the same sex prohibition act. That is majorly due to the fact that the act is quite vague in it's applicability.

You cannot under normal circumstances catch gay people having sex, except you forcefully access their domain(which is a crime and hence renders your case useless), neither will gay people announce marriage anywhere in Nigeria. So the law is just there to suppress the LGBT community.

If you are familiar with the "they didn't caught me" character early last year, he was released. People like Bobrisky too cannot be prosecuted based on gay identity alone.

The act is mostly useless. It's pretty unenforceable unless the people in question are trying to get caught. By this logic homosexuals can cohabitate easily. They just can't adapot kids from orphanages. I dont think they could before law was passed anyway.

Nicely done op. I always wondered why bobrisky wasn't in jail. I guess this explains it.

hushpapi:
Have realized so many news on nairaland are fake this is just one of them

I don't post fake news. Cure your ignorance by visiting CBN website to confirm it.

https://www.cbn.gov.ng/IntOps/Reserve.asp?MoveDate=8/27/2019

Lol these record reserves come and go at the drop of a hat. CBN's forex ban on food makes more sense when you assume they're desperate to maintain reserves. Maintaining the naira exchange rate is expensive.

Ps:

Has anyone noticed NBS stop tracking unemployment rate right before the 2019 election. The NBS kept providing other stats like GDP and Inflation stats but this one disappeared. Its been 2 quarters going on 3 so far.

Nigeria’s foreign reserves depleted by $1 billion in August 2019. This is reflected in the data published on the website of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

According to the data obtained from the apex bank’s website, Nigeria’s foreign reserves stood at $45 billion on the 25th of July 2019, while the figure has recorded a decrease and stood at $44 billion as of 23rd August 2019.

A closer look: Nigeria’s foreign reserves crossed the $45 billion thresholds in May 2019. Hence, the reserves had built significantly until the recent free fall.

• The latest drop is the biggest of Nigeria’s foreign reserves in 17 months.

• The last time Nigeria posted exactly $44 billion reserves was March 2018.

• Nairametrics had equally published in its recent articles that the country’s reserves have been falling in recent weeks.

• In May 2019, the external reserves rose by $212.2 million to hit $45 billion markSpecifically, it took Nigeria 8 months to build the external reserves to hit the $45 billion in May 2019.

• On August 7th, a report by Nariametricsestablished the external reserves fell by $327 million in less than four weeks.

The reasons: While this is a major concern for the Nigerian economy, possible factors that must have triggered this big fall include the big drop in oil price, rise in the importation, CBN intervention foreign exchange windows among others.

• For instance, Brent oil price currently hovers around $50 a barrel, as trade tension between the U.S and China intensifies.

• As at the time of filing this report, data from oilprice.com shows that bent crude oil price closed at $58.3 a barrel on Tuesday.

• An earlier report showed that the sharp drop in oil price might threaten the implementation of Nigeria’s 2019 budget that was benchmarked at $60 crude oil per barrel.

• Other factors that may be responsible include the slow down in the capital market and possibly CBN interventions in the Investors and Exporters’ window (I&E).

• Also, the growing external debt may also be frustrating the Federal Government into a financial strain.

• While Nigeria’s debt profile has become worrisome, with the declining oil price, the country’s reserves are the last resort.

Brewing Concerns: The Central Bank moves in recent times suggest that the declining foreign reserves are a major source of concern. Analysts have noted that the CBN would have to respond with policy measures to avert slump in the economy in the face of unfolding trade realities.

• The most recent policies of the CBN to conserve the country’s reserves include the planned Forex restrictions on food importation, milk and other dairy products.

• The major decline in the country’s reserves means the continuous fall in oil prices is already biting very hard and this may put the economy in a bad state.

Source: https://nairametrics.com/2019/08/27/nigerias-foreign-reserves-shed-1-billion-in-one-month/

One of the many problems bedeviling Nigeria is that of the housing shortage. In 2017, the Bureau of Public Service Reform (BPSR) warned that Nigeria was facing a housing deficit crisis as it was estimated that 108 million Nigerians were technically homeless.

According to the Bureau, the 100,000-house built annually has been inadequate to alleviate the housing crisis.

In the same year, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics estimated that the nation’s housing shortage was about 18 million. Since 2017 when the above statistic came to light, nothing seems to have changed.

There are many factors that are responsible for the housing deficit like the high cost of building materials, high level of poverty, high rate of urbanization, increase in population growth rate, high cost of land and the red tapes involved in land acquisition, among others.

Inefficient Housing Finance

Those factors notwithstanding, it appears that the single most troubling factor that may be rendering the housing crisis intractable is that of inefficient housing finance or the lack thereof. The latest information from Bloomberg and other sources have indicated that Nigeria’s mortgage lending rate appears to be the highest in the world. While some countries or banks are paying the customers to come for mortgages, Nigeria’s mortgage rate is heading for the sky.

According to Bloomberg, “A bank in Denmark is paying homebuyers to take out mortgages”.  That bank is Jyske Bank A/S Denmark, which is the third-largest bank in Denmark. The bank announced, early in August, a mortgage rate of negative 0.5%. This means that the bank will pay you 0.5% of the amount you are borrowing if you take out a mortgage with it.

A look at the mortgage lending rates across the world will give Nigerians or whoever is reading this article, a better idea of where Nigeria falls in the mortgage lending rate continuum. Here we go:

France: According to data from the Bank of France, the mortgage lending rate in France was 1.39% in June 2019.

USA: The average rate for a 30-year mortgage in the US is 3.67% while that of a 15-year mortgage is 3.1%, according to Bankrate.com

Germany: In Germany, the comparison website, Interhyp, has it that the lending rate for a 10-year mortgage is between 0.5% and 1%


United Kingdom: According to Statistica, the average mortgage lending rate in the UK for a 10-year mortgage is 2.63%, while a 5- and 2- year mortgages are 1.97% and 1.65% respectively.

Hungary: There is a consensus that mortgage cost is high in Hungary, but it is only 5% for a 10-year mortgage. If that is high, wait till you see Nigeria’s mortgage rate.

Greece: One would have expected that mortgage rates in Greece would be high given its struggle with debts, (sovereign and corporate) in recent years but the average floating rate for mortgages in Greece was just 3.08% in June 2019.

Hong Kong: Even with the effects of the political crisis in Hong Kong, the mortgage lending rate in that country, which inched upwards slightly, was still as low as 2.48%.

Japan: Japan has been at the forefront of keeping mortgage rates low, aimed at making housing affordable. In Japan, a 10-year mortgage is priced at 0.65% and banks like Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank are offering rates as low as 0.53%.

Australia: Although it may not be easy to get a lender that can grant 100% mortgage in Australia, according to Livingin-australia.com, the average mortgage rate in Australia is about 4.8% for a 5-year mortgage going by data from Australia’s four largest banks, (ANZ Bank, CBA, NAB and Westpac).

South Africa: South Africa’s average mortgage rate is about 8%

Nigeria: According to Buylandinlagos.com, the mortgage rate is between 20-27% in Nigeria, if you approach regular banks, but can be as low as 6%, to 9% when borrowing from the National Housing Fund.

With mortgage rates so high in Nigeria, is it any wonder why there is housing deficit in Nigeria? The mortgage rate is about the major consideration when deciding on taking a housing loan.

Research and analysis have it that in almost all countries, housing activities have been spurred whenever mortgage rates are deliberately reduced or reduced as a result of prevailing economic circumstances.

With Nigeria’s mortgage lending rate as high as 20%, there is no doubt that such high rate will act as a disincentive to housing activities and as long as the rates remain that high, the problem of housing deficit may not be solved any time soon.

Source: https://nairametrics.com/2019/08/25/official-nigerias-mortgage-lending-rate-is-about-the-highest-in-the-world/

If this probe doesn't lead to an indictment its a waste..

It said, “Furthermore, the Nigerian Mission was not informed of the arrests and trials. The Federal Government is, therefore, engaging the Saudi authorities through diplomatic channels with a view to finding a just solution.”

Lol the usual suspects always posting fake news. Anyway give us the facts of the matter.

The US embassy said it raised the fees because Americans were paying too much to get Nigerian visas.

Lol Nigeria could've avoided this by lowering fees. Oh well what's fair is fair.

Lol this weird lawsuit. If the FG was interested in arresting kanu the will file extradition order against him. The UK wasn't formally asked to do anything so why should they act. Nigeria didn't extradite Nigeria indicted by USA just because they saw names in paper?

You didnt bother doing NYSC but felt you deserved an appointment anyway. Just be happy the Nigerian vetting system is theater. Nobody really checks creditials hence why your ilk slides through.

Final bump

Have these guys deliver government documents like drivers licenses, passports, voters card etc. Make yourselves useful.

SamuelAnyawu:

You believe the Army reports? My brother i have visited Baga and Doron Baga wella in 2018. When the area was so tensed our organisation withdrew from thete before the BH attack in late 2018.

I miss Baga fish shaaa

I believe it since multiple sources confirm the same phenomenon. Why are you guys only responding to half the arguement? Boko haram collects taxes from anyone doing business in domain like any powerful criminal organization. Why is this concept so hard to grasp for you two?

sassysure:
So u believe boko haram sell fish?

They didn't sell fish when they they haven't gone national( operating only in their domain)
Its now they are worth millions and half of the top Nigerian army officials are their men they will be selling fish.
Okay o

They tax fish sellers genius. You guys like arguing strawmen too much. The army and other foreign journalists already reported on it.

I do believe the army should donate the food instead of burning it. Customs donates confiscated rice to the idps regularly. There's no point wasting food.

vibre:
I support this move, the fishes are the biggest Boko haram informants in borno state. Very criminal minded creatures

You should know this 5 year ban hasn't accomplished much. ISWAP/Boko haram shrewdly secured trade routes around lake Chad, formulated tax policy, and provides other services. The government has to go after traitors and become more popular than boko haram. Proving more government services would be a start.

In ISWAP-controlled areas, fishermen, fish dealers and cattle rearers are all expected to pay taxes. Fish dealers pay an average of N1 000 (US$2.8 ) for every carton of fish leaving the island daily. Individual fishermen using canoes each pay N5 000 (US$13.8 ) for one-time fishing permits.

farmers are not taxed, but those buying from the farmers for commercial purposes are expected to pay a token depending on the quantity of farm produce they purchase.