₦airaland Forum

Reno Omokri Counters Statisense On Tinubu/buhari Debt

Dear @StatiSense,

Thank you for your comment. Actually, this is deceptive and manipulative. The Naira's value under General Buhari is not the same as the Naira's value under President Tinubu, and quantifying Nigeria's total debt only in Naira, without context, of which much of that debt is external loans taken out in dollars, is to paint a false picture of financial profligacy.

Here are the facts that you failed to tell Nigerians. When President Jonathan handed over to General Buhari on May 29, 2015, Nigeria's total public debt was $63.8 billion, equivalent to ₦12.1 trillion.

From $63.8 billion, Nigeria's total public debt rose to $108.2 billion on May 29, 2023, when General Buhari handed over to President Jonathan. I have attached official figures from the Debt Management Office for your information. Please note that this is directly from the DMO and has not been altered by me. You may want to visit dmo.gov.ng to verify this data.

When you add 'illegal' debts taken but not declared by that administration, the figure rises to $113 billion. Some of that debt is why the immediate past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria is on trial.

As of today, Nigeria's total public debt is $103.9 billion. It has actually reduced!

However, due to the change in the Naira's value resulting from the flotation of our currency under the Tinubu administration, quantifying our total public debt in Naira gives the false impression that it has risen.

Can you please tell Nigerians the dollar amount of their total public debt on May 29, 2023, versus the dollar amount today, rather than give them Naira figures without context?

I hope you will use your good offices to correct the wrong impression you have given. Thank you.

Reno Omokri

Ambassador Designate to Mexico. Gospeller. Deep Thinker. #TableShaker. #1 Bestselling author of Facts Versus Fiction: The True Story of the Jonathan Years. Hodophile. Hollywood Magazine Humanitarian of the Year, 2019. Business Insider Influencer of the Year, 2022. 21st Most Talked About Person in Africa, 2024.

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Sowore is so desperate he now digs up statements from 11 years ago to escape accountability. FFK has clarified his exact words and even retracted them long ago. This is called maturity. Sowore should try it.

Okpokis:
Sowore how many times will u lose before u rest your case😂😂😂

He is a clown.

Tinubu is in the arena doing the hard work of governance. Sowore is outside the arena shouting. LMAO

There is a difference between activism and governance. Tinubu is focused on rebuilding Nigeria through policy and reforms. Sowore should stop castigating the government at every turn and offer realistic alternatives, not noise.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has demonstrated what it means to carry the burden of leadership by making tough decisions, engaging institutions, and pursuing reforms that may be difficult today but necessary for tomorrow. Sowore needs to stop this rubbish.

As the single biggest individual importer, Peter Obi is the biggest threat to #GrowNairaBuyNaija. We cannot move from consumption to production and become a prosumer nation if people like Peter Obi, through his Next stores, do not stop their massive importation of goods that can be easily manufactured locally.

As long as people like Peter Obi keep dumping cheap imported tomato paste, evaporated milk, cereals, toiletries, and other consumables on the Nigerian market, domestic manufacturers will strive and not thrive.

Moreover, they will undermine the impressive 4.3% GDP growth President Tinubu has achieved for Nigeria.

Some of these guys even import toothpicks and toilet paper!

I challenge Peter Obi to move from importing to manufacturing, to show that he is fully committed to the economic growth of Nigeria.

- Reno Omokri

Source: https://x.com/renoomokri/status/1979563518614442342?s=46

The Dangote Refinery is not up to date. It is up to tomorrow. - Reno

It is the future of Nigeria. In the past, shippers complained about bringing goods to Nigeria and leaving with their ships empty. However, in the one year that this refinery has been operational, over 650 vessels have left the Dangote Terminal, with 60% of those maritime exports going to the United States, and the rest going to Brazil, Argentina, and other nations.

And speaking of the Dangote Terminal, Dangote Refinery built its own shipping port terminals. They do not disturb the traffic in public ports. Their ports have the most modern RORO facilities.

Then you move into the refinery itself, and nothing can prepare you for the sheer size and scale of what Alhaji Aliko Dangote has done, not for himself, but for Nigeria.

He has transformed the Lekki Free Trade Zone, initiated by President Tinubu, into the most valuable commercial real estate in West Africa.

There are almost 100 tanks, sometimes holding as much as 120 million litres of product individually. From every barrel of crude oil received, the Dangote Refinery transforms it into at least twelve refined products.

In Europe, the highest grade of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) is Euro 5 petrol, while the standard for diesel is Euro 5 diesel.

Both specifications comply with the European standards on emissions, which require diesel fuel to have a maximum sulfur content of 10 parts per million for diesel, while petrol must have a lower than 10 ppm.

The Dangote Refinery delivers the Euro 6 standard for both products.

Do you now see why I said they are up to tomorrow, rather than up to date? No country on Earth can reject Dangote products on the basis of product quality! They go above and beyond your standards.

Then the other thing that amazes you when you enter this project site, which covers 2635 hectares (to put that in perspective, that is 10% of the landmass of the nation of Saint Lucia), is the almost startling number of young people you see gainfully employed.

Nigerian youths are running the Dangote Refinery. The place is energetic and the energy is kinetic. And there is an ethnic mix. He probably has more Nigerian staff outside his own native Northwest geopolitical zone.

At the Central Laboratory, a commendable 60% of the staff are women. You see the brightest hijab-wearing PhD holders, then you turn around and see blue jeans-wearing females with degrees from Europe and America.

Unknown to many, the Dangote Refinery does not just generate its own electricity but is also responsible for producing 10% of all the electricity generated in Nigeria.

The refinery itself generates 500 megawatts, while the fertiliser plant produces an additional 150 MW.

Unlike many other projects in the oil and gas industry, the Dangote Refinery has excellent relations with its host community.

The Dangote Group built the roads in the community. The children of the community get scholarships in their hundreds. And the free tuition is not a Greek gift, as they are required to work for the Dangote Refinery. They could if they want, but it is not mandatory. Their training is a free gift. I know the term free gift is a tautology, but it is necessary to emphasise that and differentiate it from Greek gifts.

And their parents benefit, too. The area is a fishing community, and so the Dangote Refinery has taken environmental preservation to the next level. Waste is recycled or eliminated in an environmentally friendly way, so the fish and other fauna are not affected.

But the pièce de résistance is the refinery's Control Room. It took my breath away—the technology is out of this world!

You have a bank of several cinema-sized TV monitors spanning the length of a football field. And you can see every nook and cranny of the refinery. Not only can you see in real time, but you can control what your eyes see at the speed of thought!

Reno Omokri

Source: https://x.com/renoomokri/status/1979528627306873299