₦airaland Forum

The outbreak of coronavirus in China has adversely affected trade between the country and Nigeria.

Recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the value of Nigeria’s total trade stood at N9.19 trillion in the third quarter of 2019, being exports worth N5.29 trillion and imports worth N3.89 trillion. However, the recent coronavirus outbreak in China, a country which is Nigeria’s number one trading partner in the world, is threatening the continued positive trade balance of N1.39 trn Nigeria recorded from the country in the third quarter of 2019.

Most traded agricultural goods between the two countries included sesamum seeds, whether or not broken; good fermented Nigerian cocoa beans; cashew nuts (shelled); superior quality raw cocoa beans; frozen shrimps and prawns; natural cocoa butter and cashew nuts (in shell). The two countries have separately called on travellers to be cautious, and if need be, restrict travels until the sneaky virus is contained.

Though the Nigerian government said there would be no travel restrictions between the two countries and the National Assembly also rejected a motion to evacuate Nigerians from China, there are clear indications that some Nigerian businessmen have started boycotting China until the virus is contained. Data released by the Embassy of China in Nigeria showed that coronavirus infection had skyrocketed to over 17,205. Over 14,380 cases have been confirmed while over 361 persons had died.

The immediate past president of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Mr Tony Ejinkeonye, told Daily Trust Saturday that the outbreak of coronavirus in China and elsewhere had a global impact on business and economy. Ejinkeonye, a former national vice president of the National Association of Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), said many imports from, and exports to China from Nigeria had stopped.

The industrialist said a lot of Chinese workers were at home and most of the country’s land borders and air travels were limited. He said the advisory from China to Nigerians to limit unnecessary travels to China until the virus is contained is “a preemptive measure” to stop the virus from spreading further. “It has an impact on our imports from China. The impact is there, but of course, it is more on the Chinese economy because it has actually slowed down their industry and production capacity,” he said.

He expressed optimism that the stock of Chinese goods in Nigeria may sustain demand in the next 30 days when the virus may have been contained and full business trips between the two countries restored. A business consultant, who is also an investment analyst, Dr Franklyn Akinyosoye, told Daily Trust Sunday that fears associated with travelling to China over the virus was only temporary. On the economic impact, Dr Akinyosoye, who is also the national president of the Association of Business Development Professionals in Nigeria (ABDPIN), said the development would affect prices sooner or later. “There will, therefore, be an impact on inflation considering that China is our biggest trading partner.

But this might not be immediately, maybe in the next few weeks. Anything we see now in the spike of prices of China manufactured goods will just be speculative,” the expert said. He projected that there would be more patronage for the substitute or complementary goods produced locally, which might increase human capital index because the local manufacturers will be empowered by the increased patronage. He also projected an increase in Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which might be good for local manufacturers.

The expert said the naira might do well against the dollars as there might be a reduction in the demand for dollars. “Some traders have perfected their importation process that they don’t have to be there to get their goods into Nigeria. This can help curb the intrinsic impact on inflation in the long run, though this has its disadvantages as most traders get the wrong specifications on delivery,” he said. Also reacting to the development, the ACCI’S vice president in charge of commerce, Dr Anene Johnson Somadina advised Nigerians to suspend travelling to China until a solution to the coronavirus is found.

Dr Somadina said Nigeria’s economy would be affected but for just a short while. “Health is wealth, they say, and we cannot sacrifice our people on the altar of quest for economic gains. Chinese nationals and everyone seeking to come into the country should actually be isolated and thoroughly screened before admission of entry,” he said.

The industrialist said Nigeria could not afford to import the disease into the country, especially given that the country’s medical facilities are grossly inadequate with insufficient facilities and manpower to handle any of such outbreak. An economist, Chijioke Ekechukwu, also backed self-imposed travel restrictions by Nigerian businessmen and travel advisory by the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, saying that all insignificant travels to China could wait.

News1126:
Widows of slain military officers and soldiers particularly those fighting the war against terrorism have protested the continuous release of murderous Boko Haram terrorists on the grounds that they have repented. National Vice President of Military Widows Association, Mrs Edith Opesanmi who spoke on their behalf during the seminar by the ‘Support Our Troops Foundation’ in Abuja, faulted the decision of the federal government in releasing the so-called repentant criminals who are responsible for the death of so many gallant officers and soldiers as well as helpless innocent Nigerians.

Opesanmi said this during an interview with The on the sidelines of the maiden lecture of Support Our Troops Foundation in Abuja on Wednesday. Emphasizing that the terrorists were not better than other criminals like armed robbers and kidnappers who are being made to pay for their crimes, Opesanmi who is the widow of the late Col. Johnson Opesanmi, said terrorists should not be given preferential treatment.

Her words, “They (terrorists) should face justice. You know they are involved in the killing and maiming of soldiers. So, whenever they are arrested, they should be punished like any other criminal. “We widows feel bad about it. Our husbands go to fight these terrorists and keep dying. The number of widows is increasing daily. Some of these widows are young ladies. Jamb also talks about 2020 jamb cbt expo, Admitting that the Federal Government may be trying to replicate the amnesty programme of the Niger Delta militants, she said both situations were not the same noting that after all, the amnesty programme did not stop militancy. In his contribution, a former Director at the Department of State Services, Barr. Mike Ejiofor disagreed with the timing of the release of so-called repentant terrorists especially when the war on terror is still ongoing.

“For me, the programme is not well-timed. You cannot be releasing Boko Haram suspects when the war is still ongoing. “Ideally, it is after the war has been fought and won that you can release those ones that have been rehabilitated and deradicalized,” he said. It will be recalled that more than 2,000 so-called repentant Boko Haram terrorists who murdered, raped, publicly executed both Muslims and Christians, castrated soldiers, burnt military locations and carried out suicide bombings in places of worship have been released back into the society through a programme, Operation Safe Corridor. There is a general belief that most of the insecurity being peddled in different parts of the country including kidnapping, banditry, cattle rustling and other robbery activities may be perpetrated by some of the so-called repentant Boko Haram criminals.

A former Nigerian Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has flayed President Muhammadu Buhari over his statement that 90 percent of Boko Haram victims were Muslims. Atiku, in his tweet on Wednesday, said the activities of Boko Haram should be condemned by all regardless of the victims’ religion.

We mustn’t rationalise killings. Whether Christian, Muslim, Traditionalist, or Atheist, the killing of any human being, by Boko Haram, or any misguided group, is wrong & should be condemned unequivocally. There is no compulsion in religion. Only love.-AAhttps:///1Dk8SGLIgc — Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) February 5, 2020

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 general election, said Buhari shouldn’t be concerned about the faith of the victims.

“We mustn’t rationalise killings. Whether Christian, Muslim, Traditionalist, or Atheist, the killing of any human being, by Boko Haram, or any misguided group is wrong and should be condemned unequivocally,” Atiku said. “There is no compulsion in religion. Only love,” he added.

A primary five pupil of Carol School in Lagos, Siju Olawepo is a calendar prodigy who knows the day for any date supplied to him, as far back as the 16th century. The nine-year-old genius provides corresponding day to any date he is given almost faster than an internet search engine. This innate ability was first noticed by one of his teachers who observed that he was always demanding for plain sheets to design calendars. Later he was seen designing calendars for the future without the aid of any existing one.

Nine-year-old Siju Olawepo Siju, like a soothsayer, once given a date, can tell the corresponding day of the week. In addition to knowing the dates, he also doesn’t forget any date he knows. He can tell anybody the particular day of the week he/she was born. Within seconds, he told the Daily Trust reporter her birthday while he also said Nigeria will be 100 years on Friday, October 1, 2060. He was also quick to say it would be a leap year.

When asked how he came about knowing days with their corresponding dates, he response was, “I just know it. My instinct tells me dates with the corresponding days. It comes naturally to me, I cannot explain how.” Daily Trust gathered from Siju’s computer teacher, Mr. David Ugiomoh, that what the boy enjoys doing most is designing calendars.

“He was always coming to my office to ask for plain sheets for designing calendars. I and others in the school initially thought he was copying from an existing calendar until the day he came to my office to design a calendar for year 2023. When I checked the dates on my phone, I saw that they were all correct,” “Then I started asking him days for different dates and he was answering correctly. I also asked him for the day to my birthday, which he provided seamlessly.

I was baffled and discovered he was a genius,” he explained. Siju said his future ambition is to become an horticulturist and will plant varieties of flowers.

The National Centre for Disease Control says isolation facilities for coronavirus will be sited in the Federal Capital Territory and seven states across Nigeria. The NCDC, in a statement on its website yesterday, said it “is currently preparing treatment and isolation facilities in the Federal Capital Territory and seven other priority states in Nigeria. They are Lagos, Akwa-Ibom, Rivers, Enugu, Delta, Cross River and Kano States. The centre said the risk assessment conducted by the World Health Organisation which placed Nigeria at high risk, implied that “there is a high chance of an infected person coming into Nigeria.

Till date, there’s no confirmed case of the novel coronavirus in Nigeria.” It said though the WHO had not placed any travel or trade restriction on China, it was advisable that only essential travel be made at this period of the epidemic.